<p>The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. An epeiric  sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north. It is more than 970 km long and 580 km wide, with an area of around 570,000 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<p>The North Sea has long been the site of important European shipping lanes as well as a major fishery. The sea is a popular destination for recreation and tourism in bordering countries and more recently has developed into a rich source of energy resources including fossil fuels, wind, and early efforts in wave power.</p><br>
<p>Historically, the North Sea has featured prominently in geopolitical and military affairs, particularly in Northern Europe. It was also important globally through the power northern Europeans projected worldwide during much of the Middle Ages and into the modern era. The North Sea was the centre of the Vikings rise. Subsequently, the Hanseatic League, the Netherlands, and the British each sought to dominate the North Sea and thus the access to the markets and resources of the world. As Germanys only outlet to the ocean, the North Sea continued to be strategically important through both World Wars.</p><br>
<p>The coast of the North Sea presents a diversity of geological and geographical features. In the north, deep fjords and sheer cliffs mark the Norwegian and Scottish coastlines, whereas in the south the coast consists primarily of sandy beaches and wide mudflats. Due to the dense population, heavy industrialization, and intense use of the sea and area surrounding it, there have been a number of environmental issues affecting the sea&#39;s ecosystems. Adverse environmental issues — commonly including overfishing, industrial and agricultural runoff, dredging, and dumping among others — have led to a number of efforts to prevent degradation of the sea while still making use of its economic potential.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The North Sea is bounded by the Orkney Islands and east coast of Great Britain to the west</p><br>
<p>and the northern and central European mainland to the east and south, including Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.</p><br>
<p>In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively. In the north it is bordered by the Shetland Islands, and connects with the Norwegian Sea, which lies in the very north-eastern part of the Atlantic.</p><br>
<p>The North Sea is more than 970 km long and 580 km wide, with an area of 570,000 km&sup2; and a volume of 54,000 km3. Around the edges of the North Sea are sizeable islands and archipelagos, including Shetland, Orkney, and the Frisian Islands. The North Sea receives freshwater from a number of European continental watersheds, as well as the British Isles. A large part of the European drainage basin empties into the North Sea, including water from the Baltic Sea. The largest and most important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Elbe and the Rhine – Meuse watershed.</p><br>
<p>Around 185 million people live in the catchment area of the rivers discharging into the North Sea encompassing some highly industrialized areas.</p><br>
<h3>Major features</h3><br>
<p>For the most part, the sea lies on the European continental shelf with a mean depth of 90 m.</p><br>
<p>The only exception is the Norwegian trench, which extends parallel to the Norwegian shoreline from Oslo to an area north of Bergen.</p><br>
<p>The Dogger Bank, a vast moraine, or accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris, rises to a mere 15 to 30 metres (50–100 ft) below the surface. This feature has produced the finest fishing location of the North Sea. The Long Forties and the Broad Fourteens are large areas with roughly uniform depth in fathoms, (forty fathoms and fourteen fathoms or 73 and 26 m deep respectively). These great banks and others make the North Sea particularly hazardous to navigate, which has been alleviated by the implementation of satellite navigation systems. The Devil&#39;s Hole lies 200 mi east of Dundee, Scotland. The feature is a series of asymmetrical trenches between 20 and long, 1 and wide and up to 230 m deep.</p><br>
<p>Other areas which are less deep are Cleaver Bank, Fisher Bank and Noordhinder Bank.</p><br>
<h3>Extent</h3><br>
<p>The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the North Sea as follows:</p><br>
<p>On the Southwest. A line joining the Walde Lighthouse (France, 1°55E) and Leathercoat Point (England, 51°10N).</p><br>
<p>On the Northwest. From Dunnet Head (3°22W) in Scotland to Tor Ness (58°47N) in the Island of Hoy, thence through this island to the Kame of Hoy (58°55N) on to Breck Ness on Mainland (58°58N) through this island to Costa Head (3°14W) and to Inga Ness (5917&#39;N) in Westray through Westray, to Bow Head, across to Mull Head (North point of Papa Westray) and on to Seal Skerry (North point of North Ronaldsay) and thence to Horse Island (South point of the Shetland Islands).</p><br>
<p>On the North. From the North point (Fethaland Point) of the Mainland of the Shetland Islands, across to Graveland Ness (60°39&#39;N) in the Island of Yell, through Yell to Gloup Ness (1°04&#39;W) and across to Spoo Ness (60°45&#39;N) in Unst island, through Unst to Herma Ness (60°51&#39;N), on to the SW point of the Rumblings and to Muckle Flugga ({{coord|60|51|N|0|53|W|display=inline}}) all these being included in the North Sea area; thence up the meridian of 0°53&#39; West to the parallel of 61°00&#39; North and eastward along this parallel to the coast of Norway, the whole of Viking Bank being thus included in the North Sea.</p><br>
<p>On the East. The Western limit of the Skagerrak A line joining Hanstholm ({{coord|57|07|N|8|36|E|display=inline}}) and the Naze (Lindesnes, {{coord|58|N|7|E|display=inline}}).</p><br>
<h3>Hydrology</h3><br>
<h4>Temperature and salinity</h4><br>
<p>The average temperature in summer is 17 &deg;C and 6 &deg;C in the winter. The average temperatures have been trending higher since 1988, which has been attributed to climate change.</p><br>
<p>Air temperatures in January range on average between 0 to 4 C and in July between 13 to 18 C. The winter months see frequent gales and storms.</p><br>
<p>The salinity averages between 34 to 35 grams of salt per litre of water. The salinity has the highest variability where there is fresh water inflow, such as at the Rhine and Elbe estuaries, the Baltic Sea exit and along the coast of Norway.</p><br>
<h4>Water circulation and tides</h4><br>
<p>The main pattern to the flow of water in the North Sea is an anti-clockwise rotation along the edges.</p><br>
<p>The North Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean receiving the majority of ocean current from the northwest opening, and a lesser portion of warm current from the smaller opening at the English Channel. These tidal currents leave along the Norwegian coast. Surface and deep water currents may move in different directions. Low salinity surface coastal waters move offshore, and deeper, denser high salinity waters move in shore.</p><br>
<p>The North Sea located on the continental shelf has different waves from those in deep ocean water. The wave speeds are diminished and the wave amplitudes are increased. In the North Sea there are two amphidromic systems and a third incomplete amphidromic system. p. 329 tidal map showing amphidromes</p><br>
<p>p. 157 tidal map showing amphidromes</p><br>
<p>In the North Sea the average tide difference in wave amplitude is between 0 to 8 m.</p><br>
<p>The Kelvin tide of the Atlantic ocean is a semidiurnal wave that travels northward. Some of the energy from this wave travels through the English Channel into the North Sea. The wave still travels northward in the Atlantic Ocean, and once past the northern tip of Great Britain, the Kelvin wave turns east and south and once again enters into the North Sea. p. 94 shows the amphidromic points of the North Sea</p><br>
<h4>=Selected tide ranges=</h4><br>
<h3>Coasts</h3><br>
<p>The eastern and western coasts of the North Sea are jagged, formed by glaciers during the ice ages. The coastlines along the southernmost part are covered with the remains of deposited glacial sediment. In the Netherlands, Belgium and in East Anglia the littoral is low and marshy. The east coast and south-east of the North Sea (Wadden Sea) have coastlines that are mainly sandy and straight owing to longshore drift, particularly along Belgium and Denmark.</p><br>
<h2>Coastal management</h2><br>
<p>The southern coastal areas were originally amphibious flood plains and swampy land. In areas especially vulnerable to storm surges, people settled behind elevated levees and on natural areas of high ground such as spits and geestland. As early as 500 BC, people were constructing artificial dwelling hills higher than the prevailing flood levels. It was only around the beginning of the High Middle Ages, in 1200 AD, that inhabitants began to connect single ring dikes into a dike line along the entire coast, thereby turning amphibious regions between the land and the sea into permanent solid ground.</p><br>
<p>The modern form of the dikes supplemented by overflow and lateral diversion channels, began to appear in the 17th and 18th centuries, built in the Netherlands. The North Sea Floods of 1953 and 1962 were impetus for further raising of the dikes as well as the shortening of the coast line so as to present as little surface area as possible to the punishment of the sea and the storms. Currently, 27% of the Netherlands is below sea level protected by dikes, dunes, and beach flats.</p><br>
<p>Coastal management today consists of several levels.</p><br>
<p>The dike slope reduces the energy of the incoming sea, so that the dike itself does not receive the full impact. Dikes that lie directly on the sea are especially reinforced. The dikes have, over the years, been repeatedly raised, sometimes up to 9 m and have been made flatter to better reduce wave erosion.</p><br>
<p>Where the dunes are sufficient to protect the land behind them from the sea, these dunes are planted with beach grass (Ammophila arenaria) to protect them from erosion by wind, water, and foot traffic.</p><br>
<h3>Storm tides</h3><br>
<p>Storm surges threaten, in particular, the coasts of the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark and low lying areas of eastern England particularly around The Wash and Fens.</p><br>
<p>Storm surges are caused by changes in barometric pressure combined with strong wind created wave action.</p><br>
<p>The first recorded storm tide flood was the Julianenflut, on 17 February 1164. In its wake the Jadebusen, (a bay on the coast of Germany), began to form.</p><br>
<p>A storm tide in 1228 is recorded to have killed more than 100,000 people.</p><br>
<p>In 1362, the Second Marcellus Flood, also known as the Grote Manndrenke, hit the entire southern coast of the North Sea. Chronicles of the time again record more than 100,000 deaths as large parts of the coast were lost permanently to the sea, including the now legendary lost city of Rungholt.</p><br>
<p>In the 20th century, the North Sea flood of 1953 flooded several nations&#39; coasts and cost more than 2,000 lives.</p><br>
<p>315 citizens of Hamburg died in the North Sea flood of 1962.</p><br>
<h4>Tsunamis</h4><br>
<p>Though rare, the North Sea has been the site of a number of historically documented tsunamis. The Storegga Slides were a series of underwater landslides, in which a piece of the Norwegian continental shelf slid into the Norwegian Sea. The immense landslips occurred between 8150 BCE and 6000 BCE, and caused a tsunami up to 20 m high that swept through the North Sea, having the greatest effect on Scotland and the Faeroe Islands.</p><br>
<p>The Dover Straits earthquake of 1580 is among the first recorded earthquakes in the North Sea measuring between 5.6 and 5.9 on the Richter scale. This event caused extensive damage in Calais both through its tremors and possibly triggered a tsunami, though this has never been confirmed. The theory is a vast underwater landslide in the English Channel was triggered by the earthquake, which in turn caused a tsunami. The tsunami triggered by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake reached Holland, although the waves had lost their destructive power. The largest earthquake ever recorded in the United Kingdom was the 1931 Dogger Bank earthquake, which measured 6.1 on the Richter magnitude scale and caused a small tsunami that flooded parts of the British coast.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Shallow epicontinental seas like the current North Sea have since long existed on the European continental shelf. The rifting that formed the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, from about , caused tectonic uplift in the British Isles.</p><br>
<p>Since then, a shallow sea has almost continuously existed between the uplands of the Fennoscandian Shield and the British Isles. This precursor of the current North Sea has grown and shrunk with the rise and fall of the eustatic sea level during geologic time. Sometimes it was connected with other shallow seas, such as the sea above the Paris Basin to the south-west, the Paratethys Sea to the south-east, or the Tethys Ocean to the south.</p><br>
<p>During the Late Cretaceous, about , all of modern mainland Europe except for Scandinavia was a scattering of islands. By the Early Oligocene, , the emergence of Western and Central Europe had almost completely separated the North Sea from the Tethys Ocean, which gradually shrank to become the Mediterranean as Southern Europe and South West Asia became dry land. The North Sea was cut off from the English Channel by a narrow land bridge until that was breached by at least two catastrophic floods between 450,000 and 180,000 years ago. (Registration is required) Since the start of the Quaternary period about , the eustatic sea level has fallen during each glacial period and then risen again. Every time the ice sheet reached its greatest extent, the North Sea became almost completely dry. The present-day coastline formed after the Last Glacial Maximum when the sea began to flood the European continental shelf.</p><br>
<p>In 2006 a bone fragment was found while drilling for oil in the north sea. Analysis indicated that it was a Plateosaurus from 199 to 216 million years ago. This was the deepest dinosaur fossil ever found and the first find for Norway.</p><br>
<h2>Natural history</h2><br>
<h3>Fish and shellfish</h3><br>
<p>Copepods and other zooplankton are plentiful in the North Sea. These tiny organisms are crucial elements of the food chain supporting many species of fish. Over 230 species of fish live in the North Sea. Cod, haddock, whiting, saithe, plaice, sole, mackerel, herring, pouting, sprat, and sandeel are all very common and are fished commercially. Due to the various depths of the North Sea trenches and differences in salinity, temperature, and water movement, some fish such as blue-mouth redfish and rabbitfish reside only in small areas of the North Sea.</p><br>
<p>Crustaceans are also commonly found throughout the sea. Norway lobster, deep-water prawns, and brown shrimp are all commercially fished, but other species of lobster, shrimp, oyster, mussels and clams all live in the North Sea. Recently non-indigenous species have become established including the Pacific oyster and Atlantic jackknife clam.</p><br>
<h3>Birds</h3><br>
<p>The coasts of the North Sea are home to nature reserves including the Ythan Estuary, Fowlsheugh Nature Preserve, and Farne Islands in the UK and the Wadden Sea National Parks in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.</p><br>
<p>These locations provide breeding habitat for dozens of bird species. Tens of millions of birds make use of the North Sea for breeding, feeding, or migratory stopovers every year. Populations of black legged kittiwakes, Atlantic puffins, northern fulmars, and species of petrels, gannets, seaducks, loons (divers), cormorants, gulls, auks, and terns, and many other seabirds make these coasts popular for birdwatching.</p><br>
<h3>Marine mammals</h3><br>
<p>The North Sea is also home to marine mammals. Common seals, and harbour porpoises can be found along the coasts, at marine installations, and on islands. The very northern North Sea islands such as the Shetland Islands are occasionally home to a larger variety of pinnipeds including bearded, harp, hooded and ringed seals, and even walrus. North Sea cetaceans include various porpoise, dolphin and whale species.</p><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>Plant species in the North Sea include species of wrack, among them bladder wrack, knotted wrack, and serrated wrack. Algae, macroalgal, and kelp, such as oarweed and laminaria hyperboria, and species of maerl are found as well. Eelgrass, formerly common in the entirety of the Wadden Sea, was nearly wiped out in the 20th century by a disease.</p><br>
<p>Similarly, sea grass used to coat huge tracts of ocean floor, but have been damaged by trawling and dredging have diminished its habitat and prevented its return.</p><br>
<p>Invasive Japanese seaweed has spread along the shores of the sea clogging harbours and inlets and has become a nuisance.</p><br>
<h3>Biodiversity and conservation</h3><br>
<p>Due to the heavy human populations and high level of industrialization along its shores, the wildlife of the North Sea has suffered from pollution, overhunting, and overfishing. Flamingos and pelicans were once found along the southern shores of the North Sea, but became extinct over the 2nd millennium.</p><br>
<p>Walruses frequented the Orkney Islands through the mid-16th century, as both Sable Island and Orkney Islands lay within its normal range. Gray whales also resided in the North Sea but were driven to extinction in the Atlantic in the 17th century</p><br>
<p>Other species have dramatically declined in population, though they are still found. North Atlantic right whales, sturgeon, shad, rays, skates, salmon, and other species were common in the North Sea until the 20th century, when numbers declined due to overfishing.</p><br>
<p>Other factors like the introduction of non-indigenous species, industrial and agricultural pollution, trawling and dredging, human-induced eutrophication, construction on coastal breeding and feeding grounds, sand and gravel extraction, offshore construction, and heavy shipping traffic have also contributed to the decline.</p><br>
<p>The OSPAR commission manages the OSPAR convention to counteract the harmful effects of human activity on wildlife in the North Sea, preserve endangered species, and provide environmental protection. All North Sea border states are signatories of the MARPOL 73/78 Accords, which preserve the marine environment by preventing pollution from ships. "Member States have ratified Marpol 73/78".</p><br>
<p>Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands also have a trilateral agreement for the protection of the Wadden Sea, or mudflats, which run along the coasts of the three countries on the southern edge of the North Sea.</p><br>
<h3>Whaling</h3><br>
<p>Whaling was an important economic activity from the 9th until the 13th century for Flemish whalers. The medieval Flemish, Basque and Norwegian whalers who were replaced in the 16th century by Dutch, English, Danes and Germans, took massive numbers of whales and dolphins and nearly depleted the right whales. This activity likely led to the extinction of the Atlantic population of the once common gray whale. By 1902 the whaling had ended. Perhaps the gray whale will someday return to its former Seine estuary breeding grounds and to the feeding grounds of the Wadden Sea where it will again roil the sediments and release its benthic nutrients that will benefit the ecosystem.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Name</h3><br>
<p>Through history various names have been used for the North Sea. One of the earliest recorded names was Septentrionalis Oceanus, or "Northern Ocean," which was cited by Pliny.</p><br>
<p>The name "North Sea" probably came into English, however, via the Dutch "Noordzee", who named it thus either in contrast with the Zuiderzee ("South Sea"), located south of Frisia, or because the sea is generally to the north of the Netherlands. Before the adoption of "North Sea," the names used in English were "German Sea" or "German Ocean", referred to the Latin names "Mare Gemanicum" and "Oceanus Germanicus", and these persisted in use until the First World War.http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03085690903319291, Richard J Scully, ‘North Sea or German Ocean’? The Anglo-German</p><br>
<p>Cartographic Freemasonry, 1842–1914&#39;, p 56.</p><br>
<p>Other common names in use for long periods were the Latin terms "Mare Frisicum",</p><br>
<p>as well as their English equivalents, "Frisian Sea".</p><br>
<p>The modern names of the sea in local languages are: Nordsøen, Noordzee, Noordzee, Mer du Nord, Noardsee, Nordsee, Noordsee, Northern Frisian: Weestsiie (literally meaning "West Sea"), Nordsjøen, Nordsjøen, German Ocean, Nordsjön, An Cuan a Tuath, Nôordzêe and Zeeuws: Noôrdzeê.</p><br>
<h3>Early history</h3><br>
<p>The North Sea has provided waterway access for commerce and conquest. Many areas have access to the North Sea because of its long coastline and the European rivers that empty into it. The British Isles had been protected from invasion by the North Sea waters until the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 CE. The Romans established organised ports, which increased shipping, and began sustained trade.</p><br>
<p>When the Romans abandoned Britain in 410, the Germanic Angles, Saxons, and Jutes began the next great migration across the North Sea during the Migration Period. They made successive invasions of the island.</p><br>
<p>The Viking Age began in 793 with the attack on Lindisfarne; for the next quarter-millennium the Vikings ruled the North Sea. In their superior longships, they raided, traded, and established colonies and outposts along the coasts of the sea. From the Middle Ages through the 15th century, the northern European coastal ports exported domestic goods, dyes, linen, salt, metal goods and wine. The Scandinavian and Baltic areas shipped grain, fish, naval necessities, and timber. In turn the North Sea countries imported high-grade cloths, spices, and fruits from the Mediterranean region. Commerce during this era was mainly conducted by maritime trade due to underdeveloped roadways.</p><br>
<p>In the 13th century the Hanseatic League, though centred on the Baltic Sea, started to control most of the trade through important members and outposts on the North Sea.</p><br>
<p>The League lost its dominance in the 16th century, as neighbouring states took control of former Hanseatic cities and outposts. Their internal conflict prevented effective cooperation and defence.</p><br>
<p>As the League lost control of its maritime cities, new trade routes emerged that provided Europe with Asian, American, and African goods.</p><br>
<h3>Age of sail</h3><br>
<p>The 17th century Dutch Golden Age during which Dutch herring, cod and whale fisheries reached an all time high saw Dutch power at its zenith.</p><br>
<p>Important overseas colonies, a vast merchant marine, powerful navy and large profits made the Dutch the main challengers to an ambitious England. This rivalry led to the first three Anglo-Dutch Wars between 1652 and 1673, which ended with Dutch victories. After the Glorious Revolution the Dutch prince William ascended to the English throne. With both countries united, commercial, military, and political power shifted from Amsterdam to London.</p><br>
<p>The British did not face a challenge to their dominance of the North Sea until the 20th century.</p><br>
<h3>Modern era</h3><br>
<p>Tensions in the North Sea were again heightened in 1904 by the Dogger Bank incident. During the Russo-Japanese War, several ships of the Russian Baltic Fleet, which was on its way to the Far East, mistook British fishing boats for Japanese ships and fired on them, and then upon each other, near the Dogger Bank, nearly causing Britain to enter the war on the side of Japan.</p><br>
<p>During the First World War, Great Britain&#39;s Grand Fleet and Germany&#39;s Kaiserliche Marine faced each other in the North Sea,</p><br>
<p>which became the main theatre of the war for surface action. Britain&#39;s larger fleet and North Sea Mine Barrage were able to establish an effective blockade for most of the war, which restricted the Central Powers&#39; access to many crucial resources.</p><br>
<p>Major battles included the Battle of Heligoland Bight,</p><br>
<p>the Battle of the Dogger Bank, and the Battle of Jutland.</p><br>
<p>World War I also brought the first extensive use of submarine warfare, and a number of submarine actions occurred in the North Sea.</p><br>
<p>The Second World War also saw action in the North Sea,</p><br>
<p>though it was restricted more to aircraft reconnaissance, and action by fighter/bomber aircraft, submarines, and smaller vessels such as minesweepers and torpedo boats.</p><br>
<p>In the aftermath of the war, hundreds of thousands of tons of chemical weapons were disposed of by being dumped in the North Sea.</p><br>
<p>After the war, the North Sea lost much of its military significance because it is bordered only by NATO member-states. However, it gained significant economic importance in the 1960s as the states around the North Sea began full-scale exploitation of its oil and gas resources.It was, incidentally, the home of several Pirate Radio stations from 1960–1990.</p><br>
<p>The North Sea continues to be an active trade route.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<h3>Political status</h3><br>
<p>Countries that border the North Sea all claim the 12 nmi of territorial waters, within which they have exclusive fishing rights. The Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union (EU) exists to coordinate fishing rights and assist with disputes between EU states and the EU border state of Norway.</p><br>
<p>After the discovery of mineral resources in the North Sea, the Convention on the Continental Shelf established country rights largely divided along the median line. The median line is defined as the line "every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points of the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea of each State is measured."</p><br>
<p>The ocean floor border between Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark was only reapportioned after protracted negotiations and a judgement of the International Court of Justice.</p><br>
<h3>Oil and gas</h3><br>
<p>As early as 1859, oil was discovered in onshore areas around the North Sea and natural gas as early as 1910.</p><br>
<p>Test drilling began in 1966 and then, in 1969, Phillips Petroleum Company discovered the Ekofisk oil field</p><br>
<p>distinguished by valuable, low-sulphur oil.</p><br>
<p>Commercial exploitation began in 1971 with tankers and, after 1975, by a pipeline, first to Teesside, England and then, after 1977, also to Emden, Germany.</p><br>
<p>The exploitation of the North Sea oil reserves began just before the 1973 oil crisis, and the climb of international oil prices made the large investments needed for extraction much more attractive.</p><br>
<p>Although the production costs are relatively high, the quality of the oil, the political stability of the region, and the proximity of important markets in western Europe has made the North Sea an important oil producing region. The largest single humanitarian catastrophe in the North Sea oil industry was the destruction of the offshore oil platform Piper Alpha in 1988 in which 167 people lost their lives.</p><br>
<p>Besides the Ekofisk oil field, the Statfjord oil field is also notable as it was the cause of the first pipeline to span the Norwegian trench. The largest natural gas field in the North Sea, Troll gas field, lies in the Norwegian trench dropping over 300 m requiring the construction of the enormous Troll A platform to access it.</p><br>
<p>The price of Brent Crude, one of the first types of oil extracted from the North Sea, is used today as a standard price for comparison for crude oil from the rest of the world. The North Sea contains western Europe&#39;s largest oil and natural gas reserves and is one of the world&#39;s key non-OPEC producing regions.</p><br>
<p>In the UK sector of the North Sea, the oil industry invested £14.4 billion in 2013, and was on track to spend £13 billion in 2014. Industry body Oil & Gas UK put the decline down to rising costs, lower production, high tax rates, and less exploration.</p><br>
<h3>Fishing</h3><br>
<p>The North Sea is Europe&#39;s main fishery accounting for over 5% of international commercial fish caught. Fishing in the North Sea is concentrated in the southern part of the coastal waters. The main method of fishing is trawling.</p><br>
<p>In 1995, the total volume of fish and shellfish caught in the North Sea was approximately 3.5 million tonnes.</p><br>
<p>Besides fish, it is estimated that one million tonnes of unmarketable by-catch is caught and discarded each year.</p><br>
<p>In recent decades, overfishing has left many fisheries unproductive, disturbing marine food chain dynamics and costing jobs in the fishing industry. Herring, cod and plaice fisheries may soon face the same plight as mackerel fishing, which ceased in the 1970s due to overfishing.</p><br>
<p>The objective of the European Union Common Fisheries Policy is to minimize the environmental impact associated with resource use by reducing fish discards, increasing productivity of fisheries, stabilising markets of fisheries and fish processing, and supplying fish at reasonable prices for the consumer.</p><br>
<h3>Mineral resources</h3><br>
<p>In addition to oil, gas, and fish, the states along the North Sea also take millions of cubic metres per year of sand and gravel from the ocean floor. These are used for beach nourishment, land reclamation</p><br>
<p>and construction.</p><br>
<p>Rolled pieces of amber may be picked up on the east coast of England.</p><br>
<h3>Renewable energy</h3><br>
<p>Due to the strong prevailing winds, and shallow water, countries on the North Sea, particularly Germany and Denmark, have used the shore for wind power since the 1990s. The North Sea is the home of one of the first large-scale offshore wind farms in the world, Horns Rev 1, completed in 2002. Since then many other wind farms have been commissioned in the North Sea (and elsewhere). As of 2013 the 630 megawatt (MW) London Array is the largest offshore wind farm in the world, with the 504 (MW) Greater Gabbard wind farm the second largest, followed by the 367 MW Walney Wind Farm. All are off the coast of the UK. These projects will be dwarfed by subsequent wind farms that are in the pipeline, including Dogger Bank at 4,800 MW, Norfolk Bank (7,200 MW), and Irish Sea (4,200 MW). At the end of June 2013 total European combined offshore wind energy capacity was 6,040 MW. UK installed 513.5 MW offshore windpower in the first half year of 2013.</p><br>
<p>The expansion of offshore wind farms has met with some resistance. Concerns have included shipping collisions</p><br>
<p>and environmental effects on ocean ecology and wildlife such as fish and migratory birds, however, these concerns were found to be negligible in a long-term study in Denmark released in 2006 and again in a UK government study in 2009.</p><br>
<p>There are also concerns about reliability, and the rising costs of constructing and maintaining offshore wind farms. Despite these, development of North Sea wind power is continuing, with plans for additional wind farms off the coasts of Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. There have also been proposals for a transnational power grid in the North Sea to connect new offshore wind farms.</p><br>
<p>Energy production from tidal power is still in a pre-commercial stage. The European Marine Energy Centre has installed a wave testing system at Billia Croo on the Orkney mainland and a tidal power testing station on the nearby island of Eday. Since 2003, a prototype Wave Dragon energy converter has been in operation at Nissum Bredning fjord of northern Denmark.</p><br>
<h3>Tourism</h3><br>
<p>The beaches and coastal waters of the North Sea are destinations for tourists. The Belgian, Dutch, German and Danish coasts</p><br>
<p>are developed for tourism. The North Sea coast of the United Kingdom has tourist destinations with beach resorts and golf courses. Fife in Scotland is famous for its links golf courses. The coastal City of St. Andrews being renowned as the "Home of Golf". The coast of North East England has several tourist towns such as Scarborough, Bridlington, Seahouses, Whitby, Robin Hood&#39;s Bay and Seaton Carew. The coast of North East England has long sandy beaches and links golfing locations such as Seaton Carew Golf Club and Goswick Golf Club.</p><br>
<p>The North Sea Trail is a long-distance trail linking seven countries around the North Sea.</p><br>
<p>Windsurfing and sailing</p><br>
<p>are popular sports because of the strong winds. Mudflat hiking,</p><br>
<p>recreational fishing and birdwatching are among other activities.</p><br>
<p>The climatic conditions on the North Sea coast have been claimed to be healthful. As early as the 19th century, travellers used their stays on the North Sea coast as curative and restorative vacations. The sea air, temperature, wind, water, and sunshine are counted among the beneficial conditions that are said to activate the body&#39;s defences, improve circulation, strengthen the immune system, and have healing effects on the skin and the respiratory system.</p><br>
<h3>Marine traffic</h3><br>
<p>The North Sea is important for marine transport and its shipping lanes are among the busiest in the world. Major ports are located along its coasts: Rotterdam, the busiest port in Europe and the fourth busiest port in the world by tonnage , Antwerp (was 16th) and Hamburg (was 27th), Bremen/Bremerhaven and Felixstowe, both in the top 30 busiest container seaports, as well as the Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge, Europe&#39;s leading ro-ro port.</p><br>
<p>Fishing boats, service boats for offshore industries, sport and pleasure craft, and merchant ships to and from North Sea ports and Baltic ports must share routes on the North Sea. The Dover Strait alone sees more than 400 commercial vessels a day. Because of this volume, navigation in the North Sea can be difficult in high traffic zones, so ports have established elaborate vessel traffic services to monitor and direct ships into and out of port.</p><br>
<p>The North Sea coasts are home to numerous canals and canal systems to facilitate traffic between and among rivers, artificial harbours, and the sea. The Kiel Canal, connecting the North Sea with the Baltic Sea, is the most heavily used artificial seaway in the world reporting an average of 89 ships per day not including sporting boats and other small watercraft in 2009. It saves an average of 250 nmi, instead of the voyage around the Jutland peninsula. The North Sea Canal connects Amsterdam with the North Sea.</p><br>
<p>The Norwegian Sea  is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway. It is located between the North Sea  and the Greenland Sea and adjoins the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a submarine ridge running between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. To the North, the Jan Mayen Ridge separates it from the Greenland Sea.</p><br>
<p>Unlike many other seas, most of the bottom of the Norwegian Sea is not part of a continental shelf and therefore lies at a great depth of about two kilometres on average. Rich deposits of oil and natural gas are found under the sea bottom and are being explored commercially, in the areas with sea depths of up to about one kilometre. The coastal zones are rich in fish that visit the Norwegian Sea from the North Atlantic or from the Barents Sea (cod) for spawning. The warm North Atlantic Current ensures relatively stable and high water temperatures, so that unlike the Arctic seas, the Norwegian Sea is ice-free throughout the year. Recent research has concluded that the large volume of water in the Norwegian Sea with its large heat absorption capacity is more important as a source of Norway&#39;s mild winters than the Gulf Stream and its extensions.</p><br>
<h2>Extent</h2><br>
<p>The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Norwegian Sea as follows:</p><br>
<h2>Formation and geography</h2><br>
<p>The Norwegian Sea was formed about 250 million years ago, when the Eurasian plate of Norway and the North American Plate, including Greenland, started to move apart. The existing narrow shelf sea between Norway and Greenland began to widen and deepen. The present continental slope in the Norwegian Sea marks the border between Norway and Greenland as it stood approximately 250 million years ago. In the north it extends east from Svalbard and on the southwest between Britain and the Faroes. This continental slope contains rich fishing grounds and numerous coral reefs. Settling of the shelf after the separation of the continents has resulted in landslides, such as the Storegga Slide about 8,000 years ago that induced a major tsunami.</p><br>
<p>The coasts of the Norwegian Sea were shaped during the last Ice Age. Large glaciers several kilometres high pushed into the land, forming fjords, removing the crust into the sea, and thereby extending the continental slopes. This is particularly clear off the Norwegian coast along Helgeland and north to the Lofoten Islands. The Norwegian continental shelf is between 40 and 200 kilometres wide, and has a different shape from the shelves in the North Sea and Barents Sea. It contains numerous trenches and irregular peaks, which usually have an amplitude of less than 100 metres, but can reach up to 400 metres. They are covered with a mixture of gravel, sand, and mud, and the trenches are used by fish as spawning grounds. Deeper into the sea, there are two deep basins separated by a low ridge (its deepest point at 3,000 m) between the Vøring Plateau and Jan Mayen island. The southern basin is larger and deeper, with large areas between 3,500 and 4,000 metres deep. The northern basin is shallower at 3,200–3,300 metres, but contains many individual sites going down to 3,500 metres. Submarine thresholds and continental slopes mark the borders of these basins with the adjacent seas. To the south lies the European continental shelf and the North Sea, to the east is the Eurasian continental shelf with the Barents Sea. To the west, the Scotland-Greenland Ridge separates the Norwegian Sea from the North Atlantic. This ridge is on average only 500 metres deep, only in a few places reaching the depth of 850 metres. To the north lie the Jan Mayen Ridge and Mohns Ridge, which lie at a depth of 2,000 metres, with some trenches reaching depths of about 2,600 meters.</p><br>
<h2>Hydrology</h2><br>
<p>Four major water masses originating in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans meet in the Norwegian Sea, and the associated currents are of fundamental importance for the global climate. The warm, salty North Atlantic Current flows in from the Atlantic Ocean, and the colder and less saline Norwegian Current originates in the North Sea. The so-called East Iceland Current transports cold water south from the Norwegian Sea toward Iceland and then east, along the Arctic Circle; this current occurs in the middle water layer. Deep water flows into the Norwegian Sea from the Greenland Sea. The tides in the sea are semi-diurnal; that is, they rise twice a day, to a height of about 3.3 metres.</p><br>
<h3>Surface currents</h3><br>
<p>The hydrology of the upper water layers is largely determined by the flow from the North Atlantic. It reaches a speed of 10 Sv (1 Sv=million m/s) and its maximum depth is 700 metres at the Lofoten Islands, but normally it is within 500 meters. The flow shows strong seasonal variations and can be twice as high in winter as in summer.</p><br>
<p>The current flowing from the North Sea originates in the Baltic Sea and thus collects most of the drainage from northern Europe; this contribution is however relatively small. The temperature and salinity of this current show strong seasonal and annual fluctuations. Long-term measurements within the top 50 metres near the coast show a maximum temperature of 11.2 °C at the 63° N parallel in September and a minimum of 3.9 °C at the North Cape in March. The salinity varies between 34.3 and 34.6‰ and is lowest in spring owing to the inflow of melted snow from rivers. The largest rivers discharging into the sea are Namsen, Ranelva and Vefsna. They are all relatively short, but have a high discharge rate owing to their steep mountainous nature.</p><br>
<p>A portion of the warm surface water flows directly, within the West Spitsbergen Current, from the Atlantic Ocean, off the Greenland Sea, to the Arctic Ocean. This current has a speed of 3–5 Sv and has a large impact on the climate. Other surface water (~1 Sv) flows along the Norwegian coast in the direction of the Barents Sea. This water may cool enough in the Norwegian Sea to submerge into the deeper layers; there it displaces water that flows back into the North Atlantic.</p><br>
<p>Arctic water from the East Iceland Current is mostly found in the southwestern part of the sea, near Greenland. Its properties also show significant annual fluctuations, with long-term average temperature being below 3 °C and salinity between 34.7 and 34.9‰.</p><br>
<h3>Deep-sea currents</h3><br>
<p>The Norwegian Sea is connected with the Greenland Sea and the Arctic Ocean by the 2,600-metre deep Fram Strait. The Norwegian Sea Deep Water (NSDW) occurs at depths exceeding 2,000 metres; this homogeneous layer with a salinity of 34.91‰ experiences little exchange with the adjacent seas. Its temperature is below 0 °C and drops to −1 °C at the ocean floor.</p><br>
<p>The weak deep-water exchange with the Atlantic Ocean is due to the small depth of the relatively flat Greenland-Scotland Ridge between Scotland and Greenland, an offshoot of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Only four areas of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge are deeper than 500 metres: the Faroe Bank Channel (about 850 metres), some parts of the Iceland-Faroe Ridge (about 600 metres), the Wyville-Thomson Ridge (620 metres), and areas between Greenland and the Denmark Strait (850 meters) – this is much shallower than the Norwegian Sea. The turbulence that occurs when the deep water falls behind the Greenland-Scotland Ridge into the deep Atlantic basin mixes the adjacent water layers and forms the North Atlantic Deep Water, one of two major deep-sea currents providing the deep ocean with oxygen.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The thermohaline circulation affects the climate in the Norwegian Sea, and the regional climate can significantly deviate from average. There is also a difference of about 10 °C between the sea and the coastline. Temperatures rose between 1920 and 1960, and the frequency of storms decreased in this period. The storminess was relatively high between 1880 and 1910, decreased significantly in 1910–1960, and then recovered to the original level.</p><br>
<p>In contrast to the Greenland Sea and Arctic seas, the Norwegian Sea is ice-free year round, owing to its warm currents. The 10-degree July isotherm (air temperature line) runs through the northern boundary of the Norwegian Sea and is often taken as the southern boundary of the Arctic. In winter, the Norwegian Sea generally has the lowest air pressure in the entire Arctic and where most Icelandic Low depressions form. The water temperature in most parts of the sea is 2–7 °C in February and 8–12 °C in August.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>The Norwegian Sea is a transition zone between boreal and Arctic conditions, and thus contains flora and fauna characteristic of both climatic regions. The southern limit of many Arctic species runs through the North Cape, Iceland, and the center of the Norwegian Sea, while the northern limit of boreal species lies near the borders of the Greenland Sea with the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea; that is, these areas overlap. Some species like the scallop Chlamys islandica and capelin tend to occupy this area between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.</p><br>
<h3>Plankton and sea bottom organisms</h3><br>
<p>Most of the aquatic life in the Norwegian Sea is concentrated in the upper layers. Estimates for the entire North Atlantic are that only 2% of biomass is produced at depths below 1,000 metres and only 1.2% occurs near the sea floor.</p><br>
<p>The blooming of the phytoplankton is dominated by chlorophyll and peaks around 20 May. The major phytoplankton forms are diatoms, in particular the genus Thalassiosira and Chaetoceros. After the spring bloom the haptophytes of the genus Phaecocystis pouchetti become dominant.</p><br>
<p>Zooplankton is mostly represented by the copepods Calanus finmarchicus and Calanus hyperboreus, where the former occurs about four times more often than the latter and is mostly found in the Atlantic streams, whereas C. hyperboreus dominates the Arctic waters; they are the main diet of most marine predators. The most important krill species are Meganyctiphanes norvegica, Thyssanoessa inermis, and Thyssanoessa longicaudata. In contrast to the Greenland Sea, there is a significant presence of calcareous plankton (Coccolithophore and Globigerinida) in the Norwegian Sea. Plankton production strongly fluctuates between years. For example, C. finmarchicus yield was 28 g/m² (dry weight) in 1995 and only 8 g/m² in 1997; this correspondingly affected the population of all its predators.</p><br>
<p>Shrimp of the species Pandalus borealis play an important role in the diet of fish, particularly cod and blue whiting, and mostly occur at depths between 200 and 300 metres. A special feature of the Norwegian Sea is extensive coral reefs of Lophelia pertusa, which provide shelter to various fish species. Although these corals are widespread in many peripheral areas of the North Atlantic, they never reach such amounts and concentrations as at the Norwegian continental slopes. However, they are at risk due to increasing trawling, which mechanically destroys the coral reefs.</p><br>
<h3>Fish</h3><br>
<p>The Norwegian coastal waters are the most important spawning ground of the herring populations of the North Atlantic, and the hatching occurs in March. The eggs float to the surface and are washed off the coast by the northward current. Whereas a small herring population remains in the fjords and along the northern Norwegian coast, the majority spends the summer in the Barents Sea, where it feeds on the rich plankton. Upon reaching puberty, herring returns to the Norwegian Sea. The herring stock varies greatly between years. It increased in the 1920s owing to the milder climate and then collapsed in the following decades until 1970; the decrease was, however, at least partly caused by overfishing.</p><br>
<p>Enforcement of environmental and fishing regulations has resulted in partial recovery of the herring populations since 1987. Meanwhile, the elderly capelin population was quickly fished out. This also reduced the population of cod – a major predator of capelin – as the herring was still too small in numbers to replace the capelin in the cod&#39;s diet.</p><br>
<p>Blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) has benefited from the decline of the herring and capelin stocks as it assumed the role of major predator of plankton. The blue whiting spawns near the British Isles. The sea currents carry their eggs to the Norwegian Sea, and the adults also swim there to benefit from the food supply. The young spend the summer and the winter until February in Norwegian coastal waters and then return to the warmer waters west of Scotland. The Norwegian Arctic cod mostly occurs in the Barents Sea and at the Svalbard Archipelago. In the rest of the Norwegian Sea, it is found only during the reproduction season, at the Lofoten Islands, whereas Pollachius virens and haddock spawn in the coastal waters. Mackerel is an important commercial fish. The coral reefs are populated by different species of the genus Sebastes.</p><br>
<h3>Mammals and birds</h3><br>
<p>Significant numbers of minke, humpback, sei, and orca whales are present in the Norwegian Sea, and white-beaked dolphins occur in the coastal waters. Orcas and some other whales visit the sea in the summer months for feeding; their population is closely related to the herring stocks, and they follow the herring schools within the sea. With a total population of about 110,000, minke whales are by far the most common whales in the sea. They are hunted by Norway and Iceland, with a quota of about 1,000 per year in Norway. In contrast to the past, nowadays primarily their meat is consumed, rather than fat and oil.</p><br>
<p>The bowhead whale used to be a major plankton predator, but it almost disappeared from the Norwegian Sea after intense whaling in the 19th century, Observations of northern bottlenose whales in the Norwegian Sea are rare. Other large animals of the sea are hooded and harp seals and squid.</p><br>
<p>Important waterfowl species of the Norwegian Sea are puffin, kittiwake and guillemot. Puffins and guillemots also suffered from the collapse of the herring population, especially the puffins on the Lofoten Islands. The latter hardly had an alternative to herring and their population was approximately halved between 1969 and 1987.</p><br>
<h2>Human activities</h2><br>
<p>Norway, Iceland, and Denmark/Faroe Islands share the territorial waters of the Norwegian Sea, with the largest part belonging to the first. Norway has claimed twelve-mile limit as territorial waters since 2004 and an exclusive economic zone of 200 miles since 1976. Consequently, due to the Norwegian islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen, the southeast, northeast and northwest edge of the sea fall within Norway. The southwest border is shared between Iceland and Denmark/Faroe Islands.</p><br>
<p>The largest damage to the Norwegian Sea was caused by extensive fishing, whaling, and pollution. The British nuclear complex of Sellafield is one of the greatest polluters, discharging radioactive waste into the sea. Other contamination is mostly by oil and toxic substances, but also from the great number of ships sunk during the two world wars. The environmental protection of the Norwegian Sea is mainly regulated by the OSPAR Convention.</p><br>
<h3>Fishing and whaling</h3><br>
<p>Fishing has been practised near the Lofoten archipelago for hundreds of years. The coastal waters of the remote Lofoten islands are one of the richest fishing areas in Europe, as most of the Atlantic cod swims to the coastal waters of Lofoten in the winter to spawn. So in the 19th century, dried cod was one of Norway&#39;s main exports and by far the most important industry in northern Norway. Strong sea currents, maelstroms, and especially frequent storms made fishing a dangerous occupation: several hundred men died on the "Fatal Monday" in March 1821, 300 of them from a single parish, and about a hundred boats with their crews were lost within a short time in April 1875.</p><br>
<p>Whaling was also important for the Norwegian Sea. In the early 1600s, the Englishman Stephen Bennet started hunting walrus at Bear Island. In May 1607 the Muscovy Company, while looking for the Northwest Passage and exploring the sea, discovered the large populations of walrus and whales in the Norwegian Sea and started hunting them in 1610 near Spitsbergen. Later in the 17th century, Dutch ships started hunting bowhead whales near Jan Mayen; the bowhead population between Svalbard and Jan Mayen was then about 25,000 individuals. Britons and Dutch were then joined by Germans, Danes, and Norwegians. Between 1615 and 1820, the waters between Jan Mayen, Svalbard, Bear Island, and Greenland, between the Norwegian, Greenland, and Barents Seas, were the most productive whaling area in the world. However, extensive hunting had wiped out the whales in that region by the early 20th century.</p><br>
<h3>Sea monsters and maelstroms</h3><br>
<p>For many centuries, the Norwegian Sea was regarded as the edge of the known world. The disappearance of ships there, due to the natural disasters, induced legends of monsters that stopped and sank ships (kraken). As late as in 1845, the Encyclopædia metropolitana contained a multi-page review by Erik Pontoppidan (1698–1764) on ship-sinking sea monsters half a mile in size. Many legends might be based on the work Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus of 1539 by Olaus Magnus, which described the kraken and maelstroms of the Norwegian Sea. The kraken also appears in Alfred Tennysons poem of the same name, in Herman Melvilles Moby Dick, and in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.</p><br>
<p>Between the Lofoten islands of Moskenesøya and Værøy, at the tiny Mosken island, lies the Moskenstraumen – a system of tidal eddies and a whirlpool called a maelstrom. With a speed on the order of 15 km/h (the value strongly varies between sources), it is one of the strongest maelstroms in the world. It was described in the 13th century in the Old Norse Poetic Edda and remained an attractive subject for painters and writers, including Edgar Allan Poe, Walter Moers and Jules Verne. The word was introduced into the English language by Poe in his story "A Descent into the Maelström" (1841) describing the Moskenstraumen. The Moskenstraumen is created as a result of a combination of several factors, including the tides, the position of the Lofoten, and the underwater topography; unlike most other whirlpools, it is located in the open sea rather than in a channel or bay. With a diameter of 40–50 metres, it can be dangerous even in modern times to small fishing vessels that might be attracted by the abundant cod feeding on the microorganisms sucked in by the whirlpool.</p><br>
<h3>Exploration</h3><br>
<p>The fish-rich coastal waters of northern Norway have long been known and attracted skilled sailors from Iceland and Greenland. Thus most settlements in Iceland and Greenland were on the west coasts of the islands, which were also warmer due to the Atlantic currents. The first reasonably reliable map of northern Europe, the Carta marina of 1539, represents the Norwegian Sea as coastal waters and shows nothing north of the North Cape. The Norwegian Sea off the coast regions appeared on the maps in the 17th century as an important part of the then sought Northern Sea Route and a rich whaling ground.</p><br>
<p>Jan Mayen island was discovered in 1607 and become an important base of Dutch whalers. The Dutchman Willem Barents discovered Bear Island and Svalbard, which was then used by Russian whalers called pomors. The islands on the edge of the Norwegian Sea have been rapidly divided between nations. During the peaks of whaling, some 300 ships with 12,000 crew members were yearly visiting Svalbard.</p><br>
<p>The first depth measurements of the Norwegian Sea were performed in 1773 by Constantine Phipps aboard HMS Racehorse, as a part of his North Pole expedition. Systematic oceanographic research in the Norwegian Sea started in the late 19th century, when declines in the yields of cod and herring off the Lofoten prompted the Norwegian government to investigate the matter. The zoologist Georg Ossian Sars and meteorologist Henrik Mohn persuaded the government in 1874 to send out a scientific expedition, and between 1876 and 1878 they explored much of the sea aboard Vøringen. The data obtained allowed Mohn to establish the first dynamic model of ocean currents, which incorporated winds, pressure differences, sea water temperature, and salinity and agreed well with later measurements.</p><br>
<h3>Navigation</h3><br>
<p>Until the 20th century, the coasts of the Norwegian Sea were sparsely populated and therefore shipping in the sea was mostly focused on fishing, whaling, and occasional coastal transportation. Since the late 19th century, the Norwegian Coastal Express sea line has been established, connecting the more densely populated south with the north of Norway by at least one trip a day. The importance of shipping in the Norwegian Sea also increased with the expansion of the Russian and Soviet navies in the Barents Sea and development of international routes to the Atlantic through the Baltic Sea, Kattegat, Skagerrak, and North Sea.</p><br>
<p>The Norwegian Sea is ice-free and provides a direct route from the Atlantic to the Russian ports in the Arctic (Murmansk, Archangel, and Kandalaksha), which are directly linked to central Russia. This route was extensively used for supplies during World War II – of 811 US ships, 720 reached Russian ports, bringing some 4 million tonnes of cargo that included about 5,000 tanks and 7,000 aircraft. The Allies lost 18 convoys and 89 merchant ships on this route. The major operations of the German Navy against the convoys included PQ 17 in July 1942, the Battle of the Barents Sea in December 1942, and the Battle of the North Cape in December 1943 and were carried out around the border between the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea, near the North Cape.</p><br>
<p>Navigation across the Norwegian Sea declined after World War II and intensified only in the 1960s–70s with the expansion of the Soviet Northern Fleet, which was reflected in major joint naval exercises of the Soviet Northern Baltic fleets in the Norwegian Sea. The sea was the gateway for the Soviet Navy to the Atlantic Ocean and thus to the United States, and the major Soviet port of Murmansk was just behind the border of the Norwegian and Barents Sea. The countermeasures by the NATO countries resulted in a significant naval presence in the Norwegian Sea and intense cat-and-mouse games between Soviet and NATO aircraft, ships, and especially submarines. A relic of the Cold War in the Norwegian Sea, the Soviet nuclear submarine K-278 Komsomolets, sank in 1989 southwest of Bear Island, at the border of the Norwegian and Barents seas, with radioactive material onboard that poses potential danger to flora and fauna.</p><br>
<p>The Norwegian Sea is part of the Northern Sea Route for ships from European ports to Asia. The travel distance from Rotterdam to Tokyo is 21,100 km via the Suez Canal and only 14,100 km through the Norwegian Sea. Sea ice is a common problem in the Arctic seas, but ice-free conditions along the entire northern route were observed at the end of August 2008. Russia is planning to expand its offshore oil production in the Arctic, which should increase the traffic of tankers through the Norwegian Sea to markets in Europe and America; it is expected that the number of oil shipments through the northern Norwegian Sea will increase from 166 in 2002 to 615 in 2015.</p><br>
<h3>Oil and gas</h3><br>
<p>The most important products of the Norwegian Sea are no longer fish, but oil and especially gas found under the ocean floor. Norway started undersea oil production in 1993, followed by development of the Huldra gas field in 2001. The large depth and harsh waters of the Norwegian Sea pose significant technical challenges for offshore drilling. Several other gas fields are being developed. A particular challenge is the Kristin field, where the temperature is as high as 170 °C and the gas pressure exceeds 900 bar (900 times the normal pressure).</p><br>
<p>Further north are Norne and Snøhvit.</p><br>
<p>Nauru is a tiny phosphate rock island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean south of the Marshall Islands in Oceania. It is only 53 km south of the Equator at coordinates 0&deg;32&prime;S latitude, 166&deg;55&prime;E longitude. Nauru is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean &mdash; the others are Banaba  in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia.</p><br>
<p>Its land area is 21 km&sup2, and it has a 30 km. Maritime claims are a 200-nautical-mile (370 km) exclusive fishing zone, and a 12-nautical-mile (22 km) territorial sea.</p><br>
<p>The climate is tropical with a monsoonial rainy season from November to February.</p><br>
<p>A sandy beach rises to the fertile ring around raised coral reefs. The raised phosphate plateau (Topside) takes up the central portion of the island. The highest point is 200 ft (61 m) above sea level, along the plateau rim.</p><br>
<p>Nauru&#39;s only economically significant natural resources are phosphates, formed from guano deposits by seabirds over many thousands of years, and fisheries, particularly for tuna.</p><br>
<p>Due to being surrounded by corals and sandy beaches, the island houses no natural harbours, nor any rivers or substantial lakes.</p><br>
<p>Nauru has its own unique navigational system, which is only capable of being used on the island.</p><br>
<h2>Geology of Nauru</h2><br>
<p>Nauru is a raised coral atoll positioned in the Nauru Basin of the Pacific Ocean, on a part of the Pacific Plate that formed at a mid oceanic ridge at 132 Ma.</p><br>
<p>From mid Eocene (35mya) to Oligocene times a submarine volcano built up over a hotspot, and formed a seamount composed of basalt. The seamount is over 4300 metres high. This hotspot was simultaneous with a major</p><br>
<p>Pacific Plate reorganisation. The volcano was eroded to sealevel and a coral atoll grew on top to a thickness of about 500 metres. Coral near the surface has been dated from 5 Mya to 0.3 Mya. The original limestone has been dolomitised by magnesium from sea water. The coral was</p><br>
<p>raised above sea level about 30 metres, and is now a dolomite limestone outcrop which was eroded in classic karst style into pinnacles up to 20 metres high. To at least a depth of 55 metres below sea level, the limestone has been dissolved forming cavities, sinkholes and caves. Holes on the topside of the island were filled up by a phosphate layer up to several metres thick.</p><br>
<p>Anibare Bay was formed by the underwater collapse of the east side of the volcano.</p><br>
<p>Buada Lagoon was formed by solution of the limestone when the sea level was lower, followed by collapse.</p><br>
<p>Nauru is moving at 104 mm per year to the north west along with the Pacific Plate.</p><br>
<p>Freshwater can be found in Buada lagoon, and also in some brackish ponds at the escarpment base in Ijuw and Anabar in the northeast. There is an underground lake in Moqua Cave in the southeast of the island.</p><br>
<h2>Environmental issues</h2><br>
<p>Periodic droughts, limited natural fresh water resources (roof storage tanks collect rainwater, but mostly dependent on a single, aging desalination plant)</p><br>
<p>Extreme soil conditions are caused by high alkalinity, high phosphate levels and low potassium. Iron, manganese, copper, molybdenum and zinc are rendered unavailable to plants. Combined with thin or damaged soils this causes low fertility.</p><br>
<p>Intensive phosphate mining during the past 90 years has left the central 80% of Nauru a wasteland and threatens limited remaining land resources.</p><br>
<p>Nauru is party to the international environmental agreements on biodiversity, climate change, desertification, law of the sea and marine dumping.</p><br>
<h2>Extreme points</h2><br>
<p>This is a list of the extreme points of Nauru, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.</p><br>
<p>Northernmost point – Cape Anna, Ewa District</p><br>
<p>Easternmost point – Cape Ijuw, Ijuw District</p><br>
<p>Southernmost point – unnamed headland south of the wireless station, Meneng District</p><br>
<p>Westernmost point – the harbour, Aiwo District</p><br>
<p>Highest point – Command Ridge (71 m, 233 ft)</p><br>
<p>Lowest point – Pacific Ocean (sea level)</p><br>
<p>Navassa Island  is a small, uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea. The island is subject to an ongoing territorial dispute between Haiti and the United States, which administers it through the USA Fish and Wildlife Service.</p><br>
<h2>Geography, topography and ecology</h2><br>
<p>Navassa Island is about 2 square miles in area. It is located 35 mi west of Haiti&#39;s southwest peninsula, 103 mi south of the USA naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and about one-quarter of the way from mainland Haiti to Jamaica in the Jamaica Channel.</p><br>
<p>Navassa reaches an elevation of 250 ft at Dunning Hill 110 yd south of the lighthouse, Navassa Island Light. This location is 440 yd from the southwestern coast or 655 yd east of Lulu Bay.</p><br>
<p>The terrain of Navassa Island consists mostly of exposed coral and limestone, the island being ringed by vertical white cliffs 30 to 50 ft high, but with enough grassland to support goat herds. The island is covered in a forest of just four tree species: short-leaf fig (Ficus populnea var. brevifolia), pigeon plum (Coccoloba diversifolia), mastic (Sideroxylon foetidissimum), and poisonwood (Metopium brownei).</p><br>
<h3>Ecology</h3><br>
<p>Navassa Island&#39;s topography, ecology, and modern history are similar to that of Mona Island, a small limestone island located in the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, which were once centers of guano mining, and are nature reserves for the United States. Transient Haitian fishermen and others camp on the island but the island is otherwise uninhabited.</p><br>
<p>There were eight species of native reptiles, all of which are believed to be, or to have been, endemic to Navassa Island: Celestus badius (an anguid lizard), Aristelliger cochranae (a gecko), Sphaerodactylus becki (a gecko), Anolis longiceps (an anole), Cyclura (cornuta) onchiopsis (a rock iguana), Leiocephalus eremitus (a curly-tailed lizard), Tropidophis bucculentus (a dwarf boa), and Typhlops sulcatus (a tiny snake). Of these the first four remain common with the last four likely extinct. Feral cats, dogs and pigs currently inhabit</p><br>
<p>the island.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>1504 to 1901</h3><br>
<p>In 1504, Christopher Columbus, stranded on Jamaica during his fourth voyage, sent some crew members by canoe to Hispaniola for help. They ran into the island on the way, but it had no water. They called it Navaza (from "nava-" meaning plain, or field), and it was avoided by mariners for the next 350 years.</p><br>
<p>From 1801 to 1867 the successive constitutions of Haiti claimed national sovereignty over adjacent islands, both named and unnamed, although Navassa was not specifically enumerated until 1874. Despite this implicit claim, Navassa Island was claimed for the United States on September 19, 1857, by Peter Duncan, an American sea captain, under the Guano Islands Act of 1856, for the rich guano deposits found on the island, and for not being within the lawful jurisdiction of any other government, nor occupied by another government&#39;s citizens.</p><br>
<p>Haiti protested the annexation, but on July 7, 1858, USA President James Buchanan issued an Executive Order upholding the American claim, which also called for military action to enforce it. Navassa Island has since been maintained by the United States as an unincorporated territory (according to the Insular Cases). The United States Supreme Court on November 24, 1890, in Jones v. United States, 137 USA 202 (1890) Id. at 224 found that Navassa Island must be considered as appertaining to the United States, creating a legal history for the island under US law unlike many other islands originally claimed under the Guano Islands Act. As listed in its 1987 constitution, Haiti maintains its claim to the island.</p><br>
<p>Guano phosphate is a superior organic fertilizer that became a mainstay of American agriculture in the mid-19th century. Duncan transferred his discoverer&#39;s rights to his employer, an American guano trader in Jamaica, who sold them to the newly formed Navassa Phosphate Company of Baltimore. After an interruption for the American Civil War, the company built larger mining facilities on Navassa with barrack housing for 140 black contract laborers from Maryland, houses for white supervisors, a blacksmith shop, warehouses, and a church.</p><br>
<p>Mining began in 1865. The workers dug out the guano by dynamite and pick-axe and hauled it in rail cars to the landing point at Lulu Bay, where it was put into sacks and lowered onto boats for transfer to the Company barque, the S.S. Romance. The living quarters at Lulu Bay were called Lulu Town, as appears on old maps. Railway tracks eventually extended inland.</p><br>
<p>Hauling guano by muscle-power in the fierce tropical heat, combined with general disgruntlement with conditions on the island, eventually provoked a rebellion in 1889, in which five supervisors died. A USA warship returned eighteen of the workers to Baltimore for three separate trials on murder charges. A black fraternal society, the Order of Galilean Fisherman, raised money to defend the miners in federal court, and the defense built its case on the contention that the men acted in self-defense or in the heat of passion, and that the United States did not have jurisdiction over the island.</p><br>
<p>The cases, including Jones v. United States, went to the USA Supreme Court in October 1890, which ruled the Guano Act constitutional, and three of the miners were scheduled for execution in the spring of 1891. A grass-roots petition driven by black churches around the country, also signed by white jurors from the three trials, reached President Benjamin Harrison, who commuted the sentences to imprisonment and mentioned the case in a State of the Union Address. Guano mining resumed on Navassa at a much reduced level. The Spanish–American War of 1898 forced the Phosphate Company to evacuate the island and file for bankruptcy, and the new owners abandoned the island after 1901.</p><br>
<h3>1901 to present</h3><br>
<p>Navassa became significant again with the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. Shipping between the American eastern seaboard and the Canal goes through the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti. Navassa, a hazard to navigation, needed a lighthouse. The USA Lighthouse Service built Navassa Island Light, a 162 ft tower on the island in 1917, 395 ft above sea level. A keeper and two assistants were assigned to live there until the United States Lighthouse Service installed an automatic beacon in 1929.</p><br>
<p>After absorbing the Lighthouse Service in 1939, the USA Coast Guard serviced the light twice each year. The USA Navy set up an observation post for the duration of World War II. The island has been uninhabited since then. Fishermen, mainly from Haiti, fish the waters around Navassa.</p><br>
<p>A scientific expedition from Harvard University studied the land and marine life of the island in 1930. After World War II amateur radio operators occasionally visited to operate from the territory, which is accorded "entity" (country) status by the American Radio Relay League. The callsign prefix is KP1. From 1903 to 1917, Navassa was a dependency of the USA Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and from 1917 to 1996 it was under United States Coast Guard administration. Since January 16, 1996, it has been administered by USA Department of the Interior.</p><br>
<p>In 1996 the United States Coast Guard dismantled the light on Navassa. An inter-agency task force headed by the USA Department of State transferred oversight of the island to the USA Department of the Interior. By of January 16, 1997, the Interior Department assumed control and placed the island under its Office of Insular Affairs. For statistical purposes, Navassa was grouped with the now-obsolete term United States Miscellaneous Caribbean Islands and is now grouped with other islands claimed by the USA under the Guano Islands Act as the United States Minor Outlying Islands.</p><br>
<p>In 1997 an American salvager made a claim to Navassa to the Department of State based on the Guano Islands Act. On March 27, 1997, the Department of the Interior rejected the claim on the basis that the Guano Islands Act applies only to islands which, at the time of the claim, are not "appertaining to" the United States. The department&#39;s opinion said that Navassa is and remains a USA possession "appertaining to" the United States and is "unavailable to be claimed" under the Guano Islands Act.</p><br>
<p>A 1998 scientific expedition led by the Center for Marine Conservation in Washington, D.C. described Navassa as "a unique preserve of Caribbean biodiversity." The island&#39;s land and offshore ecosystems have survived the 20th century virtually untouched.</p><br>
<p>In 1999 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service assumed administrative responsibility for Navassa, which became a National Wildlife Refuge Overlay, also known as Navassa Island National Wildlife Refuge.</p><br>
<p>The Office of Insular Affairs retains authority for the island&#39;s political affairs, and judicial authority is exercised directly by the nearest USA Circuit Court. Access to Navassa is hazardous and visitors need permission from the Fish and Wildlife Office in Boquerón, Puerto Rico to enter its territorial waters or land.</p><br>
<p>Since this change of status, amateur radio operators have repeatedly been denied entry. In October 2014 permission was granted for a two-week DX-pedition in February 2015. The operation made 138,409 contacts.</p><br>
<p>The geography of New Caledonia , an overseas collectivity of France located in the subregion of Melanesia, makes the continental island group unique in the southwest Pacific. Among other things, the island chain has played a role in preserving unique biological lineages from the Mesozoic. It served as a waystation in the expansion of the predecessors of the Polynesians, the Lapita culture. Under the Free French it was a vital naval base for Allied Forces during the War in the Pacific.</p><br>
<p>The archipelago is located east of Australia, north of New Zealand, south of the Equator, and just west of Fiji and Vanuatu. New Caledonia comprises a main island, Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, and several smaller islands. Approximately half the size of Taiwan, the group has a land area of 18,575.5 km&sup2;. The islands have a coastline of 2,254 km. New Caledonia claims an exclusive fishing zone to a distance of 200 nmi and a territorial sea of 12 nmi from shore.</p><br>
<p>New Caledonia is one of the northernmost parts of an almost entirely (93%) submerged continent called Zealandia which rifted away from Antarctica between 130 and 85 million years ago (mya), and from Australia 85–60 mya. (Most of the elongated triangular continental mass of Zealandia is a subsurface plateau. New Zealand is a mountainous above-water promontory in its center, and New Caledonia is a promontory ridge on the continents northern edge.) New Caledonia itself drifted away from Australia 66 mya, and subsequently drifted in a north-easterly direction, reaching its present position about 50 mya. Given its long stability and isolation, New Caledonia serves as a unique island refugium—a sort of biological ark&#39;—hosting a unique ecosystem and preserving Gondwanan plant and animal lineages no longer found elsewhere.</p><br>
<h2>Composition</h2><br>
<p>New Caledonia is made up of a main island, the Grande Terre, and several smaller islands, the Belep archipelago to the north of the Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands to the east of the Grande Terre, the (Isle of Pines) to the south of the Grande Terre, the Chesterfield Islands and Bellona Reefs further to the west. Each of these four island groups has a different geological origin:</p><br>
<p>The New Caledonia archipelago, which includes Grande Terre, Belep, and the Île des Pins was born as a series of folds of the earth&#39;s mantle between the Permian period (299-251 mya) and the Paleogene and Neogene periods (66 - 1.5 mya). This mantle obduction created large areas of peridotite and a bedrock rich in nickel.</p><br>
<p>The Loyalty Islands, a hundred kilometers to the east, are coral and limestone islands built on top of ancient collapsed volcanoes originating due to subduction at the Vanuatu trench.</p><br>
<p>The Chesterfield Islands, 550 km to the north-west, are reef outcroppings of the oceanic plateau.</p><br>
<p>The Matthew and Hunter Islands, at 450 and east, respectively, are volcanic islands that form the southern end of the arc of the New Hebrides</p><br>
<p>The Grande Terre is by far the largest of the islands, and the only mountainous island. It has an area of 16,372 km&sup2, and is elongated northwest-southeast, 350 km in length and 50 to 70 km wide. A mountain range runs the length of the island, with five peaks over 1,500 m. The highest point is Mont Panié at 1,628 m elevation. The total area of New Caledonia is 19,060 km&sup2, 18,575 km&sup2; of those being land.</p><br>
<p>A territorial dispute exists with regard to the uninhabited Matthew and Hunter Islands, which are claimed by both France (as part of New Caledonia) and Vanuatu.</p><br>
<h2>Zealandian origin</h2><br>
<p>The New Caledonian archipelago is a microcontinental island chain which originated as a fragment of Zealandia, a nearly submerged continent or microcontinent which was part of the southern supercontinent of Gondwana during the time of the dinosaurs. The Grande Terre group of New Caledonia, with Mont Panié at 1,628 m as its highest point, is the most elevated part of the Norfolk Ridge, a long and mostly underwater arm of the continent. While they were still one landmass, Zealandia and Australia combined broke away from Antarctica between 85 and 130 million years ago. Australia and Zealandia split apart 60–85 million years ago. Although biologists consider it contrary to the evidence of surviving Gondwanan lineages, geologists consider the logical possibility that Zealandia may have been completely submerged about 23 million years ago. While a continent like Australia consists of a large body of land surrounded by a fringe of continental shelf, Zealandia consists almost entirely of continental shelf, with the vast majority, some 93%, submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean. This viewpoint is not universal. Bernard Pelletier argues that Grande Terre was completely submerged for millions of years, and hence the origin of the flora may not be local in nature, but due to long distance-dispersal.</p><br>
<p>Zealandia is 3,500,000 km&sup2; in area, larger than Greenland or India, and almost half the size of Australia. It is unusually slender, stretching from New Caledonia in the north to beyond New Zealand&#39;s subantarctic islands in the south (from latitude 19° south to 56° south, analogous to ranging from Haiti to Hudson Bay or from Sudan to Sweden in the Northern Hemisphere). New Zealand is the greatest part of Zealandia above sea level, followed by New Caledonia.</p><br>
<p>Given its continental origin as a fragment of Zealandia, unlike many of the islands of the Pacific such as the Hawaiian chain, New Caledonia is not of geographically recent volcanic provenance. Its separation from Australia at the end of the Cretaceous (65 MYA) and from New Zealand in the mid-Miocene has led to a long period of evolution in near complete isolation. New Caledonia’s natural heritage significantly comprises species whose ancestors were ancient and primitive flora and fauna present on New Caledonia when it broke away from Gondwana millions of years ago, not only species but entire genera and even families are unique to the island, and survive nowhere else.</p><br>
<p>Since the age of the dinosaurs, as the island moved north due to the effects of continental drift, some geologists assert that it may have been fully submerged at various intervals. Botanists, however, argue that there must have been some areas that remained above sea level, serving as refugia for the descendants of the original flora that inhabited the island when it broke away from Gondwana. The isolation of New Caledonia was not absolute, however. New species came to New Caledonia while species of Gondwanan origin were able to penetrate further eastward into the Pacific Island region.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The climate of New Caledonia is tropical, modified by southeasterly trade winds. It is hot and humid. Natural hazards are posed in New Caledonia by cyclones, which occur most frequently between November and March. While rainfall in the neighboring Vanuatu islands averages two meters annually, from the north of New Caledonia to the south the rain decreases to a little over 1,000 mm. The mean annual temperature drops over the same interval from 27.5 to 24.3 C, and seasonality becomes more pronounced. The capital, Nouméa, located on a peninsula on the southwestern coast of the island normally has a dry season which increases in intensity from August until mid-December, ending suddenly with the coming of rain in January. The northeastern coast of the island receives the most rain, with 2,400 mm having been recorded near sea level in Pouébo.</p><br>
<h2>Terrain</h2><br>
<p>The terrain of Grande Terre consists of coastal plains, with mountains in the interior. The lowest point is the Pacific Ocean, with an elevation of 0 m, and the highest is Mont Panie, with an elevation of 1,628 m.</p><br>
<p>The Diahot River is the longest river of New Caledonia, flowing for some 60 miles (100 kilometres). It has a catchment area of 620 square kilometres and opens north-westward into the Baie d&#39;Harcourt, flowing towards the northern point of the island along the western escarpment of the Mount Panie.</p><br>
<p>In 1993, 12% of New Caledonian land was used for permanent pasture, with 39% occupied by forests and woodland. In 1991, 160 km&sup2; of the land was irrigated. A current environmental issue is erosion caused by mining exploitation and forest fires.</p><br>
<h2>Biological isolation</h2><br>
<p>Given its geographical isolation since the end of the Cretaceous, New Caledonia is a refugium, in effect a biological "Noah&#39;s Ark", an island home to both unique living plants and animals and also to its own special fossil endowment. Birds such as the crested and almost flightless kagu (French, cagou) Rhynochetos jubatus, whose closest relative may be the distantly related sunbittern of South America, and plants such as Amborella trichopoda, the only known member of the most basal living branch of flowering plants, make this island a treasure trove and a critical concern for biologists and conservationists. The island was home to horned fossil turtles (Meiolania mackayi) and terrestrial fossil crocodiles (Mekosuchus inexpectatus) which became extinct shortly after human arrival. There are no native amphibians, with geckos holding many of their niches. The crested gecko (Rhacodactylus ciliatus), thought to have gone extinct, was rediscovered in 1994.</p><br>
<p>At 14 inches, Leachs giant gecko (Rhacodactylus leachianus), the worlds largest and a predator of smaller lizards is another native. The only native mammals are four species of bat including the endemic New Caledonia flying fox.</p><br>
<p>New Caledonia is home to 13 of the 19 extant species of evergreens in the genus Araucaria. The island has been called "a kind of Jurassic Park" because of the archaic characteristics of its highly endemic vegetation. In addition to the basal angiosperm plant genus Amborella, for example, the island is home to more gymnosperm species than any other tropic landmass, with 43 of its 44 conifer species being unique to the island, which is also home to the world&#39;s only known parasitic gymnosperm, the rootless conifer Parasitaxus usta.</p><br>
<p>Given their prehistoric appearance, the dry forests of western New Caledonia were chosen as the location for filming the first episode of the BBC miniseries Walking with Dinosaurs, which was set in the Arizona of the late Triassic.</p><br>
<h2>Mineral wealth</h2><br>
<p>After a formation discovered in Oman in the 1970s, New Caledonia has the planet&#39;s largest known outcrop of ultrabasic rock, derived not from the crust, but from an upthrust fold of the more deeply underlying mantle of the earth. These mineral-rich rocks are a source of nickel, chromium, iron, cobalt, manganese, silver, gold, lead and copper. The toxicity of the mineral-rich soil has helped preserve the endemic vegetation, which has long been adapted to it, from competition from would-be colonizers which find it unsuitable.</p><br>
<h2>Human geography</h2><br>
<h3>Before Western contact</h3><br>
<p>Anthropologically, New Caledonia is considered the southernmost archipelago of Melanesia, grouping it with the more close-by islands to its north, rather than its geologically associated neighbour, New Zealand, to the south. The New Caledonian languages, whose speakers are called Kanaks, and the dialects of the Loyalty Islands find their closest relatives in the languages of Vanuatu to the east. Together, these comprise the Southern Oceanic language family, a member of the Oceanic language branch of the Austronesian language family. The Fijian languages, the Maori language of New Zealand, and other Polynesian languages such as Tahitian, Samoan and Hawaiian are cousins of the New Caledonian languages within the Oceanic language family.</p><br>
<p>Linguistic analysis using the comparative method provides a detailed family tree of the Austronesian languages to which the native languages of New Caledonia belong. The Lapita culture, hypothesized to have spoken proto-Oceanic, and defined by its typical style of pottery, originated to the northwest in the Bismarck Archipelago around 1500 BC. The earliest known human settlement of New Caledonia, dated to 1240 ±220 BC at the Tiwi rockshelter,"Lapita and non-Lapita ware during New Caledonia&#39;s first millennium of Austronesian settlement"</p><br>
<p>Christophe Sand, p 3, in Le Pacifique de 5000 h 2000 avant le present / The Pacific from 5000 to 2000 BP, Archaeologue, is attributed to the Lapitans, who then moved on to Fiji by approximately 900 BC, whence the Polynesian expansion would begin.</p><br>
<h3>Since Western contact</h3><br>
<p>Western colonization of the area began in the 18th century. The British explorer James Cook sighted Grande Terre in 1774 and named it New Caledonia, Caledonia being Latin for Scotland. In 1853, under Napoleon III, the area was made a French colony. The French brought colonial subjects such as Arabs from the Maghreb to settle in the territory. Given its strategic location and that it was unoccupied by Japanese troops it played a vital role under the Free French Forces as an Allied Forces naval base during the Second World War.</p><br>
<p>Today, while French is the official language, 28 indigenous tongues are still spoken. At the 2004 census, 97.0% reported they could speak French, whereas only 0.97% reported that they had no knowledge of French. In the same census, 37.1% reported that they could speak (but not necessarily read or write) one of the 28 indigenous Austronesian languages.</p><br>
<p>At the 1996 census, the indigenous Melanesian Kanak community represented 44.6% of the whole population. They are no longer a majority, their proportion of the population having declined due to immigration and other factors. The rest of the population is made up of ethnic groups that arrived in New Caledonia in the last 150 years: Europeans (34.5%) (predominantly French, with German, British and Italian minorities), Polynesians (Wallisians, Tahitians) (11.8%), Indonesians (2.6%), Vietnamese (1.4%), Ni-Vanuatu (1.2%), and various other groups (3.9%), Tamils, other South Asians, Berbers, Japanese, Chinese, Fijians, Arabs, West Indian (mostly from other French territories) and a small number of ethnic Africans.</p><br>
<p>AirportVance W. Amory InternationalIATA: NEV, ICAO: TKPNElevation 35 ft. </p><br>
<p>Caribbean portal</p><br>
<p>Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Nevis is located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 350 km east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 km west of Antigua. Its area is 93 km&sup2; and the capital is Charlestown.</p><br>
<p>Saint Kitts and Nevis are separated by a shallow 3 km channel known as "The Narrows". Nevis is roughly conical in shape with a volcano known as Nevis Peak at its centre. The island is fringed on its western and northern coastlines by sandy beaches which are composed of a mixture of white coral sand with brown and black sand which is eroded and washed down from the volcanic rocks that make up the island. The gently-sloping coastal plain (1 km wide) has natural freshwater springs as well as non-potable volcanic hot springs, especially along the western coast.</p><br>
<p>The island was named Oualie ("Land of Beautiful Waters") by the Caribs and Dulcina ("Sweet Island") by the early British settlers. The name Nevis is derived from the Spanish Nuestra Señora de las Nieves (which means Our Lady of the Snows); the name first appears on maps in the 16th century. Nevis is also known by the sobriquet "Queen of the Caribees", which it earned in the 18th century, when its sugar plantations created much wealth for the British.</p><br>
<p>Nevis is of particular historical significance to Americans because it was the birthplace and early childhood home of Alexander Hamilton. For the British, Nevis is the place where Horatio Nelson was stationed as a young sea captain, and is where he met and married a Nevisian, Frances Nisbet, the young widow of a plantation-owner.</p><br>
<p>The majority of the approximately 12,000 citizens of Nevis are of primarily African descent. English is the official language, and the literacy rate, 98 percent, is one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>In 1498, Christopher Columbus gave the island the name San Martin (Saint Martin). However, the confusion of numerous poorly-charted small islands in the Leeward Island chain meant that this name ended up being accidentally transferred to another island, which is still known as Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten.</p><br>
<p>The current name Nevis was derived from a Spanish name Nuestra Señora de las Nieves by a process of abbreviation and anglicisation. The Spanish name means Our Lady of the Snows. It is not known who chose this name for the island, but it is a reference to the story of a 4th-century Catholic miracle: a snowfall on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. Presumably the white clouds that usually cover the top of Nevis Peak reminded someone of this story of a miraculous snowfall in a hot climate.</p><br>
<p>Nevis was part of the Spanish claim to the Caribbean islands, a claim pursued until the Treaty of Madrid (1670), even though there were no Spanish settlements on the island. According to Vincent Hubbard, author of Swords, Ships & Sugar: History of Nevis, the Spanish ruling caused many of the Arawak groups who were not ethnically Caribs to "be redefined as Caribs overnight". Records indicate that the Spanish enslaved large numbers of the native inhabitants on the more accessible of the Leeward Islands and sent them to Cubagua, Venezuela to dive for pearls. Hubbard suggests that the reason the first European settlers found so few "Caribs" on Nevis is that they had already been rounded up by the Spanish and shipped off to be used as slaves.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Amerindians</h3><br>
<p>Nevis was first sighted by Columbus in 1493; an island settled for more than two thousand years by Amerindian people. The indigenous people of Nevis during these periods belonged to the Leeward Island Amerindian groups popularly referred to as Arawaks and Caribs, a complex mosaic of ethnic groups with similar culture and language. Lennox Honychurch (D. Phil. in Anthropology) from Dominica, a leading scholar in the history and culture of Caribs, traces the European use of the term "Carib" to refer to the Leeward Island aborigines to Columbus, who picked it up from the Taínos on Hispaniola. It was not a name the Caribs called themselves. "Carib Indians" was the generic name used for all groups believed involved in cannibalistic war rituals, more particularly, the consumption of parts of a killed enemy&#39;s body.</p><br>
<p>The Amerindian name for Nevis was Oualie, land of beautiful waters. The structure of the Island Carib language has been linguistically identified as Arawakan.</p><br>
<h3>Colonial era</h3><br>
<p>In spite of the Spanish claim, Nevis continued to be a popular stop-over point for English and Dutch ships on their way to the North American continent. Captain Bartholomew Gilbert of Plymouth visited the island in 1603, spending two weeks to cut twenty tons of lignum vitae wood. Gilbert sailed on to Virginia to seek out survivors of the Roanoke settlement in what is now North Carolina. Captain John Smith visited Nevis also on his way to Virginia in 1607. This was the voyage which founded Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World.</p><br>
<p>On 30 August 1620, James 6th of Scotland – James I of England asserted sovereignty over Nevis by giving a Royal Patent for colonisation to the Earl of Carlisle. However, actual European settlement did not happen until 1628 when Anthony Hilton moved from nearby Saint Kitts following a murder plot against him. He was accompanied by 80 other settlers, soon to be boosted by a further 100 settlers from London who had originally hoped to settle Barbuda. Hilton became the first Governor of Nevis. After the Treaty of Madrid (1670) between Spain and England, Nevis became the seat of the British colony and the Admiralty Court also sat in Nevis. Between 1675 and 1730, the island was the headquarters for the slave trade for the Leeward Islands, with approximately 6,000–7,000 enslaved West Africans passing through en route to other islands each year. The Royal African Company brought all its ships through Nevis. A 1678 census shows a community of Irish people – 22% of the population – existing as either indentured servants or freemen.</p><br>
<p>Due to the profitable Slave Trade and the high quality of Nevisian sugar cane, the island soon became a dominant source of wealth for Great Britain and the slave-owning British plantocracy. When the Leeward Islands were separated from Barbados in 1671, Nevis became the seat of the Leeward Islands colony and was given the nickname "Queen of the Caribees". It remained colonial capital for the Leeward Islands until the seat was transferred to Antigua for military reasons in 1698. During this period, Nevis was the richest of the British Leeward Islands. The island outranked larger islands like Jamaica in sugar production in the late 17th century. The wealth of the planters on the island is evident in the tax records preserved at the Calendar State Papers in the British Colonial Office Public Records, where the amount of tax collected on the Leeward Islands was recorded. The sums recorded for 1676 as "head tax on slaves", a tax payable in sugar, amounted to 384,600 pounds in Nevis, as opposed to 67,000 each in Antigua and Saint Kitts, 62,500 in Montserrat, and 5,500 total in the other five islands. The profits on sugar cultivation in Nevis was enhanced by the fact that the cane juice from Nevis yielded an unusually high amount of sugar. A gallon (3.79 litres) of cane juice from Nevis yielded 24 ounces (0.71 litres) of sugar, whereas a gallon from Saint Kitts yielded 16 ounces (0.47 litres). Twenty percent of the British Empire&#39;s total sugar production in 1700 was derived from Nevisian plantations. Exports from West Indian colonies like Nevis were worth more than all the exports from all the mainland Thirteen Colonies of North America combined at the time of the American Revolution.</p><br>
<p>The enslaved families formed the large labour force required to work the sugar plantations. After the 1650s the supply of white indentured servants began to dry up due to increased wages in England and less incentive to migrate to the colonies. By the end of the 17th century, the population of Nevis consisted of a small, rich planter elite in control, a marginal population of poor whites, a great majority of African-descended slaves, and an unknown number of maroons, escaped slaves living in the mountains. In 1780, 90 percent of the 10,000 people living on Nevis were black. Some of the maroons joined with the few remaining Caribs in Nevis to form a resistance force. Memories of the Nevisian maroons&#39; struggle under the plantation system are preserved in place names such as Maroon Hill, an early centre of resistance.</p><br>
<p>The great wealth generated by the colonies of the West Indies led to wars between Spain, Britain, and France. The formation of the United States can be said to be a partial by-product of these wars and the strategic trade aims that often ignored North America. Three privateers (William Kidd being one of them) were employed by the British Crown to help protect ships in Nevis&#39; waters.</p><br>
<p>During the 17th century, the French, based on Saint Kitts, launched many attacks on Nevis, sometimes assisted by the Island Caribs, who in 1667 sent a large fleet of canoes along in support. In the same year a Franco-Dutch invasion fleet was repelled off Nevis by an English fleet. Letters and other records from the era indicate that the English on Nevis hated and feared the Amerindians. In 1674 and 1683 they participated in attacks on Carib villages in Dominica and St. Vincent, in spite of a lack of official approval from the Crown for the attack.</p><br>
<p>On Nevis, the English built Fort Charles and a series of smaller fortifications to aid in defending the island. This included Saddle Hill Battery, built in 1740 to replace a deodand on Mount Nevis.</p><br>
<h3>Emancipation</h3><br>
<p>In 1706, Pierre Le Moyne d&#39;Iberville, the French Canadian founder of Louisiana in North America, decided to drive the English out of Nevis and thus also stop pirate attacks on French ships; he considered Nevis the region&#39;s headquarters for piracy against French trade. During d&#39;Iberville&#39;s invasion of Nevis, French buccaneers were used in the front line, infamous for being ruthless killers after the pillaging during the wars with Spain where they gained a reputation for torturing and murdering non-combatants. In the face of the invading force, the English militiamen of Nevis fled. Some planters burned the plantations, rather than letting the French have them, and hid in the mountains. It was the enslaved Africans who held the French at bay by taking up arms to defend their families and the island. The slave quarters had been looted and burned as well, as the main reward promised the men fighting on the French side in the attack was the right to capture as many slaves as possible and resell them in Martinique.</p><br>
<p>During the fighting, 3,400 enslaved Nevisians were captured and sent off to Martinique, but about 1,000 more, poorly armed and militarily untrained, held the French troops at bay, by "murderous fire" according to an eyewitness account by an English militiaman. He wrote that "the slaves&#39; brave behaviour and defence there shamed what some of their masters did, and they do not shrink to tell us so." After 18 days of fighting, the French were driven off the island. Among the Nevisian men, women and children carried away on d&#39;Iberville&#39;s ships, six ended up in Louisiana, the first persons of African descent to arrive there.</p><br>
<p>One consequence of the French attack was a collapsed sugar industry and during the ensuing hardship on Nevis, small plots of land on the plantations were made available to the enslaved families in order to control the loss of life due to starvation. With less profitability for the absentee plantation owners, the import of food supplies for the plantation workers dwindled. Between 1776 and 1783, when the food supplies failed to arrive altogether due to the rebellion in North America, 300–400 enslaved Nevisians starved to death. On 1 August 1834, slavery was abolished in the British Empire. In Nevis, 8,815 slaves were freed. The first Monday in August is celebrated as Emancipation Day and is part of the annual Nevis Culturama festival.</p><br>
<p>A four-year apprenticeship programme followed the abolishment of slavery on the plantations. In spite of the continued use of the labour force, the Nevisian slave owners were paid over £150,000 in compensation from the British Government for the loss of property, whereas the enslaved families received nothing for 200 years of labour. One of the wealthiest planter families in Nevis, the Pinneys of Montravers Plantation, claimed £36,396 (worth close to £1,800,000 today) in compensation for the slaves on the family-owned plantations around the Caribbean.</p><br>
<p>Because of the early distribution of plots and because many of the planters departed from the island when sugar cultivation became unprofitable, a relatively large percentage of Nevisians already owned or controlled land at emancipation. Others settled on crown land. This early development of a society with a majority of small, landowning farmers and entrepreneurs created a stronger middleclass in Nevis than in Saint Kitts where the sugar industry continued until 2006. Even though the 15 families in the wealthy planter elite no longer control the arable land, Saint Kitts still has a large, landless working class population.</p><br>
<h3>1800 to the present day</h3><br>
<p>Nevis was united with Saint Kitts and Anguilla in 1882, and they became an associated state with full internal autonomy in 1967, though Anguilla seceded in 1971. Together, Saint Kitts and Nevis became independent on 19 September 1983. On 10 August 1998, a referendum on Nevis to separate from Saint Kitts had 2,427 votes in favour and 1,498 against, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed.</p><br>
<p>Before 1967, the local government of Saint Kitts was also the government of Nevis and Anguilla. Nevis had two seats and Anguilla one seat in the government. The economic and infrastructural development of the two smaller islands was not a priority to the colonial federal government.</p><br>
<p>When the hospital in Charlestown was destroyed in a hurricane in 1899, planting of trees in the squares of Saint Kitts and refurbishing of government buildings, also in Saint Kitts, took precedence over the rebuilding of the only hospital in Nevis. After five years without any proper medical facilities, the leaders in Nevis initiated a campaign, threatening to seek independence from Saint Kitts. The British Administrator in Saint Kitts, Charles Cox, was unmoved. He stated that Nevis did not need a hospital since there had been no significant rise in the number of deaths during the time Nevisians had been without a hospital. Therefore, no action was needed on behalf of the government, and besides, Cox continued, the Legislative Council regarded "Nevis and Anguilla as a drag on St. Kitts and would willingly see a separation". Finally, a letter of complaint to the metropolitan British Foreign Office gave result and the federal government in Saint Kitts was ordered by their superiors in London to take speedy action. The Legislative Council took another five years to consider their options. The final decision by the federal government was to not rebuild the old hospital after all, but to instead convert the old Government House in Nevis into a hospital, named Alexandra Hospital after Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII. A majority of the funds assigned for the hospital could thus spent on the construction of a new official residence in Nevis.</p><br>
<p>After d&#39;Iberville&#39;s invasion in 1704, records show Nevis’ sugar industry in ruins and a decimated population begging the English Parliament and relatives for loans and monetary assistance to stave off island-wide starvation. The sugar industry on the island never fully recovered and during the general depression that followed the loss of the West Indian sugar monopoly, Nevis fell on hard times and the island became one of the poorest in the region. The island remained poorer than Saint Kitts until 1991, when the fiscal performance of Nevis edged ahead of the fiscal performance of Saint Kitts for the first time since the French invasion.</p><br>
<p>Electricity was introduced in Nevis in 1954, when two generators were shipped in to provide electricity to the area around Charlestown. In this regard, Nevis fared better than Anguilla, where there were no paved roads, no electricity and no telephones up until 1967. However, electricity did not become available island-wide on Nevis until 1971.</p><br>
<p>An ambitious infrastructure development programme has been introduced during the last 10 years, including a transformation of the Charlestown port, construction of a new deep-water harbour, resurfacing and widening the Island Main Road, a new airport terminal and control tower, and a major airport expansion, which required the relocation of an entire village in order to make room for the runway extension.</p><br>
<p>Modernised classrooms and better equipped schools, as well as improvements in the educational system, have contributed to a leap in academic performance on the island. The pass rate among the Nevisian students sitting for the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exams, the Cambridge General Certificate of Education Examination (GCE) and the Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examinations is now consistently among the highest in the English-speaking Caribbean.</p><br>
<h3>Hurricanes</h3><br>
<p>* September 1989: there was a considerable amount of damage from Hurricane Hugo.</p><br>
<p>* September 1998, there was a great deal of damage from Hurricane Georges.</p><br>
<p>* November 1999: Nevis was hit by Hurricane Lenny, which caused some heavy damage to the island&#39;s infrastructure on the western coast, because of the storm&#39;s unusual track from west to east.</p><br>
<p>* October 2008: Nevis was brushed with the edge of Hurricane Omar. Among other establishments, The Four Seasons Resort Nevis was forced to close to undergo repairs. Hurricane Omar thus caused the loss of 600 jobs for over 2 years; the resort reopened on 15 December 2010.</p><br>
<p>* August 2010: there was some damage on Nevis from Hurricane Earl.</p><br>
<p>* September 2010, there was some damage from Hurricane Igor.</p><br>
<p>* September 2017, there was damage from Hurricane Irma.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The formation of the island began in mid-Pliocene times, approximately 3.45 million years ago. Nine distinct eruptive centres from different geological ages, ranging from mid-Pliocene to Pleistocene, have contributed to the formation. No single model of the island&#39;s geological evolution can therefore be ascertained.</p><br>
<p>Nevis Peak (985 m /3,232 ft) is the dormant remnant of one of these ancient stratovolcanoes. The last activity took place about 100,000 years ago, but active fumaroles and hot springs are still found on the island, the most recent formed in 1953. The composite cone of Nevis volcano has two overlapping summit craters that are partially filled by a lava dome, created in recent, pre-Columbian time. Pyroclastic flows and mudflows were deposited on the lower slopes of the cone simultaneously. Nevis Peak is located on the outer crater rim. Four other lava domes were constructed on the flanks of the volcano, one on the northeast flank (Madden&#39;s Mount), one on the eastern flank (Butlers Mountain), one on the northwest coast (Mount Lily) and one on the south coast (Saddle Hill, with a height of 375 metres).</p><br>
<p>During the last ice age, when the sea level was 60 m lower, the three islands of Saint Kitts, Nevis and Sint Eustatius (also known as Statia) were connected as one island. Saba, however, is separated from these three by a deeper channel.</p><br>
<p>There are visible wave-breaking reefs along the northern and eastern shorelines. To the south and west, the reefs are located in deeper water and are suitable for scuba diving. The most developed beach on Nevis is the 6.5 km long Pinney&#39;s Beach, on the western or Caribbean coast. There are sheltered swimming beaches in Oualie Bay and Cades Bay. The eastern coast of the island faces into the Atlantic Ocean, and can have strong surf in parts of the shore which are unprotected by fringing coral reefs. The colour of the sand on the beaches of Nevis is variable: on a lot of the bigger beaches the sand is a yellow grey in colour, but some beaches on the southern coast have darker, reddish, or even black sand. Under a microscope it becomes clear that Nevis sand is a mixture of tiny fragments of coral, many foraminifera, and small crystals of the various mineral constituents of the volcanic rock of which the island is made.</p><br>
<h3>Geology</h3><br>
<p>Seven volcanic centers make up Nevis. These include Round Hill (3.43 Ma), Cades Bay (3.22 Ma), Hurricane Hill (2.7 Ma), Saddle Hill (1.8 Ma), Butlers Mountain (1.1 Ma), Red Cliff and Nevis Peak (0.98 Ma). These are mainly andesite and dacite lava domes, with associated block and ash flows, plus lahars.Nevis Peak has the highest elevation at 984 m. Cades Bay and Farm Estate Soufriere are noted areas of hydrothermal activity.</p><br>
<p>Water has been piped since 1911 from a spring called the "Source", located 1800 feet up the mountain, to storage tanks at Rawlins Village, and since 1912, to Butler&#39;s Village. Additional drinking water comes from Nelson&#39;s Spring near Cotton Ground and Bath Spring. Groundwater has been extracted since the 1990s, and mixed with the Source water.</p><br>
<h3>Colonial deforestation</h3><br>
<p>During the 17th and 18th centuries, massive deforestation was undertaken by the planters as the land was initially cleared for sugar cultivation. This intense land exploitation by the sugar and cotton industry lasted almost 300 years, and greatly changed the island&#39;s ecosystem.</p><br>
<p>In some places along the windswept southeast or "Windward" coast of the island, the landscape is radically altered compared with how it used to be in pre-colonial times. Due to extreme land erosion, the top soil was swept away, and in some places at the coast, sheer cliffs as high as 25 metres (82 ft) have developed.</p><br>
<p>Thick forest once covered the eastern coastal plain, where the Amerindians built their first settlements during the Aceramic period, complimenting the ecosystem surrounding the coral reef just offshore. It was the easy access to fresh water on the island and the rich food source represented by the ocean life sheltered by the reef that made it feasible for the Amerindians to settle this area around 600 BC. With the loss of the natural vegetation, the balance in runoff nutrients to the reef was disturbed, eventually causing as much as 80 percent of the large eastern fringing reef to become inactive. As the reef broke apart, it in turn provided less protection for the coastline.</p><br>
<p>During times of maximum cultivation, sugar cane fields stretched from the coastline of Nevis up to an altitude at which the mountain slopes were too steep and rocky to farm. Nonetheless, once the sugar industry was finally abandoned, vegetation on the leeward side of the island regrew reasonably well, as scrub and secondary forest.</p><br>
<h3>Water resources</h3><br>
<p>Nevis has several natural freshwater springs (including Nelson&#39;s Spring). The island also has numerous non-potable volcanic hot springs, including most notably the Bath Spring near Bath village, just south of the capital Charlestown.</p><br>
<p>After heavy rains, powerful rivers of rainwater pour down the numerous ravines (known as ghauts). When the water reaches the coastline, the corresponding coastal ponds, both freshwater and brackish, fill to capacity and beyond, spilling over into the sea.</p><br>
<p>With modern development, the existing freshwater springs are no longer enough to supply water to the whole island. The water supply now comes mostly from Government wells. The major source of potable water for the island is groundwater, obtained from 14 active wells. Water is pumped from the wells, stored and allowed to flow by gravity to the various locations.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>The climate is tropical with little variation, tempered all year round (but particularly from December through February) by the steady north-easterly winds, called the trade winds. There is a slightly hotter and somewhat rainier season from May to November.</p><br>
<p>Nevis lies within the track area of tropical storms and occasional hurricanes. These storms can develop between August and October. This time of year has the heaviest rainfalls.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>The official currency is the Eastern Caribbean dollar (EC$), which is shared by eight other territories in the region.</p><br>
<p>The European Commission&#39;s Delegation in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean estimates the annual per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on Nevis to be about 10 percent higher than on St. Kitts.</p><br>
<h3>Tourism</h3><br>
<p>The major source of revenue for Nevis today is tourism. During the 2003–2004 season, approximately 40,000 tourists visited Nevis. A five star hotel (The Four Seasons Resort Nevis, West Indies), four exclusive restored plantation inns, and several smaller hotels, are currently in operation. Larger developments along the west coast have recently been approved and are in the process of being developed.</p><br>
<h3>Offshore accounting</h3><br>
<p>The introduction of new legislation has made offshore financial services a rapidly growing economic sector in Nevis. Incorporation of companies, international insurance and reinsurance, as well as several international banks, trust companies, asset management firms, have created a boost in the economy. During 2005, the Nevis Island Treasury collected $94.6 million in annual revenue, compared to $59.8 million during 2001. In 1998, 17,500 international banking companies were registered in Nevis. Registration and annual filing fees paid in 1999 by these entities amounted to over 10 percent of Nevis’ revenues. The offshore financial industry gained importance during the financial disaster of 1999 when Hurricane Lenny damaged the major resort on the island, causing the hotel to be closed down for a year and 400 of the 700 employees to be laid off.</p><br>
<p>In 2000, the Financial Action Task Force, part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), issued a blacklist of 35 nations which were said to be non-cooperative in the campaign against tax evasion and money laundering. The list included the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as Liechtenstein, Monaco, Luxembourg, the British Channel Islands, Israel, and Russia. No alleged misconduct had taken place on Nevis, but the island was included in the blanket action against all offshore financial business centres, as such centres cause a considerable loss of tax revenue for the G7 countries.</p><br>
<h2>Politics</h2><br>
<p>The political structure for the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis is based on the Westminster Parliamentary system, but it is a unique structure in that Nevis has its own unicameral legislature, consisting of Her Majesty&#39;s representative (the Deputy Governor General) and members of the Nevis Island Assembly. Nevis has considerable autonomy in its legislative branch. The constitution actually empowers the Nevis Island Legislature to make laws that cannot be abrogated by the National Assembly. In addition, Nevis has a constitutionally protected right to secede from the federation, should a two-third majority of the island&#39;s population vote for independence in a local referendum. Section 113.(1) of the constitution states: "The Nevis Island Legislature may provide that the island of Nevis shall cease to be federated with the island of Saint Christopher and accordingly that this Constitution shall no longer have effect in the island of Nevis."</p><br>
<p>Nevis has its own premier and its own government, the Nevis Island Administration. It collects its own taxes and has a separate budget, with a current account surplus. According to a statement released by the Nevis Ministry of Finance in 2005, Nevis had one of the highest growth rates in gross national product and per capita income in the Caribbean at that point.</p><br>
<p>The federal prime minister, Denzil Douglas, is the leader of the majority party of the federal House of Representatives in Saint Kitts, and his cabinet conducts the affairs of state. The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis has a 14 or 15-member unicameral legislature or parliament (the Senate and House of Representatives sit and vote together): A Senate, with three or four members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; and a popularly elected House of Representatives with 11 members, eight Saint Kitts seats and three Nevis seats. The prime minister and the cabinet are responsible to the Parliament.</p><br>
<h3>Elections</h3><br>
<p>Nevis elections are scheduled every five years. The Nevis elections of 2013, called on 23 January 2013, was won by the party in opposition, the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), led by Vance Amory. The CCM won three of the five seats in the Nevis Island Assembly, while the incumbent party, the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP), won two.</p><br>
<p>In the federal elections of 2010, the CCM won two of the three Nevis assigned Federal seats, while the NRP won one. Of the eight Saint Kitts assigned federal seats, the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party won six and the People&#39;s Action Movement (PAM) two.</p><br>
<h3>Movement for constitutional reform</h3><br>
<p>Joseph Parry, leader of the opposition, has indicated that he favours constitutional reform over secession for Nevis. His party, the NRP, has historically been the strongest and most ardent proponent for Nevis independence; the party came to power with secession as the main campaign issue. In 1975, the NRP manifesto declared that: "The Nevis Reformation Party will strive at all costs to gain secession for Nevis from St. Kitts – a privilege enjoyed by the island of Nevis prior to 1882."</p><br>
<p>A cursory proposal for constitutional reform was presented by the NRP in 1999, but the issue was not prominent in the 2006 election campaign and it appears a detailed proposal has yet to be worked out and agreed upon within the party.</p><br>
<p>In Handbook of Federal Countries published by Forum of Federations, the authors consider the constitution problematic because it does not "specifically outline" the federal financial arrangements or the means by which the central government and Nevis Island Administration can raise revenue: "In terms of the NIA, the constitution only states (in s. 108(1)) that &#39;all revenues...raised or received by the Administration...shall be paid into and form a fund styled the Nevis Island Consolidated Fund.&#39; ... Section 110(1) states that the proceeds of all &#39;takes&#39; collected in St. Kitts and Nevis under any law are to be shared between the federal government and the Nevis Island Administration based on population. The share going to the NIA, however, is subject to deductions (s. 110(2)), such as the cost of common services and debt charges, as determined by the Governor-General (s.110(3)) on the advice of the Prime Minister who can also take advice from the Premier of Nevis (s.110(4))."</p><br>
<p>According to a 1995 report by the Commonwealth Observer Group of the Commonwealth Secretariat, "the federal government is also the local government of St Kitts and this has resulted in a perception among the political parties in Nevis that the interests of the people of Nevis are being neglected by the federal government which is more concerned with the administration of St Kitts than with the federal administration."</p><br>
<h3>Secession movement</h3><br>
<p>Simeon Daniel, Nevis&#39; first Premier and former leader of the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP) and Vance Amory, Premier and leader of the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), made sovereign independence for Nevis from the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis part of their parties&#39; agenda. Since independence from the United Kingdom in 1983, the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government have been involved in several conflicts over the interpretation of the new constitution which came into effect at independence. During an interview on Voice of America in March 1998, repeated in a government issued press release headlined "PM Douglas Maintains 1983 Constitution is Flawed", Prime Minister Denzil Douglas called the constitution a "recipe for disaster and disharmony among the people of both islands".</p><br>
<p>A crisis developed in 1984 when the People&#39;s Action Movement (PAM) won a majority in the Federal elections and temporarily ceased honouring the Federal Government&#39;s financial obligations to Nevis.</p><br>
<p>There is also substantial support in Nevis for British Overseas Territory status similarly to Anguilla, which was formerly the third of the tri-state Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla colony.</p><br>
<h4>Legislative motivation for secession</h4><br>
<p>In 1996, four new bills were introduced in the National Assembly in Saint Kitts, one of which made provisions to have revenue derived from activities in Nevis paid directly to the treasury in Saint Kitts instead of to the treasury in Nevis. Another bill, The Financial Services Committee Act, contained provisions that all investments in Saint Kitts and Nevis would require approval by an investment committee in Saint Kitts. This was controversial, because ever since 1983 the Nevis Island Administration had approved all investments for Nevis, on the basis that the constitution vests legislative authority for industries, trades and businesses and economic development in Nevis to the Nevis Island Administration.</p><br>
<p>All three representatives from Nevis, including the leader of the opposition in the Nevis Island Assembly, objected to the introduction of these bills into the National Assembly in Saint Kitts, arguing that the bills would affect the ability of Nevis to develop its offshore financial services sector and that the bills would be detrimental to the Nevis economy. All the representatives in opposition in the National Assembly shared the conviction that the bills, if passed into law, would be unconstitutional and undermine the constitutional and legislative authority of the Nevis Island Administration, as well as result in the destruction of the economy of Nevis.</p><br>
<p>The constitutional crisis initially developed when the newly appointed Attorney General refused to grant permission for the Nevis Island Administration to assert its legal right in the Courts. After a decision of the High Court in favour of the Nevis Island Administration, the Prime Minister gave newspaper interviews stating that he "refused to accept the decision of the High Court". Due to the deteriorating relationship between the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government, a Constitutional Committee was appointed in April 1996 to advise on whether or not the present constitutional arrangement between the islands should continue. The committee recommended constitutional reform and the establishment of an island administration for Saint Kitts, separate from the Federal Government.</p><br>
<p>The Federal Government in Saint Kitts fills both functions today and Saint Kitts does not have an equivalent to the Nevis Island Administration. Disagreements between the political parties in Nevis and between the Nevis Island Administration and the Federal Government have prevented the recommendations by the electoral committee from being implemented. The problematic political arrangement between the two islands therefore continues to date.</p><br>
<p>Nevis has continued developing its own legislation, such as The Nevis International Insurance Ordinance and the Nevis International Mutual Funds Ordinance of 2004, but calls for secession are often based on concerns that the legislative authority of the Nevis Island Administration might be challenged again in the future.</p><br>
<h4>Fiscal motivation for secession</h4><br>
<p>The issues of political dissension between Saint Kitts and Nevis are often centred around perceptions of imbalance in the economic structure. As noted by many scholars, Nevisians have often referred to a structural imbalance in Saint Kitts&#39; favour in how funds are distributed between the two islands and this issue has made the movement for Nevis secession a constant presence in the island&#39;s political arena, with many articles appearing in the local press expressing concerns such as those compiled by Everton Powell in "What Motivates Our Call for Independence":</p><br>
<p>* Many of the businesses that operate in Nevis are headquartered in Saint Kitts and pay the corporate taxes to Saint Kitts, despite the fact that profits for those businesses are derived from Nevis.</p><br>
<p>* The vast majority of Nevisians and residents of Nevis depart the Federation from Saint Kitts. This meant that departure taxes are paid in Saint Kitts.</p><br>
<p>* The bulk of cargo destined for Nevis enters the Federation through Saint Kitts. Custom duties are therefore paid in Saint Kitts.</p><br>
<p>* The largest expenditure for Nevis, approximately 29 percent of the Nevis Island Administration&#39;s recurrent budget, is education and health services, but the Nevis Island Legislature has no power to legislate over these two areas.</p><br>
<p>* Police, defense and coast guard are a federal responsibility. Charlestown Police Station, which served as the Headquarters for police officers in Nevis, was destroyed by fire in December 1991. Police officers initially had to operate out of the ruin, until the Nevis Island Administration managed to raise the resources to re-house the police.</p><br>
<p>* Nevis experiences an economic disadvantage because of preferential treatment by the federal government for development of Saint Kitts. The division of foreign aid and various forms of international assistance toward development and infrastructure are especially contentious issues. Lists showing the disparities in sharing have been compiled by Dr. Everson Hull, a former Economics professor of Howard University, and are available online.</p><br>
<h4>1998 referendum</h4><br>
<p>A referendum on secession from the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis was held in 1998. Although 62% voted in favor of a secession, a two-thirds majority would have been necessary for the referendum to succeed.</p><br>
<h2>Government</h2><br>
<p>The island of Nevis is divided into five administrative subdivisions called parishes, each of which has an elected representative in the Nevis Island Assembly. The division of this almost round island into parishes was done in a circular sector pattern, so each parish is shaped like a pie slice, reaching from the highest point of Nevis Peak down to the coastline.</p><br>
<p>The parishes have double names, for example Saint George Gingerland. The first part of the name is the name of the patron saint of the parish church, and the second part of the name is the traditional common name of the parish. Often the parishes are referred to simply by their common names. The religious part of a parish name is sometimes written or pronounced in the possessive: Saint George&#39;s Gingerland.</p><br>
<p>The five parishes of Nevis are:</p><br>
<p>* Saint George Gingerland</p><br>
<p>* Saint James Windward</p><br>
<p>* Saint John Figtree</p><br>
<p>* Saint Paul Charlestown</p><br>
<p>* Saint Thomas Lowland</p><br>
<h2>Culture</h2><br>
<p>Culturama, the annual cultural festival of Nevis, is celebrated during the Emancipation Day weekend, the first week of August. The festivities include many traditional folk dances, such as the masquerade, the Moko jumbies on stilts, Cowboys and Indians, and Plait the Ribbon, a May pole dance. The celebration was given a more organised form in 1974, including a Miss Culture Show and a Calypso Competition, as well as drama performances, old fashion Troupes (including Johnny Walkers, Giant and Spear, Bulls, Red Cross and Blue Ribbon), arts and crafts exhibitions and recipe competitions. According to the Nevis Department of Culture, the aim is to protect and encourage indigenous folklore, in order to make sure that the uniquely Caribbean culture can "reassert itself and flourish".</p><br>
<h3>Language</h3><br>
<p>The official language is English and Saint Kitts Creole (known on the island as &#39;Nevisian&#39; or &#39;Nevis creole&#39;) is also widely spoken. The local creole is actually more widely spoken on Nevis than on the neighbouring island.</p><br>
<h3>Music, theatre and dance</h3><br>
<p>Nevisian culture has since the 17th century incorporated African, European and East Indian cultural elements, creating a distinct Afro-Caribbean culture. Several historical anthropologists have done field research Nevis and in Nevisian migrant communities in order to trace the creation and constitution of a Nevisian cultural community. Karen Fog Olwig published her research about Nevis in 1993, writing that the areas where the Afro-Caribbean traditions were especially strong and flourishing relate to kinship and subsistence farming. However, she adds, Afro-Caribbean cultural impulses were not recognised or valued in the colonial society and were therefore often expressed through Euro-Caribbean cultural forms. Examples of European forms appropriated to express Afro-Caribbean culture are the Nevisian and Kittitian Tea Meetings and Christmas Sports. According to anthropologist Roger D. Abrahams, these traditional performance art forms are "Nevisian approximation of British performance codes, techniques, and patterns". He writes that the Tea Meetings were staged as theatrical "battles between decorum and chaos", decorum represented by the ceremony chairmen and chaos the hecklers in the audience, with a diplomatic King or a Queen presiding over the battle to ensure fairness.</p><br>
<p>The Christmas Sports included a form of comedy and satire based on local events and gossip.</p><br>
<p>American folklorist and musicologist Alan Lomax visited Nevis in 1962 in order to conduct long-term research into the black folk culture of the island. His field trip to Nevis and surrounding islands resulted in the anthology Lomax Caribbean Voyage series.</p><br>
<p>Among the Nevisians recorded were chantey-singing fishermen in a session organised in a rum shop in Newcastle; Santoy, the Calypsonian, performing calypsos by Nevisian ballader and local legend Charles Walters to guitar and cuatro; and string bands, fife players and drummers from Gingerland, performing quadrilles.</p><br>
<p>The island is also known for "Jamband music", which is the kind of music performed by local bands during the "Culturama Festival" and is key to "Jouvert" dancing. The sounds of the so-called "Iron Band" are also popular within the culture; many locals come together using any old pans, sinks, or other kits of any sort; which they use to create sounds and music. This form of music is played throughout the villages during the Christmas and carnival seasons.</p><br>
<h3>Architecture</h3><br>
<p>A series of earthquakes during the 18th century severely damaged most of the colonial-era stone buildings of Charlestown. The Georgian stone buildings in Charlestown that are visible today had to be partially rebuilt after the earthquakes, and this led to the development of a new architectural style, consisting of a wooden upper floor over a stone ground floor; the new style resisted earthquake damage much more effectively.</p><br>
<p>Two famous Nevisian buildings from the 18th century are Hermitage Plantation, built of lignum vitae wood in 1740, the oldest surviving wooden house still in use in the Caribbean today, and the Bath Hotel, the first hotel in the Caribbean, a luxury hotel and spa built by John Huggins in 1778. The soothing waters of the hotel&#39;s hot spring and the lively social life on Nevis attracted many famous Europeans including Antigua-based Admiral Nelson, and Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence, (future William IV of the United Kingdom), who attended balls and private parties at the Bath Hotel. Today, the building serves as government offices, and there are two outdoor hot-spring bathing spots which were specially constructed in recent years for public use.</p><br>
<p>An often repeated legend appears to suggest that a destructive 1690 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the buildings of the original capital Jamestown on the west coast. Folk tales say that the town sank beneath the ocean. However, archaeologists from the University of Southampton who have done excavations in the area, have found no evidence to indicate that the story is true. They state that this story may originate with an over-excited Victorian letter writer sharing somewhat exaggerated accounts of his exotic life in the tropical colony with a British audience back home. One such letter recounts that so much damage was done to the town that it was completely evacuated, and was engulfed by the sea. Early maps do not, however, actually show a settlement called "Jamestown", only "Morton&#39;s Bay", and later maps show that all that was left of Jamestown/Morton&#39;s Bay in 1818 was a building labelled "Pleasure House". Very old bricks that wash up on Pinney&#39;s Beach after storms may have contributed to this legend of a sunken town; however these bricks are thought to be dumped ballast from 17th and 18th century sailing ships.</p><br>
<h2>Notable natives and residents</h2><br>
<p>* Arthur Anslyn MBE, marine expert. Born on, and lives on, Nevis.</p><br>
<p>* Alexander Hamilton, the statesman and one of the founding fathers of the United States, was born on Nevis around 1755, and spent a significant part of his childhood there. His father was a trader from Scotland, his mother was from Nevis. The place of his birth currently holds the Nevis Island Assembly Chambers and the Museum of Nevis History.</p><br>
<p>* The Duchess of Bronte, Frances Nisbet (1761–1831), is best known as the wife of British hero 1st Viscount Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, of Battle of Trafalgar fame. She was a planter&#39;s daughter from Nevis, whose rich and influential uncle, John Herbert, was the President of the Council of Nevis. When she met Captain Horatio Nelson on Nevis, Frances Nisbet was a young widow with a five-year-old son. Nelson and she were married in Nevis in 1787. A copy of the marriage certificate is on display at the Saint John Figtree Parish Anglican Church in Nevis.</p><br>
<p>* Eulalie Spence (1894–1981), pioneer playwright of the Harlem Renaissance, was born on Nevis on 11 June 1894. She and her family moved to New York in 1902. She wrote fourteen plays, including Fools Errand, which ran on Broadway in 1927. Her three-act play The Whipping was optioned by Paramount Studios, and was eventually filmed as Ready for Love, a 1934 film starring Ida Lupino and Richard Arlen Spence is famous for having introduced an affirming image of black women into early American drama, using her unique mix of folk art and political race drama. Several of her plays won awards.</p><br>
<p>* Elquemedo Willett, born 1 May 1953, famous Nevisian cricket player and former Leeward Islands and West Indies left-arm spinner, was the first Leeward Islander to play Test cricket for the West Indies in 1973, when he was 19 years old. He was inducted into the Nevis Sports Museum Hall of Fame in 2005.</p><br>
<p>* Cicely Tyson, born on 18 or 19 December 1924, Oscar-nominated in 1972, former wife of Miles Davis and winner of multiple Emmy Awards, is of Nevisian descent. Both her parents emigrated from Nevis to the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.</p><br>
<p>* Rupert Crosse, the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor is of Nevisian descent.</p><br>
<p>* Runako Morton, Nevisian cricketer (1978–2012)</p><br>
<p>* Constance Baker Motley (1921–2005), who as a young lawyer represented Martin Luther King, Jr., has Nevisian heritage and owned a home in Brown Hill, Nevis, near her ancestral home. Both her mother and father emigrated from Nevis. She attained fame as the first African-American woman appointed as a United States Federal judge, the first African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate and the first woman to serve as Manhattan borough president. She was also the first African-American woman to serve on the federal judiciary (1966), as well as the first African-American and the first woman to become Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (1982).</p><br>
<p>* Mel B, the former "Scary Spice" of the Spice Girls, born on 29 May 1975 in Leeds, has a Nevisian father.</p><br>
<p>* Angela Griffin, actress, born 19 July 1976 in Leeds, has a Nevisian father. She is a British actress and television presenter who has been active on British television since the early 1990s.</p><br>
<p>* United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has a vacation home on Nevis. In February 2012 he was robbed in his home at machete-point.</p><br>
<p>Nineveh  was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located on the outskirts of Mosul in modern-day northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and was the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Nowadays it is a common name for the half of Mosul which lies on the eastern bank of the Tigris.</p><br>
<p>It was the largest city in the world for some fifty years until the year 612 BC when, after a bitter period of civil war in Assyria, it was sacked by a coalition of its former subject peoples, the Babylonians, Medes, Chaldeans, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq. The two main tells, or mound-ruins, within the walls are Kouyunjik (Kuyuncuk), the Northern Palace, and Tell Nabī Yūnus.</p><br>
<p>Large amounts of Assyrian sculpture and other artifacts have been excavated and are now located in museums around the world. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) occupied the site during the mid-2010s, during which time they bulldozed several of the monuments there and caused considerable damage to the others. Iraqi forces recaptured the area in January 2017.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The English placename Nineveh comes from Latin Ninive and Septuagint Greek Nineuḗ (Νινευή) under influence of the Biblical Hebrew Nīnewēh (נִינְוֶה), from the Akkadian Ninua ( Ninâ) or Old Babylonian Ninuwā. The original meaning of the name is unclear but may have referred to a patron goddess. The cuneiform for Ninâ is a fish within a house (cf. Aramaic nuna, "fish"). This may have simply intended "Place of Fish" or may have indicated a goddess associated with fish or the Tigris, possibly originally of Hurrian origin. The city was later said to be devoted to "the Ishtar of Nineveh" and Nina was one of the Sumerian and Assyrian names of that goddess.</p><br>
<p>The city was also known as Ninii or Ni in Ancient Egyptian; Ninuwa in Mari; Ninawa in Aramaic; ܢܸܢܘܵܐ in Syriac; and Nainavā (نینوا) in Persian.</p><br>
<p>Nabī Yūnus is the Arabic for "Prophet Jonah". Kouyunjik was, according to Layard, a Turkish name, and it was known as Armousheeah by the Arabs, and is thought to have some connection with the Kara Koyunlu dynasty.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The remains of ancient Nineveh, the mound-ruins of Kouyunjik and Nabī Yūnus, are located on a level part of the plain near the junction of the Tigris and the Khosr Rivers within an area of 750 hectare circumscribed by a 12 km brick rampart. This whole extensive space is now one immense area of ruins overlaid in parts by new suburbs of the city of Mosul.</p><br>
<p>Nineveh was an important junction for commercial routes crossing the Tigris on the great highway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, thus uniting the East and the West, it received wealth from many sources, so that it became one of the greatest of all the region&#39;s ancient cities, and the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.</p><br>
<h2>Early history</h2><br>
<p>Nineveh was one of the oldest and greatest cities in antiquity. The area was settled as early as 6000 BC during the late neolithic. The deep sounding at Nineveh uncovered layers now dated to early Hassuna culture period.</p><br>
<p>By 3000 BC, the area had become an important religious center for the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar. The early city (and subsequent buildings) was constructed on a fault line and, consequently, suffered damage from a number of earthquakes. One such event destroyed the first temple of Ishtar, which was rebuilt in 2260 BC by the Akkadian king Manishtushu.</p><br>
<p>Texts from the Hellenistic period later offered an eponymous Ninus as the founder of Nineveh, although there is no historical basis for this.</p><br>
<h3>Ninevite 5 period</h3><br>
<p>The regional influence of Nineveh became particularly pronounced during the archaeological period known as Ninevite 5, or Ninevite V (2900–2600 BC). This period is defined primarily by the characteristic pottery that is found widely throughout northern Mesopotamia. Also, for the northern Mesopotamian region, the Early Jezirah chronology has been developed by archaeologists. According to this regional chronology, Ninevite 5 is equivalent to the Early Jezirah I–II period.</p><br>
<p>Ninevite 5 was preceded by the Late Uruk period. Ninevite 5 pottery is roughly contemporary to the Early Transcaucasian culture ware, and the Jemdet Nasr ware. Iraqi Scarlet Ware culture also belongs to this period; this colourful painted pottery is somewhat similar to Jemdet Nasr ware. Scarlet Ware was first documented in the Diyala River basin in Iraq. Later, it was also found in the nearby Hamrin Basin, and in Luristan.</p><br>
<h3>Old Assyrian period</h3><br>
<p>The historic Nineveh is mentioned in the Old Assyrian Empire during reign of Shamshi-Adad I in about 1800 BC as a centre of worship of Ishtar, whose cult was responsible for the citys early importance. The goddesss statue was sent to Pharaoh Amenhotep III of Egypt in the 14th century BC, by orders of the king of Mitanni. The Assyrian city of Nineveh became one of Mitanni&#39;s vassals for half a century until the early 14th century BC, when the Assyrian king Ashur-uballit I reclaimed it in 1365 BC while overthrowing the Mitanni Empire and creating the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–1050 BC).</p><br>
<p>There is a large body of evidence to show that Assyrian monarchs built extensively in Nineveh during the late 3rd and 2nd millenniums BC; it appears to have been originally an "Assyrian provincial town". Later monarchs whose inscriptions have appeared on the high city include the Middle Assyrian Empire kings Shalmaneser I (1274-1245 BC) and Tiglath-Pileser I (1114-1076 BC), both of whom were active builders in Assur (Ashur).</p><br>
<h3>Neo-Assyrians</h3><br>
<p>During the Neo-Assyrian Empire, particularly from the time of Ashurnasirpal II (ruled 883–859 BC) onward, there was considerable architectural expansion. Successive monarchs such as Tiglath-pileser III, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal kept in repair and founded new palaces, as well as temples to Sîn, Ashur, Nergal, Shamash, Ninurta, Ishtar, Tammuz, Nisroch and Nabiu., c. 695 BC (Pergamon Museum), Berlin.</p><br>
<h4>Sennacherib</h4><br>
<p>It was Sennacherib who made Nineveh a truly magnificent city (c. 700 BC). He laid out new streets and squares and built within it the South West Palace, or "palace without a rival", the plan of which has been mostly recovered and has overall dimensions of about 503 x. It comprised at least 80 rooms, many of which were lined with sculpture. A large number of cuneiform tablets were found in the palace. The solid foundation was made out of limestone blocks and mud bricks; it was 22 m tall. In total, the foundation is made of roughly 2,680,000 m&sup3; of brick (approximately 160 million bricks). The walls on top, made out of mud brick, were an additional 20 m tall.</p><br>
<p>Some of the principal doorways were flanked by colossal stone lamassu door figures weighing up to 30,000 kg; these were winged Mesopotamian lions or bulls, with human heads. These were transported 50 km from quarries at Balatai, and they had to be lifted up 20 m once they arrived at the site, presumably by a ramp. There are also 3,000 m of stone Assyrian palace reliefs, that include pictorial records documenting every construction step including carving the statues and transporting them on a barge. One picture shows 44 men towing a colossal statue. The carving shows three men directing the operation while standing on the Colossus. Once the statues arrived at their destination, the final carving was done. Most of the statues weigh between 9,000 and.</p><br>
<p>The stone carvings in the walls include many battle scenes, impalings and scenes showing Sennacherib&#39;s men parading the spoils of war before him. The inscriptions boasted of his conquests: he wrote of Babylon: "Its inhabitants, young and old, I did not spare, and with their corpses I filled the streets of the city." A full and characteristic set shows the campaign leading up to the siege of Lachish in 701; it is the "finest" from the reign of Sennacherib, and now in the British Museum. He later wrote about a battle in Lachish: "And Hezekiah of Judah who had not submitted to my yoke...him I shut up in Jerusalem his royal city like a caged bird. Earthworks I threw up against him, and anyone coming out of his city gate I made pay for his crime. His cities which I had plundered I had cut off from his land."</p><br>
<p>At this time, the total area of Nineveh comprised about 7 km&sup2, and fifteen great gates penetrated its walls. An elaborate system of eighteen canals brought water from the hills to Nineveh, and several sections of a magnificently constructed aqueduct erected by Sennacherib were discovered at Jerwan, about 65 km distant. The enclosed area had more than 100,000 inhabitants (maybe closer to 150,000), about twice as many as Babylon at the time, placing it among the largest settlements worldwide.</p><br>
<p>Some scholars believe that the garden which Sennacherib built next to his palace, with its associated irrigation works, comprised the original Hanging Gardens of Babylon.</p><br>
<h4>After Ashurbanipal</h4><br>
<p>Nineveh&#39;s greatness was short-lived. In around 627 BC, after the death of its last great king Ashurbanipal, the Neo-Assyrian empire began to unravel through a series of bitter civil wars between rival claimants for the throne, and in 616 BC Assyria was attacked by its own former vassals, the Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians. In about 616 BC Kalhu was sacked, the allied forces eventually reached Nineveh, besieging and sacking the city in 612 BC, following bitter house-to-house fighting, after which it was razed to the ground. Most of the people in the city who could not escape to the last Assyrian strongholds in the north and west were either massacred or deported out of the city and into the countryside where they founded new settlements. Many unburied skeletons were found by the archaeologists at the site. The Assyrian empire then came to an end by 605 BC; the Medes and Babylonians dividing its colonies between them.</p><br>
<p>Assyria, including the Nineveh region, continued to exist as a geo-political entity (Achaemenid Assyria, Athura, Assuristan etc.) under the rule of various empires until its dissolution in the mid-7th century AD.</p><br>
<p>Following the defeat in 612 BC, the site remained largely unoccupied for centuries and the ruins remained largely intact during Achaemenid rule, though the library of Ashurbanipal may still have been in use until around the time of Alexander the Great. The city is mentioned again in the Battle of Nineveh in 627 AD, which was fought between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sassanian Empire of Persia near the ancient city. From the Arab Islamic Conquest in 637 AD until the modern period, the city of Mosul on the opposite bank of the Tigris became the successor of ancient Nineveh.</p><br>
<h2>Biblical Nineveh</h2><br>
<p>In the Hebrew Bible, Nineveh is first mentioned in: "Ashur left that land, and built Nineveh". Some modern English translations interpret "Ashur" in the Hebrew of this verse as the country "Assyria" rather than a person, thus making Nimrod, rather than Ashur, the founder of Nineveh.</p><br>
<p>Nineveh was the flourishing capital of the Assyrian Empire and was the home of King Sennacherib, King of Assyria, during the Biblical reign of King Hezekiah (יְחִזְקִיָּהוּ) and the lifetime of Judean prophet Isaiah (ישעיה). As recorded in Hebrew scripture, Nineveh was also the place where Sennacherib died at the hands of his two sons, who then fled to the vassal land of `rrt Urartu. The book of the prophet Nahum is almost exclusively taken up with prophetic denunciations against Nineveh. Its ruin and utter desolation are foretold (, etc.). Its end was strange, sudden, and tragic. According to the Bible, it was Gods doing, His judgment on Assyrias pride. In fulfillment of prophecy, God made "an utter end of the place". It became a "desolation". The prophet Zephaniah also predicts its destruction along with the fall of the empire of which it was the capital. Nineveh is also the setting of the Book of Tobit.</p><br>
<p>The Book of Jonah, set in the days of the Assyrian empire, describes it (ff; ) as an "exceedingly great city of three days journey in breadth", whose population at that time is given as "more than 120,000". But it is also possible that it took three days to cover all its neighborhoods by walking, which would match the size of ancient Nineveh. The ruins of Kouyunjik, Nimrud, Karamles and Khorsabad form the four corners of an irregular quadrangle. The ruins of Nineveh, with the whole area included within the parallelogram they form by lines drawn from the one to the other, are generally regarded as consisting of these four sites. The Book of Jonah depicts Nineveh as a wicked city worthy of destruction. God sent Jonah to preach to the Ninevites of their coming destruction, and they fasted and repented because of this. As a result, God spared the city; when Jonah protests against this, God states He is showing mercy for the population who are ignorant of the difference between right and wrong ("who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand" ) and mercy for the animals in the city.</p><br>
<p>Nineveh&#39;s repentance and salvation from evil can be found in the Christian Bible, the Jewish Tanakh, and the Muslim Koran. Also see these scriptural references: Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. To this day, Syriac and Oriental Orthodox churches commemorate the three days Jonah spent inside the fish during the Fast of Nineveh. The Christians observing this holiday fast by refraining from food and drink. Churches encourage followers to refrain from meat, fish and dairy products.</p><br>
<h2>Classical history</h2><br>
<p>Before the great archaeological excavations in the 19th century, there was almost no historical knowledge of the great Assyrian empire and of its magnificent capital. Other cities that had perished, such as Palmyra, Persepolis, and Thebes, had left ruins to mark their sites and tell of their former greatness; but of this city, imperial Nineveh, no vestige seemed to remain, and the very place on which it had stood became only a matter of conjecture.</p><br>
<p>In the days of the Greek historians Ctesias and Herodotus, 400 BC, Nineveh had become a thing of the past; and when Xenophon the historian passed the place in the Retreat of the Ten Thousand the very memory of its name had been lost. It was buried out of sight.</p><br>
<p>In his History of the World (written c. 1616) Sir Walter Raleigh erroneously asserted (attributing the information to Johannes Nauclerus c. 1425–1510) that Nineveh had originally had the name Campsor before Ninus supposedly rebuilt it. This was still regarded as correct information when news of Layard&#39;s discoveries (see below) reached the west.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>The location of Ninevah was known, to some, continuously through the Middle Ages. Benjamin of Tudela visited it in 1170; Petachiah of Regensburg soon after.</p><br>
<p>Carsten Niebuhr recorded its location during the 1761–1767 Danish expedition. Niebuhr wrote afterwards that "I did not learn that I was at so remarkable a spot, till near the river. Then they showed me a village on a great hill, which they call Nunia, and a mosque, in which the prophet Jonah was buried. Another hill in this district is called Kalla Nunia, or the Castle of Nineveh. On that lies a village Koindsjug."</p><br>
<h3>Excavation history</h3><br>
<p>In 1842, the French Consul General at Mosul, Paul-Émile Botta, began to search the vast mounds that lay along the opposite bank of the river. The locals whom he employed in these excavations, to their great surprise, came upon the ruins of a building at the mound of Khorsabad, which, on further exploration, turned out to be the royal palace of Sargon II, in which large numbers of reliefs were found and recorded, though they had been damaged by fire and were mostly too fragile to remove.</p><br>
<p>In 1847 the young British diplomat Austen Henry Layard explored the ruins. Layard did not use modern archaeological methods; his stated goal was "to obtain the largest possible number of well preserved objects of art at the least possible outlay of time and money." In the Kuyunjik mound, Layard rediscovered in 1849 the lost palace of Sennacherib with its 71 rooms and colossal bas-reliefs. He also unearthed the palace and famous library of Ashurbanipal with 22,000 cuneiform clay tablets. Most of Layard&#39;s material was sent to the British Museum, but two large pieces were given to Lady Charlotte Guest and eventually found their way to the Metropolitan Museum. The study of the archaeology of Nineveh reveals the wealth and glory of ancient Assyria under kings such as Esarhaddon (681–669 BC) and Ashurbanipal (669–626 BC).</p><br>
<p>The work of exploration was carried on by George Smith, Hormuzd Rassam (a modern Assyrian), and others, and a vast treasury of specimens of Assyria was incrementally exhumed for European museums. Palace after palace was discovered, with their decorations and their sculptured slabs, revealing the life and manners of this ancient people, their arts of war and peace, the forms of their religion, the style of their architecture, and the magnificence of their monarchs.</p><br>
<p>The mound of Kouyunjik was excavated again by the archaeologists of the British Museum, led by Leonard William King, at the beginning of the 20th century. Their efforts concentrated on the site of the Temple of Nabu, the god of writing, where another cuneiform library was supposed to exist. However, no such library was ever found: most likely, it had been destroyed by the activities of later residents.</p><br>
<p>The excavations started again in 1927, under the direction of Campbell Thompson, who had taken part in King&#39;s expeditions. Some works were carried out outside Kouyunjik, for instance on the mound of Nebi Yunus, which was the ancient arsenal of Nineveh, or along the outside walls. Here, near the northwestern corner of the walls, beyond the pavement of a later building, the archaeologists found almost 300 fragments of prisms recording the royal annals of Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal, beside a prism of Esarhaddon which was almost perfect.</p><br>
<p>After the Second World War, several excavations were carried out by Iraqi archaeologists. From 1951 to 1958 Mohammed Ali Mustafa worked the site. The work was continued from 1967 through 1971 by Tariq Madhloom. Some additional excavation occurred by Manhal Jabur in 1980, and Manhal Jabur in 1987. For the most part, these digs focused on Nebi Yunus.</p><br>
<p>Most recently, British archaeologist and Assyriologist Professor David Stronach of the University of California, Berkeley conducted a series of surveys and digs at the site from 1987 to 1990, focusing his attentions on the several gates and the existent mudbrick walls, as well as the system that supplied water to the city in times of siege. The excavation reports are in progress.</p><br>
<h3>Archaeological remains</h3><br>
<p>Today, Nineveh&#39;s location is marked by two large mounds, Kouyunjik and Nabī Yūnus "Prophet Jonah", and the remains of the city walls (about 12 km in circumference). The Neo-Assyrian levels of Kouyunjik have been extensively explored. The other mound, Nabī Yūnus, has not been as extensively explored because there was an Arab Muslim shrine dedicated to that prophet on the site. On July 24, 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant destroyed the shrine as part of a campaign to destroy religious sanctuaries it deems "un-Islamic."</p><br>
<p>The ruin mound of Kuyunjik rises about 20 m above the surrounding plain of the ancient city. It is quite broad, measuring about 800 x. Its upper layers have been extensively excavated, and several Neo-Assyrian palaces and temples have been found there. A deep sounding by Max Mallowan revealed evidence of habitation as early as the 6th millennium BC. Today, there is little evidence of these old excavations other than weathered pits and earth piles. In 1990, the only Assyrian remains visible were those of the entry court and the first few chambers of the Palace of Sennacherib. Since that time, the palace chambers have received significant damage by looters. Portions of relief sculptures that were in the palace chambers in 1990 were seen on the antiquities market by 1996. Photographs of the chambers made in 2003 show that many of the fine relief sculptures there have been reduced to piles of rubble.</p><br>
<p>Nebi Yunus is located about 1 km south of Kuyunjik and is the secondary ruin mound at Nineveh. On the basis of texts of Sennacherib, the site has traditionally been identified as the "armory" of Nineveh, and a gate and pavements excavated by Iraqis in 1954 have been considered to be part of the "armory" complex. Excavations in 1990 revealed a monumental entryway consisting of a number of large inscribed orthostats and "bull-man" sculptures, some apparently unfinished.</p><br>
<h3>City wall and gates</h3><br>
<p>The ruins of Nineveh are surrounded by the remains of a massive stone and mudbrick wall dating from about 700 BC. About 12 km in length, the wall system consisted of an ashlar stone retaining wall about 6 m high surmounted by a mudbrick wall about 10 m high and 15 m thick. The stone retaining wall had projecting stone towers spaced about every 18 m. The stone wall and towers were topped by three-step merlons.</p><br>
<p>Five of the gateways have been explored to some extent by archaeologists:</p><br>
<p>Mashki Gate</p><br>
<p>Translated "Gate of the Watering Places", it was perhaps used to take livestock to water from the Tigris which currently flows about 1.5 km to the west. It has been reconstructed in fortified mudbrick to the height of the top of the vaulted passageway. The Assyrian original may have been plastered and ornamented.</p><br>
<p>Nergal Gate</p><br>
<p>Named for the god Nergal, it may have been used for some ceremonial purpose, as it is the only known gate flanked by stone sculptures of winged bull-men (lamassu). The reconstruction is conjectural, as the gate was excavated by Layard in the mid-19th century and reconstructed in the mid-20th century.</p><br>
<p>Adad Gate</p><br>
<p>Adad Gate was named for the god Adad. A reconstruction was begun in the 1960s by Iraqis but was not completed. The result was a mixture of concrete and eroding mudbrick, which nonetheless does give some idea of the original structure. The excavator left some features unexcavated, allowing a view of the original Assyrian construction. The original brickwork of the outer vaulted passageway was well exposed, as was the entrance of the vaulted stairway to the upper levels. The actions of Nineveh&#39;s last defenders could be seen in the hastily built mudbrick construction which narrowed the passageway from 4 to 2 m. Around April 13, 2016, ISIL demolished both the gate and the adjacent wall by flattening them with a bulldozer.</p><br>
<p>Shamash Gate</p><br>
<p>Named for the Sun god Shamash, it opens to the road to Arbil. It was excavated by Layard in the 19th century. The stone retaining wall and part of the mudbrick structure were reconstructed in the 1960s. The mudbrick reconstruction has deteriorated significantly. The stone wall projects outward about 20 m from the line of main wall for a width of about 70 m. It is the only gate with such a significant projection. The mound of its remains towers above the surrounding terrain. Its size and design suggest it was the most important gate in Neo-Assyrian times.</p><br>
<p>Halzi Gate</p><br>
<p>Near the south end of the eastern city wall. Exploratory excavations were undertaken here by the University of California expedition of 1989–1990. There is an outward projection of the city wall, though not as pronounced as at the Shamash Gate. The entry passage had been narrowed with mudbrick to about 2 m as at the Adad Gate. Human remains from the final battle of Nineveh were found in the passageway.</p><br>
<h2>Threats to the site</h2><br>
<p>The site of Nineveh is exposed to decay of its reliefs by a lack of proper protective roofing, vandalism and looting holes dug into chamber floors. Future preservation is further compromised by the site&#39;s proximity to expanding suburbs.</p><br>
<p>The ailing Mosul Dam is a persistent threat to Nineveh as well as the city of Mosul. This is in no small part due to years of disrepair (in 2006, the USA Army Corps of Engineers cited it as the most dangerous dam in the world), the cancellation of a second dam project in the 1980s to act as flood relief in case of failure, and occupation by ISIL in 2014 resulting in fleeing workers and stolen equipment. If the dam fails, the entire site could be under as much as 45 feet (14 m) underwater.</p><br>
<p>In an October 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, Global Heritage Fund named Nineveh one of 12 sites most "on the verge" of irreparable destruction and loss, citing insufficient management, development pressures and looting as primary causes.</p><br>
<p>By far, however, the greatest threat to Nineveh has been purposeful human actions by ISIL, which occupied that area in mid-2010s. In early 2015 they announced their intention to destroy the walls of Nineveh if the Iraqis try to liberate the city. They also threatened to destroy artifacts. On February 26 they destroyed several items and statues in the Mosul Museum and are believed to have plundered others to sell overseas. The items were mostly from the Assyrian exhibit, which ISIL declared blasphemous and idolatrous. There were 300 items in the museum out of a total of 1,900, with the other 1,600 being taken to the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad for security reasons prior to the 2014 Fall of Mosul. Some of the artifacts sold and/or destroyed were from Nineveh. Just a few days after the destruction of the museum pieces, they demolished remains at major UNESCO world heritage sites Khorsabad, Nimrud, and Hatra.</p><br>
<h2>Rogation of the Ninevites (Nineveh's Wish)</h2><br>
<p>Assyrians of the Ancient Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Catholic Church, Assyrian Church of the East and Saint Thomas Christians of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church observe a fast called Bauta d-Ninwe (ܒܥܘܬܐ ܕܢܝܢܘܐ) which means Ninevehs Prayer. Copts and Ethiopian Orthodox also maintain this fast.</p><br>
<h2>Popular culture</h2><br>
<p>English Romantic poet Edwin Atherstone wrote an epic poem The Fall of Nineveh. The work tells about an uprising of all nations that were dominated by the Assyrian empire against its king Sardanapalus. He is a great criminal. He had one hundred prisoners of war executed. After the long war the town is conquered by Median and Babylonian troops led by prince Arbaces and priest Belesis. The king sets his own palace on fire and dies inside together with all his concubines.</p><br>
<p>Atherstone&#39;s friend, painter John Martin created a painting of the same name inspired by the poem.</p><br>
<p>English poet John Masefields well-known 1903 poem Cargoes mentions Nineveh in its first line. Nineveh is also mentioned in Rudyard Kiplings 1897 poem Recessional.</p><br>
<p>The 1962 Italian peplum movie, War Gods of Babylon, is based on the sacking and fall of Nineveh by the combined rebel armies led by the Babylonians.</p><br>
<p>The Nieuwe Waterweg  is a ship canal in the Netherlands from het Scheur  west of the town of Maassluis to the North Sea at Hook of Holland: the Maasmond, where the Nieuwe Waterweg connects to the Maasgeul. It is the artificial mouth of the river Rhine.</p><br>
<p>The Nieuwe Waterweg, which opened in 1872 and has a length of approximately 20.5 km, was constructed to keep the city and port of Rotterdam accessible to seafaring vessels as the natural Meuse-Rhine branches silted up. The Waterway is a busy shipping route since it is the primary access to one of the busiest ports in the world, the Port of Rotterdam. At the entrance to the sea, a flood protection system called Maeslantkering has been installed (completed in 1997). There are no bridges or tunnels across the Nieuwe Waterweg.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>By the middle of the 19th century, Rotterdam was already one of the largest port cities in the world, mainly because of transshipment of goods from Germany to Great Britain. The increase in shipping traffic created a capacity problem: there were too many branches in the river delta, making the port difficult to reach.</p><br>
<p>In 1863, a law was passed that allowed for the provision of a new canal for large ocean-going ships from Rotterdam to the North Sea. Hydraulic engineer Pieter Caland was commissioned to design a canal cutting through the "Hook of Holland” and to extend the Mouth of Rhine to the sea. The designs for this were already done back in 1731 by Nicolaas Samuelsz Cruquius but the implementation could no longer be postponed to prevent the decline of the harbour of Rotterdam.</p><br>
<p>Construction began on 31 October 1863. The first phase consisted of the expropriation of farm lands from Rozenburg to Hoek van Holland.</p><br>
<p>During the second phase two dikes were built parallel to each other, which took 2 years. Caland proposed to extend the dikes 2 km into the sea to disrupt the coastal sea currents and decrease silt deposits in the shipping lane.</p><br>
<p>Upon the completion of the dikes, the third phase began by the digging of the actual waterway. This began on 31 October 1866 and was completed three years later. The large amounts of removed soil were in turn used to reinforce other dams and dikes.</p><br>
<p>The last phase consisted of the removal of the dam separating the new waterway from the sea and river. In 1872, the Nieuwe Waterweg was completed and Rotterdam was easily accessible.</p><br>
<p>Because of the currents and erosion, the shipping lane has been widened somewhat. Yet because of the draft of today&#39;s supertankers, it needs to be dredged constantly.</p><br>
<p>In 1997, the last part of the Delta Works, the Maeslantkering, was put in operation near the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg. This storm surge barrier protects Rotterdam against north westerly Beaufort Force 10 to 12 storms.</p><br>
<h2>Current situation</h2><br>
<p>The Nieuwe Waterweg gives the Port of Rotterdam its deep-water access to the North Sea. From Hook of Holland it stretches for approximately 20.5 km where the waterway continues as the Nieuwe Maas. The very first Nieuwe Waterweg—a breach through the dunes at Hook of Holland—was only 4.3 km long, but in around 1877 the channel was made much larger and wider and the current Nieuwe Waterweg was created. Currently the width of the channel is between 480 and and it is dredged to a depth of 14.5 – below Amsterdam Ordnance Datum.</p><br>
<p>It is this channel, together with the dredged channels in the North Sea, Maasgeul and Eurogeul, that allows ships like the MS Berge Stahl and MV Vale Rio de Janeiro (both with a draught of 23 meters) to enter Europoort.</p><br>
<p>The Dutch government agency Rijkswaterstaat is responsible for maintaining the channel.</p><br>
<h2>Maasmond</h2><br>
<p>The point where the Nieuwe Waterweg enters into the North Sea, between Hook of Holland on the north bank and the Maasvlakte to the south, is called the Maasmond. It is marked with two navigation light-towers called the Paddestoelen ("mushrooms"). The Nieuwe Waterweg connects, in the North Sea, to the Maasgeul. This dredged channel in the North Sea is being widened to 840 m to facilitate the largest container vessels for the new Maasvlakte 2 that opened in 2013.</p><br>
<h2>Sources and References</h2><br>
<p></revision></p><br>
<p>Orkney , also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of Great Britain. Orkney is 16 kilometres  north of the coast of Caithness and comprises approximately 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited.</p><br>
<p>The largest island, Mainland, is often referred to as "the Mainland". It has an area of 523 km&sup2, making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles. The largest settlement and administrative centre is Kirkwall.</p><br>
<p>A form of the name dates to the pre-Roman era and the islands have been inhabited for at least 8500 years, originally occupied by Mesolithic and Neolithic tribes and then by the Picts. Orkney was invaded and forcibly annexed by Norway in 875 and settled by the Norse. The Scottish Parliament then re-annexed the earldom to the Scottish Crown in 1472, following the failed payment of a dowry for James III&#39;s bride Margaret of Denmark. Orkney contains some of the oldest and best-preserved Neolithic sites in Europe, and the "Heart of Neolithic Orkney" is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.</p><br>
<p>Orkney is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, a constituency of the Scottish Parliament, a lieutenancy area, and a historic county. The local council is Orkney Islands Council, one of only three Councils in Scotland with a majority of elected members who are independents.</p><br>
<p>In addition to the Mainland, most of the islands are in two groups, the North and South Isles, all of which have an underlying geological base of Old Red Sandstone. The climate is mild and the soils are extremely fertile, most of the land being farmed. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy. The significant wind and marine energy resources are of growing importance, and the island generates more than its total yearly electricity demand using renewables. The local people are known as Orcadians and have a distinctive dialect of Scots and a rich inheritance of folklore. There is an abundance of marine and avian wildlife.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>Pytheas of Massilia visited Britain – probably sometime between 322 and 285 BCE – and described it as triangular in shape, with a northern tip called Orcas.</p><br>
<p>This may have referred to Dunnet Head, from which Orkney is visible. Orkneyjar.com. Retrieved 27 June 2009.</p><br>
<p>Writing in the 1st century AD, the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela called the islands Orcades, as did Tacitus in 98 AD, claiming that his father-in-law Agricola had "discovered and subjugated the Orcades hitherto unknown" (although both Mela and Pliny had previously referred to the islands.)</p><br>
<p>Etymologists usually interpret the element orc- as a Pictish tribal name meaning "young pig" or "young boar".</p><br>
<p>Waugh, Doreen J. "Orkney Place-names" in Omand (2003) p. 116. Speakers of Old Irish referred to the islands as Insi Orc "island of the pigs".Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Retrieved 3 July 2009.</p><br>
<p>The archipelago is known as Ynysoedd Erch in modern Welsh and Arcaibh in modern Scottish Gaelic, the -aibh representing a fossilized prepositional case ending.</p><br>
<p>The Anglo-Saxon monk Bede refers to the islands as Orcades insulae in his seminal work Ecclesiastical History of the English People.</p><br>
<p>Norwegian settlers arriving from the late ninth century reinterpreted orc as the Old Norse orkn "seal" and added eyjar "islands" to the end so the name became Orkneyjar "Seal Islands". The plural suffix -jar was later removed in English leaving the modern name "Orkney". According to the Historia Norwegiæ, Orkney was named after an earl called Orkan.</p><br>
<p>The Norse knew Mainland Orkney as Megenland "Mainland" or as Hrossey "Horse Island". The island is sometimes referred to as Pomona (or Pomonia), a name that stems from a sixteenth-century mistranslation by George Buchanan, which has rarely been used locally.Buchanan, George (1582) The University of California, Irvine. Revised 8 March 2003. Retrieved 4 October 2007.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Prehistory</h3><br>
<p>A charred hazelnut shell, recovered in 2007 during excavations in Tankerness on the Mainland has been dated to 6820–6660 BC indicating the presence of Mesolithic nomadic tribes. The earliest known permanent settlement is at Knap of Howar, a Neolithic farmstead on the island of Papa Westray, which dates from 3500 BC. The village of Skara Brae, Europe&#39;s best-preserved Neolithic settlement, is believed to have been inhabited from around 3100 BC. Other remains from that era include the Standing Stones of Stenness, the Maeshowe passage grave, the Ring of Brodgar and other standing stones. Many of the Neolithic settlements were abandoned around 2500 BC, possibly due to changes in the climate.</p><br>
<p>During the Bronze Age fewer large stone structures were built although the great ceremonial circles continued in use as metalworking was slowly introduced to Britain from Europe over a lengthy period. There are relatively few Orcadian sites dating from this era although there is the impressive Plumcake Mound near the Ring of Brodgar and various islands sites such as Tofts Ness on Sanday and the remains of two houses on Holm of Faray.</p><br>
<h3>Iron Age</h3><br>
<p>Excavations at Quanterness on the Mainland have revealed an Atlantic roundhouse built about 700 BC and similar finds have been made at Bu on the Mainland and Pierowall Quarry on Westray. The most impressive Iron Age structures of Orkney are the ruins of later round towers called "brochs" and their associated settlements such as the Broch of Burroughston and Broch of Gurness. The nature and origin of these buildings is a subject of ongoing debate. Other structures from this period include underground storehouses, and aisled roundhouses, the latter usually in association with earlier broch sites.</p><br>
<p>During the Roman invasion of Britain the "King of Orkney" was one of 11 British leaders who is said to have submitted to the Emperor Claudius in AD 43 at Colchester. After the Agricolan fleet had come and gone, possibly anchoring at Shapinsay, direct Roman influence seems to have been limited to trade rather than conquest.</p><br>
<p>By the late Iron Age, Orkney was part of the Pictish kingdom, and although the archaeological remains from this period are less impressive there is every reason to suppose the fertile soils and rich seas of Orkney provided the Picts with a comfortable living. The Dalriadic Gaels began to influence the islands towards the close of the Pictish era, perhaps principally through the role of Celtic missionaries, as evidenced by several islands bearing the epithet "Papa" in commemoration of these preachers. However, before the Gaelic presence could establish itself the Picts were gradually dispossessed by the Norsemen from the late 8th century onwards. The nature of this transition is controversial, and theories range from peaceful integration to enslavement and genocide.</p><br>
<h3>Norwegian rule</h3><br>
<p>Both Orkney and Shetland saw a significant influx of Norwegian settlers during the late 8th and early 9th centuries. Vikings made the islands the headquarters of their pirate expeditions carried out against Norway and the coasts of mainland Scotland. In response, Norwegian king Harald Fairhair (Harald Hårfagre) annexed the Northern Isles, comprising Orkney and Shetland, in 875. (It is clear that this story, which appears in the Orkneyinga Saga, is based on the later voyages of Magnus Barelegs and some scholars believe it to be apocryphal.) Rognvald Eysteinsson received Orkney and Shetland from Harald as an earldom as reparation for the death of his son in battle in Scotland, and then passed the earldom on to his brother Sigurd the Mighty.</p><br>
<p>However, Sigurds line barely survived him and it was Torf-Einarr, Rognvalds son by a slave, who founded a dynasty that controlled the islands for centuries after his death. He was succeeded by his son Thorfinn Skull-splitter and during this time the deposed Norwegian King Eric Bloodaxe often used Orkney as a raiding base before being killed in 954. Thorfinn&#39;s death and presumed burial at the broch of Hoxa, on South Ronaldsay, led to a long period of dynastic strife.</p><br>
<p>Initially a pagan culture, detailed information about the turn to the Christian religion to the islands of Scotland during the Norse-era is elusive. The Orkneyinga Saga suggests the islands were Christianised by Olaf Tryggvasson in 995 when he stopped at South Walls on his way from Ireland to Norway. The King summoned the jarl Sigurd the Stout and said, "I order you and all your subjects to be baptised. If you refuse, I&#39;ll have you killed on the spot and I swear I will ravage every island with fire and steel." Unsurprisingly, Sigurd agreed and the islands became Christian at a stroke, receiving their own bishop in the early 11th century.</p><br>
<p>Thorfinn the Mighty was a son of Sigurd and a grandson of King Máel Coluim mac Cináeda (Malcolm II of Scotland). Along with Sigurd&#39;s other sons he ruled Orkney during the first half of the 11th century and extended his authority over a small maritime empire stretching from Dublin to Shetland. Thorfinn died around 1065 and his sons Paul and Erlend succeeded him, fighting at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. Paul and Erlend quarreled as adults and this dispute carried on to the next generation. The martyrdom of Magnus Erlendsson, who was killed in April 1116 by his cousin Haakon Paulsson, resulted in the building of St. Magnus Cathedral, still today a dominating feature of Kirkwall.</p><br>
<p>Unusually, from c. 1100 onwards the Norse jarls owed allegiance both to Norway for Orkney and to the Scottish crown through their holdings as Earls of Caithness. In 1231 the line of Norse earls, unbroken since Rognvald, ended with Jon Haraldsson&#39;s murder in Thurso. The Earldom of Caithness was granted to Magnus, second son of the Earl of Angus, whom Haakon IV of Norway confirmed as Earl of Orkney in 1236. In 1290, the death of the child princess Margaret, Maid of Norway in Orkney, en route to mainland Scotland, created a disputed succession that led to the Wars of Scottish Independence. In 1379 the earldom passed to the Sinclair family, who were also barons of Roslin near Edinburgh.</p><br>
<p>Evidence of the Viking presence is widespread, and includes the settlement at the Brough of Birsay, the vast majority of place names, and the runic inscriptions at Maeshowe.</p><br>
<h3>Annexation by Scotland</h3><br>
<p>In 1468 Orkney was pledged by Christian I, in his capacity as King of Norway, as security against the payment of the dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to James III of Scotland. However the money was never paid, and Orkney was annexed by the Kingdom of Scotland in 1472.</p><br>
<p>The history of Orkney prior to this time is largely the history of the ruling aristocracy. From now on the ordinary people emerge with greater clarity. An influx of Scottish entrepreneurs helped to create a diverse and independent community that included farmers, fishermen and merchants that called themselves comunitas Orcadie and who proved themselves increasingly able to defend their rights against their feudal overlords.</p><br>
<p>From at least the 16th century, boats from mainland Scotland and the Netherlands dominated the local herring fishery. There is little evidence of an Orcadian fleet until the 19th century but it grew rapidly and 700 boats were involved by the 1840s with Stronsay and later Stromness becoming leading centres of development. White fish never became as dominant as in other Scottish ports.</p><br>
<p>In the 17th century, Orcadians formed the overwhelming majority of employees of the Hudsons Bay Company in Canada. The harsh climate of Orkney and the Orcadian reputation for sobriety and their boat handling skills made them ideal candidates for the rigours of the Canadian north. During this period, burning kelp briefly became a mainstay of the islands economy. For example on Shapinsay over 3,000 LT of burned seaweed were produced per annum to make soda ash, bringing in £20,000 to the local economy. The industry collapsed suddenly in 1830 after the removal of tariffs on imported alkali.</p><br>
<p>Agricultural improvements beginning in the 17th century resulted in the enclosure of the commons and ultimately in the Victoria era the emergence of large and well-managed farms using a five-shift rotation system and producing high-quality beef cattle.</p><br>
<p>During the 18th century Jacobite Risings, Orkney was largely Jacobite in its sympathies. At the end of the 1715 rebellion, a large number of Jacobites who had fled north from mainland Scotland sought refuge on Orkney and were helped on to safety in Sweden. In 1745, the Jacobite lairds on the islands ensured that Orkney remained pro-Jacobite in outlook, and was a safe place to land supplies from Spain to aid their cause. Orkney was the last place in the British Isles that held out for the Jacobites and was not retaken by the British Government until 24 May 1746, over a month after the defeat of the main Jacobite army at Culloden.</p><br>
<h3>20th century</h3><br>
<p>Orkney was the site of a Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow, which played a major role in World War I and II. After the Armistice in 1918, the German High Seas Fleet was transferred in its entirety to Scapa Flow to await a decision on its future. The German sailors opened the sea-cocks and scuttled all the ships. Most ships were salvaged, but the remaining wrecks are now a favoured haunt of recreational divers. One month into World War II, a German U-boat sank the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow. As a result, barriers were built to close most of the access channels; these had the additional advantage of creating causeways enabling travellers to go from island to island by road instead of being obliged to rely on ferries. The causeways were constructed by Italian prisoners of war, who also constructed the ornate Italian Chapel.</p><br>
<p>The navy base became run down after the war, eventually closing in 1957. The problem of a declining population was significant in the post-war years, though in the last decades of the 20th century there was a recovery and life in Orkney focused on growing prosperity and the emergence of a relatively classless society. Orkney was rated as the best place to live in Scotland in both 2013 and 2014 according to the Halifax Quality of Life survey.</p><br>
<h3>Overview of population trends</h3><br>
<p>In the modern era, population peaked in the mid 19th century at just over 32,000 and declined for a century thereafter to a low of fewer than 18,000 in the 1970s. Declines were particularly significant in the outlying islands, some of which remain vulnerable to ongoing losses. Although Orkney is in many ways very distinct from the other islands and archipelagos of Scotland these trends are very similar to those experienced elsewhere. The archipelago&#39;s population grew by 11% in the decade to 2011 as recorded by the census. During the same period Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Orkney is separated from the mainland of Scotland by the Pentland Firth, a 10 km wide seaway between Brough Ness on the island of South Ronaldsay and Duncansby Head in Caithness. Orkney lies between 58°41′ and 59°24′ North, and 2°22′ and 3°26′ West, measuring 80 km from northeast to southwest and 47 km from east to west, and covers 975 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<p>The islands are mainly low-lying except for some sharply rising sandstone hills on Hoy, Mainland and Rousay and rugged cliffs on some western coasts. Nearly all of the islands have lochs, but the watercourses are merely streams draining the high land. The coastlines are indented, and the islands themselves are divided from each other by straits generally called "sounds" or "firths".</p><br>
<p>The tidal currents, or "roosts" as some of them are called locally, off many of the isles are swift, with frequent whirlpools. The islands are notable for the absence of trees, which is partly accounted for by the amount of wind.</p><br>
<h2>Islands</h2><br>
<h3>The Mainland</h3><br>
<p>The Mainland is the largest island of Orkney. Both of Orkneys burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, are on this island, which is also the heart of Orkneys transportation system, with ferry and air connections to the other islands and to the outside world. The island is more densely populated (75% of Orkney&#39;s population) than the other islands and has much fertile farmland. The Mainland is split into areas called East and West Mainland. These areas are determined by whether they lie East or West of Kirkwall. The bulk of the mainland lies West of Kirkwall, with comparatively little land lying East of Kirkwall.</p><br>
<p>West Mainland parishes are:</p><br>
<p>Stromness, Sandwick, Birsay, Harray, Stenness, Orphir, Evie, Rendall and Firth.</p><br>
<p>East Mainland Parishes are:</p><br>
<p>St Ola, Tankerness, St Andrews, Holm and Deerness.</p><br>
<p>The island is mostly low-lying (especially East Mainland) but with coastal cliffs to the north and west and two sizeable lochs: the Loch of Harray and the Loch of Stenness. The Mainland contains the remnants of numerous Neolithic, Pictish and Viking constructions. Four of the main Neolithic sites are included in the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1999.</p><br>
<p>The other islands in the group are classified as north or south of the Mainland. Exceptions are the remote islets of Sule Skerry and Sule Stack, which lie 60 km west of the archipelago, but form part of Orkney for local government purposes. In island names, the suffix "a" or "ay" represents the Norse ey, meaning "island". Those described as "holms" are very small.</p><br>
<h3>The North Isles</h3><br>
<p>Their unique genetic inheritance makes them of interest to conservationists.</p><br>
<p>The northern group of islands is the most extensive and consists of a large number of moderately sized islands, linked to the Mainland by ferries and by air services. Farming, fishing and tourism are the main sources of income for most of the islands.</p><br>
<p>The most northerly is North Ronaldsay, which lies 4 km beyond its nearest neighbour, Sanday. To the west is Westray, which has a population of 550. It is connected by ferry and air to Papa Westray, also known as "Papay". Eday is at the centre of the North Isles. The centre of the island is moorland and the island&#39;s main industries have been peat extraction and limestone quarrying.</p><br>
<p>Rousay, Egilsay and Gairsay lie north of the west Mainland across the Eynhallow Sound. Rousay is well known for its ancient monuments, including the Quoyness chambered cairn and Egilsay has the ruins of the only round-towered church in Orkney. Wyre to the south-east contains the site of Cubbie Roo&#39;s castle. Stronsay and Papa Stronsay lie much further to the east across the Stronsay Firth. Auskerry is south of Stronsay and has a population of only five. Shapinsay and its Balfour Castle are a short distance north of Kirkwall.</p><br>
<p>Other small uninhabited islands in the North Isles group include: Calf of Eday, Damsay, Eynhallow, Faray, Helliar Holm, Holm of Faray, Holm of Huip, Holm of Papa, Holm of Scockness, Kili Holm, Linga Holm, Muckle Green Holm, Rusk Holm and Sweyn Holm.</p><br>
<h3>The South Isles</h3><br>
<p>The southern group of islands surrounds Scapa Flow. Hoy is the second largest of the Orkney Isles and Ward Hill at its northern end is the highest elevation in the archipelago. The Old Man of Hoy is a well-known seastack. Burray lies to the east of Scapa Flow and is linked by causeway to South Ronaldsay, which hosts the cultural events, the Festival of the Horse and the Boys&#39; Ploughing Match on the third Saturday in August. It is also the location of the Neolithic Tomb of the Eagles. Graemsay and Flotta are both linked by ferry to the Mainland and Hoy, and the latter is known for its large oil terminal. South Walls has a 19th-century Martello tower and is connected to Hoy by the Ayre. South Ronaldsay, Burray, Glims Holm, and Lamb Holm are connected by road to the Mainland by the Churchill Barriers.</p><br>
<p>Uninhabited South Islands include: Calf of Flotta, Cava, Copinsay, Corn Holm, Fara, Glims Holm, Hunda, Lamb Holm, Rysa Little, Switha and Swona. The Pentland Skerries lie further south, closer to the Scottish mainland.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The superficial rock of Orkney is almost entirely Old Red Sandstone, mostly of Middle Devonian age. As in the neighbouring mainland county of Caithness, this sandstone rests upon the metamorphic rocks of the Moine series, as may be seen on the Mainland, where a narrow strip is exposed between Stromness and Inganess, and again in the small island of Graemsay; they are represented by grey gneiss and granite.</p><br>
<p>The Middle Devonian is divided into three main groups. The lower part of the sequence, mostly Eifelian in age, is dominated by lacustrine beds of the lower and upper Stromness Flagstones that were deposited in Lake Orcadie. The later Rousay flagstone formation is found throughout much of the North and South Isles and East Mainland.</p><br>
<p>The Old Man of Hoy is formed from sandstone of the uppermost Eday group that is up to 800 m thick in places. It lies unconformably upon steeply inclined flagstones, the interpretation of which is a matter of continuing debate.</p><br>
<p>The Devonian and older rocks of Orkney are cut by a series of WSW-ENE to N-S trending faults, many of which were active during deposition of the Devonian sequences. A strong synclinal fold traverses Eday and Shapinsay, the axis trending north-south.</p><br>
<p>Middle Devonian basaltic volcanic rocks are found on western Hoy, on Deerness in eastern Mainland and on Shapinsay. Correlation between the Hoy volcanics and the other two exposures has been proposed, but differences in chemistry means this remains uncertain. Lamprophyre dykes of Late Permian age are found throughout Orkney.</p><br>
<p>Glacial striation and the presence of chalk and flint erratics that originated from the bed of the North Sea demonstrate the influence of ice action on the geomorphology of the islands. Boulder clay is also abundant and moraines cover substantial areas.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Orkney has a cool temperate climate that is remarkably mild and steady for such a northerly latitude, due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. The average temperature for the year is 8 &deg;C; for winter 4 &deg;C and for summer 12 &deg;C.</p><br>
<p>The average annual rainfall varies from 850 mm to 940 mm. Winds are a key feature of the climate and even in summer there are almost constant breezes. In winter, there are frequent strong winds, with an average of 52 hours of gales being recorded annually.</p><br>
<p>To tourists, one of the fascinations of the islands is their "nightless" summers. On the longest day, the sun rises at 03:00 and sets at 21:29 GMT and complete darkness is unknown. This long twilight is known in the Northern Isles as the "simmer dim". Winter nights are long. On the shortest day the sun rises at 09:05 and sets at 15:16. At this time of year the aurora borealis can occasionally be seen on the northern horizon during moderate auroral activity.</p><br>
<p>The averages table below is for largest settlement Kirkwall&#39;s weather station.</p><br>
<h2>Politics</h2><br>
<p>Orkney is represented in the House of Commons as part of the Orkney and Shetland constituency, which elects one Member of Parliament (MP), the current incumbent being Alistair Carmichael. This seat has been held by the Liberal Democrats or their predecessors the Liberal Party since 1950, longer than any other they represent in Great Britain.</p><br>
<p>In the Scottish Parliament the Orkney constituency elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post system. The current MSP is Liam McArthur of the Liberal Democrats. Before McArthur the MSP was Jim Wallace, who was previously Deputy First Minister. Orkney is within the Highlands and Islands electoral region.</p><br>
<p>Orkney Islands Council consists of 21 members, all of whom are independent, that is they do not stand as representatives of a political party.</p><br>
<p>The Orkney Movement, a political party that supported devolution for Orkney from the rest of Scotland, contested the 1987 general election as the Orkney and Shetland Movement (a coalition of the Orkney movement and its equivalent for Shetland). The Scottish National Party chose not to contest the seat to give the movement a "free run". Their candidate, John Goodlad, came 4th with 3,095 votes, 14.5% of those cast, but the experiment has not been repeated.</p><br>
<p>In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum 67.2% of voters in Orkney voted No to the question "Should Scotland be an independent country?" This was the highest % No vote in any council area in Scotland. Turnout for the referendum was at 83.7% in Orkney with 10,004 votes cast in the area against independence by comparison to 4,883 votes for independence.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>The soil of Orkney is generally very fertile and most of the land is taken up by farms, agriculture being by far the most important sector of the economy and providing employment for a quarter of the workforce. More than 90% of agricultural land is used for grazing for sheep and cattle, with cereal production utilising about 4% (4,200 hectare) and woodland occupying only 134 hectare.</p><br>
<p>Fishing has declined in importance, but still employed 345 individuals in 2001, about 3.5% of the islands&#39; economically active population, the modern industry concentrating on herring, white fish, lobsters, crabs and other shellfish, and salmon fish farming.</p><br>
<p>Today, the traditional sectors of the economy export beef, cheese, whisky, beer, fish and other seafood. In recent years there has been growth in other areas including tourism, food and beverage manufacture, jewellery, knitwear, and other crafts production, construction and oil transportation through the Flotta oil terminal. Retailing accounts for 17.5% of total employment,</p><br>
<p>In 2007, of the 1,420 VAT registered enterprises 55% were in agriculture, forestry and fishing, 12% in manufacturing and construction, 12% in wholesale, retail and repairs, and 5% in hotels and restaurants. A further 5% were public service related. 55% of these businesses employ between 5 and 49 people.</p><br>
<h3>Power</h3><br>
<p>Orkney has significant wind and marine energy resources, and renewable energy has recently come into prominence. Although Orkney is connected to the mainland, it generates over 100% of its net power from renewables. This comes mainly from wind turbines situated right across Orkney.</p><br>
<p>The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) is a research facility operating a grid-connected wave test site at Billia Croo, off the west coast of the Orkney Mainland, and a tidal power test site in the Fall of Warness, off the northern island of Eday. At the official opening of the Eday project the site was described as "the first of its kind in the world set up to provide developers of wave and tidal energy devices with a purpose-built performance testing facility."</p><br>
<p>During 2007 Scottish and Southern Energy plc in conjunction with the University of Strathclyde began the implementation of a Regional Power Zone in the Orkney archipelago. This scheme (that may be the first of its kind in the world) involves "active network management" that will make better use of existing infrastructure and allow a further 15MW of new "non-firm generation" output from renewables onto the network.</p><br>
<h3>Transport</h3><br>
<h4>Air</h4><br>
<p>Highland and Islands Airports operates the main airport in Orkney, Kirkwall Airport. Loganair, a franchise of Flybe, provides services to the Scottish mainland (Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness), as well as to Sumburgh Airport in Shetland.</p><br>
<p>Within Orkney, the council operates airfields on most of the larger islands including Stronsay, Eday, North Ronaldsay, Westray, Papa Westray, and Sanday. The shortest scheduled air service in the world, between the islands of Westray and Papa Westray, is scheduled at two minutes duration but can take less than one minute if the wind is in the right direction.</p><br>
<h4>Ferry</h4><br>
<p>Ferries serve both to link Orkney to the rest of Scotland, and also to link together the various islands of the Orkney archipelago. Ferry services operate between Orkney and the Scottish mainland and Shetland on the following routes:</p><br>
<p>Gills Bay to St Margaret&#39;s Hope (operated by Pentland Ferries)</p><br>
<p>John o Groats to Burwick on South Ronaldsay (seasonal passenger only service, operated by John o Groats Ferries)</p><br>
<p>Lerwick to Kirkwall (operated by NorthLink Ferries)</p><br>
<p>Aberdeen to Kirkwall (operated by NorthLink Ferries)</p><br>
<p>Scrabster Harbour, Thurso to Stromness (operated by NorthLink Ferries)</p><br>
<p>Inter-island ferry services connect all the inhabited islands to Orkney Mainland, and are operated by Orkney Ferries, a company owned by Orkney Islands Council.</p><br>
<h3>Media</h3><br>
<p>Orkney is served by a weekly local newspaper, The Orcadian.</p><br>
<p>A local BBC radio station, BBC Radio Orkney, the local opt-out of BBC Radio Scotland, broadcasts twice daily, with local news and entertainment. Orkney also had a commercial radio station, The Superstation Orkney, which broadcast to Kirkwall and parts of the mainland and also to most of Caithness until its closure in November 2014. Moray Firth Radio broadcasts throughout Orkney on AM and from an FM transmitter just outside Thurso. The community radio station Caithness FM also broadcasts to Orkney.</p><br>
<p>Orkney is home to the Orkney Library and Archive, located in Kirkwall, Scotland, on the mainland. The Library service provides access to over 145,000 items. They have a wide range of fiction and non-fiction titles available for loan as well as audiobooks, maps, eBooks, music CDs, and DVDs. Orkney Library and Archive operates a Mobile Library Service that serves the rural parishes and islands of Orkney. The Mobile Library carries a wide range of books and audio books suitable for all ages and is completely free to use. Orkney Library is also popular on Twitter as the rival of another Scottish library in Shetland.</p><br>
<h3>Festivals</h3><br>
<p>The islands are the home of several international festivals, including the Orkney International Science Festival in September, a folk festival in May and the St Magnus International Arts Festival in June.</p><br>
<h2>Language, literature and folklore</h2><br>
<p>At the beginning of recorded history, the islands were inhabited by the Picts, whose language was Brythonic. The Ogham script on the Buckquoy spindle-whorl is cited as evidence for the pre-Norse existence of Old Irish in Orkney.</p><br>
<p>After the Norse occupation, the toponymy of Orkney became almost wholly West Norse. The Norse language changed into the local Norn, which lingered until the end of the 18th century, when it finally died out. Norn was replaced by the Orcadian dialect of Insular Scots. This dialect is at a low ebb due to the pervasive influences of television, education, and the large number of incomers. However, attempts are being made by some writers and radio presenters to revitalise its use and the distinctive sing-song accent and many dialect words of Norse origin remain in use. The Orcadian word most frequently encountered by visitors is peedie, meaning small, which may be derived from the French petit.</p><br>
<p>Orkney has a rich folklore, and many of the former tales concern trows, an Orcadian form of troll that draws on the islands&#39; Scandinavian connections. Local customs in the past included marriage ceremonies at the Odin Stone that formed part of the Stones of Stenness.</p><br>
<p>King Lot in certain versions of the Arthurian legend (e.g., Malory) is ruler of Orkney. His sons Gawaine, Agravaine, Gareth, and Gaheris are major characters in the Matter of Britain.</p><br>
<p>The best known literary figures from modern Orkney are the poet Edwin Muir, the poet and novelist George Mackay Brown, and the novelist Eric Linklater.</p><br>
<h2>Orcadians</h2><br>
<p>An Orcadian is a native of Orkney, a term that reflects a strongly held identity with a tradition of understatement. Although the annexation of the earldom by Scotland took place over five centuries ago in 1472, some Orcadians regard themselves as Orcadians first and Scots second. However in response to the national identity question in the 2011 Scotland Census, self-reported levels of Scottish identity in Orkney were in line with the national average.</p><br>
<p>The Scottish mainland is often referred to as "Scotland" in Orkney, with "the mainland" referring to Mainland, Orkney. The archipelago also has a distinct culture, with traditions of the Scottish Highlands such as tartan, clans, bagpipes not indigenous to the culture of the islands. However, at least two tartans with Orkney connections have been registered and a tartan has been designed for Sanday by one of the island&#39;s residents, and there are pipe bands in Orkney.</p><br>
<p>Native Orcadians refer to the non-native residents of the islands as "ferry loupers", a term that has been in use for nearly two centuries at least.</p><br>
<h2>Natural history</h2><br>
<p>Orkney has an abundance of wildlife, especially of grey and common seals and seabirds such as puffins, kittiwakes, tysties, ravens, and bonxies. Whales, dolphins, and otters are also seen around the coasts. Inland the Orkney vole, a distinct subspecies of the common vole introduced by Neolithic humans, is an endemic. There are five distinct varieties, found on the islands of Sanday, Westray, Rousay, South Ronaldsay, and the Mainland, all the more remarkable as the species is absent on mainland Britain.</p><br>
<p>The coastline is well known for its colourful flowers including sea aster, sea squill, sea thrift, common sea-lavender, bell and common heather. The Scottish primrose is found only on the coasts of Orkney and nearby Caithness and Sutherland. Although stands of trees are generally rare, a small forest named Happy Valley with 700 trees and lush gardens was created from a boggy hillside near Stenness during the second half of the 20th century.</p><br>
<p>The North Ronaldsay sheep is an unusual breed of domesticated animal, subsisting largely on a diet of seaweed, since they are confined to the foreshore for most of the year to conserve the limited grazing inland. The island was also a habitat for the Atlantic walrus until the mid-16th century.</p><br>
<p>The Orkney char (Salvelinus inframundus) used to live in Heldale Water on Hoy. It has been considered locally extinct since 1908.</p><br>
<p>The introduction of alien stoats just prior to 2015, a natural predator of the common vole and thus of the Orkney vole, may be harming native bird populations.</p><br>
<p>The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth&#39;s oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean  in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.</p><br>
<p>At 165,250,000 km&sup2; in area (as defined with an Antarctic southern border), this largest division of the World Ocean—and, in turn, the hydrosphere—covers about 46% of Earths water surface and about one-third of its total surface area, making it larger than all of Earths land area combined. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean. The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, with two exceptions: the Galápagos and Gilbert Islands, while straddling the equator, are deemed wholly within the South Pacific. Its mean depth is 4,280 m. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 m. The western Pacific has many peripheral seas.</p><br>
<p>Though the peoples of Asia and Oceania have traveled the Pacific Ocean since prehistoric times, the eastern Pacific was first sighted by Europeans in the early 16th century when Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and discovered the great "southern sea" which he named Mar del Sur (in Spanish). The ocean&#39;s current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favorable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means "peaceful sea".</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Early migrations</h3><br>
<p>Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. About 3000 BC, the Austronesian peoples on the island of Taiwan mastered the art of long-distance canoe travel and spread themselves and their languages south to the Philippines, Indonesia, and maritime Southeast Asia; west towards Madagascar; southeast towards New Guinea and Melanesia (intermarrying with native Papuans); and east to the islands of Micronesia, Oceania and Polynesia.</p><br>
<p>Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan. Trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of this trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality. From 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean.</p><br>
<h3>European exploration</h3><br>
<p>The first contact of European navigators with the western edge of the Pacific Ocean was made by the Portuguese expeditions of António de Abreu and Francisco Serrão, via the Lesser Sunda Islands, to the Maluku Islands, in 1512, and with Jorge Álvares&#39;s expedition to southern China in 1513, both ordered by Afonso de Albuquerque from Malacca.</p><br>
<p>The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached a new ocean. He named it Mar del Sur (literally, "Sea of the South" or "South Sea") because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific.</p><br>
<p>Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian (Spanish) expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519. Magellan called the ocean Pacífico (or "Pacific" meaning, "peaceful") because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century. Although Magellan himself died in the Philippines in 1521, Spanish Basque navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano led the expedition back to Spain across the Indian Ocean and round the Cape of Good Hope, completing the first world circumnavigation in a single expedition in 1522. Sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan.</p><br>
<p>In 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. For the remainder of the 16th century, Spanish influence was paramount, with ships sailing from Mexico and Peru across the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines, via Guam, and establishing the Spanish East Indies. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history. Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific.</p><br>
<p>Later, in the quest for Terra Australis (i.e., "the Southern Land"), Spanish explorations in the 17th century, such as the expedition led by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, discovered the Pitcairn and Vanuatu archipelagos, and sailed the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea, named after navigator Luís Vaz de Torres. Dutch explorers, sailing around southern Africa, also engaged in discovery and trade; Willem Janszoon, made the first completely documented European landing in Australia (1606), in Cape York Peninsula, and Abel Janszoon Tasman circumnavigated and landed on parts of the Australian continental coast and discovered Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642.</p><br>
<p>In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers. As the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines.</p><br>
<p>The 18th century marked the beginning of major exploration by the Russians in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, such as the First Kamchatka expedition and the Great Northern Expedition, led by the Danish Russian navy officer Vitus Bering. Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest. In 1768, Pierre-Antoine Véron, a young astronomer accompanying Louis Antoine de Bougainville on his voyage of exploration, established the width of the Pacific with precision for the first time in history. One of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific.</p><br>
<h3>New Imperialism</h3><br>
<p>Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan and the United States. Significant contributions to oceanographic knowledge were made by the voyages of HMS Beagle in the 1830s, with Charles Darwin aboard; HMS Challenger during the 1870s; the USS Tuscarora (1873–76); and the German Gazelle (1874–76).</p><br>
<p>In Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888. By occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations. By 1900 nearly all Pacific islands were in control of Britain, France, United States, Germany, Japan, and Chile.</p><br>
<p>Although the United States gained control of Guam and the Philippines from Spain in 1898, Japan controlled most of the western Pacific by 1914 and occupied many other islands during World War II. However, by the end of that war, Japan was defeated and the USA Pacific Fleet was the virtual master of the ocean. Since the end of World War II, many former colonies in the Pacific have become independent states.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Pacific separates Asia and Australia from the Americas. It may be further subdivided by the equator into northern (North Pacific) and southern (South Pacific) portions. It extends from the Antarctic region in the South to the Arctic in the north. The Pacific Ocean encompasses approximately one-third of the Earths surface, having an area of 165,200,000 km&sup2;—significantly larger than Earths entire landmass of some 150,000,000 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<p>Extending approximately 15,500 km from the Bering Sea in the Arctic to the northern extent of the circumpolar Southern Ocean at 60°S (older definitions extend it to Antarctica&#39;s Ross Sea), the Pacific reaches its greatest east-west width at about 5°N latitude, where it stretches approximately 19,800 km from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia—halfway around the world, and more than five times the diameter of the Moon. The lowest known point on Earth—the Mariana Trench—lies 10,911 m below sea level. Its average depth is 4,280 m, putting the total water volume at roughly 710,000,000 km3.</p><br>
<p>Due to the effects of plate tectonics, the Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking by roughly 2.5 cm per year on three sides, roughly averaging 0.52 km&sup2; a year. By contrast, the Atlantic Ocean is increasing in size.</p><br>
<p>Along the Pacific Ocean&#39;s irregular western margins lie many seas, the largest of which are the Celebes Sea, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, South China Sea, Sulu Sea, Tasman Sea, and Yellow Sea. The Indonesian Seaway (including the Strait of Malacca and Torres Strait) joins the Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the west, and Drake Passage and the Strait of Magellan link the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east. To the north, the Bering Strait connects the Pacific with the Arctic Ocean.</p><br>
<p>As the Pacific straddles the 180th meridian, the West Pacific (or western Pacific, near Asia) is in the Eastern Hemisphere, while the East Pacific (or eastern Pacific, near the Americas) is in the Western Hemisphere.</p><br>
<p>The Southern Pacific Ocean harbors the Southeast Indian Ridge crossing from south of Australia turning into the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge (north of the South Pole) and merges with another ridge (south of South America) to form the East Pacific Rise which also connects with another ridge (south of North America) which overlooks the Juan de Fuca Ridge.</p><br>
<p>For most of Magellan&#39;s voyage from the Strait of Magellan to the Philippines, the explorer indeed found the ocean peaceful. However, the Pacific is not always peaceful. Many tropical storms batter the islands of the Pacific. The lands around the Pacific Rim are full of volcanoes and often affected by earthquakes. Tsunamis, caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and in some cases destroyed entire towns.</p><br>
<p>The Martin Waldseemüller map of 1507 was the first to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans. Later, the Diogo Ribeiro map of 1529 was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size.</p><br>
<h3>Bordering countries and territories</h3><br>
<h4>Sovereign nations</h4><br>
<p>The status of Taiwan and China is disputed. For more information, see political status of Taiwan.</p><br>
<h4>Territories</h4><br>
<p>(US)</p><br>
<p>Baker Island (US)</p><br>
<p>(New Zealand)</p><br>
<p>Coral Sea Islands (Australia)</p><br>
<p>(Chile)</p><br>
<p>(France)</p><br>
<p>(US)</p><br>
<p>(China)</p><br>
<p>Howland Island (US)</p><br>
<p>Jarvis Island (US)</p><br>
<p>Johnston Island (US)</p><br>
<p>Kingman Reef (US)</p><br>
<p>(China)</p><br>
<p>Midway Atoll (US)</p><br>
<p>(France)</p><br>
<p>(New Zealand)</p><br>
<p>(Australia)</p><br>
<p>(US)</p><br>
<p>Palmyra Atoll (US)</p><br>
<p>(UK)</p><br>
<p>(New Zealand)</p><br>
<p>(France)</p><br>
<p>Wake Island (US)</p><br>
<h3>Landmasses and islands</h3><br>
<p>This ocean has most of the islands in the world. There are about 25,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands entirely within the Pacific Ocean can be divided into three main groups known as Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. Micronesia, which lies north of the equator and west of the International Date Line, includes the Mariana Islands in the northwest, the Caroline Islands in the center, the Marshall Islands to the west and the islands of Kiribati in the southeast.</p><br>
<p>Melanesia, to the southwest, includes New Guinea, the world&#39;s second largest island after Greenland and by far the largest of the Pacific islands. The other main Melanesian groups from north to south are the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia.</p><br>
<p>The largest area, Polynesia, stretching from Hawaii in the north to New Zealand in the south, also encompasses Tuvalu, Tokelau, Samoa, Tonga and the Kermadec Islands to the west, the Cook Islands, Society Islands and Austral Islands in the center, and the Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu, Mangareva Islands, and Easter Island to the east.</p><br>
<p>Islands in the Pacific Ocean are of four basic types: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs and uplifted coral platforms. Continental islands lie outside the andesite line and include New Guinea, the islands of New Zealand, and the Philippines. Some of these islands are structurally associated with nearby continents. High islands are of volcanic origin, and many contain active volcanoes. Among these are Bougainville, Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands.</p><br>
<p>The coral reefs of the South Pacific are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under the ocean&#39;s surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia with chains of reef patches. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands. Examples include Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia.</p><br>
<h2>Water characteristics</h2><br>
<p>The volume of the Pacific Ocean, representing about 50.1 percent of the world&#39;s oceanic water, has been estimated at some 714 e6km3. Surface water temperatures in the Pacific can vary from -1.4 &deg;C, the freezing point of sea water, in the poleward areas to about 30 &deg;C near the equator. Salinity also varies latitudinally, reaching a maximum of 37 parts per thousand in the southeastern area. The water near the equator, which can have a salinity as low as 34 parts per thousand, is less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the year. The lowest counts of less than 32 parts per thousand are found in the far north as less evaporation of seawater takes place in these frigid areas. The motion of Pacific waters is generally clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (the North Pacific gyre) and counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. The North Equatorial Current, driven westward along latitude 15°N by the trade winds, turns north near the Philippines to become the warm Japan or Kuroshio Current.</p><br>
<p>Turning eastward at about 45°N, the Kuroshio forks and some water moves northward as the Aleutian Current, while the rest turns southward to rejoin the North Equatorial Current. The Aleutian Current branches as it approaches North America and forms the base of a counter-clockwise circulation in the Bering Sea. Its southern arm becomes the chilled slow, south-flowing California Current. The South Equatorial Current, flowing west along the equator, swings southward east of New Guinea, turns east at about 50°S, and joins the main westerly circulation of the South Pacific, which includes the Earth-circling Antarctic Circumpolar Current. As it approaches the Chilean coast, the South Equatorial Current divides; one branch flows around Cape Horn and the other turns north to form the Peru or Humboldt Current.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The climate patterns of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres generally mirror each other. The trade winds in the southern and eastern Pacific are remarkably steady while conditions in the North Pacific are far more varied with, for example, cold winter temperatures on the east coast of Russia contrasting with the milder weather off British Columbia during the winter months due to the preferred flow of ocean currents.</p><br>
<p>In the tropical and subtropical Pacific, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects weather conditions. To determine the phase of ENSO, the most recent three-month sea surface temperature average for the area approximately 3,000 km to the southeast of Hawaii is computed, and if the region is more than 0.5 &deg;C above or below normal for that period, then an El Niño or La Niña is considered in progress.</p><br>
<p>In the tropical western Pacific, the monsoon and the related wet season during the summer months contrast with dry winds in the winter which blow over the ocean from the Asian landmass. Worldwide, tropical cyclone activity peaks in late summer, when the difference between temperatures aloft and sea surface temperatures is the greatest. However, each particular basin has its own seasonal patterns. On a worldwide scale, May is the least active month, while September is the most active month. November is the only month in which all the tropical cyclone basins are active. The Pacific hosts the two most active tropical cyclone basins, which are the northwestern Pacific and the eastern Pacific. Pacific hurricanes form south of Mexico, sometimes striking the western Mexican coast and occasionally the southwestern United States between June and October, while typhoons forming in the northwestern Pacific moving into southeast and east Asia from May to December. Tropical cyclones also form in the South Pacific basin, where they occasionally impact island nations.</p><br>
<p>In the arctic, icing from October to May can present a hazard for shipping while persistent fog occurs from June to December. A climatological low in the Gulf of Alaska keeps the southern coast wet and mild during the winter months. The Westerlies and associated jet stream within the Mid-Latitudes can be particularly strong, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, due to the temperature difference between the tropics and Antarctica, which records the coldest temperature readings on the planet. In the Southern hemisphere, because of the stormy and cloudy conditions associated with extratropical cyclones riding the jet stream, it is usual to refer to the Westerlies as the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties and Shrieking Sixties according to the varying degrees of latitude.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The ocean was first mapped by Abraham Ortelius; he called it Maris Pacifici following Ferdinand Magellan&#39;s description of it as "a pacific sea" during his circumnavigation from 1519 to 1522. To Magellan, it seemed much more calm (pacific) than the Atlantic.</p><br>
<p>The andesite line is the most significant regional distinction in the Pacific. A petrologic boundary, it separates the deeper, mafic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin from the partially submerged continental areas of felsic igneous rock on its margins. The andesite line follows the western edge of the islands off California and passes south of the Aleutian arc, along the eastern edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Japan, the Mariana Islands, the Solomon Islands, and New Zealand&#39;s North Island.</p><br>
<p>The dissimilarity continues northeastward along the western edge of the Andes Cordillera along South America to Mexico, returning then to the islands off California. Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, New Guinea, and New Zealand lie outside the andesite line.</p><br>
<p>Within the closed loop of the andesite line are most of the deep troughs, submerged volcanic mountains, and oceanic volcanic islands that characterize the Pacific basin. Here basaltic lavas gently flow out of rifts to build huge dome-shaped volcanic mountains whose eroded summits form island arcs, chains, and clusters. Outside the andesite line, volcanism is of the explosive type, and the Pacific Ring of Fire is the world&#39;s foremost belt of explosive volcanism. The Ring of Fire is named after the several hundred active volcanoes that sit above the various subduction zones.</p><br>
<p>The Pacific Ocean is the only ocean which is almost totally bounded by subduction zones. Only the Antarctic and Australian coasts have no nearby subduction zones.</p><br>
<h3>Geological history</h3><br>
<p>The Pacific Ocean was born 750 million years ago at the breakup of Rodinia, although it is generally called the Panthalassic Ocean until the breakup of Pangea, about 200 million years ago. The oldest Pacific Ocean floor is only around 180 Ma old, with older crust subducted by now.</p><br>
<h3>Seamount chains</h3><br>
<p>The Pacific Ocean contains several long seamount chains, formed by hotspot volcanism. These include the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain and the Louisville Ridge.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>The exploitation of the Pacifics mineral wealth is hampered by the oceans great depths. In shallow waters of the continental shelves off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, petroleum and natural gas are extracted, and pearls are harvested along the coasts of Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Philippines, although in sharply declining volume in some cases.</p><br>
<h3>Fishing</h3><br>
<p>Fish are an important economic asset in the Pacific. The shallower shoreline waters of the continents and the more temperate islands yield herring, salmon, sardines, snapper, swordfish, and tuna, as well as shellfish. Overfishing has become a serious problem in some areas. For example, catches in the rich fishing grounds of the Okhotsk Sea off the Russian coast have been reduced by at least half since the 1990s as a result of overfishing.</p><br>
<h2>Environmental issues</h2><br>
<p>The quantity of small plastic fragments floating in the north-east Pacific Ocean increased a hundredfold between 1972 and 2012.</p><br>
<p>Marine pollution is a generic term for the harmful entry into the ocean of chemicals or particles. The main culprits are those using the rivers for disposing of their waste. The rivers then empty into the ocean, often also bringing chemicals used as fertilizers in agriculture. The excess of oxygen-depleting chemicals in the water leads to hypoxia and the creation of a dead zone.</p><br>
<p>Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has ended up floating in a lake, sea, ocean, or waterway. 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>In addition, the Pacific Ocean has served as the crash site of satellites, including Mars 96, Fobos-Grunt, and Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.</p><br>
<h2>Major ports and harbors</h2><br>
<p>Pergamon or or Pergamum  was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Aeolis. It is located 26 km from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus  and northwest of the modern city of Bergama.</p><br>
<p>Many remains of its impressive monuments can still be seen and especially the outstanding masterpiece of the Pergamon Altar.</p><br>
<p>It became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period under the Attalid dynasty in 281–133 BC.</p><br>
<p>Pergamon is cited in the Book of Revelation as one of the seven churches of Asia.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Antiquity</h3><br>
<p>Xenophon provides the earliest surviving documentary mention of Pergamon.</p><br>
<p>Xenophon, Anabasis; Hellenica. Captured by Xenophon in 399 BC and immediately recaptured by the Persians, it was severely punished in 362 BC after a revolt. It did not become important until Lysimachus, King of Thrace, took possession in 301 BC, but soon after his lieutenant Philetaerus enlarged the town, the kingdom of Thrace collapsed and it became the capital of the new kingdom of Pergamon which Philetaerus founded in 281 BC, beginning the Attalid dynasty. In 261 BC he bequeathed his possessions to his nephew Eumenes I (263–241 BC), who increased them greatly, leaving as heir his cousin Attalus I (241–197 BC).</p><br>
<p>The Attalids became some of the most loyal supporters of Rome in the Hellenistic world. Under Attalus I (241–197 BC), they allied with Rome against Philip V of Macedon, during the first and second Macedonian Wars, and again under Eumenes II (197–158 BC), against Perseus of Macedon, during the Third Macedonian War. For their support against the Seleucids, the Attalids were rewarded with all the former Seleucid domains in Asia Minor.</p><br>
<p>As a consequence of its rise to power, the city expanded greatly. Until 188 BC, it had not grown significantly since its founding by Philetaerus, and covered c. 21 hectare. After this year, a massive new city wall was constructed, 4 km long and enclosing an area of approximately 90 hectare.</p><br>
<p>The Attalids ruled with intelligence and generosity. Many documents survive showing how the Attalids supported the growth of towns by sending in skilled artisans and by remitting taxes. They allowed the Greek cities in their domains to maintain nominal independence. They sent gifts to Greek cultural sites like Delphi, Delos, and Athens. They defeated the invading Celts. They remodeled the Acropolis of Pergamon after the Acropolis in Athens. When Attalus III (138–133 BC) died without an heir in 133 BC, he bequeathed the whole of Pergamon to Rome in order to prevent a civil war.</p><br>
<h3>Roman</h3><br>
<p>Not everyone in Pergamon accepted Romes rule. Aristonicus, who claimed to be Attalus brother as well as the son of Eumenes II, an earlier king, led a revolt among the lower classes with the help of Blossius, a famous Stoic philosopher. Aristonicus took the regal name Eumenes III. For a period he enjoyed success, defeating and killing the Roman consul P. Licinius Crassus and his army. However, his revolt was put down in 129 BC by the consul M. Perperna, and Aristonicus was executed in Rome. After this, Pergamon was divided by Perpernas successor, M. Aquillius, among Rome, Pontus, and Cappadocia.</p><br>
<p>Pergamon was briefly the capital of the Roman province of Asia, before the capital was transferred to Ephesus.</p><br>
<p>After a slow decline, the city was favoured by several imperial initiatives under Hadrian (117 - 138). It was granted the title of metropolis and as a result of this an ambitious building programme was carried out: massive temples, a stadium, a theatre, a huge forum and an amphitheatre were constructed. In addition, at the city limits the shrine to Asclepius (the god of healing) was expanded into a lavish spa. This sanctuary grew in fame and was considered one of the most famous therapeutic and healing centers of the Roman world. Galen, after Hippocrates the most famous physician of antiquity, was born at Pergamon and received his early training at the Asclepeion.</p><br>
<p>Pergamon reached the height of its greatness under Roman Imperial rule and was home to about 200,000 inhabitants. The city was an early seat of Christianity and was granted a bishopric by the 2nd century.</p><br>
<p>The city suffered badly during the third century and was badly damaged by an earthquake in 262 and was sacked by the Goths shortly after.</p><br>
<p>The Library of Pergamon was renowned, and second only to the Library of Alexandria, although not approaching Alexandria in scholarship.</p><br>
<h3>Middle Ages</h3><br>
<p>Anatolia was invaded by the Persian Sassanid Empire in c.620 and after the Persians were driven out by Byzantine forces, Pergamon was rebuilt on a much smaller scale by Emperor Constans II.</p><br>
<p>Not long after, Pergamon was sacked by the armies of Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik on their way to the siege of Constantinople in 717.</p><br>
<p>With the defeat of the Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the Seljuk Turks were effectively in control of all of Anatolia, but they withdrew to central and eastern Anatolia to consolidate their gains as the Sultanate of Rum and Pergamon returned to Byzantine control. The decline of the Sultanate of Rum in the late 12th century saw the rise of the Anatolian beyliks and with the continuing weakness in the Byzantine Empire, and the expansion of the beyliks, Pergamon was absorbed into the baylik of Karasids/Karası by 1336.</p><br>
<p>Competition among the bayliks resulted in the takeover of the baylik of Karasids/Karası by the Ottoman Emirate - the forerunner of the Ottoman Empire - in 1357.</p><br>
<p>The Ottoman Sultan Murad III had two large alabaster urns transported from the ruins of Pergamon and placed on two sides of the nave in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.</p><br>
<h2>Main sights</h2><br>
<h3>Upper Acropolis</h3><br>
<p>The Great Altar of Pergamon is in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. The base of this altar remains on the upper part of the Acropolis. A smaller frieze on a wall inside the Altar of Pergamon depicted the life of Telephus, son of Heracles and legendary founder of Pergamon.</p><br>
<p>Other notable structures still in existence on the upper part of the Acropolis include:</p><br>
<p>The Hellenistic Theater with a seating capacity of 10,000. This had the steepest seating of any known theater in the ancient world.</p><br>
<p>The Sanctuary of Trajan (also known as the Trajaneum)</p><br>
<p>The Sanctuary of Athena</p><br>
<p>The Library of Pergamum</p><br>
<p>The Royal palaces</p><br>
<p>The Heroön – a shrine where the kings of Pergamon, particularly Attalus I and Eumenes II, were worshipped.</p><br>
<p>The Temple of Dionysus</p><br>
<p>The Upper Agora</p><br>
<p>The Roman baths complex</p><br>
<p>Diodorus Pasporos heroon</p><br>
<p>Arsenals</p><br>
<p>Pergamons library on the Acropolis (the ancient Library of Pergamum) was the second best in the ancient Greek civilization. Pergamon was also a flourishing center for the production of parchment (the word itself, a corruption of pergamenos, meaning "from Pergamon"), which had been used in Asia minor long before the rise of the city. The story about the Pergamene invention of parchment because of Alexandrias papyrus monopoly is a mere legend. The library at Pergamom was believed to contain 200,000 volumes, which Mark Antony later gave to Cleopatra as a wedding present.</p><br>
<p>The site is today easily accessible by the Bergama Acropolis Gondola from the base station in northeastern Bergama.</p><br>
<h3>Lower Acropolis</h3><br>
<p>The lower part of the Acropolis has the following structures:</p><br>
<p>the Upper Gymnasium</p><br>
<p>the Middle Gymnasium</p><br>
<p>the Lower Gymnasium</p><br>
<p>the Temple of Demeter</p><br>
<p>the Sanctuary of Hera</p><br>
<p>the House of Attalus</p><br>
<p>the Lower Agora and</p><br>
<p>the Gate of Eumenes</p><br>
<h3>At the foot of the Acropolis</h3><br>
<h4>Sanctuary of Asclepius</h4><br>
<p>3 km south of the Acropolis at (39° 7′ 9″ N, 27° 9′ 56″ E), down in the valley, there was the Sanctuary of Asclepius (also known as the Asclepium), the god of healing. The Asclepium was approached along an 820-meter colonnaded sacred way. In this place people with health problems could bathe in the water of the sacred spring, and in the patients&#39; dreams Asclepius would appear in a vision to tell them how to cure their illness. Archeology has found lots of gifts and dedications that people would make afterwards, such as small terracotta body parts, no doubt representing what had been healed. Galen, the most famous doctor in the ancient Roman Empire and personal physician of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, worked in the Asclepium for many years. Notable extant structures in the Asclepium include:</p><br>
<p>the Roman theater</p><br>
<p>the North Stoa</p><br>
<p>the South Stoa</p><br>
<p>the Temple of Asclepius</p><br>
<p>a circular treatment center (sometimes known as the Temple of Telesphorus)</p><br>
<p>a healing spring</p><br>
<p>an underground passageway</p><br>
<p>a library</p><br>
<p>the Via Tecta (or the Sacred Way, which is a colonnaded street leading to the sanctuary) and</p><br>
<p>a propylon</p><br>
<h4>Serapis Temple</h4><br>
<p>Pergamons other notable structure is the great temple of the Egyptian gods Isis and/or Serapis, known today as the "Red Basilica" (or Kızıl Avlu in Turkish), about 1 km south of the Acropolis at (39 7 19" N, 27 11&#39; 1" E). It consists of a main building and two round towers within an enormous temenos or sacred area. The temple towers flanking the main building had courtyards with pools used for ablutions at each end, flanked by stoas on three sides. According to tradition, in the year 92 Saint Antipas, the first bishop of Pergamum ordained by John the Apostle, was a victim of an early clash between Serapis worshipers and Christians. An angry mob is said to have burned Saint Antipas alive inside a Brazen Bull incense burner, which represented the bull god Apis. The Christian community in Pergamum was one of the Seven Churches to which the Book of Revelation was addressed. The forecourt of the Temple of Isis/Sarapis is still supported by the 193 m Pergamon Bridge, the largest bridge substruction of antiquity.</p><br>
<h2>Inscriptions</h2><br>
<p>Greek inscriptions discovered at Pergamon include the rules of the town clerks, the so-called Astynomoi inscription, which has added to understanding of Greek municipal laws and regulations, including how roads were kept in repair, regulations regarding the public and private water supply and lavatories.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Epigonus (3rd century BC), Greek sculptor.</p><br>
<p>Andronicus of Pergamum (2nd century BC), Attalid ambassador to Rome.</p><br>
<p>Biton of Pergamon (2nd or 3rd century BC), Greek writer and engineer.</p><br>
<p>Hegesinus of Pergamon (c. 160 BC), Academic philosopher.</p><br>
<p>Sosus of Pergamon (2nd century BC), Greek mosaic artist.</p><br>
<p>Apollodorus (1st century BC), rhetor and teacher to Augustus.</p><br>
<p>Cratippus of Pergamon (1st century BC), Peripatetic philosopher.</p><br>
<p>Antipas of Pergamum (1st century AD), Christian martyr and saint.</p><br>
<p>Aelius Nicon (2nd century AD), Greek architect and builder.</p><br>
<p>Aeschrion of Pergamon (2nd century AD), physician and tutor to Galen.</p><br>
<p>Galen (c. 129–200/216 AD), Greek physician.</p><br>
<p>The Pitcairn Islands consist of four islands: Pitcairn Island, Oeno Island, Henderson Island and Ducie Island:</p><br>
<p>Pitcairn Islands as a group of islands ()</p><br>
<p>* Pitcairn Island (main island) ()</p><br>
<p>* Henderson Island ()</p><br>
<p>* Ducie Island ()</p><br>
<p>* Oeno Island ()</p><br>
<p>Pitcairn Island is a volcanic high island. Henderson Island is an uplifted coral island. Ducie and Oeno are coral atolls.</p><br>
<p>The only inhabited island, Pitcairn, has an area of 5 km&sup2; and a population density of 10/km²; it is only accessible by boat through Bounty Bay.</p><br>
<p>The other islands are at a distance of more than 100 km.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Peru to New Zealand, one of the most remote sites of human habitation on Earth.</p><br>
<p>The inhabited island, Pitcairn, is at 25.04 south, 130.06 west. Pitcairn is about 2,170 km southeast of Tahiti, 5,310 km from Auckland, New Zealand, and over 6,600 km from Panama.</p><br>
<h2>Area</h2><br>
<p>Total:</p><br>
<p>47 km²</p><br>
<p>Land:</p><br>
<p>47 km²</p><br>
<p>Water:</p><br>
<p>0 km²</p><br>
<p>Pitcairn Island is about 3.2 km long and 1.6 km wide.</p><br>
<h3>Area - comparative</h3><br>
<p>About 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC</p><br>
<h3>Land boundaries</h3><br>
<p>0 km</p><br>
<h3>Coastline</h3><br>
<p>51 km</p><br>
<h3>Maritime claims</h3><br>
<p>Exclusive economic zone:</p><br>
<p>836,000 sq kilometres</p><br>
<p>Territorial sea:</p><br>
<p>3 nmi</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Tropical, hot, humid; modified by southeast trade winds; rainy season (November to March)</p><br>
<h2>Terrain</h2><br>
<p>Rugged volcanic formation; rocky coastline with cliffs</p><br>
<h3>Elevation extremes</h3><br>
<p>Lowest point:</p><br>
<p>Pacific Ocean 0 m</p><br>
<p>Highest point:</p><br>
<p>Pawala Valley Ridge 347 m</p><br>
<h2>Natural resources</h2><br>
<p>Miro trees (used for handicrafts), fish</p><br>
<p>Note:</p><br>
<p>manganese, iron, copper, gold, silver, and zinc have been discovered offshore</p><br>
<h2>Natural hazards</h2><br>
<p>Typhoons (especially November to March)</p><br>
<h2>Environment - current issues</h2><br>
<p>Deforestation (only a small portion of the original forest remains because of burning and clearing for settlement)</p><br>
<h2>Maps</h2><br>
<p>Worldwide map services show very little detail of the islands, and are even of limited use to show the location of them with respect to each other and to other islands, because they are so small and far apart. However, Mapquest zoom level 1 is a suitable map to see the location between Peru and New Zealand.</p><br>
<p>For the location with respect to French Polynesia, see the inset of :Image:French Polynesia map.jpg.</p><br>
<p>Puget Sound is a sound along the northwestern coast of the USA state of Washington, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and two minor connections to the open Pacific Ocean via the Strait of Juan de Fuca — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and Deception Pass and Swinomish Channel being the minor.</p><br>
<p>Water flow through Deception Pass is approximately equal to 2% of the total tidal exchange between Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Puget Sound extends approximately 100 mi from Deception Pass in the north to Olympia, Washington in the south. Its average depth is 450 ft and its maximum depth, off Jefferson Point between Indianola and Kingston, is 930 ft. The depth of the main basin, between the southern tip of Whidbey Island and Tacoma, Washington, is approximately 600 ft.</p><br>
<p>Since 2009, the term Salish Sea has been established by the United States Board on Geographic Names as the collective waters of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Strait of Georgia. Sometimes the terms "Puget Sound" and "Puget Sound and adjacent waters" are used for not only Puget Sound proper but also for waters to the north, such as Bellingham Bay and the San Juan Islands region.</p><br>
<p>The term "Puget Sound" is used not just for the body of water but also the Puget Sound region centered on the sound. Major cities on the sound include Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, and Everett, Washington.</p><br>
<p>Puget Sound is also the second largest estuary in the United States, behind Chesapeake Bay.</p><br>
<h2>Names</h2><br>
<p>In 1792 George Vancouver gave the name "Puget&#39;s Sound" to the waters south of the Tacoma Narrows, in honor of Peter Puget, a Huguenot lieutenant accompanying him on the Vancouver Expedition. This name later came to be used for the waters north of Tacoma Narrows as well.</p><br>
<p>An alternative term for Puget Sound, still used by some Native Americans and environmental groups, is Whulge (or Whulj), an anglicization of the Lushootseed name x̌ʷə́lč, which means "sea, salt water, ocean, or sound."</p><br>
<h2>Definitions</h2><br>
<p>The USGS defines Puget Sound as all the waters south of three entrances from the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The main entrance at Admiralty Inlet is defined as a line between Point Wilson on the Olympic Peninsula, and Point Partridge on Whidbey Island. The second entrance is at Deception Pass along a line from West Point on Whidbey Island, to Deception Island, then to Rosario Head on Fidalgo Island. The third entrance is at the south end of the Swinomish Channel, which connects Skagit Bay and Padilla Bay. Under this definition, Puget Sound includes the waters of Hood Canal, Admiralty Inlet, Possession Sound, Saratoga Passage, and others. It does not include Bellingham Bay, Padilla Bay, the waters of the San Juan Islands or anything farther north.</p><br>
<p>Another definition, given by NOAA, subdivides Puget Sound into five basins or regions. Four of these (including South Puget Sound) correspond to areas within the USGS definition, but the fifth one, called "Northern Puget Sound" includes a large additional region. It is defined as bounded to the north by the international boundary with Canada, and to the west by a line running north from the mouth of the Sekiu River on the Olympic Peninsula. Under this definition significant parts of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia are included in Puget Sound, with the international boundary marking an abrupt and hydrologically arbitrary limit.</p><br>
<p>According to Arthur Kruckeberg, the term "Puget Sound" is sometimes used for waters north of Admiralty Inlet and Deception Pass, especially for areas along the north coast of Washington and the San Juan Islands, essentially equivalent to NOAA&#39;s "Northern Puget Sound" subdivision described above. Kruckeberg uses the term "Puget Sound and adjacent waters."</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Continental ice sheets have repeatedly advanced and retreated from the Puget Sound region. The most recent glacial period, called the Fraser Glaciation, had three phases, or stades. During the third, or Vashon Glaciation, a lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, called the Puget Lobe, spread south about 15,000 years ago, covering the Puget Sound region with an ice sheet about 3,000 ft thick near Seattle, and nearly 6,000 ft at the present Canada-USA border. Since each new advance and retreat of ice erodes away much of the evidence of previous ice ages, the most recent Vashon phase has left the clearest imprint on the land. At its maximum extent the Vashon ice sheet extended south of Olympia to near Tenino, and covered the lowlands between the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges. About 14,000 years ago the ice began to retreat. By 11,000 years ago it survived only north of the Canada–US border.</p><br>
<p>The melting retreat of the Vashon Glaciation eroded the land, creating a drumlin field of hundreds of aligned drumlin hills. Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish (which are ribbon lakes), Hood Canal, and the main Puget Sound basin were altered by glacial forces. These glacial forces are not specifically "carving", as in cutting into the landscape via the mechanics of ice/glaciers, but rather eroding the landscape from melt water of the Vashon Glacier creating the drumlin field. As the ice retreated, vast amounts of glacial till were deposited throughout the Puget Sound region. The soils of the region, less than ten thousand years old, are still characterized as immature.</p><br>
<p>As the Vashon glacier receded a series of proglacial lakes formed, filling the main trough of Puget Sound and inundating the southern lowlands. Glacial Lake Russell was the first such large recessional lake. From the vicinity of Seattle in the north the lake extended south to the Black Hills, where it drained south into the Chehalis River. Sediments from Lake Russell form the blue-gray clay identified as the Lawton Clay. The second major recessional lake was Glacial Lake Bretz. It also drained to the Chehalis River until the Chimacum Valley, in the northeast Olympic Peninsula, melted, allowing the lake&#39;s water to rapidly drain north into the marine waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which was rising as the ice sheet retreated.</p><br>
<p>As icebergs calved off the toe of the glacier, their embedded gravels and boulders were deposited in the chaotic mix of unsorted till geologists call glaciomarine drift. Many beaches about the Sound display glacial erratics, rendered more prominent than those in coastal woodland solely by their exposed position; submerged glacial erratics sometimes cause hazards to navigation. The sheer weight of glacial-age ice depressed the landforms, which experienced post-glacial rebound after the ice sheets had retreated. Because the rate of rebound was not synchronous with the post-ice age rise in sea levels, the bed of what is Puget Sound, filled alternately with fresh and with sea water. The upper level of the lake-sediment Lawton Clay now lies about 120 ft above sea level.</p><br>
<p>The Puget Sound system consists of four deep basins connected by shallower sills. The four basins are Hood Canal, west of the Kitsap Peninsula, Whidbey Basin, east of Whidbey Island, South Sound, south of the Tacoma Narrows, and the Main Basin, which is further subdivided into Admiralty Inlet and the Central Basin. Puget Sound&#39;s sills, a kind of submarine terminal moraine, separate the basins from one another, and Puget Sound from the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Three sills are particularly significant—the one at Admiralty Inlet which checks the flow of water between the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget sound, the one at the entrance to Hood Canal (about 175 ft below the surface), and the one at the Tacoma Narrows (about 145 ft). Other sills that present less of a barrier include the ones at Blake Island, Agate Pass, Rich Passage, and Hammersley Inlet.</p><br>
<p>The depth of the basins is a result of the Sound being part of the Cascadia subduction zone, where the terranes accreted at the edge of the Juan de Fuca Plate are being subducted under the North American Plate. There has not been a major subduction zone earthquake here since the magnitude nine Cascadia earthquake; according to Japanese records, it occurred 26 January 1700. Lesser Puget Sound earthquakes with shallow epicenters, caused by the fracturing of stressed oceanic rocks as they are subducted, still cause great damage. The Seattle Fault cuts across Puget Sound, crossing the southern tip of Bainbridge Island and under Elliott Bay. To the south, the existence of a second fault, the Tacoma Fault, has buckled the intervening strata in the Seattle Uplift.</p><br>
<p>Typical Puget Sound profiles of dense glacial till overlying permeable glacial outwash of gravels above an impermeable bed of silty clay may become unstable after periods of unusually wet weather and slump in landslides.</p><br>
<h2>Hydrology</h2><br>
<p>The United States Geological Survey (USGS) defines Puget Sound as a bay with numerous channels and branches; more specifically, it is a fjord system of flooded glacial valleys. Puget Sound is part of a larger physiographic structure termed the Puget Trough, which is a physiographic section of the larger Pacific Border province, which in turn is part of the larger Pacific Mountain System.</p><br>
<p>Puget Sound is a large salt water estuary, or system of many estuaries, fed by highly seasonal freshwater from the Olympic and Cascade Mountain watersheds. The mean annual river discharge into Puget Sound is 41,000 cuft/s, with a monthly average maximum of about 367,000 cuft/s and minimum of about 14,000 cuft/s. Puget Sound&#39;s shoreline is 1,332 mi long, encompassing a water area of 1,020 square miles and a total volume of 26.5 mi3 at mean high water. The average volume of water flowing in and out of Puget Sound during each tide is 1.26 mi3. The maximum tidal currents, in the range of 9 to 10 knots, occurs at Deception Pass.</p><br>
<p>The size of Puget Sound&#39;s watershed is 12,138 square miles. "Northern Puget Sound" is frequently considered part of the Puget Sound watershed, which enlarges its size to 13,700 square miles. The USGS uses the name "Puget Sound" for its hydrologic unit subregion 1711, which includes areas draining to Puget Sound proper as well as the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Strait of Georgia, and the Fraser River. Significant rivers that drain to "Northern Puget Sound" include the Nooksack, Dungeness, and Elwha Rivers. The Nooksack empties into Bellingham Bay, the Dungeness and Elwha into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Chilliwack River flows north to the Fraser River in Canada.</p><br>
<p>Tides in Puget Sound are of the mixed type with two high and two low tides each tidal day. These are called Higher High Water (HHW), Lower Low Water (LLW), Lower High Water (LHW), and Higher Low Water (HLW). The configuration of basins, sills, and interconnections cause the tidal range to increase within Puget Sound. The difference in height between the Higher High Water and the Lower Low Water averages about 8.3 ft at Port Townsend on Admiralty Inlet, but increases to about 14.4 ft at Olympia, the southern end of Puget Sound.</p><br>
<p>Puget Sound is generally accepted as the start of the Inside Passage.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Important marine flora of Puget Sound include eelgrass (Zostera marina) and kelp, especially bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana).</p><br>
<p>Among the marine mammals species found in Puget Sound are harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). Orca (Orcinus orca) are famous throughout the Sound, and are a large tourist attraction. Although orca are sometimes seen in Puget Sound proper they are far more prevalent around the San Juan Islands north of Puget Sound.</p><br>
<p>Many fish species occur in Puget Sound. The various salmonid species, including salmon, trout, and char are particularly well-known and studied. Salmonid species of Puget Sound include chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), chum salmon (O. keta), coho salmon (O. kisutch), pink salmon (O. gorbuscha), sockeye salmon (O. nerka), sea-run coastal cutthroat trout (O. clarki clarki), steelhead (O. mykiss irideus), sea-run bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), and Dolly Varden trout (Salvelinus malma malma).</p><br>
<p>Common forage fishes found in Puget Sound include Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), surf smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus), and Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus). Important benthopelagic fish of Puget Sound include North Pacific hake (Merluccius productus), Pacific cod (Gadus macrocelhalus), walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), and the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias). There are about 28 species of Sebastidae (rockfish), of many types, found in Puget Sound. Among those of special interest are copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus), quillback rockfish (S. maliger), black rockfish (S. melanops), yelloweye rockfish (S. ruberrimus), bocaccio rockfish (S. paucispinis), canary rockfish (S. pinniger), and Puget Sound rockfish (S. emphaeus).</p><br>
<p>Many other fish species occur in Puget Sound, such as sturgeons, lampreys, various sharks, rays, and skates.</p><br>
<p>Puget Sound is home to numerous species of marine invertebrates, including sponges, sea anemones, chitons, clams, sea snails, limpets crabs, barnacles starfish, sea urchins, and sand dollars. Dungeness crabs (Metacarcinus magister) occur throughout Washington waters, including Puget Sound. Many bivalves occur in Puget Sound, such as Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) and geoduck clams (Panopea generosa). The Olympia oyster (Ostreola conchaphila), once common in Puget Sound, was depleted by human activities during the 20th century. There are ongoing efforts to restore Olympia oysters in Puget Sound.</p><br>
<p>There are many seabird species of Puget Sound. Among these are grebes such as the western grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis); loons such as the common loon (Gavia immer); auks such as the pigeon guillemot (Cepphus columba), rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata), common murre (Uria aalge), and marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus); the brant goose (Branta bernicla); seaducks such as the long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus), and surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata); and cormorants such as the double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus). Puget Sound is home to a non-migratory and marine-oriented subspecies of great blue herons (Ardea herodias fannini). Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) occur in relative high densities in the Puget Sound region.</p><br>
<p>It is estimated that more than 100 million geoducks (pronounced "gooey ducks") are packed into Puget Sound&#39;s sediments. Also known as "king clam", geoducks are considered to be a delicacy in Asian countries.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>George Vancouver explored Puget Sound in 1792. Vancouver claimed it for Great Britain on 4 June 1792, naming it for one of his officers, Lieutenant Peter Puget.</p><br>
<p>After 1818 Britain and the United States, which both claimed the Oregon Country, agreed to "joint occupancy", deferring resolution of the Oregon boundary dispute until the 1846 Oregon Treaty. Puget Sound was part of the disputed region until 1846, after which it became US territory.</p><br>
<p>American maritime fur traders visited Puget Sound in the early 19th century.</p><br>
<p>The first European settlement in the Puget Sound area was Fort Nisqually, a fur trade post of the Hudsons Bay Company (HBC) built in 1833. Fort Nisqually was part of the HBCs Columbia District, headquartered at Fort Vancouver. The Puget Sound Agricultural Company, a subsidiary of the HBC, established farms and ranches near Fort Nisqually. British ships such as the Beaver, exported foodstuffs and provisions from Fort Nisqually.</p><br>
<p>The first American settlement on Puget Sound was Tumwater. It was founded in 1845 by Americans who had come via the Oregon Trail. The decision to settle north of the Columbia River was made in part because one of the settlers, George Washington Bush, was considered black and the Provisional Government of Oregon banned the residency of mulattoes but did not actively enforce the restriction north of the river.</p><br>
<p>In 1853 Washington Territory was formed from part of Oregon Territory. In 1888 the Northern Pacific railroad line reached Puget Sound, linking the region to eastern states.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>A unique state-run ferry system, the Washington State Ferries, connects the larger islands to the Washington mainland, as well as both sides of the sound, allowing people and cars to move about the greater Puget Sound region.</p><br>
<h2>Environmental issues</h2><br>
<p>In the past 30 years there has been a large recession in the populations of the species which inhabit Puget Sound. The decrease has been seen in the populations of: forage fish, salmonids, bottom fish, marine birds, harbor porpoise and orcas. This decline is attributed to the various environmental issues in Puget Sound. Because of this population decline, there have been changes to the fishery practices, and an increase in petitioning to add species to the Endangered Species Act. There has also been an increase in recovery and management plans for many different area species.</p><br>
<p>The causes of these environmental issues are toxic contamination, eutrophication (low oxygen due to excess nutrients), and near shore habitat changes.</p><br>
<h2>Prominent islands</h2><br>
<p>Anderson Island</p><br>
<p>Bainbridge Island</p><br>
<p>Blake Island</p><br>
<p>Camano Island</p><br>
<p>Fidalgo Island</p><br>
<p>Fox Island</p><br>
<p>Guemes Island</p><br>
<p>Harstine Island</p><br>
<p>Herron Island</p><br>
<p>Indian Island</p><br>
<p>Marrowstone Island</p><br>
<p>Maury Island</p><br>
<p>McNeil Island</p><br>
<p>San Juan Island</p><br>
<p>Squaxin Island</p><br>
<p>Vashon Island</p><br>
<p>Whidbey Island</p><br>
<p>The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Commonly known as the Houses of Parliament after its occupants, the Palace lies on the north bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster, in central London.</p><br>
<p>Its name, which is derived from the neighbouring Westminster Abbey, may refer to either of two structures: the Old Palace, a medieval building complex destroyed by fire in 1834, and its replacement, the New Palace that stands today. The palace is owned by the monarch in right of the Crown and for ceremonial purposes, retains its original status as a royal residence. The building is managed by committees appointed by both houses, which report to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker.</p><br>
<p>The first royal palace was built on the site in the 11th century, and Westminster was the primary residence of the Kings of England until fire destroyed much of the complex in 1512. After that, it served as the home of the Parliament of England, which had been meeting there since the 13th century, and also as the seat of the Royal Courts of Justice, based in and around Westminster Hall. In 1834, an even greater fire ravaged the heavily rebuilt Houses of Parliament, and the only significant medieval structures to survive were Westminster Hall, the Cloisters of St Stephen&#39;s, the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, and the Jewel Tower.</p><br>
<p>The subsequent competition for the reconstruction of the Palace was won by the architect Charles Barry, whose design was for new buildings in the Gothic Revival style, specifically inspired by the English Perpendicular Gothic style of the 14th–16th centuries. The remains of the Old Palace (except the detached Jewel Tower) were incorporated into its much larger replacement, which contains over 1,100 rooms organised symmetrically around two series of courtyards and has a floor area of 112,476 m&sup2;. Part of the New Palaces area of 3.24 hectare was reclaimed from the Thames, which is the setting of its nearly 300 m façade, called the River Front. Barry was assisted by Augustus Pugin, a leading authority on Gothic architecture and style, who designed the interior of the Palace. Construction started in 1840 and lasted for 30 years, suffering great delays and cost overruns, as well as the death of both leading architects; works for the interior decoration continued intermittently well into the 20th century. Major conservation work has been carried out since then to reverse the effects of Londons air pollution, and extensive repairs took place after the Second World War, including the reconstruction of the Commons Chamber following its bombing in 1941.</p><br>
<p>The Palace is one of the centres of political life in the United Kingdom; "Westminster" has become a metonym for the UK Parliament, and the Westminster system of government has taken its name after it. The Elizabeth Tower, in particular, which is often referred to by the name of its main bell, Big Ben, is an iconic landmark of London and the United Kingdom in general, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city, and an emblem of parliamentary democracy. The Palace of Westminster has been a Grade I listed building since 1970 and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Old Palace</h3><br>
<p>The Palace of Westminster site was strategically important during the Middle Ages, as it was located on the banks of the River Thames. Known in medieval times as Thorney Island, the site may have been first-used for a royal residence by Canute the Great during his reign from 1016 to 1035. St Edward the Confessor, the penultimate Anglo-Saxon monarch of England, built a royal palace on Thorney Island just west of the City of London at about the same time as he built Westminster Abbey (1045–50). Thorney Island and the surrounding area soon became known as Westminster (a contraction of the words West Minster). Neither the buildings used by the Anglo-Saxons nor those used by William I survive. The oldest existing part of the Palace (Westminster Hall) dates from the reign of William I&#39;s successor, King William II.</p><br>
<p>The Palace of Westminster was the monarchs principal residence in the late Medieval period. The predecessor of Parliament, the Curia Regis (Royal Council), met in Westminster Hall (although it followed the King when he moved to other palaces). Simon de Montforts parliament, the first to include representatives of the major towns, met at the Palace in 1265. The "Model Parliament", the first official Parliament of England, met there in 1295, and almost all subsequent English Parliaments and then, after 1707, all British Parliaments have met at the Palace.</p><br>
<p>In 1512, during the early years of the reign of King Henry VIII, fire destroyed the royal residential ("privy") area of the palace. In 1534, Henry VIII acquired York Place from Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a powerful minister who had lost the King&#39;s favour. Renaming it the Palace of Whitehall, Henry used it as his principal residence. Although Westminster officially remained a royal palace, it was used by the two Houses of Parliament and by the various royal law courts.</p><br>
<p>Because it was originally a royal residence, the Palace included no purpose-built chambers for the two Houses. Important state ceremonies were held in the Painted Chamber which had been originally built in the 13th century as the main bedchamber for King Henry III. The House of Lords originally met in the Queens Chamber, a modest Medieval hall towards the southern end of the complex, with the adjoining Princes Chamber used as the robing room for peers and for the monarch during state openings. In 1801 the Upper House moved into the larger White Chamber (also known as the Lesser Hall), which had housed the Court of Requests; the expansion of the Peerage by King George III during the 18th century, along with the imminent Act of Union with Ireland, necessitated the move, as the original chamber could not accommodate the increased number of peers.</p><br>
<p>The House of Commons, which did not have a chamber of its own, sometimes held its debates in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. The Commons acquired a permanent home at the Palace in St Stephens Chapel, the former chapel of the royal palace, during the reign of Edward VI. In 1547 the building became available for the Commons use following the disbanding of St Stephens College. Alterations were made to St Stephens Chapel over the following three centuries for the convenience of the lower House, gradually destroying, or covering up, its original mediaeval appearance. A major renovation project undertaken by Christopher Wren in the late 17th century completely redesigned the building&#39;s interior.</p><br>
<p>The Palace of Westminster as a whole began to see significant alterations from the 18th century onwards, as Parliament struggled to carry out its business in the limited available space and ageing buildings. Calls for an entirely new palace went unheeded as instead more buildings of varying quality and style were added. A new west façade, known as the Stone Building, facing onto St Margarets Street was designed by John Vardy built in the Palladian style between 1755 and 1770, providing more space for document storage and committee rooms. The House of Commons Engrossing Office of Robert Gunnell (1724-1794) and Edward Barwell was on the lower floor beside the corner tower at the west side of Vardys western façade. A new official residence for the Speaker of the House of Commons was built adjoining St Stephens Chapel and completed in 1795. The neo-Gothic architect James Wyatt also carried out works on both the House of Lords and Commons between 1799 and 1801, including alterations to the exterior of St Stephens Chapel and a much-derided new neo-Gothic building, referred to by Wyatt&#39;s critics as "The Cotton Mill" adjoining the House of Lords and facing onto Old Palace Yard.</p><br>
<p>The palace complex was substantially remodelled, this time by Sir John Soane, between 1824 and 1827. The medieval House of Lords chamber, which had been the target of the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, was demolished as part of this work in order to create a new Royal Gallery and ceremonial entrance at the southern end of the palace. Soanes work at the palace also included new library facilities for both Houses of Parliament and new law courts for the Chancery and Kings Bench. Soane&#39;s alterations caused controversy owing to his use of neo-classical architectural styles, which conflicted with the Gothic style of the original buildings.</p><br>
<h3>Fire and reconstruction</h3><br>
<p>On 16 October 1834, a fire broke out in the Palace after an overheated stove used to destroy the Exchequers stockpile of tally sticks set fire to the House of Lords Chamber. In the resulting conflagration both Houses of Parliament were destroyed, along with most of the other buildings in the palace complex. Westminster Hall was saved thanks to fire-fighting efforts and a change in the direction of the wind. The Jewel Tower, the Undercroft Chapel and the Cloisters and Chapter House of St Stephens were the only other parts of the Palace to survive.</p><br>
<p>Immediately after the fire, King William IV offered the almost-completed Buckingham Palace to Parliament, hoping to dispose of a residence he disliked. The building was considered unsuitable for parliamentary use, however, and the gift was rejected. Proposals to move to Charing Cross or St James&#39;s Park had a similar fate; the allure of tradition and the historical and political associations of Westminster proved too strong for relocation, despite the deficiencies of that site. In the meantime, the immediate priority was to provide accommodation for the next Parliament, and so the Painted Chamber and White Chamber were hastily repaired for temporary use by the Houses of Lords and Commons respectively, under the direction of the only remaining architect of the Office of Works, Sir Robert Smirke. Works proceeded quickly and the chambers were ready for use by February 1835.</p><br>
<p>In his speech opening Parliament in 1835, the King assured the members that the fire was accidental, and left it to Parliament itself to make "plans for permanent accommodation." Each house created a committee and a public debate over the proposed styles ensued. The neo-Classical approach, similar to that of the White House and the Federal Capitol in the United States, was popular at the time and had already been used by Soane in his additions to the old palace, but had connotations of revolution and republicanism, whereas Gothic design embodied conservative values. The committee in the House of Lords announced in June 1835 that "the style of the buildings should be either Gothic or Elizabethan". On 14 July 1835 a Royal Commission was appointed. The chairman was Charles Hanbury-Tracy and the other members were Edward Cust, Thomas Liddell, the poet Samuel Rogers and the artist George Vivian. The Commission accepted the recommendation of a competition, and architects began submitting proposals following some basic criteria.</p><br>
<p>In February 1836, after studying 97 proposals, the Commission chose Charles Barrys plan for a Gothic-style palace, awarding him a prize (or "premium") of £1500. Premiums of £500 each were given to David Hamilton, J.C. Buckler and William Railton. The Architectural Magazine summarised Barrys winning plan as "a quadrangular pile, with the principal front facing the Thames, and a tower in the centre, 170ft high". Barry, whose own architectural style was more classical than Gothic, built the new palace upon the neo-classical principle of symmetry. Augustus Pugin was instrumental in helping Barry win the Commission. Pugin&#39;s contribution can be seen in the Gothic detail, the vanes and spires. Pugin also contributed greatly to the distinctive Gothic interiors, including wallpapers, carvings, stained glass, floor tiles, metalwork and furniture.</p><br>
<p>In 1840 the foundation stone was laid by Charles&#39; wife Sarah (née Rowsell); the Lords Chamber was completed in 1847, and the Commons Chamber in 1852 (at which point Barry received a knighthood). Although most of the work had been carried out by 1860, construction was not finished until a decade afterwards.</p><br>
<h4>Frescoes</h4><br>
<p>With the building itself taking shape, it was time to think about its internal adornments. In a process overseen by a Royal Fine Art Commission under the presidency of Prince Albert, a Select Committee which included Sir Robert Peel started to take witness accounts from experts in 1841. Those experts included Sir Martin Archer Shee, P.R.A., and Charles Lock Eastlake, painter and acknowledged authority on art history, soon to be first director of the National Gallery and de facto administrator of the whole Westminster decoration project. It was decided that the opportunity should be seized to encourage the development of a national British school of History Painting, and that the paintings should be done in fresco.</p><br>
<p>The call for artists to submit proposals resulted in a first exhibition in 1843 at Westminster Hall in which 140 cartoons were shown. Others followed but the progress was slow. Fresco proved to be a problematic technique for the English climate. The wall surfaces to be covered being vast, a number of paintings were in fact done in oil on canvas. With the death of Prince Albert in 1861 the scheme lost its driving force, but by then many paintings were completed or underway. William Dyce, who was the first to start fresco work in 1848, died in 1864, completing only five of seven commissioned works. The other major contributors were John Rogers Herbert, finishing in 1864 but having had some commissions cancelled, Charles West Cope who worked until 1869, Edward Matthew Ward until 1874, Edward Armitage, George Frederic Watts, John Callcott Horsley, John Tenniel and Daniel Maclise. In the 20th century, further paintings were commissioned from other artists.</p><br>
<h3>Recent history</h3><br>
<p>During the Second World War (see The Blitz), the Palace of Westminster was hit by bombs on fourteen separate occasions. One bomb fell into Old Palace Yard on 26 September 1940 and severely damaged the south wall of St Stephen&#39;s Porch and the west front. The statue of Richard the Lionheart was lifted from its pedestal by the force of the blast, and its upheld sword bent, an image that was used as a symbol of the strength of democracy, "which would bend but not break under attack". Another bomb destroyed much of the Cloisters on 8 December.</p><br>
<p>The worst raid took place in the night of 10/11 May 1941, when the Palace took at least twelve hits and three people (two policemen and the Resident Superintendent of the House of Lords, Edward Elliott) were killed. An incendiary bomb hit the chamber of the House of Commons and set it on fire; another set the roof of Westminster Hall alight. The firefighters could not save both, and a decision was taken to try to rescue the Hall. In this they were successful; the abandoned Commons Chamber, on the other hand, was destroyed, as was the Members&#39; Lobby. A bomb also struck the Lords Chamber, but went through the floor without exploding. The Clock Tower took a hit by a small bomb or anti-aircraft shell at the eaves of the roof, suffering much damage there. All the glass on the south dial was blown out, but the hands and bells were not affected, and the Great Clock continued to keep time accurately.</p><br>
<p>Following the destruction of the Commons Chamber, the Lords offered their own debating chamber for the use of the Commons; for their own sittings the Queens Robing Room was converted into a makeshift chamber. The Commons Chamber was rebuilt after the war under the architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, in a simplified version of the old chambers style. The work was undertaken by John Mowlem & Co., and construction lasted until 1950, when King George VI opened the new chamber in a ceremony which took place in Westminster Hall on 26 October. The Lords Chamber was then renovated over the ensuing months; the Lords re-occupied it in May 1951.</p><br>
<p>As the need for office space in the Palace increased, Parliament acquired office space in the nearby Norman Shaw Building in 1975, and in the custom-built Portcullis House, completed in 2000. This increase has enabled all MPs to have their own office facilities.</p><br>
<p>The Palace of Westminster, which is a Grade 1 listed building, is in urgent need of extensive restoration to its fabric. A 2012 pre feasibility report set out several options, including the possibility of parliament moving to other premises while work is carried out, also at this time the option of moving Parliament to another new build location was discounted for the preference of staying at the Westminster site. An Independent Options Appraisal Report released in June 2015 found that the cost to restore the Palace of Westminster could cost as much as £7.1 billion if MPs remain at the Palace whilst works take place. MPs decided in 2016 to vacate the building for six years starting in 2022.</p><br>
<h2>Exterior</h2><br>
<p>Sir Charles Barrys collaborative design for the Palace of Westminster uses the Perpendicular Gothic style, which was popular during the 15th century and returned during the Gothic revival of the 19th century. Barry was a classical architect, but he was aided by the Gothic architect Augustus Pugin. Westminster Hall, which was built in the 11th century and survived the fire of 1834, was incorporated in Barrys design. Pugin was displeased with the result of the work, especially with the symmetrical layout designed by Barry; he famously remarked, "All Grecian, sir; Tudor details on a classic body".</p><br>
<h3>Stonework</h3><br>
<p>In 1839 Charles Barry toured Britain, looking at quarries and buildings, with a committee which included two leading geologists and a stonecarver. They selected Anston, a sand-coloured magnesian limestone quarried in the villages of Anston, South Yorkshire and Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire.</p><br>
<p>Two quarries were chosen from a list of 102, with the majority of the stone coming from the former. A crucial consideration was transportation, achieved on water via the Chesterfield Canal, the North Sea, and the rivers Trent and Thames. Furthermore, Anston was cheaper, and "could be supplied in blocks up to four feet thick and lent itself to elaborate carving."</p><br>
<p>Barry&#39;s New Palace of Westminster was rebuilt using the sandy-coloured Anston limestone. However, the stone soon began to decay due to pollution and the poor quality of some of the stone used. Although such defects were clear as early as 1849, nothing was done for the remainder of the 19th century even after much studying. During the 1910s, however, it became clear that some of the stonework had to be replaced. In 1928 it was deemed necessary to use Clipsham stone, a honey-coloured limestone from Rutland, to replace the decayed Anston. The project began in the 1930s but was halted by the outbreak of the Second World War, and completed only during the 1950s. By the 1960s pollution had again begun to take its toll. A stone conservation and restoration programme to the external elevations and towers began in 1981, and ended in 1994.</p><br>
<h3>Towers</h3><br>
<p>The Palace of Westminster features three main towers. Of these, the largest and tallest is 98.5 m Victoria Tower, which occupies the south-western corner of the Palace. Originally named "The Kings Tower" because the fire of 1834 which destroyed the old Palace of Westminster occurred during the reign of King William IV, the tower was an integral part of Barrys original design, of which he intended it to be the most memorable element. The architect conceived the great square tower as the keep of a legislative "castle" (echoing his selection of the portcullis as his identifying mark in the planning competition), and used it as the royal entrance to the Palace and as a fireproof repository for the archives of Parliament. Victoria Tower was re-designed several times, and its height increased progressively; upon its completion in 1858, it was the tallest secular building in the world.</p><br>
<p>At the base of the tower is the Sovereigns Entrance, used by the monarch whenever entering the Palace to open Parliament or for other state occasions. The 15 m (50 ft) high archway is richly decorated with sculptures, including statues of Saints George, Andrew and Patrick, as well as of Queen Victoria herself. The main body of Victoria Tower houses the three million documents of the Parliamentary Archives in 8.8 km of steel shelves spread over 12 floors; these include the master copies of all Acts of Parliament since 1497, and important manuscripts such as the original Bill of Rights and the death warrant of King Charles I. At the top of the cast-iron pyramidal roof is a 22 m (73 ft) flagstaff, from which flies the Royal Standard (the monarchs personal flag) when the Sovereign is present in the Palace. On all other days the Union Flag flies from the mast.</p><br>
<p>At the north end of the Palace rises the most famous of the towers, Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as Big Ben. At 96 metres (316 ft), it is only slightly shorter than Victoria Tower but much slimmer. Originally known simply as the Clock Tower (the name Elizabeth Tower was conferred on it in 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II), it houses the Great Clock of Westminster, built by Edward John Dent on designs by amateur horologist Edmund Beckett Denison. Striking the hour to within a second of the time, the Great Clock achieved standards of accuracy considered impossible by 19th-century clockmakers, and it has remained consistently reliable since it entered service in 1859. The time is shown on four dials 7 m in diameter, which are made of milk glass and are lit from behind at night; the hour hand is 2.7 m long and the minute hand 4.3 m. The Clock Tower was designed by Augustus Pugin and built after his death. Charles Barry asked Pugin to design the clock tower because Pugin had previously helped Barry design the Palace. In the 2012 BBC Four documentary, Richard Taylor gives a description of Pugins Clock Tower: "It rises up from the ground in this stately rhythm, higher and higher, before you reach the clock face, picked out as a giant rose, its petals fringed with gold. Medieval windows above that and then it hits the grey slate roof, its greyness relieved by those delicate little windows again picked out in gold leaf. And then rises up again in a great jet of gold to the higher roof that curves gracefully upwards to a spire with a crown and flowers and a cross. Its elegant and grand and has fairy tale qualities."</p><br>
<p>Five bells hang in the belfry above the clock. The four quarter bells strike the Westminster Chimes every quarter-hour. The largest bell strikes the hours; officially called The Great Bell of Westminster, it is generally referred to as Big Ben, a nickname of uncertain origins which, over time, has been colloquially applied to the whole tower. The first bell to bear this name cracked during testing and was recast; the present bell later developed a crack of its own, which gives it a distinctive sound. It is the third-heaviest bell in Britain, weighing 13.8 tonnes. In the lantern at the top of Elizabeth Tower is the Ayrton Light, which is lit when either House of Parliament is sitting after dark. It was installed in 1885 at the request of Queen Victoria—so that she could see from Buckingham Palace whether the members were "at work"—and named after Acton Smee Ayrton, who was First Commissioner of Works in the 1870s.</p><br>
<p>The shortest of the Palace&#39;s three principal towers (at 91 m and Barry chose for it the form of a spire in order to balance the effect of the more massive lateral towers. In the end, the Central Tower failed completely to fulfill its stated purpose, but it is notable as "the first occasion when mechanical services had a real influence on architectural design".</p><br>
<p>Apart from the pinnacles which rise from between the window bays along the fronts of the Palace, numerous turrets enliven the building&#39;s skyline. Like the Central Tower, these have been added for practical reasons, and mask ventilation shafts.</p><br>
<p>There are some other features of the Palace of Westminster which are also known as towers. St Stephens Tower is positioned in the middle of the west front of the Palace, between Westminster Hall and Old Palace Yard, and houses the public entrance to the Houses of Parliament, known as St Stephens Entrance. The pavilions at the northern and southern ends of the river front are called Speakers Tower and Chancellors Tower respectively, after the presiding officers of the two Houses at the time of the Palaces reconstruction—the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Chancellor. Speakers Tower contains Speaker&#39;s House, the official residence of the Speaker of the Commons.</p><br>
<h3>Grounds</h3><br>
<p>There are a number of small gardens surrounding the Palace of Westminster. Victoria Tower Gardens is open as a public park along the side of the river south of the palace. Black Rods Garden (named after the office of Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod) is closed to the public and is used as a private entrance. Old Palace Yard, in front of the Palace, is paved over and covered in concrete security blocks (see security below). Cromwell Green (also on the frontage, and in 2006 enclosed by hoardings for the construction of a new visitor centre), New Palace Yard (on the north side) and Speakers Green (directly north of the Palace) are all private and closed to the public. College Green, opposite the House of Lords, is a small triangular green commonly used for television interviews with politicians.</p><br>
<h2>Interior</h2><br>
<p>The Palace of Westminster contains over 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases and 4.8 km of passageways, which are spread over four floors. The ground floor is occupied by offices, dining rooms and bars; the first floor (known as the principal floor) houses the main rooms of the Palace, including the debating chambers, the lobbies and the libraries. The top-two floors are used as committee rooms and offices.</p><br>
<p>Some of the interiors were designed and painted by J.G. Crace, working in collaboration with Pugin and others. For example, Crace decorated and gilded the ceiling of the Chapel of St. Mary Undercroft.</p><br>
<h3>Layout</h3><br>
<p>Instead of one main entrance, the Palace features separate entrances for the different user groups of the building. The Sovereigns Entrance, at the base of the Victoria Tower, is located in the south-west corner of the Palace and is the starting point of the royal procession route, the suite of ceremonial rooms used by the monarch at State Openings of Parliament. This consists of the Royal Staircase, the Norman Porch, the Robing Room, the Royal Gallery and the Princes Chamber, and culminates in the Lords Chamber, where the ceremony takes place. Members of the House of Lords use the Peers Entrance in the middle of the Old Palace Yard front, which is covered by a stone carriage porch and opens to an entrance hall. A staircase from there leads, through a corridor, to the Princes Chamber.</p><br>
<p>Members of Parliament enter their part of the building from the Members Entrance in the south side of New Palace Yard. Their route passes through a cloakroom in the lower level of the Cloisters and eventually reaches the Members Lobby directly south of the Commons Chamber. From New Palace Yard, access can also be gained to the Speakers Court and the main entrance of the Speakers House, located in the pavilion at the north-east corner of the Palace.</p><br>
<p>St Stephens Entrance, roughly in the middle of the buildings western front, is the entrance for members of the public. From there, visitors walk through a flight of stairs to St Stephens Hall, location of a collection of marbles, which includes Somers Hampden, Traversal of this hallway brings them to the octagonal Central Lobby, the hub of the Palace. This hall is flanked by symmetrical corridors decorated with fresco paintings, which lead to the ante-rooms and debating chambers of the two Houses: the Members Lobby and Commons Chamber to the north, and the Peers&#39; Lobby and Lords Chamber to the south. Another mural-lined corridor leads east to the Lower Waiting Hall and the staircase to the first floor, where the river front is occupied by a row of 16 committee rooms. Directly below them, the libraries of the two Houses overlook the Thames from the principal floor.</p><br>
<h3>Norman Porch</h3><br>
<p>The grandest entrance to the Palace of Westminster is the Sovereigns Entrance beneath the Victoria Tower. It was designed for the use of the monarch, who travels from Buckingham Palace by carriage every year for the State Opening of Parliament. The Imperial State Crown, which is worn by the sovereign for the ceremony, as well as the Cap of Maintenance and the Sword of State, which are symbols of royal authority and are borne before the monarch during the procession, also travel to the Palace by coach, accompanied by members of the Royal Household; the regalia, as they are collectively known, arrive some time before the monarch and are exhibited in the Royal Gallery until they are needed. The Sovereigns Entrance is also the formal entrance used by visiting dignitaries, as well as the starting point of public tours of the Palace.</p><br>
<p>From there, the Royal Staircase leads up to the principal floor with a broad, unbroken flight of 26 steps made of grey granite. It is lined on state occasions by sword-wielding troopers of the two regiments of the Household Cavalry, the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals; these are the only troops allowed to bear arms inside the Palace of Westminster, which officially remains a royal residence.</p><br>
<p>The staircase is followed by the Norman Porch, a square landing distinguished by its central clustered column and the intricate ceiling it supports, which is made up of four groin vaults with lierne ribs and carved bosses. The Porch was named for its proposed decorative scheme, based on Norman history. In the event, neither the planned statues of Norman kings nor the frescoes were executed, and only the stained-glass window portraying Edward the Confessor hints at this theme. Queen Victoria is depicted twice in the room: as a young woman in the other stained-glass window, and near the end of her life, sitting on the throne of the House of Lords, in a copy of a 1900 painting by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant which hangs on the eastern wall. The sixteen plinths intended for the statues now house busts of prime ministers who have sat in the House of Lords, such as the Earl Grey and the Marquess of Salisbury. A double door opposite the stairs leads to the Royal Gallery, and another to the right opens to the Robing Room.</p><br>
<h3>Queen's Robing Room</h3><br>
<p>The Queens Robing Room lies at the southern end of the ceremonial axis of the Palace and occupies the centre of the buildings south front, overlooking the Victoria Tower Gardens. As its name indicates, it is where the Sovereign prepares for the State Opening of Parliament by donning official robes and wearing the Imperial State Crown. The focus of this richly decorated room is the Chair of State; it sits on a dais of three steps, under a canopy adorned with the arms and floral emblems of England, Scotland and Ireland. A panel of purple velvet forms the backdrop to the chair, embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework with the royal arms, surrounded by stars and VR monograms. Edward Barry designed both the chair—the cushion and back of which are also embroidered—and the ornate marble fireplace across the room, which features gilded statuettes of Saint George and Saint Michael.</p><br>
<p>The decorative theme of the room is the legend of King Arthur, considered by many Victorians the source of their nationhood. Five frescos painted by William Dyce between 1848 and 1864 cover the walls, depicting allegorical scenes from the legend. Each scene represents a chivalric virtue; the largest, between the two doors, is entitled Admission of Sir Tristram to the Round Table and illustrates the virtue of Hospitality. Seven were originally commissioned but the remaining two paintings were not carried out due to the artist&#39;s death, and on the wallpapered panels flanking the Chair of State hang oil portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert by Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Other decorations in the room are also inspired by the Arthurian legend, namely a series of 18 bas-reliefs beneath the paintings, carved in oak by Henry Hugh Armstead, and the frieze running below the ceiling, which displays the attributed coats of arms of the Knights of the Round Table. The ceiling itself is decorated with heraldic badges, as is the border of the wooden floor—which, as can be seen in the adjacent image, is left exposed by the carpeting.</p><br>
<p>The Robing Room was also briefly used as the House of Lords&#39; meeting chamber while the House of Lords Chamber was occupied by the House of Commons, whose chamber had been destroyed by the Blitz in 1941.</p><br>
<h3>Royal Gallery</h3><br>
<p>Immediately north of the Robing Room is the Royal Gallery. At 33.5 by, it is one of the largest rooms in the Palace. and more regularly for the Lord Chancellors Breakfast; in the past it was the theatre of several trials of peers by the House of Lords. Documents from the Parliamentary Archives are on display in the Royal Gallery (including a facsimile of Charles Is death warrant), and the tables and seating offer a workspace for members of the Lords that is conveniently close to their debating chamber.</p><br>
<p>The decorative scheme of the Royal Gallery was meant to display important moments in British military history, and the walls are decorated by two large paintings by Daniel Maclise, each measuring 13.7 by: The Death of Nelson (depicting Lord Nelson&#39;s demise at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805) and The Meeting of Wellington and Blücher (showing the Duke of Wellington meeting Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815). The murals deteriorated rapidly after their completion due to a range of factors, most importantly atmospheric pollution, and today they are almost monochrome. The rest of the planned frescos were cancelled, and the walls are filled with portraits of kings and queens from George I onwards. Another decorative element with military undertones are the eight statues of gilded Caen stone that flank the three doorways and the bay window of the Gallery, sculpted by John Birnie Philip. Each depicts a monarch during whose reign a key battle or war took place. They are: Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror; Richard I and Edward III; Henry V and Elizabeth I; William III and Anne. The panelled ceiling, 13.7 m above the floor, features Tudor roses and lions, and the stained-glass windows show the coats of arms of the Kings of England and Scotland.</p><br>
<h3>Prince's Chamber</h3><br>
<p>The Prince&#39;s Chamber is a small anteroom between the Royal Gallery and the Lords Chamber, named after the room adjoining the Parliament Chamber in the Old Palace of Westminster. Thanks to its location, it is a place where members of the Lords meet to discuss business of the House. Several doors lead out of the room, to the division lobbies of the House of Lords and to a number of important offices.</p><br>
<p>The theme of the Princes Chamber is Tudor history, and 28 oil portraits painted on panels around the room depict members of the Tudor dynasty. They are the work of Richard Burchett and his pupils, and their creation entailed extensive research, which contributed to the founding of the National Portrait Gallery in 1856. 12 bronze bas-reliefs are set into the wall below the portraits, executed by William Theed in 1855–57. Scenes included are The Field of the Cloth of Gold, The Escape of Mary, Queen of Scots and Raleigh Spreading His Cloak As a Carpet for the Queen. Above the portraits, at window level, there are compartments intended for copies of six of the ten Armada tapestries, which hung in the chamber of the House of Lords until their destruction in the 1834 fire and depicted the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The project was put on hold in 1861 (by which time only one painting had been completed), and was not revived until 2007, all six paintings have been finished and are on display in the Royal Gallery. They are scheduled to be fixed in the Princes Chamber in the following months.</p><br>
<p>The room also contains a statue of Queen Victoria, seated on a throne (itself placed on a pedestal) and holding a sceptre and a laurel crown, which show that she both governs and rules. This figure is flanked by allegorical statues of Justice and Clemency—the former with a bare sword and an inflexible expression and the latter showing sympathy and offering an olive branch. The sculptural ensemble, made of white marble and carved by John Gibson in 1855, reaches 2.44 m in height; its size has long been considered out of proportion with the fittings of the Prince&#39;s Chamber, and the flanking statues ended up in storage between 1955 and 1976. However, the size and location of the group, in the archway opposite the doors to the Royal Gallery (which are removed before State Openings of Parliament to facilitate the royal procession), indicate that it was meant to be seen from a distance, and to symbolically remind the monarch of their royal duties as they would walk down the Royal Gallery on their way to deliver their speech.</p><br>
<h3>Lords Chamber</h3><br>
<p>The Chamber of the House of Lords is located in the southern part of the Palace of Westminster. The lavishly decorated room measures 13.7 by. The benches in the Chamber, as well as other furnishings in the Lords&#39; side of the Palace, are coloured red. The upper part of the Chamber is decorated by stained glass windows and by six allegorical frescoes representing religion, chivalry and law.</p><br>
<p>At the south end of the Chamber are the ornate gold Canopy and Throne; although the Sovereign may theoretically occupy the Throne during any sitting, he or she attends only the State Opening of Parliament. Other members of the Royal Family who attend the State Opening use Chairs of State next to the Throne, and peers sons are always entitled to sit on the steps of the Throne. In front of the Throne is the Woolsack, an armless red cushion stuffed with wool, representing the historical importance of the wool trade, and used by the officer presiding over the House (the Lord Speaker since 2006, but historically the Lord Chancellor or a deputy). The Houses mace, which represents royal authority, is placed on the back of the Woolsack. In front of the Woolsack is the Judges&#39; Woolsack, a larger red cushion that used to be occupied during the State Opening by the Law Lords (who were members of the House of Lords), and prospectively by the Supreme Court Justices and other Judges (whether or not members), to represent the Judicial Branch of Government. The Table of the House, at which the clerks sit, is in front.</p><br>
<p>Members of the House occupy red benches on three sides of the Chamber. The benches on the Lord Speaker&#39;s right form the Spiritual Side and those to his left form the Temporal Side. The Lords Spiritual (archbishops and bishops of the established Church of England) all occupy the Spiritual Side. The Lords Temporal (nobles) sit according to party affiliation: members of the Government party sit on the Spiritual Side, while those of the Opposition sit on the Temporal Side. Some peers, who have no party affiliation, sit on the benches in the middle of the House opposite the Woolsack; they are accordingly known as crossbenchers.</p><br>
<p>The Lords Chamber is the site of nationally televised ceremonies, the most important of which is the State Opening of Parliament, which is held formally to open each annual parliamentary session, either after a General Election or in the autumn. At this occasion every constitutional element of the government is represented: the Crown (both literally, and figuratively in the person of the Sovereign), The Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and The Commons, (who together form the Legislature), the Judiciary (although no judges are members of either House of Parliament), and the Executive (both Government Ministers, and ceremonial military units in attendance on the Sovereign); and a large number of guests are invited to attend in the large Royal Gallery immediately outside the Chamber. The Sovereign, seated on the Throne, delivers the Speech from the Throne, outlining the Governments programme for the year and legislative agenda for the forthcoming parliamentary session. The Commons may not enter the Lords debating floor; instead, they watch the proceedings from beyond the Bar of the House, just inside the door. A small purely formal ceremony is held to end each parliamentary session, when the Sovereign is merely represented by a group of Lords Commissioners.</p><br>
<p>Following the Blitz, which destroyed the chamber of the House of Commons, the Lord&#39;s chamber was occupied by the Commons. The Lords temporarily used the Robing Room during the reconstruction. The State Opening Of Parliament was carried out as normal, with the new rooms being used. Evidence can still be seen of this today, with damage clearly visible on one of the doors where they were struck by Black Rod.</p><br>
<h3>Peers' Lobby</h3><br>
<p>Directly north of the Lords Chamber lies the Peers Lobby, an antechamber where Lords can informally discuss or negotiate matters during sittings of the House, as well as collect messages from the doorkeepers, who control access to the Chamber. The Lobby is a square room measuring 12 m on each side and 10 m in height, and one of its main features is the floor centrepiece, a radiant Tudor rose made of Derbyshire marbles and set within an octagon of engraved brass plates. The rest of the floor is paved with encaustic tiles featuring heraldic designs and Latin mottoes. The walls are faced with white stone and each is pierced by a doorway; above the arches are displayed arms representing the six royal dynasties which ruled England until Queen Victorias reign (Saxon, Norman, Plantagenet, Tudor, Stuart and Hanoverian), and between them there are windows stained with the arms of the early aristocratic families of England.</p><br>
<p>Of the doorways, the one to the south—which leads into the Lords Chamber—is the most magnificent, and sports much gilding and decoration, including the full royal arms. It is enclosed by the Brass Gates, a pair of elaborately pierced and studded doors together weighing 1.5 tonnes. The side doors, which feature clocks, open into corridors: to the east extends the Law Lords Corridor, which leads to the libraries, and nearby to the west lies the Moses Room, used for Grand Committees.</p><br>
<p>To the north is the vaulted Peers&#39; Corridor, which is decorated with eight murals by Charles West Cope depicting historical scenes from the period around the English Civil War. The frescoes were executed between 1856 and 1866, and each scene was "specifically chosen to depict the struggles through which national liberties were won". Examples include Speaker Lenthall Asserting the Privileges of the Commons Against Charles I when the Attempt was Made to Seize the Five Members, representing resistance against absolute rule, and The Embarkation of the Pilgrim Fathers for New England, which illustrates the principle of freedom of worship.</p><br>
<h3>Central Lobby</h3><br>
<p>Originally named "Octagon Hall" because of its shape, the Central Lobby is the heart of the Palace of Westminster. It lies directly below the Central Tower and forms a busy crossroads between the House of Lords to the south, the House of Commons to the north, St Stephens Hall and the public entrance to the west, and the Lower Waiting Hall and the libraries to the east. Its location halfway between the two debating chambers has led constitutional theorist Erskine May to describe the Lobby as "the political centre of the British Empire", and allows a person standing under the great chandelier to see both the Royal Throne and the Speakers Chair, provided that all the intervening doors are open. Constituents may meet their Members of Parliament here, even without an appointment, and this practice is one of the possible origins of the term lobbying. The hall is also the theatre of the Speaker&#39;s Procession, which passes from here on its way to the Commons Chamber before every sitting of the House.</p><br>
<p>The Central Lobby measures 18 m across and 23 m from the floor to the centre of the vaulted ceiling. The panels between the vaults ribs are covered with Venetian glass mosaic displaying floral emblems and heraldic badges, and the bosses in the intersections of the ribs are also carved into heraldic symbols. Each wall of the Lobby is contained in an arch ornamented with statues of English and Scottish monarchs; on four sides there are doorways, and the tympana above them are adorned with mosaics representing the patron saints of the United Kingdoms constituent nations: Saint George for England, Saint Andrew for Scotland, Saint David for Wales and Saint Patrick for Ireland. The other four arches are occupied by high windows, under which there are stone screens—the hall&#39;s post office, one of two in the Palace, is located behind one of these screens. In front of them stand four bigger-than-life statues of 19th-century statesmen, including one of four-time Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. The floor on which they stand is tiled with Minton encaustic tiles in intricate patterns and includes a passage from Psalm 127 written in Latin, which translates as follows: "Except the Lord build the House their labour is but lost that build it".</p><br>
<p>The East Corridor leads from the Central Lobby to the Lower Waiting Hall, and its six panels remained blank until 1910, when they were filled with scenes from Tudor history. They were all paid for by Liberal peers and each was the work of a different artist, but uniformity was achieved between the frescoes thanks to a common colour palette of red, black and gold and a uniform height for the depicted characters. One of the scenes is probably not historical: Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens, depicting the origin of these flowers as emblems of the Houses of Lancaster and York respectively, was taken from Shakespeare&#39;s play Henry VI, Part 1.</p><br>
<h3>Members' Lobby</h3><br>
<p>Continuing north from the Central Lobby is the Commons Corridor. It is of almost identical design to its southern counterpart and is decorated with scenes of 17th-century political history between the Civil War and the Revolution of 1688. They were painted by Edward Matthew Ward and include subjects like Monk Declaring for a Free Parliament and The Lords and Commons Presenting the Crown to William III and Mary II in the Banqueting Hall. Then, mirroring the arrangement at the Lords part of the Palace, is another antechamber, the Members Lobby. In this room, Members of Parliament hold discussions or negotiations, and are often interviewed by accredited journalists, collectively known as "The Lobby".</p><br>
<p>The room is similar to the Peers&#39; Lobby but plainer in design and slightly larger, forming a cube 13.7 m on all sides. After the heavy damage it sustained in the 1941 bombing, it was rebuilt in a simplified style, something most evident in the floor, which is almost completely unadorned. The archway of the door leading into the Commons Chamber has been left unrepaired as a reminder of the evils of war, and is now known as the Rubble Arch or Churchill Arch. It is flanked by bronze statues of Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George, the prime ministers who led Britain through the Second and First World War respectively; a foot of each is conspicuously shiny, a result of a long tradition of MPs rubbing them for good luck on their way in before their maiden speech. The Lobby contains the busts and statues of most 20th-century prime ministers, as well as two large boards where MPs can receive letters and telephone messages, designed for the use of the House and installed in the early 1960s.</p><br>
<h3>Commons Chamber</h3><br>
<p>The Chamber of the House of Commons is at the northern end of the Palace of Westminster; it was opened in 1950 after the Victorian chamber had been destroyed in 1941 and re-built under the architect Giles Gilbert Scott. The Chamber measures 14 by and is plainer in style than the Lords Chamber; the benches, as well as other furnishings in the Commons side of the Palace, are coloured green. Members of the public are forbidden to sit on the benches. Other parliaments in Commonwealth nations, including those of India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have copied the colour scheme under which the Lower House is associated with green, and the Upper House with red.</p><br>
<p>At the north end of the Chamber is the Speakers Chair, a present to Parliament from the Commonwealth of Australia. The current British Speakers Chair is an exact copy of the Speakers Chair given to Australia, by the House of Commons, to celebrate the opening of Old Parliament House, Canberra. In front of the Speakers Chair is the Table of the House, at which the clerks sit, and on which is placed the Commons ceremonial mace. The Table was a gift from Canada. The dispatch boxes, which front-bench Members of Parliament (MPs) often lean on or rest notes on during Questions and speeches, are a gift from New Zealand. There are green benches on either side of the House; members of the Government party occupy benches on the Speakers right, while those of the Opposition occupy benches on the Speakers left. There are no cross-benches as in the House of Lords. The Chamber is relatively small, and can accommodate only 427 of the 650 Members of Parliament—during Prime Ministers Questions and in major debates MPs stand at either end of the House.</p><br>
<p>By tradition, the British Sovereign does not enter the Chamber of the House of Commons. The last monarch to do so was King Charles I, in 1642. The King sought to arrest five Members of Parliament on charges of high treason, but when he asked the Speaker, William Lenthall, if he had any knowledge of the whereabouts of these individuals, Lenthall famously replied: "May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here." Since then, in the State Opening of Parliament, when Black Rod representing the monarch approaches the doors to the chamber of the House of Commons to make the summons, they are pointedly slammed in his or her face. Black Rod has to strike the door three times with a staff, to be admitted and issue the summons from the monarch to the MPs to attend. When repairs after the World War II bombing were completed, the rebuilt chamber was opened by King George VI on 26 October 1950 who was invited to an "unofficial" tour of the new structure by Commons leaders.</p><br>
<p>The two red lines on the floor of the House of Commons are 2.5 m apart, which, by apocryphal tradition, is intended to be just over two sword-lengths. It is said that the original purpose of this was to prevent disputes in the House from degenerating into duels. However, there is no record of a time when Members of Parliament were allowed to bring swords into the Chamber; historically, only the Serjeant at Arms has been allowed to carry a sword, as a symbol of their role in Parliament, and there are loops of pink ribbon in the Members&#39; cloakroom for MPs to hang up their swords before entering the Chamber. In the days when gentlemen carried swords, there were no lines in the Chamber. Protocol dictates that MPs may not cross these lines when speaking; a Member of Parliament who violates this convention will be lambasted by opposition Members.</p><br>
<h3>Westminster Hall</h3><br>
<p>Westminster Hall, the oldest existing part of the Palace of Westminster, was erected in 1097, at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The roof was probably originally supported by pillars, giving three aisles, but during the reign of King Richard II, this was replaced by a hammerbeam roof by the royal carpenter Hugh Herland, "the greatest creation of medieval timber architecture", which allowed the original three aisles to be replaced with a single huge open space, with a dais at the end. The new roof was commissioned in 1393. Richards architect Henry Yevele left the original dimensions, refacing the walls, with fifteen life-size statues of kings placed in niches. The rebuilding had been begun by King Henry III in 1245, but by Richards time had been dormant for over a century. In Westminster Hall, the favourite heraldic badge of Richard IIa white hart, chained, and in an attitude of restis repeated as many as eighty-three times, without any of them being an exact counterpart of another.</p><br>
<p>Westminster Hall has the largest clearspan medieval roof in England, measuring 20.7 by. Oak timbers for the roof came from royal woods in Hampshire and from parks in Hertfordshire and from that of William Crozier of Stoke D&#39;Abernon, who supplied over 600 oaks in Surrey, among other sources; they were assembled near Farnham, Surrey, 56 km away. Accounts record the large number of wagons and barges which delivered the jointed timbers to Westminster for assembly.</p><br>
<p>Westminster Hall has served numerous functions. Until the 19th century, it was primarily used for judicial purposes, housing three of the most important courts in the land: the Court of Kings Bench, the Court of Common Pleas and the Court of Chancery. In 1875, these courts were amalgamated into the High Court of Justice, which continued to meet in Westminster Hall until it moved to the Royal Courts of Justice in 1882. In addition to regular courts, Westminster Hall also housed important trials, including impeachment trials and the state trials of King Charles I at the end of the English Civil War, William Wallace, Thomas More, Cardinal John Fisher, Guy Fawkes, the Earl of Strafford, the rebel Scottish lords of the 1715 and 1745 uprisings, and Warren Hastings. The St Stephens Porch end of the Hall displays under the stained glass window the Parliamentary War Memorial listing on eight panels the names of Members and staff of both Houses of Parliament and their sons killed serving in the First World War; the window itself, installed in 1952, commemorates members and staff of both Houses who died in the Second World War. In 2012, a new stained glass window commemorating Elizabeth II&#39;s diamond jubilee was installed opposite this window, at the other end of the hall.</p><br>
<p>Westminster Hall has also served ceremonial functions. From the twelfth century to the nineteenth, coronation banquets honouring new monarchs were held here. The last coronation banquet was that of King George IV, held in 1821; his successor, William IV, abandoned the idea because he deemed it too expensive. The Hall has been used for lyings-in-state during state and ceremonial funerals. Such an honour is usually reserved for the Sovereign and for their consorts; the only non-royals to receive it in the twentieth century were Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (1914) and Winston Churchill (1965). The most recent lying-in-state was that of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2002.</p><br>
<p>The two Houses have presented ceremonial Addresses to the Crown in Westminster Hall on important public occasions. For example, Addresses were presented at Elizabeth II&#39;s Silver Jubilee (1977), Golden Jubilee (2002) and Diamond Jubilee (2012), the 300th anniversary of the Glorious Revolution (1988), and the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War (1995).</p><br>
<p>It is considered a rare privilege for a foreign leader to be allowed to address both houses in Westminster Hall. Since the Second World War the only leaders to have done so have been French president Charles de Gaulle in 1960, South African president Nelson Mandela in 1996, Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, USA president Barack Obama in 2011 and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2012. President Obama was the first ever US President to be allowed to use the Hall for an address to Parliament and Aung San Suu Kyi was the first non-head of state to be given the accolade of addressing MPs and peers in Westminster Hall.</p><br>
<p>Under reforms made in 1999, the House of Commons uses the Grand Committee Room next to Westminster Hall as an additional debating chamber. (Although it is not part of the main hall, the room is usually spoken of as such.) The seating is laid out in a U-shape, in contrast with the main Chamber, in which the benches are placed opposite each other. This pattern is meant to reflect the non-partisan nature of the debates held in Westminster Hall.</p><br>
<h3>Other rooms</h3><br>
<p>There are two suites of libraries on the Principal Floor, overlooking the river, for the House of Lords Library and House of Commons Library.</p><br>
<p>The Palace of Westminster also includes state apartments for the presiding officers of the two Houses. The official residence of the Speaker stands at the northern end of the Palace; the Lord Chancellor&#39;s apartments are at the southern end. Each day, the Speaker and Lord Speaker take part in formal processions from their apartments to their respective Chambers.</p><br>
<p>The Strangers&#39; Bar is one of the numerous bars, cafeterias and restaurants in the Palace of Westminster, with differing rules regarding who is allowed to use their facilities; many of them never close while the House is sitting. There is also a gymnasium, and even a hair salon; and a rifle range. Parliament also has two souvenir shops, where items on sale range from House of Commons key-rings and china to House of Commons Champagne.</p><br>
<h2>Security</h2><br>
<p>The Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod oversees security for the House of Lords, and the Serjeant at Arms does the same for the House of Commons. These officers, however, have primarily ceremonial roles outside the actual chambers of their respective Houses. Security is the responsibility of the Parliamentary Security Director. Parliament has its own professional Security force. Tradition still dictates that only the Serjeant at Arms may enter the Commons chamber armed.</p><br>
<p>With rising concern about the possibility that a vehicle full of explosives could be driven into the building, a series of concrete blocks was placed in the roadway in 2003. On the river, an exclusion zone extending 70 m from the bank exists, which no vessels are allowed to enter.</p><br>
<p>The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 made it illegal to hold a protest near the Palace, or anywhere else within a designated area extending up to 1 km from Parliament Square, without authorisation from the Metropolitan Police. The Act also restricted the operation of loudspeakers in the designated area. These provisions were repealed by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, which replaced them with a total ban on tents and sleeping bags in Parliament Square, as well as a prohibition on the use of loudspeakers in the Square without permission from the relevant local authority.</p><br>
<p>Members of the public continue to have access to the Strangers&#39; Gallery in the House of Commons. Visitors pass through metal detectors and their possessions are scanned. Police from the Palace of Westminster Division of the Metropolitan Police, supported by some armed police from the Diplomatic Protection Group, are always on duty in and around the Palace.</p><br>
<h3>Incidents</h3><br>
<p>The failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was a conspiracy among a group of Roman Catholic gentry to re-establish Catholicism in England by assassinating the Protestant King James I and replacing him with a Catholic monarch. To this end, they placed large quantities of gunpowder beneath the House of Lords, which one of the conspirators, Guy Fawkes, would detonate during the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605. If successful, the explosion would have destroyed the Palace, killing the King, his family and most of the aristocracy. However, the plot was discovered and most of the conspirators were either arrested or killed while trying to evade capture. The survivors were tortured in the Tower of London, tried for high treason in Westminster Hall, convicted and gruesomely executed by hanging, drawing and quartering. Since then, the cellars of the Palace have been searched by the Yeomen of the Guard before every State Opening of Parliament, a traditional precaution against any similar attempts against the Sovereign.</p><br>
<p>Sir Walter Raleigh was executed at the Palace of Westminster on 29 October 1618.</p><br>
<p>The previous Palace of Westminster was also the site of a prime-ministerial assassination on 11 May 1812. While in the lobby of the House of Commons, on his way to a parliamentary inquiry, Spencer Perceval was shot and killed by a Liverpool merchant adventurer, John Bellingham. Perceval remains the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated.</p><br>
<p>The New Palace became the target of Fenian bombs on 24 January 1885, along with the Tower of London. The first bomb, a black bag containing dynamite, was discovered by a visitor on the steps towards the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft. Police Constable (PC) William Cole attempted to carry it to New Palace Yard, but the bag became so hot that Cole dropped it and it exploded. The blast opened a crater in the floor 1 m in diameter, damaged the roof of the Chapel and shattered all the windows in the Hall, including the stained-glass South Window at St Stephen&#39;s Porch. Both Cole and PC Cox, a colleague who had joined him to offer assistance, were seriously injured. A second explosion followed almost immediately in the Commons Chamber, causing great damage—especially to its south end—but no injuries, as it was empty at the time. The incident resulted in the closure of Westminster Hall to visitors for several years; when visitors were re-admitted in 1889, it was under certain restrictions and never while the two Houses were sitting.</p><br>
<p>On 17 June 1974, a 9 kg bomb planted by the Provisional IRA exploded in Westminster Hall. The explosion and the resulting fire, which was fed by a ruptured gas main, injured 11 people and caused extensive damage. Five years later, a car bomb claimed the life of Airey Neave, a prominent Conservative politician, while he was driving out of the Commons car park in New Palace Yard. The attack occurred on 30 March 1979, one day after the announcement of that years general election; both the Irish National Liberation Army and the Provisional IRA claimed responsibility for Neaves assassination, but it is now accepted that the former were responsible.</p><br>
<p>The Palace has also been the scene of numerous acts of politically motivated "direct action", which often took place in the Chamber of the House of Commons. In July 1970, a man in the Strangers Gallery threw two canisters of tear gas into the Chamber to protest against the use of such gas in Northern Ireland; a MP and two members of the Houses staff were taken to hospital and the sitting was suspended for almost two hours. In 1978, activist Yana Mintoff and another dissident threw bags of horse manure, and in June 1996 demonstrators dropped leaflets. Concern about such attacks and a possible chemical or biological attack led to the installation of a glass screen across the Strangers&#39; Gallery in early 2004.</p><br>
<p>The new barrier does not cover the gallery in front of the Strangers Gallery, which is reserved for ambassadors, members of the House of Lords, guests of MPs and other dignitaries, and in May 2004 protesters from Fathers 4 Justice attacked Prime Minister Tony Blair with flour bombs from this part, after obtaining admission by bidding for a place in the visitors gallery in a charity auction. Subsequently, rules on admission to the visitors galleries were changed, and now individuals wishing to sit in the galleries must first obtain a written pass from a Member certifying that that individual is personally known to them. In September of the same year, five protesters opposed to the proposed ban on fox hunting disrupted the proceedings of the House of Commons by running into the Chamber, the first such occurrence since King Charles Is unauthorised entry in 1642, which triggered the English Civil War.</p><br>
<p>The House of Lords has also been targeted by protesters. On 2 February 1988, the House debated the Local Government Bill&#39;s controversial Clause 28, a measure to prohibit the promotion of homosexuality in schools. Following the division, in which the clause passed, a number of lesbian demonstrators in the public gallery started chanting slogans, and three of them tied ropes to the railing and climbed down onto the floor of the Chamber. Lord Monkswell, who had provided the women with passes to attend the debate, later apologised to the House for the incident but did not criticise the protest.</p><br>
<p>Similar actions have been carried out outside the Palace of Westminster. Early in the morning of 20 March 2004, two Greenpeace members scaled the Clock Tower to demonstrate against the Iraq War, raising questions about the security around such a likely target of terrorist attacks. In March 2007, another four members of Greenpeace made their way to the Palaces roof by means of a nearby crane, which was being used for repairs to Westminster Bridge. Once up, they unfurled a 15 m banner protesting against the British governments plans to update the Trident nuclear programme.</p><br>
<p>In February 2008, five campaigners from the Plane Stupid group gained admittance to the building as visitors and then moved up to the roof to demonstrate against the proposed expansion of Heathrow Airport; from there they hung two banners they had smuggled past security. MPs and security experts found it worrying that the protesters made it to the roof in spite of the heightened security measures, and the prosecution at the activists&#39; trial argued that they may have received help from a House of Lords employee. In October 2009, at least forty Greenpeace activists climbed to the roof of Westminster Hall to call for the adoption of policies combating climate change. Some of them climbed down after nearly five hours, while the rest spent the night on the roof.</p><br>
<p>On 22 March 2017, an Islamist-related terror attack happened in which a man stabbed a police officer after ploughing into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge. Five people were killed, including the attacker and the police officer.</p><br>
<h2>Rules and traditions</h2><br>
<p>The Palace has accumulated many rules and traditions over the centuries.</p><br>
<h3>Eating, drinking and smoking</h3><br>
<p>Smoking has not been allowed in the chamber of the House of Commons since the 17th century. As a result, Members may take snuff instead and the doorkeepers still keep a snuff-box for this purpose. Despite persistent media rumours, it has not been permitted to smoke anywhere inside the Palace since 2005. Members may not eat or drink in the chamber; the exception to this rule is the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who may have an alcoholic beverage while delivering the Budget statement.</p><br>
<h3>Dress code</h3><br>
<p>Men are expected to wear formal attire, women are expected to dress in business-like clothing and the wearing of T-shirts with slogans is not allowed. Hats must not be worn (although they used to be worn when a point of order was being raised), and Members may not wear military decorations or insignia. Members are not allowed to have their hands in their pockets – Andrew Robathan was heckled by opposing MPs for doing this on 19 December 1994.</p><br>
<h3>Other traditions</h3><br>
<p>Other than people, the only animals allowed in the Palace of Westminster are guide dogs. Sniffer dogs and police horses are also allowed on the grounds.</p><br>
<p>Speeches may not be read out during debate in the House of Commons, although notes may be referred to. Similarly, the reading of newspapers is not allowed. Visual aids are discouraged in the chamber. Applause is also not normally allowed in the Commons. Some notable exceptions to this were: when Robin Cook gave his resignation speech in 2003; when Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared for the last time at Prime Minister&#39;s Questions; when Speaker Michael Martin gave his leaving speech on 17 June 2009 and after the resignation statement of Robert Rogers, Clerk of the House. At the start of the new parliament in May 2015, the large influx of new Scottish National Party MPs flouted the convention and repeatedly applauded their party leader, to the displeasure of the Speaker.</p><br>
<p>The status of the Palace as a royal palace raises legal questions – according to Halsbury&#39;s Laws of England, it is not possible to arrest a person within the "verges" of the Palace (the Palace itself and its immediate surroundings). However, according to a memorandum by the Clerk of the House of Commons, there is no prohibition on arrest within the Palace and such arrests have been effected in the past.</p><br>
<h2>Culture and tourism</h2><br>
<p>The exterior of the Palace of Westminster—especially the Elizabeth Tower which houses the bell known as Big Ben, and its setting on the bank of the River Thames—is recognised worldwide, and is one of the most visited tourist attractions in London. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) classifies the Palace of Westminster, along with neighbouring Westminster Abbey and St Margaret&#39;s, as a World Heritage Site. It is also a Grade I listed building.</p><br>
<p>Although there is no casual access to the interior of the Palace, there are several ways to gain admittance. UK residents may obtain tickets from an MP for a place in the viewing ("strangers") gallery of the House of Commons, or from a Lord for a seat in the gallery of the House of Lords. It is also possible for both UK residents and overseas visitors to queue for admission to them at any time of the day or night when either House is in session, but capacity is limited and there is no guarantee of admission. Either House may exclude "strangers" if it desires to sit in private. Members of the public can also queue for a seat in a committee session, where admission is free and places cannot be booked, or they may visit the Parliamentary Archives for research purposes. Booking an appointment is necessary in the latter case, along with a proof of identity.</p><br>
<p>Free guided tours of the Palace are held throughout the parliamentary session for UK residents, who can apply through their MP or a member of the House of Lords. The tours last about 75 minutes and include the state rooms, the chambers of the two Houses and Westminster Hall. Paid-for tours are available to both UK and overseas visitors during the summer recess. UK residents may also tour the Elizabeth Tower, by applying through their local Member of Parliament; overseas visitors and small children are not allowed.</p><br>
<p>Architectural historian Dan Cruickshank selected the Palace as one of his five choices for the 2006 BBC television documentary series Britain&#39;s Best Buildings.</p><br>
<p>The nearest London Underground station is Westminster, on the District, Circle and Jubilee lines.</p><br>
<p>In 2015, Parliament organised a year-long programme of events called "Parliament in the Making" to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta on 15 June, and the 750th anniversary of the first representative parliament on 20 January. Events were coordinated with Parliament Week. The BBC held events throughout the year including a "Democracy Day" on 20 January consisting of live discussions and debate in partnership with the Speaker’s Office of the House of Commons, including broadcasts from inside the Palace of Westminster.</p><br>
<p>Philippi  was a city in eastern Macedonia, in the Edonis region. Its original name was Crenides  after its establishment by Thasian colonists in 360/359 BC. The city was renamed by Philip II of Macedon in 356 BC and abandoned in the 14th century after the Ottoman conquest. The present municipality, Filippoi, is located near the ruins of the ancient city and is part of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace in Kavalla, Greece. It was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Philippi was established by Thasian colonists in 360/359 BC with the name Crenides. In 356 BC Philip II of Macedon, conquered the city and renamed it to Philippi. It was sited near the head of the Aegean Sea and at the foot of Mt. Orbelos, now called Mt. Lekani, about 13 km north-west of Kavalla, on the northern border of the marsh that, in antiquity, covered the entire plain separating it from the Pangaion hills to the south of Greece.</p><br>
<p>The objective of conquering the town was to take control of the neighbouring gold mines and to establish a garrison at a strategic passage: the site controlled the route between Amphipolis and Neapolis, part of the great royal route which crosses Macedonia from the east to the west and which was reconstructed later by the Roman Empire as the Via Egnatia. Philip II endowed the city with important fortifications, which partially blocked the passage between the swamp and Mt. Orbelos, and sent colonists to occupy it. Philip also had the marsh partially drained, as is attested by the writer Theophrastus. Philippi preserved its autonomy within the kingdom of Macedon and had its own political institutions (the Assembly of the demos). The discovery of new gold mines near the city, at Asyla, contributed to the wealth of the kingdom and Philip established a mint there. The city was fully integrated into the kingdom under Philip V.</p><br>
<p>The city contained 2,000 people.</p><br>
<p>When the Romans destroyed the Antigonid dynasty of Macedon in the Third Macedonian War (168 BC), they divided the kingdom into four separate states (merides). It was Amphipolis and not Philippi that became the capital of the eastern Macedonian state.</p><br>
<p>Almost nothing is known about the city in this period, aside from the walls, the Greek theatre, the foundations of a house under the Roman forum and a little temple dedicated to a hero cult. This monument covers the tomb of a certain Exekestos, is possibly situated on the agora and is dedicated to the κτίστης (ktistēs), the foundation hero of the city.</p><br>
<h3>The Roman era</h3><br>
<p>The city reappears in the sources during the Roman civil war that followed the assassination of Julius Caesar. His heirs Mark Antony and Octavian confronted the assassins of Caesar, Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, at the Battle of Philippi on the plain to the west of the city during October in 42 BC. Antony and Octavian were victorious in this final battle against the partisans of the Republic. They released some of their veteran soldiers, probably from Legion XXVIII and colonized them in the city, which was refounded as Colonia Victrix Philippensium. In 30 BC, Octavian became Roman emperor, reorganized the colony, and established more settlers there, veterans possibly from the Praetorian Guard and other Italians. The city was renamed Colonia Iulia Philippensis, and then Colonia Augusta Iulia Philippensis after January, 27 BC, when Octavian received the title Augustus from the Roman Senate.</p><br>
<p>Following this second renaming, and perhaps after the first, the territory of Philippi was centuriated (divided into squares of land) and distributed to the colonists. The city kept its Macedonian walls, and its general plan was modified only partially by the construction of a forum, a little to the east of the site of Greek agora. It was a "miniature Rome," under the municipal law of Rome and governed by two military officers, the duumviri, who were appointed directly from Rome.</p><br>
<p>The colony recognized its dependence on the mines that brought it its privileged position on the Via Egnatia. This wealth was shown by the many monuments that were particularly imposing considering the relatively small size of the urban area: the forum, laid out in two terraces on both sides of the main road, was constructed in several phases between the reigns of Claudius and Antoninus Pius, and the theatre was enlarged and expanded in order to hold Roman games. There is an abundance of Latin inscriptions testifying to the prosperity of the city.</p><br>
<h3>The early Christian era</h3><br>
<p>The New Testament states that in AD 49 or 50, the city was visited by the apostle Paul. From the Acts of the Apostles and the letter to the Philippians, early Christians concluded that Paul had founded their community. Accompanied by Silas, Timothy and possibly Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles, Paul is believed to have preached for the first time on European soil in Philippi. According to the New Testament, Paul visited the city on two other occasions, in 56 and 57. The Epistle to the Philippians dates from around 61-62 and is believed to show the immediate effects of Paul&#39;s instruction.</p><br>
<p>The development of Christianity in Philippi is indicated by a letter from Polycarp of Smyrna addressed to the community in Philippi around AD 160 and by funerary inscriptions.</p><br>
<p>The first church described in the city is a small building that was probably originally a small prayer house. This Basilica of Paul, identified by a mosaic inscription on the pavement, is dated around 343 from a mention by the bishop Porphyrios, who was present at the Council of Serdica that year.</p><br>
<p>Despite being one of the oldest congregations in Europe a bishopric was not established until the 4th century.</p><br>
<p>The prosperity of the city in the 5th and 6th centuries was attributed to Paul and to his ministry. As in other cities, many new ecclesiastical buildings were constructed at this time. Seven different churches were constructed in Philippi between the mid-4th century and the end of the 6th, some of which competed in size and decoration with the most beautiful buildings in Thessalonica, or those of Constantinople. The relationship of the plan and of the architectural decoration of Basilica B with Hagia Sophia and Saint Irene in Constantinople accorded a privileged place to this church in the history of early Christian art. The complex cathedral which took the place of the Basilica of Paul at the end of the 5th century, constructed around an octagonal church, also rivaled the churches of Constantinople.</p><br>
<p>In the same age, the fortifications of the city were rebuilt in order to better defend against the growing instability in the Balkans. In 473, the city was besieged by the Ostrogoths, who were unable to take it but burned down the surrounding villages.</p><br>
<h3>The Byzantine era</h3><br>
<p>Already weakened by the Slavic invasions at the end of the 6th century, which ruined the agrarian economy of Macedonia and probably also by the Plague of Justinian in 547, the city was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake around 619, from which it never recovered. There was a small amount of activity there in the 7th century, but the city was now hardly more than a village.</p><br>
<p>The Byzantine Empire possibly maintained a garrison there, but in 838 the city was taken by the Bulgarians under kavhan Isbul, who celebrated their victory with a monumental inscription on the stylobate in Basilica B, now partially in ruins. The site of Philippi was so strategically sound that the Byzantines attempted very soon to recapture it around 850. Several seals of civil servants and other Byzantine officials, dated to the first half of the 9th century, prove the presence of Byzantine armies in the city.</p><br>
<p>Around 969, Emperor Nicephorus II Phocas rebuilt the fortifications on the acropolis and in part of the city. These gradually helped weaken Bulgar power and strengthen the Byzantine presence in the area. In 1077, Bishop Basil Kartzimopoulos rebuilt part of the defenses inside the city. The city began to prosper once more, as witnessed by the Arab geographer Al Idrisi, who mentions it as a centre of business and wine production around 1150.</p><br>
<p>After a brief occupation by the Franks after the Fourth Crusade and the capture of Constantinople in 1204, the city was captured by the Serbs. Still, it remained a notable fortification on the route of the ancient Via Egnatia; in 1354, the pretender to the Byzantine throne, Matthew Cantacuzenus, was captured there by the Serbs.</p><br>
<p>The city was abandoned at an unknown date, but when the French traveller Pierre Belon visited it in the 16th century, there were nothing but ruins, used by the Turks as a quarry. The name of the city was preserved at first by a Turkish village on the nearby plain, Philibedjik (Filibecik, "Little Filibe" in Turkish), which has since disappeared and then by a Greek village in the mountains.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeological excavation of the site</h2><br>
<p>Noted or briefly described by 16th century travellers, the first archaeological description of the city was made in 1856 by Perrot, then in 1861 by Léon Heuzey and Henri Daumet in their famous Mission archéologique de Macédoine. The first excavations did not begin until the summer of 1914, and were soon interrupted by the First World War. The excavations, carried out by the École française dAthènes, were renewed in 1920 and continued until 1937. During this time the Greek theatre, the forum, Basilicas A and B, the baths and the walls were excavated. After the Second World War, Greek archaeologists returned to the site. From 1958 to 1978, the Société Archéologique, then the Service archéologique and the University of Thessalonica uncovered the bishops quarter and the octagonal church, large private residences, a new basilica near the Museum and two others in the necropolis to the east of the city.</p><br>
<p>The Pyrenees  is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain. Reaching a height of 3,404 m altitude at the peak of Aneto, the range separates the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of continental Europe, and extends for about 491 km from the Bay of Biscay  to the Mediterranean Sea .</p><br>
<p>For the most part, the main crest forms a divide between France and Spain, with the microstate of Andorra sandwiched in between. The Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre have historically extended on both sides of the mountain range, with smaller northern portions now in France and larger southern parts now in Spain.</p><br>
<p>The demonym for the noun "Pyrenees" in English is Pyrenean.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>In Greek mythology, Pyrene is a princess who gave her name to the Pyrenees. The Greek historian Herodotus says Pyrene is the name of a town in Celtic Europe. According to Silius Italicus, she was the virginal daughter of Bebryx, a king in Mediterranean Gaul by whom the hero Hercules was given hospitality during his quest to steal the cattle of Geryon during his famous Labors. Hercules, characteristically drunk and lustful, violates the sacred code of hospitality and rapes his host&#39;s daughter. Pyrene gives birth to a serpent and runs away to the woods, afraid that her father will be angry. Alone, she pours out her story to the trees, attracting the attention of wild beasts who tear her to pieces.</p><br>
<p>After his victory over Geryon, Hercules passes through the kingdom of Bebryx again, finding the girls lacerated remains. As is often the case in stories of this hero, the sober Hercules responds with heartbroken grief and remorse at the actions of his darker self, and lays Pyrene to rest tenderly, demanding that the surrounding geography join in mourning and preserve her name: "struck by Herculean voice, the mountaintops shudder at the ridges; he kept crying out with a sorrowful noise Pyrene! and all the rock-cliffs and wild-beast haunts echo back Pyrene!&#39; … The mountains hold on to the wept-over name through the ages." Pliny the Elder connects the story of Hercules and Pyrene to Lusitania, but rejects it as fabulosa, highly fictional.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<h3>Political divisions</h3><br>
<p>The Spanish Pyrenees are part of the following provinces, from east to west: Girona, Barcelona, Lleida (all in Catalonia), Huesca (in Aragon), Navarra (in Navarre) and Gipuzkoa (in the Basque Country).</p><br>
<p>The French Pyrenees are part of the following départements, from east to west: Pyrénées-Orientales (North Catalonia and Fenolheda), Aude, Ariège, Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrénées, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques (the latter two of which include the Pyrenees National Park).</p><br>
<p>The independent principality of Andorra is sandwiched in the eastern portion of the mountain range between the Spanish Pyrenees and French Pyrenees.</p><br>
<h3>Physiographical divisions</h3><br>
<p>Physiographically, the Pyrenees may be divided into three sections: the Atlantic (or Western), the Central, and the Eastern Pyrenees. Together, they form a distinct physiographic province of the larger Alpine System division.</p><br>
<p>In the Western Pyrenees, from the Basque mountains near the Bay of Biscay of the Atlantic Ocean, the average elevation gradually increases from west to east.</p><br>
<p>The Central Pyrenees extend eastward from the Somport pass to the Aran Valley, and they include the highest summits of this range:</p><br>
<p>Pico d&#39;Aneto 3,404 m in the Maladeta ridge,</p><br>
<p>Pico Posets 3,375 m,</p><br>
<p>Monte Perdido 3,355 m.</p><br>
<p>In the Eastern Pyrenees, with the exception of one break at the eastern extremity of the Pyrénées Ariègeoises in the Ariège area, the mean elevation is remarkably uniform until a sudden decline occurs in the easternmost portion of the chain known as the Albères.</p><br>
<h4>Foothills</h4><br>
<p>Most foothills of the Pyrenees are on the Spanish side, where there is a large and complex system of ranges stretching from Spanish Navarre, across northern Aragon and into Catalonia, almost reaching the Mediterranean coast with summits reaching 2,600 m. At the eastern end on the southern side lies a distinct area known as the Sub-Pyrenees.</p><br>
<p>On the French side the slopes of the main range descend abruptly and there are no foothills except in the Corbières Massif in the northeastern corner of the mountain system.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Pyrenees are older than the Alps: their sediments were first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. Between 100 and 150 million years ago, during the Lower Cretaceous Period, the Bay of Biscay fanned out, pushing present-day Spain against France and applying intense compressional pressure to large layers of sedimentary rock. The intense pressure and uplifting of the Earth&#39;s crust first affected the eastern part and moved progressively to the entire chain, culminating in the Eocene Epoch.</p><br>
<p>The eastern part of the Pyrenees consists largely of granite and gneissose rocks, while in the western part the granite peaks are flanked by layers of limestone. The massive and unworn character of the chain comes from its abundance of granite, which is particularly resistant to erosion, as well as weak glacial development.</p><br>
<h2>Landscape</h2><br>
<p>Conspicuous features of Pyrenean scenery are:</p><br>
<p>the absence of great lakes, such as those that fill the lateral valleys of the Alps</p><br>
<p>the rarity and relative high elevation of usable passes</p><br>
<p>the large number of the mountain torrents locally called gaves, which often form lofty waterfalls, surpassed in Europe only by those of Scandinavia</p><br>
<p>the frequency with which the upper end of a valley assumes the form of a semicircle of precipitous cliffs, called a cirque.</p><br>
<p>The highest waterfall is Gavarnie (462 m or 1,515 ft), at the head of the Gave de Pau; the Cirque de Gavarnie, in the same valley, together with the nearby Cirque de Troumouse and Cirque d&#39;Estaubé, are notable examples of the cirque formation.</p><br>
<p>Low passes are lacking, and the principal roads and the railroads between France and Spain run only in the lowlands at the western and eastern ends of the Pyrenees, near sea level. The main passes of note are:</p><br>
<p>the Col de la Perche (1581m), towards the east, between the valley of the Têt and the valley of the Segre,</p><br>
<p>the Pas de la Casa or Port d&#39;Envalira, the highest road pass in the Pyrenees at 2408m, and one of the highest points of the European road network, which provides the route from France to Andorra,</p><br>
<p>the nearby Col de Puymorens (1920m), on European route E09 between France and Spain.</p><br>
<p>the Port de la Bonaigua (2070m), in the middle of the range at the head of the Aran Valley, although the nearly col at Plan de Beret (1870m) is the lowest point in the main ridge between the Col de la Perche, almost 100km to the east and the Col du Pourtalet (1794m), over 100km to the west.</p><br>
<p>the Col de Somport or Port de Canfranc (1632m), where there were old Roman roads.</p><br>
<p>Because of the lack of low passes a number of tunnels have been created, beneath the passes at Somport, Envalira, and Puymorens and new routes in the center of the range at Bielsa and Vielha.</p><br>
<p>A notable visual feature of this mountain range is La Brèche de Roland, a gap in the ridge line, whichaccording to legendwas created by Roland.</p><br>
<h2>Natural resources</h2><br>
<p>The metallic ores of the Pyrenees are not in general of much importance now, though there were iron mines at several locations in Andorra, as well as at Vicdessos in Ariège, and the foot of Canigou in Pyrénées-Orientales long ago. Coal deposits capable of being profitably worked are situated chiefly on the Spanish slopes, but the French side has beds of lignite. The open pit of Trimoun close to the commune of Luzenac (Ariège) is one of the greatest sources of talc in Europe.</p><br>
<p>Mineral springs are abundant and remarkable, and especially noteworthy are the hot springs, of which the Alps are very deficient. The hot springs, among which those of Les Escaldes in Andorra, Panticosa and Lles in Spain, Ax-les-Thermes, Bagnères-de-Luchon and Eaux-Chaudes in France may be mentioned, are sulphurous and mostly situated high, near the contact of the granite with the stratified rocks. The lower springs, such as those of Bagnères-de-Bigorre (Hautes-Pyrénées), Rennes-les-Bains (Aude) and Campagne-sur-Aude (Aude), are mostly selenitic and not very cold.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The amount of precipitation the range receives, including rain and snow, is much greater in the western than in the eastern Pyrenees because of the moist air that blows in from the Atlantic Ocean over the Bay of Biscay. After dropping its moisture over the western and central Pyrenees, the air is left dry over the eastern Pyrenees. The winter average temperature is -2 °C (28.4 °F).</p><br>
<p>Sections of the mountain range vary in more than one respect. There are some glaciers in the western and snowy central Pyrenees, but there are no glaciers in the eastern Pyrenees because there is insufficient snowfall to cause their development. Glaciers are confined to the northern slopes of the central Pyrenees, and do not descend, like those of the Alps, far down into the valleys but rather have their greatest lengths along the direction of the mountain chain. They form, in fact, in a narrow zone near the crest of the highest mountains. Here, as in the other great mountain ranges of central Europe, there is substantial evidence of a much wider expanse of glaciation during the glacial periods. The best evidence of this is in the valley of Argeles Gazost, between Lourdes and Gavarnie, in the département of Hautes-Pyrénées.</p><br>
<p>The annual snow-line varies in different parts of the Pyrenees from about 2,700 to 2,800 metres above sea level. In average the seasonal snow is observed at least 50% of the time above 1,600 metres between December and April.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>A still more marked effect of the preponderance of rainfall in the western half of the chain is seen in the vegetation. The lower mountains in the extreme west are wooded, but the extent of forest declines as one moves eastwards. The eastern Pyrenees are peculiarly wild and barren, all the more since it is in this part of the chain that granitic masses prevail. Also moving from west to east, there is a change in the composition of the flora, with the change becoming most evident as one passes the centre of the mountain chain from which point the Corbières stretch north-eastwards towards the central plateau of France. Though the difference in latitude is only about 1°, in the west the flora resembles that of central Europe while in the east it is distinctly Mediterranean in character. The Pyrenees are nearly as rich in endemic species as the Alps, and among the most remarkable instances of that endemism is the occurrence of the monotypic genus Xatardia (family Apiaceae), which grows only on a high alpine pass between the Val d&#39;Eynes and Catalonia. Other examples include Arenaria montana, Bulbocodium vernum, and Ranunculus glacialis. The genus most abundantly represented in the range is that of the saxifrages, several species of which are endemic here.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>In their fauna the Pyrenees present some striking instances of endemism. The Pyrenean desman is found only in some of the streams of the northern slopes of these mountains; the only other desmans are confined to the rivers of the Caucasus in southern Russia. The Pyrenean euprocte (Euproctus pyrenaicus), an endemic relative of the salamander, also lives in streams and lakes located at high altitudes. Among other peculiarities of Pyrenean fauna are blind insects in the caverns of Ariège, the principal genera of which are Anophthalmus and Adelops.</p><br>
<p>The Pyrenean ibex mysteriously became extinct in January 2000; the native Pyrenean brown bear was hunted to near-extinction in the 1990s, but it was re-introduced in 1996 when three bears were brought from Slovenia. The bear population has bred successfully, and there are now believed to be about 15 brown bears in the central region around Fos, but only four native ones are still living in the Aspe Valley.</p><br>
<h2>Protected areas</h2><br>
<p>Principal nature reserves and national parks:</p><br>
<p>Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Pyrénées National Park (France)</p><br>
<p>Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Posets-Maladeta Natural Park (Spain)</p><br>
<h2>Demographics and culture</h2><br>
<p>The Pyrenean region possesses a varied ethnology, folklore and history: see Andorra; Aragon; Ariège; Basque Country; Béarn; Catalonia; Navarre; Roussillon. For their history, see also Almogavars, Marca Hispanica.</p><br>
<p>The principal languages spoken in the area are Spanish, French, Aragonese, Catalan (in Catalonia and Andorra), and Basque.</p><br>
<p>Also spoken, to a lesser degree, are the Occitan language (the Gascon and Languedocien dialects in France and the Aranese dialect in the Aran Valley).</p><br>
<p>An important feature of rural life in the Pyrenees is transhumance, the moving of livestock from the farms in the valleys up to the higher grounds of the mountains for the summer. In this way the farming communities could keep larger herds than the lowland farms could support on their own. The principal animals moved were cows and sheep, but historically most members of farming families also moved to the higher pastures along with their animals, so they also took with them pigs, horses and chickens. and returning to the farms in September or October. During the summer period, the families would live in basic stone cabins in the high mountains. Nowadays, industrialisation and changing agriculture practices have diminished the custom. However, the importance of transhumance continues to be recognised through its celebration in popular festivals.</p><br>
<h2>Sports and leisure</h2><br>
<p>Both sides of the Pyrenees are popular spots for winter sports such as alpine skiing and mountaineering. The Pyrenees are also a good place for athletes to do high-altitude training in the summertime, such as by bicycling and cross-country running.</p><br>
<p>In the summer and the autumn, the Pyrenees are usually featured in two of cycling&#39;s grand tours, the Tour de France held annually in July and the Vuelta a España held in September. The stages held in the Pyrenees are often crucial legs of both tours, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators to the region.</p><br>
<p>Three main long-distance footpaths run the length of the mountain range: the GR 10 across the northern slopes, the GR 11 across the southern slopes, and the HRP which traverses peaks and ridges along a high altitude route. In addition, there are numerous marked and unmarked trails throughout the region.</p><br>
<p>Pirena is a dog-mushing competition held in the Pyrenees.</p><br>
<h3>Ski resorts</h3><br>
<p>Ski resorts in the Pyrenees include:</p><br>
<p>Alp 2500 (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Arette (France)</p><br>
<p>Astún (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Artouste (France)</p><br>
<p>Ax-les-Thermes (France)</p><br>
<p>Baqueira-Beret (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Boí Taüll Resort (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Bareges-La Mongie (Tourmalet) (France)</p><br>
<p>Luz Ardiden (France)</p><br>
<p>Bourg-d&#39;Oueil (France)</p><br>
<p>Cauterets (France)</p><br>
<p>Candanchú (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Cerler (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Espot Esquí (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Font-Romeu (France)</p><br>
<p>Formigal (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Gavarnie Gèdre (France)</p><br>
<p>Gourette (France)</p><br>
<p>Guzet-Neige (France)</p><br>
<p>Hautacam (France)</p><br>
<p>La Molina (Spain)</p><br>
<p>La Pierre Saint Martin</p><br>
<p>Le Mourtis (France)</p><br>
<p>Les Angles (France)</p><br>
<p>Luchon-Superbagnères (France)</p><br>
<p>Luz-Ardiden (France)</p><br>
<p>Nistos cap nestes (France)</p><br>
<p>Panticosa-Los Lagos (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Pas de la Casa (Andorra)</p><br>
<p>Peyragudes (France)</p><br>
<p>Piau-Engaly (France)</p><br>
<p>Port Ainé (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Port del Comte (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Somport (France-Spain)</p><br>
<p>Saint Lary (France)</p><br>
<p>Soldeu / El Tarter (Andorra)</p><br>
<p>Superbagnères (France)</p><br>
<p>Tavascan (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Vall de Núria (Spain)</p><br>
<p>Vallnord (Andorra)</p><br>
<p>Vallter 2000 (Spain)</p><br>
<h2>Highest summits</h2><br>
<p>Aneto (3,404 m)</p><br>
<p>Posets (3,375 m)</p><br>
<p>Monte Perdido (3,355 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic Maudit (3,350 m)</p><br>
<p>Cilindro de Marboré (3,328 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de la Maladeta (3,308 m)</p><br>
<p>Vignemale (Pique longue) (3,298 m)</p><br>
<p>Clot de la Hount (3,289 m)</p><br>
<p>Soum de Ramond (3,263 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Marboré (3,248 m)</p><br>
<p>Cerbillona (3,247 m)</p><br>
<p>Perdiguero (3,222 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Montferrat (3,220 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic Long (3,192 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic Schrader (Grand Batchimale) (3,177 m)</p><br>
<p>Campbieil (3,173 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de la cascade oriental (3,161 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic Badet (3,160 m)</p><br>
<p>Balaïtous (3,144 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic du Taillon (3,144 m)</p><br>
<p>Pica d&#39;Estats (3,143 m)</p><br>
<p>Punta del Sabre (3,136 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de la Munia (3,134 m)</p><br>
<p>Pointe de Literole (3,132 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic des Gourgs Blancs (3,129 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Royo (3,121 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic des Crabioules (3,116 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Maupas (3,109 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic Lézat (3,107 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de la cascade occidental (3,095 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Néouvielle (3,091 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Troumouse (3,085 m)</p><br>
<p>Pics d&#39;Enfer (3,082 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Montcalm (3,077 m)</p><br>
<p>Grand pic d&#39; Astazou (3,077 m)</p><br>
<p>Épaule du Marboré (3,073 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic du port de Sullo (3,072 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic des Spijeoles (3,066 m)</p><br>
<p>Grand Quayrat (3,060 m)</p><br>
<p>Pico Argualas (3,046 m)</p><br>
<p>Trois Conseillers (3,039 m)</p><br>
<p>Turon de Néouvielle (3,035 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Batoua (3,034 m)</p><br>
<p>Petit Vignemale (3,032 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Besiberri Sud (3,017 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic Ramougn (3,011 m)</p><br>
<p>Tour du Marboré (3,009 m)</p><br>
<p>Casque du Marboré (3,006 m)</p><br>
<p>Grande Fache (3,005 m)</p><br>
<h3>Notable summits below 3,000 metres</h3><br>
<p>Pic de Palas (2,974 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Comapedrosa (2,942 m) - highest point of Andorra</p><br>
<p>Pic Carlit (2,921 m)</p><br>
<p>Puigmal (2,913 m)</p><br>
<p>Cotiella (2,912 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Sanfonts (2,894 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic d&#39;Envalira (2,827 m)</p><br>
<p>Collarada (2,886 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic du Midi d&#39;Ossau (2,885 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic du Midi de Bigorre (2,876 m)</p><br>
<p>Mont Valier (2,838 m)</p><br>
<p>Petit Pic du Midi d&#39;Ossau (2,812 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic du Canigou (2,786 m)</p><br>
<p>Peña Telera (2,764 m)</p><br>
<p>Casamanya (2,740 m)</p><br>
<p>Cap de la cometa del forn (2,691 m)</p><br>
<p>Visaurin (2,668 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic del Port Vell (2,655 m)</p><br>
<p>Aspe peak (2,645 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic dels Aspres (2,562 m)</p><br>
<p>Pedraforca (2,506 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic d&#39;Anie (2,504 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Pedraforca (2,498 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Madrès (2,469 m)</p><br>
<p>Mesa de los Tres Reyes (2,428 m)</p><br>
<p>Grande Aiguille d&#39;Ansabère (2,376 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic du Soularac (2,368 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic du Saint Barthélémy (2,348 m)</p><br>
<p>Peña Montañesa (2,291 m)</p><br>
<p>Peña Foratata (2,282 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic des Trois Seigneurs (2,199 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic d&#39;Orhy (2,017 m)</p><br>
<p>Chamanchoya (1,935 m)</p><br>
<p>Otsogorrigaina (1,922 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic de Cagire (1,912 m)</p><br>
<p>Pic du Gar (1,785 m)</p><br>
<p>Urkulu (1,419 m)</p><br>
<p>Larrun (905 m)</p><br>
<p>Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility  is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres  on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted use since its establishment in 1891; it has also been known as Navy Yard Puget Sound, Bremerton Navy Yard, and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.</p><br>
<p>It is bordered on the south by Sinclair Inlet, on the west by the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap, and on the north and east by the city of Bremerton, Washington. It is the Pacific Northwests largest naval shore facility and one of Washington states largest industrial installations. PSNS & IMF provides the Navy with maintenance, modernization, and technical and logistics support.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was established in 1891 as a Naval Station and was designated Navy Yard Puget Sound in 1901. During World War I, the Navy Yard constructed ships, including 25 subchasers, seven submarines, two minesweepers, seven seagoing tugs, and two ammunition ships, as well as 1,700 small boats. During World War II, the shipyard&#39;s primary effort was the repair of battle damage to ships of the USA fleet and those of its allies.</p><br>
<p>Following World War II, Navy Yard Puget Sound was designated Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. It engaged in an extensive program of modernizing carriers, including converting conventional flight decks to angle decks. During the Korean War, the shipyard was engaged in the activation of ships. In the late 1950s, it entered an era of new construction with the building of a new class of guided missile frigates. In 1965, USS Sculpin (SSN 590) became the first nuclear-powered submarine to be maintained at PSNS. The shipyard was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992. The historic district includes 22 contributing buildings and 42 contributing structures, as well as 49 non-contributing buildings, structures, and objects.</p><br>
<h2>Installations</h2><br>
<p>Perhaps the most visible feature of the shipyard is its huge green hammerhead crane, built in 1933. The PSNS hammerhead crane is 250 ft tall and 80 ft wide with a lifting capacity of 250 tons.</p><br>
<h2>Ship-Submarine Recycling Program</h2><br>
<p>In 1990 the Navy authorized the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program (SRP) to recycle nuclear-powered ships at PSNS. Approximately 25% of the shipyards workload involves inactivation, reactor compartment disposal, and recycling of ships. It has pioneered an environmentally safe method of deactivating and recycling nuclear-powered ships. This process places the USA Navy in the role of being the worlds only organization to design, build, operate, and recycle nuclear-powered ships. On May 15, 2003 PSNS and IMF were consolidated into what is now known as PSNS & IMF.</p><br>
<p>PSNS is the only USA facility certified to recycle nuclear ships. During all this period Puget Sound Naval Shipyard has scrapped more than 125 submarines and some cruisers.</p><br>
<h2>Mothball Fleet</h2><br>
<p>The shipyard contains a portion of the United States Navy reserve fleet, a large collection of inactive USA Navy vessels, including the aircraft carrier. Kitty Hawk is mothballed, meaning that she is stored in case she is needed by the Navy in the future.</p><br>
<h2>Environmental Issues</h2><br>
<p>Gorst Creek Ravine near Port Orchard, Washington was a hazardous waste dump for the Navys shipyard waste between 1969 and 1970, when the site was not permitted by local authorities to take waste. After several collapses since 1997 the landfill could blow out Highway 3. The landfill is an "ongoing source of pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and metals flowing downstream with the potential to affect groundwater wells, sport fisheries and the Suquamish Tribes fish hatchery. In October 2014, the US EPA ordered the Navy to fix the problems.</p><br>
<h2>Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Historic Districts</h2><br>
<p>The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard contains five historic districts:</p><br>
<p>Officers&#39; Row Historic District</p><br>
<p>Puget Sound Radio Station Historic District</p><br>
<p>Hospital Reservation Historic District</p><br>
<p>Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Historic District; and</p><br>
<p>Marine Reservation Historic District.</p><br>
<p>These five units are a comprehensive representation of the historic features of the naval shipyard.</p><br>
<p>The Rocky Mountains, commonly known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 3,000 mi from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the Southwestern United States. Within the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are somewhat distinct from the Pacific Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada, which all lie further to the west.</p><br>
<p>The Rocky Mountains were initially formed from 80 million to 55 million years ago during the Laramide orogeny, in which a number of plates began to slide underneath the North American plate. The angle of subduction was shallow, resulting in a broad belt of mountains running down western North America. Since then, further tectonic activity and erosion by glaciers have sculpted the Rockies into dramatic peaks and valleys. At the end of the last ice age, humans started to inhabit the mountain range. After Europeans, such as Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and Americans, such as the Lewis and Clark expedition, started to explore the range, minerals and furs drove the initial economic exploitation of the mountains, although the range itself never became densely populated.</p><br>
<p>Much of the mountain range is protected by public parks and forest lands and is a popular tourist destination, especially for hiking, camping, mountaineering, fishing, hunting, mountain biking, skiing, and snowboarding.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The name of the mountains is a translation of an Amerindian name that is closely related to Algonquian; the Cree name "", is given as, when seen from across the prairies, they looked like a rocky mass. The first mention of their present name by a European was in the journal of Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre in 1752, where they were called "Montagnes de Roche".</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Rocky Mountains are commonly defined as stretching from the Liard River in British Columbia south to the Rio Grande in New Mexico. Other mountain ranges continue beyond those two rivers, including the Selwyn Mountains in Yukon, the Brooks Range in Alaska, and the Sierra Madre in Mexico, but those are not part of the Rockies, though they are part of the American Cordillera. The United States definition of the Rockies includes the Cabinet and Salish Mountains of Idaho and Montana. Their counterparts north of the Kootenai River, the Columbia Mountains, are considered a separate system in Canada, lying to the west of the huge Rocky Mountain Trench. This runs the length of British Columbia from its beginnings in the middle Flathead River valley in western Montana to the south bank of the Liard River. The Rockies vary in width from 70 to 300 miles (110 to 480 kilometers). Also west of the Rocky Mountain Trench, farther north and facing the Muskwa Range across the trench, are the Stikine Ranges and Omineca Mountains of the Interior Mountains system of British Columbia. A small area east of Prince George, British Columbia on the eastern side of the Trench, the McGregor Plateau, resembles the Rockies but is considered part of the Interior Plateau.</p><br>
<p>The eastern edge of the Rockies rises dramatically above the Interior Plains of central North America, including the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico and Colorado, the Front Range of Colorado, the Wind River Range and Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming, the Absaroka-Beartooth ranges and Rocky Mountain Front of Montana and the Clark Range of Alberta. In Canada geographers define three main groups of ranges: the Continental Ranges, Hart Ranges and Muskwa Ranges (the latter two flank the Peace River, the only river to pierce the Rockies, and are collectively referred to as the Northern Rockies). The Muskwa and Hart Ranges together comprise what is known as the Northern Rockies (the Mackenzie Mountains north of the Liard River are sometimes referred to as being part of the Rocky Mountains but this is an unofficial designation).</p><br>
<p>The western edge of the Rockies includes ranges such as the Wasatch near Salt Lake City and the Bitterroots along the Idaho-Montana border. The Great Basin and Columbia River Plateau separate these sub-ranges from distinct ranges further to the west, most prominent among which are the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range and Coast Mountains. The Rockies do not extend into the Yukon or Alaska, or into central British Columbia, where the Rocky Mountain System (but not the Rocky Mountains) includes the Columbia Mountains, the southward extension of which is considered part of the Rockies in the United States. The Rocky Mountain System within the United States is a United States physiographic region; the Rocky Mountain System is known in Canada as the Eastern System.</p><br>
<p>The Rocky Mountains are notable for containing the highest peaks in central North America. The range&#39;s highest peak is Mount Elbert located in Colorado at 14,440 ft above sea level. Mount Robson in British Columbia, at 12,972 ft, is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.</p><br>
<p>The Continental Divide of the Americas is located in the Rocky Mountains and designates the line at which waters flow either to the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. Triple Divide Peak (8,020 ft) in Glacier National Park is so named because water that falls on the mountain reaches not only the Atlantic and Pacific, but Hudson Bay as well. Farther north in Alberta, the Athabasca and other rivers feed the basin of the Mackenzie River, which has its outlet on the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean. See Rivers of the Rocky Mountains for a list of rivers.</p><br>
<p>Human population is not very dense in the Rocky Mountains, with an average of four people per square kilometer and few cities with over 50,000 people. However, the human population grew rapidly in the Rocky Mountain states between 1950 and 1990. The 40-year statewide increases in population range from 35% in Montana to about 150% in Utah and Colorado. The populations of several mountain towns and communities have doubled in the last 40 years. Jackson Hole, Wyoming, increased 260%, from 1,244 to 4,472 residents, in 40 years.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The rocks in the Rocky Mountains were formed before the mountains were raised by tectonic forces. The oldest rock is Precambrian metamorphic rock that forms the core of the North American continent. There is also Precambrian sedimentary argillite, dating back to 1.7 billion years ago. During the Paleozoic, western North America lay underneath a shallow sea, which deposited many kilometers of limestone and dolomite.</p><br>
<p>In the southern Rocky Mountains, near present-day Colorado, these ancestral rocks were disturbed by mountain building approximately 300 Ma, during the Pennsylvanian. This mountain building produced the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. They consisted largely of Precambrian metamorphic rock forced upward through layers of the limestone laid down in the shallow sea. The mountains eroded throughout the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic, leaving extensive deposits of sedimentary rock.</p><br>
<p>Terranes started to collide with the western edge of North America in the Mississippian (approximately 350 million years ago), causing the Antler orogeny. For 270 million years, the effects of plate collisions were focused very near the edge of the North American plate boundary, far to the west of the Rocky Mountain region.</p><br>
<p>The current Rocky Mountains were raised in the Laramide orogeny from between 80 and 55 Ma. For the Canadian Rockies, the mountain building is analogous to a rug being pushed on a hardwood floor: the rug bunches up and forms wrinkles (mountains). In Canada, the terranes and subduction are the foot pushing the rug, the ancestral rocks are the rug, and the Canadian Shield in the middle of the continent is the hardwood floor.</p><br>
<p>Further south, the growth of the Rocky Mountains in the United States was probably caused by an unusual subduction, where the Farallon plate dove at a shallow angle below the North American plate. This low angle moved the focus of melting and mountain building much farther inland than the normal 200 to 300 mi. It is postulated that the shallow angle of the subducting plate greatly increased the friction and other interactions with the thick continental mass above it. Tremendous thrusts piled sheets of crust on top of each other, building the extraordinarily broad, high Rocky Mountain range.</p><br>
<p>The current southern Rockies were forced upwards through the layers of Pennsylvanian and Permian sedimentary remnants of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. Such sedimentary remnants were often tilted at steep angles along the flanks of the modern range; they are now visible in many places throughout the Rockies, and are prominently shown along the Dakota Hogback, an early Cretaceous sandstone formation that runs along the eastern flank of the modern Rockies.</p><br>
<p>Immediately after the Laramide orogeny, the Rockies were like Tibet: a high plateau, probably 6,000 m above sea level. In the last 60 million years, erosion stripped away the high rocks, revealing the ancestral rocks beneath, and forming the current landscape of the Rockies.</p><br>
<p>Periods of glaciation occurred from the Pleistocene Epoch (1.8 million – 70,000 years ago) to the Holocene Epoch (fewer than 11,000 years ago). These ice ages left their mark on the Rockies, forming extensive glacial landforms, such as U-shaped valleys and cirques. Recent glacial episodes included the Bull Lake Glaciation that began about 150,000 years ago and the Pinedale Glaciation that probably remained at full glaciation until 15,000–20,000 years ago.</p><br>
<p>All of the geological processes, above, have left a complex set of rocks exposed at the surface. For example, volcanic rock from the Paleogene and Neogene periods (66 million – 2.6 million years ago) occurs in the San Juan Mountains and in other areas. Millennia of severe erosion in the Wyoming Basin transformed intermountain basins into a relatively flat terrain. The Tetons and other north-central ranges contain folded and faulted rocks of Paleozoic and Mesozoic age draped above cores of Proterozoic and Archean igneous and metamorphic rocks ranging in age from 1.2 billion (e.g., Tetons) to more than 3.3 billion years (Beartooth Mountains).</p><br>
<h2>Ecology and climate</h2><br>
<p>There are a wide range of environmental factors in the Rocky Mountains. The Rockies range in latitude between the Liard River in British Columbia (at 59° N) and the Rio Grande in New Mexico (at 35° N). Prairie occurs at or below 1,800 ft, while the highest peak in the range is Mount Elbert at 14,440 ft. Precipitation ranges from 10 in per year in the southern valleys to 60 in per year locally in the northern peaks. Average January temperatures can range from 20 &deg;F in Prince George, British Columbia, to 43 &deg;F in Trinidad, Colorado. Therefore, there is not a single monolithic ecosystem for the entire Rocky Mountain Range.</p><br>
<p>Instead, ecologists divide the Rocky Mountain into a number of biotic zones. Each zone is defined by whether it can support trees, and the presence of one or more indicator species. Two zones that do not support trees are the Plains and the Alpine tundra. The Great Plains lie to the east of the Rockies, and is characterized by prairie grasses (below roughly 1,800 ft). Alpine tundra occurs in regions above the treeline for the Rocky Mountains, which varies from 12,000 ft in New Mexico to 2,500 ft at the northern end of the Rocky Mountains (near the Yukon).</p><br>
<p>The USGS defines ten forested zones in the Rocky Mountains. Zones in more southern, warmer, or drier areas are defined by the presence of pinyon pines/junipers, ponderosa pines, or oaks mixed with pines. In more northern, colder, or wetter areas, zones are defined by Douglas-firs, Cascadian species (such as western hemlock), lodgepole pines/quaking aspens, or firs mixed with spruce. Near treeline, zones can consist of white pines (such as whitebark pine or bristlecone pine); or a mixture of white pine, fir, and spruce that appear as shrub-like krummholz. Finally, rivers and canyons can create a unique forest zone in more arid parts of the mountain range.</p><br>
<p>The Rocky Mountains are an important habitat for a great deal of well-known wildlife, such as elk, moose, mule and white-tailed deer, pronghorn, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, badgers, black bears, grizzly bears, coyotes, lynxes, and wolverines. For example, North America&#39;s largest herds of moose is in the Alberta-British Columbia foothills forests.</p><br>
<p>The status of most species in the Rocky Mountains is unknown, due to incomplete information. European-American settlement of the mountains has adversely impacted native species. Examples of some species that have declined include western toads, greenback cutthroat trout, white sturgeon, white-tailed ptarmigan, trumpeter swan, and bighorn sheep. In the United States portion of the mountain range, apex predators such as grizzly bears and gray wolves had been extirpated from their original ranges, but have partially recovered due to conservation measures and reintroduction. Other recovering species include the bald eagle and the peregrine falcon.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Indigenous people</h3><br>
<p>Since the last great ice age, the Rocky Mountains were home first to indigenous peoples including the Apache, Arapaho, Bannock, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Coeur d&#39;Alene, Kalispel, Crow Nation, Flathead, Shoshone, Sioux, Ute, Kutenai (Ktunaxa in Canada), Sekani, Dunne-za, and others. Paleo-Indians hunted the now-extinct mammoth and ancient bison (an animal 20% larger than modern bison) in the foothills and valleys of the mountains. Like the modern tribes that followed them, Paleo-Indians probably migrated to the plains in fall and winter for bison and to the mountains in spring and summer for fish, deer, elk, roots, and berries. In Colorado, along the crest of the Continental Divide, rock walls that Native Americans built for driving game date back 5,400–5,800 years. A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that indigenous people had significant effects on mammal populations by hunting and on vegetation patterns through deliberate burning.</p><br>
<h3>European exploration</h3><br>
<p>Recent human history of the Rocky Mountains is one of more rapid change. The Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado—with a group of soldiers, missionaries, and African slaves—marched into the Rocky Mountain region from the south in 1540. The introduction of the horse, metal tools, rifles, new diseases, and different cultures profoundly changed the Native American cultures. Native American populations were extirpated from most of their historical ranges by disease, warfare, habitat loss (eradication of the bison), and continued assaults on their culture.</p><br>
<p>In 1739, French fur traders Pierre and Paul Mallet, while journeying through the Great Plains, discovered a range of mountains at the headwaters of the Platte River, which local American Indian tribes called the "Rockies", becoming the first Europeans to report on this uncharted mountain range.</p><br>
<p>Sir Alexander MacKenzie (1764 – March 11, 1820) became the first European to cross the Rocky Mountains in 1793. He found the upper reaches of the Fraser River and reached the Pacific coast of what is now Canada on July 20 of that year, completing the first recorded transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico. He arrived at Bella Coola, British Columbia, where he first reached saltwater at South Bentinck Arm, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean.</p><br>
<p>The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806) was the first scientific reconnaissance of the Rocky Mountains. Specimens were collected for contemporary botanists, zoologists, and geologists. The expedition was said to have paved the way to (and through) the Rocky Mountains for European-Americans from the East, although Lewis and Clark met at least 11 European-American mountain men during their travels.</p><br>
<p>Mountain men, primarily French, Spanish, and British, roamed the Rocky Mountains from 1720 to 1800 seeking mineral deposits and furs. The fur-trading North West Company established Rocky Mountain House as a trading post in what is now the Rocky Mountain Foothills of present-day Alberta in 1799, and their business rivals the Hudson&#39;s Bay Company established Acton House nearby. These posts served as bases for most European activity in the Canadian Rockies in the early 19th century. Among the most notable are the expeditions of David Thompson (explorer), who followed the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. On his 1811 expedition, he camped at the junction of the Columbia River and the Snake River and erected a pole and notice claiming the area for the United Kingdom and stating the intention of the North West Company to build a fort at the site.</p><br>
<p>By the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, which established the 49th parallel north as the international boundary west from Lake of the Woods to the "Stony Mountains&quot the UK and the USA agreed to what has since been described as "joint occupancy" of lands further west to the Pacific Ocean. Resolution of the territorial and treaty issues, the Oregon dispute, was deferred until a later time.</p><br>
<p>In 1819, Spain ceded their rights north of the 42nd Parallel to the United States, though these rights did not include possession and also included obligations to Britain and Russia concerning their claims in the same region.</p><br>
<h3>Settlement</h3><br>
<p>After 1802, American fur traders and explorers ushered in the first widespread Caucasian presence in the Rockies south of the 49th parallel. The more famous of these include Americans William Henry Ashley, Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, John Colter, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Andrew Henry, and Jedediah Smith. On July 24, 1832, Benjamin Bonneville led the first wagon train across the Rocky Mountains by using South Pass in the present State of Wyoming. Similarly, in the wake of Mackenzies 1793 expedition, fur trading posts were established west of the Northern Rockies in a region of the northern Interior Plateau of British Columbia which came to be known as New Caledonia, beginning with Fort McLeod (todays community of McLeod Lake) and Fort Fraser, but ultimately focused on Stuart Lake Post (today&#39;s Fort St. James).</p><br>
<p>Negotiations between the United Kingdom and the United States over the next few decades failed to settle upon a compromise boundary and the Oregon Dispute became important in geopolitical diplomacy between the British Empire and the new American Republic. In 1841 James Sinclair, Chief Factor of the Hudson&#39;s Bay Company, guided some 200 settlers from the Red River Colony west to bolster settlement around Fort Vancouver in an attempt to retain the Columbia District for Britain. The party crossed the Rockies into the Columbia Valley, a region of the Rocky Mountain Trench near present-day Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia, then traveled south. Despite such efforts, in 1846, Britain ceded all claim to Columbia District lands south of the 49th parallel to the United States; as resolution to the Oregon boundary dispute by the Oregon Treaty.</p><br>
<p>Thousands passed through the Rocky Mountains on the Oregon Trail beginning in the 1840s. The Mormons began to settle near the Great Salt Lake in 1847. From 1859 to 1864, gold was discovered in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia, sparking several gold rushes bringing thousands of prospectors and miners to explore every mountain and canyon and to create the Rocky Mountains first major industry. The Idaho gold rush alone produced more gold than the California and Alaska gold rushes combined and was important in the financing of the Union Army during the American Civil War. The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, and Yellowstone National Park was established as the worlds first national park in 1872. Meanwhile, a transcontinental railroad in Canada was originally promised in 1871. Though political complications pushed its completion to 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railway eventually followed the Kicking Horse and Rogers Passes to the Pacific Ocean. Canadian railway officials also convinced Parliament to set aside vast areas of the Canadian Rockies as Jasper, Banff, Yoho, and Waterton Lakes National Parks, laying the foundation for a tourism industry which thrives to this day. Glacier National Park (MT) was established with a similar relationship to tourism promotions by the Great Northern Railway. While settlers filled the valleys and mining towns, conservation and preservation ethics began to take hold. USA President Harrison established several forest reserves in the Rocky Mountains in 1891–92. In 1905, USA President Theodore Roosevelt extended the Medicine Bow Forest Reserve to include the area now managed as Rocky Mountain National Park. Economic development began to center on mining, forestry, agriculture, and recreation, as well as on the service industries that support them. Tents and camps became ranches and farms, forts and train stations became towns, and some towns became cities.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<h3>Industry and development</h3><br>
<p>Economic resources of the Rocky Mountains are varied and abundant. Minerals found in the Rocky Mountains include significant deposits of copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, silver, tungsten, and zinc. The Wyoming Basin and several smaller areas contain significant reserves of coal, natural gas, oil shale, and petroleum. For example, the Climax mine, located near Leadville, Colorado, was the largest producer of molybdenum in the world. Molybdenum is used in heat-resistant steel in such things as cars and planes. The Climax mine employed over 3,000 workers. The Coeur dAlene mine of northern Idaho produces silver, lead, and zinc. Canadas largest coal mines are near Fernie, British Columbia and Sparwood, British Columbia; additional coal mines exist near Hinton, Alberta, and in the Northern Rockies surrounding Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.</p><br>
<p>Abandoned mines with their wakes of mine tailings and toxic wastes dot the Rocky Mountain landscape. In one major example, eighty years of zinc mining profoundly polluted the river and bank near Eagle River in north-central Colorado. High concentrations of the metal carried by spring runoff harmed algae, moss, and trout populations. An economic analysis of mining effects at this site revealed declining property values, degraded water quality, and the loss of recreational opportunities. The analysis also revealed that cleanup of the river could yield $2.3 million in additional revenue from recreation. In 1983, the former owner of the zinc mine was sued by the Colorado Attorney General for the $4.8 million cleanup costs; five years later, ecological recovery was considerable.</p><br>
<p>The Rocky Mountains contain several sedimentary basins that are rich in coalbed methane. Coalbed methane is natural gas that arises from coal, either through bacterial action, or through exposure to high temperature. Coalbed methane supplies 7 percent of the natural gas used in the United States. The largest coalbed methane sources in the Rocky Mountains are in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. These two basins are estimated to contain 38 trillion cubic feet of gas. Coalbed methane can be recovered by dewatering the coal bed, and separating the gas from the water; or injecting water to fracture the coal to release the gas (so-called hydraulic fracturing).</p><br>
<p>Agriculture and forestry are major industries. Agriculture includes dryland and irrigated farming and livestock grazing. Livestock are frequently moved between high-elevation summer pastures and low-elevation winter pastures, a practice known as transhumance.</p><br>
<h3>Tourism</h3><br>
<p>See also: List of USA Rocky Mountain ski resorts, List of Alberta ski resorts, List of B.C. ski resorts</p><br>
<p>Every year the scenic areas and recreational opportunities of the Rocky Mountains draw millions of tourists. The main language of the Rocky Mountains is English. But there are also linguistic pockets of Spanish and indigenous languages.</p><br>
<p>People from all over the world visit the sites to hike, camp, or engage in mountain sports. In the summer season, examples of tourist attractions are:</p><br>
<p>In the United States:</p><br>
<p>Pikes Peak</p><br>
<p>Royal Gorge</p><br>
<p>Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad</p><br>
<p>Rocky Mountain National Park</p><br>
<p>Yellowstone National Park</p><br>
<p>Grand Teton National Park</p><br>
<p>Glacier National Park</p><br>
<p>Sawtooth National Recreation Area</p><br>
<p>In Canada, the mountain range contains these national parks:</p><br>
<p>Banff National Park</p><br>
<p>Jasper National Park</p><br>
<p>Kootenay National Park</p><br>
<p>Waterton Lakes National Park</p><br>
<p>Yoho National Park</p><br>
<p>Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta border each other and collectively are known as Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. (See also International Peace Park.)</p><br>
<p>In the winter, skiing is the main attraction. A list of the major ski resorts can be found at List of USA Rocky Mountain ski resorts.</p><br>
<p>The adjacent Columbia Mountains in British Columbia contain major resorts such as Panorama and Kicking Horse, as well as Mount Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park.</p><br>
<p>There are numerous provincial parks in the British Columbia Rockies, the largest and most notable being Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, Mount Robson Provincial Park, Northern Rocky Mountains Provincial Park, Kwadacha Wilderness Provincial Park, Stone Mountain Provincial Park and Muncho Lake Provincial Park.</p><br>
<p>Riddarfjärden  is the easternmost bay of Lake Mälaren in central Stockholm. Stockholm was founded in 1252 on an island in the stream where Lake Mälaren  drains into the Baltic Sea ; today the island is called Stadsholmen and constitutes Stockholm&#39;s Old Town.</p><br>
<p>The panorama picture featured in this article was taken from the heights of Södermalm, west of Stadsholmen, looking down on Riddarfjärden. Left to right are viewable:</p><br>
<p>* Västerbron bridge</p><br>
<p>* Kungsholmen Island</p><br>
<p>* Stockholm City Hall, a red brick building with a bell tower, where the Nobel Prize dinner is served</p><br>
<p>* The tower of Klara Kyrka on Norrmalm, with its green copper roof</p><br>
<p>* five white sky scrapers between Sergels torg and Hötorget</p><br>
<p>* construction cranes</p><br>
<p>* iron tower of Riddarholmen Church on Riddarholmen Island</p><br>
<p>* yellow tower of Storkyrkan on Stadsholmen, in front of the flat roof of the Stockholm Palace</p><br>
<p>* narrow tower of Tyska Kyrkan on Stadsholmen</p><br>
<p>* distant radio and TV tower Kaknästornet</p><br>
<h2>Seasons</h2><br>
<p>Riddarfjärden throughout the year</p><br>
<p>Riddarfjärden vinter 2012.jpg|Riddarfjärden in winter at Norr Mälarstrand</p><br>
<p>Långholmen 2009a.jpg|In the spring looking towards Långholmen</p><br>
<p>Riddarfjärden juli 2012.jpg|Early summer morning looking towards Södermalm</p><br>
<p>Riddarfjärden från Långholmen 2012.jpg|In the autumn, seen from Långholmen.</p><br>
<p>Rockall is a British uninhabited granite islet and is found within the exclusive economic zone  of the United Kingdom, situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. Its rough distances from the closest large islands are: 430 km  north-west of Ireland, 460 km  west of Great Britain and 700 km  south of Iceland. The nearest permanently inhabited place is North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, 370 km  to the east.</p><br>
<p>The United Kingdom claimed and incorporated Rockall in 1955. It does not make a claim to extended EEZ based on Rockall and the country has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which says that "rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf". With effect from 31 March 2014, the UK and Ireland published EEZ limits which resolved any disputes over the extent of their respective EEZs.</p><br>
<p>In response to a Freedom of Information request the British Government has written, "The islet of Rockall is part of the UK: specifically it forms part of Scotland under the Island of Rockall Act 1972. No other state has disputed our claim to the islet." It is considered part of South Harris Parish.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The origin and meaning of the islet&#39;s name "Rockall" are uncertain; the Old Norse name for the islet, Ròcal, may contain the element fjall, meaning "mountain". It has also been suggested that the name is from the Norse *rok, meaning "foaming sea", and kollr, meaning "bald head"—a word which appears in other placenames in Scandinavian-speaking areas. Another idea is that it derives from the Gaelic Sgeir Rocail, meaning "skerry of roaring" or "sea rock of roaring" (although rocail can also be translated as "tearing" or "ripping").</p><br>
<p>Dutch mapmakers P. Plancius and show an island called "Rookol" northwest of Ireland on their Map of New France and the Northern Atlantic Ocean (Amsterdam, c. 1594). The first literary reference to the island, where it is called "Rokol", is found in Martin Martin&#39;s A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland published in 1703. This book gives an account of a voyage to the archipelago of St. Kilda, and Martin states: "... and from it lies Rokol, a small rock sixty leagues to the westward of St. Kilda; the inhabitants of this place call it Rokabarra."</p><br>
<p>The name Rocabarraigh is also used in Scottish Gaelic folklore for a mythical rock which is supposed to appear three times, its last appearance being at the end of the world: "Nuair a thig Rocabarra ris, is dual gun tèid an Saoghal a sgrios." (When Rocabarra returns, the world will likely come to be destroyed.)</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Since the late 16th century, the 17.15 metre (56.27 ft) high rock has been noted in written records, although it is likely that some northern Atlantic fishermen knew of the rock before these historical accounts were made. In the 20th century, the location of the islet became a major interest due to the potential oil and fishing rights, spurring continued debate amongst several European nations.</p><br>
<p>Lord Kennet said of it in 1971, "There can be no place more desolate, despairing and awful." It gives its name to one of the sea areas named in the shipping forecast provided by the British Meteorological Office.</p><br>
<p>Rockall has been a point of interest for adventurers and amateur radio operators who have variously landed on or briefly occupied the islet. Fewer than 20 individuals have ever been confirmed to have landed on Rockall, and the longest continuous stay by an individual is currently 45 days. In a House of Commons debate in 1971, William Ross, MP for Kilmarnock, said: "More people have landed on the moon than have landed on Rockall."</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Rockall is one of the few pinnacles of the surrounding Helen&#39;s Reef; it is located 301.3 km, or 162.7 nmi west of the island of Soay, St Kilda, Scotland, and 423.2 km northwest of Tory Island, County Donegal, Ireland. Its location was precisely determined by Nick Hancock during his 2014 expedition.</p><br>
<p>The surrounding elevated seabed is called the Rockall Bank, lying directly south from an area known as the Rockall Plateau. It is separated from the Outer Hebrides by the Rockall Trough, itself located within the Rockall Basin (also known as the "Hatton Rockall Basin").</p><br>
<p>In 1956 the British scientist James Fisher referred to the island as "the most isolated small rock in the oceans of the world". The neighbouring Hasselwood Rock and several other pinnacles of the surrounding Helen&#39;s Reef are smaller, at half the size of Rockall or less, and equally remote, but those formations are legally not islands or points on land, as they are often submerged completely, only revealed momentarily above certain types of ocean surface waves.</p><br>
<p>Cold-water coral mounds have been identified in the region, and are currently being researched. Rockall lies near the Darwin Mounds, deep water coral mounds about 185 km (100 nmi or 115 mi) northwest of Cape Wrath.</p><br>
<p>These corals are long-lived and slow-growing, a justification for designating Rockall and the Rockall waters as a Marine Protected Area.</p><br>
<p>Rockall is about 25 m wide and 31 m long at its base and rises sheer to a height of 17.15 m (56.27 ft). It is often washed over by large storm waves, particularly in winter. There is a small ledge of 3.5 by, known as Halls Ledge, 4 m from the summit on the rocks western face. It is the only named geographical location on the rock.</p><br>
<p>The nearest point on land from Rockall is 301.3 km, or 162.7 nmi, east at the uninhabited Scottish island of Soay in the St Kilda archipelago. The nearest inhabited area lies 303.2 km, or 163.7 nmi, east at Hirta, the largest island in the St. Kilda group, which is populated intermittently at a single military base. The nearest permanently inhabited settlement is 366.8 km, or 198.1 nmi, west of the headland of Aird an Runair, near the crofting township of Hogha Gearraidh on the island of North Uist at (. North Uist is part of the Na h-Eileanan Siar council area of Scotland.</p><br>
<p>The exact position of Rockall and the size and shape of the Rockall Bank was first charted in 1831 by Captain A.T.E. Vidal, a Royal Navy surveyor. The first scientific expedition to Rockall was led by Miller Christie in 1896 when the Royal Irish Academy sponsored a study of the flora and fauna.</p><br>
<p>They chartered the Granuaile.</p><br>
<p>A detailed underwater mapping of the area around Rockall undertaken in 2011 by FRV Scotia showed that Rockall itself is a minor pinnacle, whilst Helens Reef extends in a sweeping arc of fissures and ridges to the north-west of the islet. Between the islet and Helens Reef is a deeper trench much used by squid fishermen.</p><br>
<p>The area where Rockall is in, is located in the pathway of the warming and moderating Gulf Stream. Although the rock does not sustain any weather station, the isolated nature of the setting dictates an extremely maritime climate without heat or cold extremes.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Rockall is made of a type of peralkaline granite that is relatively rich in sodium and potassium. Within this granite are darker bands richer in iron because they contain the pyroxene mineral aegirine and the amphibole mineral riebeckite. The dark bands are a type of granite that geologists have named "rockallite", although use of this term is now discouraged. In 1975, a mineral new to science was discovered on Rockall. The mineral is called bazirite, (chemical composition BaZrSi3O9), named after the elements barium and zirconium.</p><br>
<p>Rockall forms part of the deeply eroded Rockall Igneous Centre that was formed as part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province, approximately 55 million years ago, when the ancient continent of Laurasia was split apart by plate tectonics. Greenland and Europe separated and the northeast Atlantic Ocean was formed between them.</p><br>
<p>The RV Celtic Explorer surveyed the Rockall Bank and North West of Donegal in 2003.</p><br>
<p>The ILV Granuaile (the same name as the steamer on the RIA 1896 botany survey) was chartered by the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI), on behalf of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (DCMNR), to conduct a seismic survey at the Rockall and Hatton Banks in July 2004, as part of the National Seabed Survey.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>The island&#39;s only permanent macro-organism inhabitants are common periwinkles and other marine molluscs. Small numbers of seabirds, mainly fulmars, northern gannets, black-legged kittiwakes, and common guillemots, use the rock for resting in summer, and gannets and guillemots occasionally breed successfully if the summer is calm with no storm waves washing over the rock. In total there have been just over twenty species of seabird and six other animal species observed (including the aforementioned molluscs) on or near the islet.</p><br>
<h3>Discovery of new species</h3><br>
<p>In December 2013 surveys by Marine Scotland discovered four new species of animals in the sea around Rockall. These are believed to live in an area where hydrocarbons are released from the sea bed, known as a cold seep. The discovery has raised the issue of restricting some forms of fishery to protect the sea bed. The species are:</p><br>
<p>Volutopsius scotiae Frussen, McKay & Drewery, 2013 – a sea snail about 10 cm long</p><br>
<p>Thyasira scotiana Zelaya, 2009 – a clam</p><br>
<p>Isorropodon mackayi – a clam in the order Veneroida</p><br>
<p>Antonbruunia sociabilis sp. – a marine worm in the order Phyllodocida</p><br>
<h2>Visits to Rockall</h2><br>
<p>The earliest recorded date for landing on the island is often given as 8 July 1810, when a Royal Navy officer named Basil Hall led a small landing party from the frigate to the summit. Research by James Fisher of the 1955 landing (see below) in the log of the Endymion and elsewhere indicates that the actual date for this first landing was on Sunday 8 September 1811.</p><br>
<p>The landing party left the Endymion for the rock by boat. Whilst they were on the rock, the Endymion, which was taking depth measurements around Rockall, lost visual contact with the rock as a haze descended. The ship drifted away, leaving the landing party stranded. The expedition made a brief attempt to return to the ship, but could not find the frigate in the haze, and soon gave up and returned to Rockall. After the haze became a fog, the lookout sent to the top of Rockall spotted the ship again, but it turned away from Rockall before the expedition in their boats reached it. Finally, just before sunset, the frigate was again spotted from the top of Rockall, and the expedition was able to get back on board. The crew of the Endymion reported that they had been searching for five or six hours, firing their cannon every ten minutes. Hall related this experience and other adventures in a book entitled Fragment of Voyages and Travels Including Anecdotes of a Naval Life.</p><br>
<p>The next landing was accomplished by a Mr Johns of HMS Porcupine whilst the ship was on a mission, from June and August 1862, to make a survey of the sea bed prior to the laying of a transatlantic telegraph cable. Johns managed to gain foothold on the island, but failed to reach the summit.</p><br>
<p>On 18 September 1955, Rockall was annexed by the British Crown when Lieutenant-Commander Desmond Scott RN, Sergeant Brian Peel RM, Corporal AA Fraser RM, and James Fisher (a civilian naturalist and former Royal Marine), were winched by a helicopter onto the island by a Royal Navy helicopter from (coincidentally named after the man who first charted the island). The annexation of Rockall was announced by the Admiralty on 21 September 1955.</p><br>
<p>The expedition team cemented in a brass plaque on Halls Ledge and hoisted the Union Flag to stake the UKs claim. The inscription on the plaque read:</p><br>
<p>On 7 November 1955, J. Abrach Mackay, a member of the Clan Mackay, made a protest about the annexation; the 84-year-old local councillor declared: "My old father, God rest his soul, claimed that island for the Clan of Mackay in 1846 and I now demand that the Admiralty hand it back. Its no theirs&#39;." The British Government ignored the protests, which were soon forgotten.</p><br>
<p>The initial incentive was the test-firing of the UK&#39;s first guided nuclear weapon, the American-made Corporal missile. The missile was to be launched from South Uist and over the North Atlantic. The Ministry of Defence was concerned that the unclaimed island would provide an opportunity for the Soviet Union to spy on the test. Consequently, in April 1955 a request was sent to the Admiralty to seize the island and declare UK sovereignty lest it become an outpost for foreign observers.</p><br>
<p>In 1971, Captain T R Kirkpatrick RE led the landing party on a government expedition named "Operation Top Hat" that was mounted from RFA Engadine to establish that the rock was part of the United Kingdom and to prepare the islet for the installation of a light beacon. The landing party included Royal Engineers, Royal Marines and civilian members from the Institute of Geological Sciences in London. The party was landed by winch line from the Wessex 5 helicopters of the Royal Naval Air Services Commando Headquarters Squadron, commanded by Lt Cmdr Neil Foster RN. As well as collecting samples of the aegerine granite, rockallite, for later analysis in London, the top of the rock was blown off using a newly developed blasting technique, Precision Pre-Splitting. This created a level area that was drilled to take the anchorages for the light beacon that was installed the following year. There was no evidence of the brass plate thought to have been installed in 1955 and two phosphor bronze plates were chased into the wall above Hall&#39;s Ledge, each secured by four 80-tonne rock-anchor bolts.</p><br>
<p>Establishing that the rock is part of the United Kingdom and its development as a light beacon facilitated the incorporation of the island into the District of Harris in the County of Inverness in the Island of Rockall Act 1972 and reinforced the UK Government&#39;s position with regard to seabed rights in the area.</p><br>
<p>In 1978, eight members of the Dangerous Sports Club, including David Kirke, one of its founders, held a cocktail party on the island.</p><br>
<p>Former SAS member and survival expert (the Irish born) Tom McClean lived on the island from 26 May 1985 to 4 July 1985 to affirm the UK&#39;s claim to the islet.</p><br>
<p>In 1997, the environmentalist organisation Greenpeace occupied the islet for a short time, calling it Waveland, to protest against oil exploration. Greenpeace declared the island to be a "new Global State" (in this case qualifying it as a micronation) and offered citizenship to anyone willing to take their pledge of allegiance. The British Government&#39;s response was to state that "anyone is free to go there" and otherwise ignore them. During his one night on Rockall, Greenpeace protester and Guardian journalist John Vidal unscrewed the 1955 plaque and re-fixed it back-to-front.</p><br>
<p>In 2010, it was revealed that the plaque had gone missing. An Englishman, Andy Strangeway, announced his intention to land on the island and affix a replacement plaque in June 2010. The Western Isles Council have approved planning permission for the plaque. The 2010 expedition was cancelled, but Strangeway still intends to replace the plaque.</p><br>
<p>In 2013 an occupation of the island by explorer Nick Hancock to raise money for the charity Help for Heroes was planned. The challenge was to land on Rockall and survive solo for 60 days. On 31 May 2013, Hancock, and a TV crew from The One Show, sailed to the islet aboard the Orca III, and he made his first unsuccessful attempt to land on the islet. The weather conditions at the time "were not favourable" according to a Maritime and Coastguard Agency official. Subsequently, Hancock postponed his challenge until 2014. On 5 June 2014 Hancock successfully landed on Rockall to begin his 60-day survival. Despite being forced to cut his 60-day goal short after losing supplies in a storm, Hancock did remain on the island for 45 days (beating McClean&#39;s occupancy record by five days).</p><br>
<p>The "Round Rockall" sailing race, sponsored by Galway Bay Sailing Club, runs from Galway, Ireland, around Rockall and back. It was held in 2012 to coincide with the finish of the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race around the world.</p><br>
<p>The 2015-2016 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race race 12 from New York to Londonderry was extended around Rockall despite previous promises to crew from Sir Robin Knox-Johnston that this would not happen again after the race to Danang.</p><br>
<p>In 2017, the Safehaven Marine team led by Frank Kowalski set a world record for the Long Way Round Circumnavigation of Ireland via Rockall island. The Baracuda-style naval patrol, search and rescue vessel, Thunder Child, completed the route in 34 hours, 1 minute, and 47 seconds. Set on an anti-clockwise direction, the new record – the first of its kind - is now subject to ratification by Irish Sailing and the Union Internationale Motonautique, the world governing board for all powerboat activity.</p><br>
<h2>Ownership</h2><br>
<h3>United Kingdom</h3><br>
<p>The UK claims Rockall along with a 12 nmi territorial sea around the islet inside the country&#39;s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The UK also claims "a circle of UK sovereign airspace over the islet of Rockall".</p><br>
<p>The UK annexed Rockall on 18 September 1955 when "Two Royal Marines and a civilian naturalist, led by Royal Navy officer Lieutenant Commander Desmond Scott, raised a Union flag on the island and cemented a plaque into the rock". In 1972, the British Island of Rockall Act formally annexed Rockall to the United Kingdom. The UK considers the island administratively part of the Isle of Harris and, under the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 a large sea area around it was declared to be under the jurisdiction of Scots law. A navigational beacon was installed on the island in 1982 and the UK declared that no ship would be allowed within a 50 mi radius of the rock. However, in 1997, the UK ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), limiting territorial sea claims to a 12-nautical-mile, or 14 mile (22 km), radius, and therefore allowing free passage in waters beyond this.</p><br>
<p>A territorial claim could form the basis for an extended EEZ. However, in 1988, the United Kingdom and Ireland signed an EEZ boundary agreement for which "the location of Rockall was irrelevant to the determination of the boundary". In 1997, the UK ratified UNCLOS, which states that "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf".</p><br>
<p>As the rock lies within the United Kingdom&#39;s EEZ, the UK has exclusive rights and obligations in relation to the exploitation, conservation and management of the rock itself.</p><br>
<p>In May 2017, declassified documents revealed that the 1955 decision to claim the island as UK territory was motivated by worries that it could otherwise be used by "hostile agents" to spy on the future South Uist missile testing range.</p><br>
<h3>Ireland</h3><br>
<p>Potential Irish claims to Rockall are based on its proximity to the Irish mainland, however the country has never formally claimed sovereignty over the rock. Ireland formally rejected a British territorial claim to Rockall, "which would be the basis for a claim to a 12-mile territorial sea".</p><br>
<p>Ireland regards Rockall as irrelevant when determining the boundaries of the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) as the rock is uninhabitable. In signing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1997, the UK has agreed that "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf".</p><br>
<p>In 1988, Ireland and the United Kingdom signed an EEZ boundary agreement, ignoring the rock per UNCLOS. With effect from 31 March 2014, the UK and Ireland published EEZ limits which include Rockall within the UK&#39;s EEZ.</p><br>
<p>In October 2012, the Irish Independent published a picture of the Irish Navy ship LÉ Róisín sailing past Rockall conducting routine maritime security patrols, and claimed that it was exercising Ireland&#39;s sovereign rights over the rock. In 2014 the OSI survey of Irish Territorial waters included the Rockall bank.</p><br>
<h2>Shipping disasters</h2><br>
<p>There have been various disasters on the neighbouring Hasselwood Rock and Helen&#39;s Reef (the latter was named in 1830).</p><br>
<p>1686 – a Spanish, French, or Spanish-French ship ran aground around Rockall. Several men of the crew, Spanish and French, were able to reach St. Kilda in a pinnace and save their lives. Some details of this event were recounted by Martin Martin in his A late voyage to St. Kilda, published in 1698. The ship was perhaps a fishing vessel based in the Bay of Biscay and bound for North Atlantic cod fisheries.</p><br>
<p>1812 – a survey vessel Leonidas foundered on Helen&#39;s Reef.</p><br>
<p>1824 – Brigantine Helen of Dundee, bound for Quebec, foundered on Helen&#39;s Reef with fatalities.</p><br>
<p>1904 – Danish ship SS Norge foundered on Hasselwood Rock with the loss of nearly all its 750 passengers. This led to a proposal by D. & C. Stevenson for an unattended lightship to be moored close to the rock.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>English poet Michael Roberts published a poem "Rockall" in his 1939 collection, Orion Marches. The poem describes a shipwrecked traveler on the rock.</p><br>
<p>In the 1951 novel The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat, the island features as the place of the final act of HMS Saltashs war. It is here the ship takes the surrender of two German U-boats on the last day of World War Two in Europe.</p><br>
<p>The 1955 British landing, complete with the trappings such as the hoisting the flag, caused a certain amount of popular amusement, with some seeing it as a sort of farcical end to imperial expansion. The satirists Flanders and Swann sang a successful piece titled "Rockall", playing on the similarity of the word to the vulgar expression "fuck all", meaning "nothing": The fleet set sail for Rockall, Rockall, Rockall, To free the isle of Rockall, From fear of foreign foe. We sped across the planet, To find this lump of granite, One rather startled gannet; In fact, we found Rockall.</p><br>
<p>In The Goon Show episode "Napoleons Piano" (October 1955), Seagoon made a less-than-triumphant landfall on Rockall with the titular piano. Rockall was the launching site for the prototype "Jet propelled guided NAAFI" in the Goon Show episode of the same name (January 1956). Musty Mind, the parody of Mastermind on the 1970s lunchtime radio programme of Noel Edmonds, featured a send-up subject, The Cultural and Social History of Rockall. And the cast of the BBC radio programme Im Sorry, I&#39;ll Read That Again claimed to have spent the break between two series of the programme making a "triumphant tour of Rockall".</p><br>
<p>It has been suggested that Rockall is the rock which forms the setting for William Golding&#39;s 1956 novel Pincher Martin.</p><br>
<p>The Master, a 1957 novel by T. H. White, is set inside Rockall.</p><br>
<p>David Frost, when hosting the 1960s BBC satirical TV programme That Was The Week That Was, recited a list of the dwindling British colonial possessions, ending with the words, "... and sweet Rockall."</p><br>
<p>The Irish folk group The Wolfe Tones made Rockall the subject of their 1976 song "Rock on, Rockall".</p><br>
<p>"Ether", the opening track of the English post-punk band Gang of Four&#39;s 1979 debut album, Entertainment!, features the satirical line "There may be oil under Rockall".</p><br>
<p>William Sarjeant (under the pen-name Antony Swithin) wrote a series of novels titled The Perilous Quest for Lyonesse (1990-1993) set in a fictional land of Rockall, based on the island.</p><br>
<p>A club, "The Rockall Club", has been established for people who have landed there.</p><br>
<p>The Red Sea  is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. To the north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez . The Red Sea is a Global 200 ecoregion. The sea is underlain by the Red Sea Rift which is part of the Great Rift Valley.</p><br>
<p>The Red Sea has a surface area of roughly 438,000 km (169,100 mi), is about 2250 km (1398 mi) long and, at its widest point, 355 km (220.6 mi) wide. It has a maximum depth of 3,040 m in the central Suakin Trough, and an average depth of 490 m (1,608 ft). However, there are also extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life and corals. The sea is the habitat of over 1,000 invertebrate species, and 200 soft and hard corals. It is the world&#39;s northernmost tropical sea.</p><br>
<h2>Extent</h2><br>
<p>The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Red Sea as follows:</p><br>
<h2>Names</h2><br>
<p>Red Sea is a direct translation of the Greek Erythra Thalassa (Ερυθρὰ Θάλασσα), Latin Mare Rubrum (alternatively Sinus Arabicus, literally "Arabian Gulf"), Al-Baḥr Al-Aḥmar (alternatively بحر القلزم Baḥr Al-Qulzum, literally "the Sea of Clysma"), Somali Badda Cas and Tigrinya Qeyyiḥ bāḥrī (ቀይሕ ባሕሪ). The name of the sea may signify the seasonal blooms of the red-coloured Trichodesmium erythraeum near the waters surface. A theory favored by some modern scholars is that the name red is referring to the direction south, just as the Black Seas name may refer to north. The basis of this theory is that some Asiatic languages used color words to refer to the cardinal directions. Herodotus on one occasion uses Red Sea and Southern Sea interchangeably.</p><br>
<p>Historically, it was also known to western geographers as Mare Mecca (Sea of Mecca), and Sinus Arabicus (Gulf of Arabia). Some ancient geographers called the Red Sea the Arabian Gulf or Gulf of Arabia.</p><br>
<p>The association of the Red Sea with the biblical account of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea is ancient, and was made explicit in the Septuagint translation of the Book of Exodus from Hebrew to Koine Greek in approximately the third century B.C. In that version, the Yam Suph (lit=Sea of Reeds) is translated as Erythra Thalassa (Red Sea). The Red Sea is one of four seas named in English after common color terms &mdash; the others being the Black Sea, the White Sea and the Yellow Sea. The direct rendition of the Greek Erythra thalassa in Latin as Mare Erythraeum refers to the north-western part of the Indian Ocean, and also to a region on Mars.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Ancient era</h3><br>
<p>The earliest known exploration of the Red Sea was conducted by ancient Egyptians, as they attempted to establish commercial routes to Punt. One such expedition took place around 2500 BC, and another around 1500 BC (by Hatshepsut). Both involved long voyages down the Red Sea. Historically, scholars argued whether these trips were possible. The biblical Book of Exodus tells the tale of the Israelites&#39; crossing of a body of water, which the Hebrew text calls Yam Suph (יַם סוּף). Yam Suph was traditionally identified as the Red Sea. Rabbi Saadia Gaon (882‒942 CE), in his Judeo-Arabic translation of the Pentateuch, identifies the crossing place of the Red Sea as Baḥar al-Qulzum, meaning the Gulf of Suez.</p><br>
<p>In the 6th century BC, Darius the Great of Persia sent reconnaissance missions to the Red Sea, improving and extending navigation by locating many hazardous rocks and currents. A canal was built between the Nile and the northern end of the Red Sea at Suez. In the late 4th century BC, Alexander the Great sent Greek naval expeditions down the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Greek navigators continued to explore and compile data on the Red Sea. Agatharchides collected information about the sea in the 2nd century BC. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea ("Periplus of the Red Sea"), a Greek periplus written by an unknown author around the 1st century AD, contains a detailed description of the Red Sea&#39;s ports and sea routes. The Periplus also describes how Hippalus first discovered the direct route from the Red Sea to India.</p><br>
<p>The Red Sea was favored for Roman trade with India starting with the reign of Augustus, when the Roman Empire gained control over the Mediterranean, Egypt, and the northern Red Sea. The route had been used by previous states but grew in the volume of traffic under the Romans. From Indian ports goods from China were introduced to the Roman world. Contact between Rome and China depended on the Red Sea, but the route was broken by the Aksumite Empire around the 3rd century AD.</p><br>
<h3>Middle Ages and modern era</h3><br>
<p>During the Middle Ages, the Red Sea was an important part of the spice trade route. In 1513, trying to secure that channel to Portugal, Afonso de Albuquerque laid siege to Aden but was forced to retreat. They cruised the Red Sea inside the Bab al-Mandab, as the first European fleet to have sailed these waters.</p><br>
<p>In 1798, France ordered General Napoleon to invade Egypt and take control of the Red Sea. Although he failed in his mission, the engineer Jean-Baptiste Lepère, who took part in it, revitalised the plan for a canal which had been envisaged during the reign of the Pharaohs. Several canals were built in ancient times from the Nile to the Red Sea along or near the line of the present Sweet Water Canal, but none lasted for long. The Suez Canal was opened in November 1869. At the time, the British, French, and Italians shared the trading posts. The posts were gradually dismantled following the First World War. After the Second World War, the Americans and Soviets exerted their influence whilst the volume of oil tanker traffic intensified. However, the Six Day War culminated in the closure of the Suez Canal from 1967 to 1975. Today, in spite of patrols by the major maritime fleets in the waters of the Red Sea, the Suez Canal has never recovered its supremacy over the Cape route, which is believed to be less vulnerable.</p><br>
<h2>Oceanography</h2><br>
<p>The Red Sea is between arid land, desert and semi-desert. Reef systems are better developed along the Red Sea mainly because of its greater depths and an efficient water circulation pattern. The Red Sea water mass-exchanges its water with the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean via the Gulf of Aden. These physical factors reduce the effect of high salinity caused by evaporation in the north and relatively hot water in the south.</p><br>
<p>The climate of the Red Sea is the result of two monsoon seasons; a northeasterly monsoon and a southwesterly monsoon. Monsoon winds occur because of differential heating between the land and the sea. Very high surface temperatures and high salinities make this one of the warmest and saltiest bodies of seawater in the world. The average surface water temperature of the Red Sea during the summer is about 26 &deg;C in the north and 30 &deg;C in the south, with only about 2 °C (3.6 °F) variation during the winter months. The overall average water temperature is 22 &deg;C. Temperature and visibility remain good to around 200 m (656 ft). The sea is known for its strong winds and unpredictable local currents.</p><br>
<p>The rainfall over the Red Sea and its coasts is extremely low, averaging 0.06 m per year. The rain is mostly short showers, often with thunderstorms and occasionally with dust storms. The scarcity of rainfall and no major source of fresh water to the Red Sea result in excess evaporation as high as 205 cm per year and high salinity with minimal seasonal variation. A recent underwater expedition to the Red Sea offshore from Sudan and Eritrea found surface water temperatures 28 °C in winter and up to 34 °C in the summer, but despite that extreme heat the coral was healthy with much fish life with very little sign of coral bleaching, with only 9% infected by Thalassomonas loyana, the white plague agent. Favia favus coral there harbours a virus, BA3, which kills T. loyana.</p><br>
<p>Plans are afoot to use samples of these corals&#39; apparently heat-adapted commensal algae to salvage bleached coral elsewhere.</p><br>
<h3>Salinity</h3><br>
<p>The Red Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world, owing to high evaporation. Salinity ranges from between ~36 ‰ in the southern part because of the effect of the Gulf of Aden water and reaches 41 ‰ in the northern part, owing mainly to the Gulf of Suez water and the high evaporation. The average salinity is 40 ‰. (Average salinity for the world&#39;s seawater is ~35 ‰ on the Practical Salinity Scale, or PPS; that translates to 3.5% actual dissolved salts.)</p><br>
<p>The salinity of the Red Sea is greater than the world average, approximately 4 percent. This is due to several factors:</p><br>
<p>High rate of evaporation and very little precipitation.</p><br>
<p>Lack of significant rivers or streams draining into the sea.</p><br>
<p>Limited connection with the Indian Ocean, which has lower water salinity.</p><br>
<h3>Tidal range</h3><br>
<p>In general tide ranges between 0.6 m in the north, near the mouth of the Gulf of Suez and 0.9 m in the south near the Gulf of Aden but it fluctuates between 0.20 m and 0.30 m away from the nodal point. The central Red Sea (Jeddah area) is therefore almost tideless, and as such the annual water level changes are more significant. Because of the small tidal range the water during high tide inundates the coastal sabkhas as a thin sheet of water up to a few hundred metres rather than flooding the sabkhas through a network of channels. However, south of Jeddah in the Shoiaba area the water from the lagoon may cover the adjoining sabkhas as far as 3 km, whereas, north of Jeddah in the Al-Kharrar area the sabkhas are covered by a thin sheet of water as far as 2 km. The prevailing north and northeast winds influence the movement of water in the coastal inlets to the adjacent sabkhas, especially during storms. Winter mean sea level is 0.5 m higher than in summer. Tidal velocities passing through constrictions caused by reefs, sand bars and low islands commonly exceed 1–2 m/s (3&ndash;6.5 ft/s). Coral reefs in the Red Sea are near Egypt, Eritrea, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan.</p><br>
<h3>Current</h3><br>
<p>In the Red Sea detailed current data is lacking, partially because they are weak and variable both spatially and temporally. Temporal and spatial currents variation is as low as 0.5 m and are governed all by wind. During the summer, NW winds drive surface water south for about four months at a velocity of 15–20 cm/s (6&ndash;8 in/s), whereas in winter the flow is reversed resulting in the inflow of water from the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea. The net value of the latter predominates, resulting in an overall drift to the north end of the Red Sea. Generally, the velocity of the tidal current is between 50–60 cm/s (20&ndash;23.6 in/s) with a maximum of 1 m/s at the mouth of the al-Kharrar Lagoon. However, the range of the north-northeast current along the Saudi coast is 8–29 cm/s (3&ndash;11.4 in/s).</p><br>
<h3>Wind regime</h3><br>
<p>The north part of the Red Sea is dominated by persistent north-west winds, with speeds ranging between 7 km/h and 12 km/h. The rest of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden are subjected to regular and seasonally reversible winds. The wind regime is characterized by seasonal and regional variations in speed and direction with average speed generally increasing northward.</p><br>
<p>Wind is the driving force in the Red Sea to transport material as suspension or as bedload. Wind-induced currents play an important role in the Red Sea in resuspending bottom sediments and transferring materials from sites of dumping to sites of burial in quiescent environment of deposition. Wind-generated current measurement is therefore important in order to determine the sediment dispersal pattern and its role in the erosion and accretion of the coastal rock exposure and the submerged coral beds.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Red Sea was formed by the Arabian peninsula being split from the Horn of Africa by movement of the Red Sea Rift. This split started in the Eocene and accelerated during the Oligocene. The sea is still widening, and it is considered that it will become an ocean in time (as proposed in the model of John Tuzo Wilson). In 1949, a deep water survey reported anomalously hot brines in the central portion of the Red Sea. Later work in the 1960s confirmed the presence of hot, 60 °C (140 °F), saline brines and associated metalliferous muds. The hot solutions were emanating from an active subseafloor rift. The high salinity of the waters was not hospitable to living organisms.</p><br>
<p>Sometime during the Tertiary period, the Bab el Mandeb closed and the Red Sea evaporated to an empty hot dry salt-floored sink. Effects causing this would have been:</p><br>
<p>A "race" between the Red Sea widening and Perim Island erupting filling the Bab el Mandeb with lava.</p><br>
<p>The lowering of world sea level during the Ice Ages because of much water being locked up in the ice caps.</p><br>
<p>A number of volcanic islands rise from the center of the sea. Most are dormant. However, in 2007, Jabal al-Tair island in the Bab el Mandeb strait erupted violently. Two new islands were formed in 2011 and 2013 in the Zubair Archipelago, a small chain of islands owned by Yemen. The first island, Sholan Island, emerged in an eruption in December 2011, the second island, Jadid, emerged in September 2013.</p><br>
<h3>Mineral resources</h3><br>
<p>In terms of mineral resources the major constituents of the Red Sea sediments are as follows:</p><br>
<p>Biogenic constituents:</p><br>
<p>Volcanogenic constituents:</p><br>
<p>Terrigenous constituents:</p><br>
<p>Authigenic minerals:</p><br>
<p>Evaporite minerals:</p><br>
<p>Brine precipitate:</p><br>
<h2>Ecosystem</h2><br>
<p>The Red Sea is a rich and diverse ecosystem. More than 1200 species of fish have been recorded in the Red Sea, and around 10% of these are found nowhere else. This also includes 42 species of deepwater fish.</p><br>
<p>The rich diversity is in part due to the 2,000 km of coral reef extending along its coastline; these fringing reefs are 5000–7000 years old and are largely formed of stony acropora and porites corals. The reefs form platforms and sometimes lagoons along the coast and occasional other features such as cylinders (such as the Blue Hole (Red Sea) at Dahab). These coastal reefs are also visited by pelagic species of Red Sea fish, including some of the 44 species of shark.</p><br>
<p>The Red Sea also contains many offshore reefs including several true atolls. Many of the unusual offshore reef formations defy classic (i.e., Darwinian) coral reef classification schemes, and are generally attributed to the high levels of tectonic activity that characterize the area.</p><br>
<p>The special biodiversity of the area is recognized by the Egyptian government, who set up the Ras Mohammed National Park in 1983. The rules and regulations governing this area protect local marine life, which has become a major draw for diving enthusiasts.</p><br>
<p>Divers and snorkellers should be aware that although most Red Sea species are innocuous, a few are hazardous to humans: see Red Sea species hazardous to humans.</p><br>
<p>Other marine habitats include sea grass beds, salt pans, mangroves and salt marshes.</p><br>
<h2>Desalination plants</h2><br>
<p>There is extensive demand for desalinated water to meet the needs of the population and the industries along the Red Sea.</p><br>
<p>There are at least 18 desalination plants along the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia which discharge warm brine and treatment chemicals (chlorine and anti-scalants) that bleach and kill corals and cause diseases to the fish. This is only localized, but it may intensify with time and profoundly impact the fishing industry.</p><br>
<p>The water from the Red Sea is also used by oil refineries and cement factories for cooling. Used water drained back into the coastal zones may harm the nearshore environment of the Red Sea.</p><br>
<h2>Security</h2><br>
<p>The Red Sea is part of the sea roads between Europe, the Persian Gulf and East Asia, and as such has heavy shipping traffic. Government-related bodies with responsibility to police the Red Sea area include the Port Said Port Authority, Suez Canal Authority and Red Sea Ports Authority of Egypt, Jordan Maritime Authority, Israel Port Authority, Saudi Ports Authority and Sea Ports Corporation of Sudan.</p><br>
<h2>Facts and figures</h2><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>The sea is known for its spectacular recreational diving sites, such as Ras Mohammed, SS Thistlegorm (shipwreck), Elphinstone Reef, The Brothers, Daedalus Reef, St.John&#39;s Reef, Rocky Island in Egypt and less known sites in Sudan such as Sanganeb, Abington, Angarosh and Shaab Rumi.</p><br>
<p>The Red Sea became a sought-after diving destination after the expeditions of Hans Hass in the 1950s, and later by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Popular tourist resorts include El Gouna, Hurghada, Safaga, Marsa Alam, on the west shore of the Red Sea, and Sharm-el-Sheikh, Dahab, and Taba on the Egyptian side of Sinaï, as well as Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel in an area known as the Red Sea Riviera.</p><br>
<p>The popular tourist beach of Sharm el-Sheikh was closed to all swimming in December 2010 due to several serious shark attacks, including a fatality. As of December 2010, scientists are investigating the attacks and have identified, but not verified, several possible causes including over-fishing which causes large sharks to hunt closer to shore, tourist boat operators who chum offshore for shark-photo opportunities, and reports of ships throwing dead livestock overboard. The sea&#39;s narrowness, significant depth, and sharp drop-offs, all combine to form a geography where large deep-water sharks can roam in hundreds of meters of water, yet be within a hundred meters of swimming areas.</p><br>
<h2>Bordering countries</h2><br>
<p>The Red Sea may be geographically divided into three sections: the Red Sea proper, and in the north, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Gulf of Suez. The six countries bordering the Red Sea proper are:</p><br>
<p>Eastern shore:</p><br>
<p>Western shore:</p><br>
<p>The Gulf of Suez is entirely bordered by Egypt. The Gulf of Aqaba borders Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.</p><br>
<p>In addition to the standard geographical definition of the six countries bordering the Red Sea cited above, areas such as Somalia are sometimes also described as Red Sea territories. This is primarily due to their proximity to and geological similarities with the nations facing the Red Sea and/or political ties with said areas.</p><br>
<h2>Towns and cities</h2><br>
<p>Towns and cities on the Red Sea coast (including the coasts of the Gulfs of Aqaba and Suez) include:</p><br>
<p>Al Hudaydah (الحديدة)</p><br>
<p>Al Lith (الليِّث)</p><br>
<p>Al Qunfudhah (القنفذة)</p><br>
<p>Al-Qusair (القصير)</p><br>
<p>Al Wajh (الوجه)</p><br>
<p>Aqaba (العقبة)</p><br>
<p>Asseb (ዓሳብ)</p><br>
<p>Dahab (دهب)</p><br>
<p>Duba (ضباء)</p><br>
<p>Eilat (אילת ، ايلات)</p><br>
<p>El Gouna (الجونة)</p><br>
<p>El Suweis (السويس)</p><br>
<p>/ Hala&#39;ib (حلايب) (disputed)</p><br>
<p>Haql (حقل)</p><br>
<p>Hirgigo (ሕርጊጎ)</p><br>
<p>Hurghada (الغردقة)</p><br>
<p>Jeddah (جدة)</p><br>
<p>Jazan (جازان)</p><br>
<p>Marsa Alam (مرسى علم)</p><br>
<p>Massawa (ምጽዋ)</p><br>
<p>Moulhoule (مول هولة )</p><br>
<p>Nuweiba (نويبع)</p><br>
<p>Port Safaga (ميناء سفاجا)</p><br>
<p>Port Sudan (بورت سودان)</p><br>
<p>Rabigh (رابغ)</p><br>
<p>Sharm el Sheikh (شرم الشيخ)</p><br>
<p>Soma Bay (سوما باي)</p><br>
<p>Suakin (سواكن)</p><br>
<p>Taba (طابا)</p><br>
<p>Thuwal (ثول)</p><br>
<p>Yanbu (ينبع)</p><br>
<p>Spindletop is a salt dome oil field located in the southern portion of Beaumont, Texas in the United States. The Spindletop dome was derived from the Louann Salt evaporite layer of the Jurassic geologic period. On January 10, 1901, a well at Spindletop struck oil . The Spindletop gusher blew for nine days at a rate estimated at 100,000 barrels of oil per day. Gulf Oil and Texaco, now part of Chevron Corporation, were formed to develop production at Spindletop. According to Daniel Yergin, it was the Spindletop discovery that lead the United States into the oil age. Prior to Spindletop, oil was primarily used for lighting and as a lubricant. Because of the quantity of oil discovered, it suddenly became economically feasible to burn petroleum as a fuel for mass consumption.</p><br>
<p>The frenzy of oil exploration and the economic development it generated in the state became known as the Texas oil boom. The United States soon became the world&#39;s leading oil producer.</p><br>
<p>__TOC__</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>There has been oil around Texas for a long time. Native Americans thought drinking oil would cure digestive problems. In 1543, Spanish explorers used oil to waterproof their boots.</p><br>
<p>There had long been suspicions that oil might be under "Spindletop Hill." The area was known for its vast sulfur springs and bubbling gas seepages that would ignite if lit. In August 1892, George W. O&#39;Brien, George W. Carroll, Pattillo Higgins and others formed the Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company to do exploratory drilling on Spindletop Hill. The company drilled many dry holes and ran into trouble, as investors began to balk at pouring more money into drilling with no oil to show for it.</p><br>
<p>Pattillo Higgins left the company and teamed with Captain Anthony F. Lucas, the leading expert in the USA on salt dome formations. Lucas made a lease agreement in 1899 with the Gladys City Company and a subsequent agreement with Higgins. Lucas drilled to 575 ft before running out of money. He secured additional funding from John H. Galey and James M. Guffey of Pittsburgh, but the deal left Lucas with only an eighth share of the lease and Higgins with nothing.</p><br>
<p>Lucas continued drilling and on January 10, 1901, at a depth of 1,139 ft (347 m), what is known as the Lucas Gusher or the Lucas Geyser blew oil over 150 ft in the air at a rate of 100,000 barrels(4,200,000 gallons). It took nine days before the well was brought under control.</p><br>
<p>Spindletop was the largest gusher the world had seen and catapulted Beaumont into an oil-fueled boomtown. Beaumont&#39;s population of 10,000 tripled in three months and eventually rose to 50,000. Speculation led land prices to increase rapidly. By the end of 1902, more than 500 companies had been formed and 285 wells were in operation.</p><br>
<p>Spindletop was the first oilfield found on the US Gulf Coast, and prompted further drilling, and further oil field discoveries. Oil drillers looking for another Spindletop particularly sought out other salt domes, and were often successful. The Gulf Coast turned into a major oil region.</p><br>
<p>Standard Oil, which then had a monopoly or near-monopoly on the petroleum industry in the eastern states, was prevented from moving aggressively into the new oilfield by state antitrust laws. Populist sentiment against Standard Oil was particularly strong at the time of the Spindletop discovery. In 1900, an oil products marketing company affiliated with Standard Oil had been banned from the state for its cutthroat business practices. Although Standard built refineries in the area, Standard was unable to dominate the new Gulf Coast oil fields the way it had in the eastern states. As a result, a number of startup oil companies at Spindletop, such as Texaco and Gulf Oil, grew into formidable competitors to Standard Oil.</p><br>
<p>Among those drilling at Spindletop was W. Scott Heywood, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, who in 1901 made the first oil discovery in nearby Jeff Davis Parish in southwestern Louisiana. In 1932, Heywood was elected to a single term in the Louisiana State Senate.</p><br>
<p>Production at Spindletop began to decline rapidly after 1902, and the wells produced only 10,000 barrels by 1904. On November 14, 1925, the Yount-Lee Oil Company brought in its McFaddin No. 2 at a depth of about 2,500 ft, sparking a second boom, which culminated in the field&#39;s peak production year of 1927, during which 21 million barrels (3.3 GL) were produced. Over the ten years following the McFaddin discovery, more than 72 million barrels (11.4 GL) of oil were produced, mostly from the newer areas of the field. Spindletop continued as a productive source of oil until about 1936. It was then mined for sulfur from the 1950s to about 1975.</p><br>
<h2>Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum</h2><br>
<p>In 1976 Lamar University dedicated the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum to preserve the history of the Spindletop oil gusher era in Beaumont. The museum features an oil derrick and many reconstructed Gladys City building interiors furnished with authentic artifacts from the Spindletop boomtown period.</p><br>
<p>The Lucas Gusher Monument is located at the museum. The Monument, erected at the wellhead in July, 1941, was moved to the Spindletop-Gladys City Museum after it became unstable due to ground subsidence. According to an article by Nedra Foster, LS in the July/August, 2000 issue of the Professional Surveyor Magazine, the Monument was originally located within four feet of the site of the Spindletop well.</p><br>
<p>Today the wellhead is marked at Spindletop Park by a flagpole flying the Texas flag. It is located about 1.5 miles southwest of the museum, off West Port Arthur Road/Spur 93. The site includes a viewing platform with information placards, about a quarter mile from the flagpole. The wellhead site is in the middle of swampland on private land and is not accessible. Directions to the park and viewing platform are available at the museum.</p><br>
<p>On December 4, 1955, the Spindletop story was dramatized in "Spindletop – The First Great Texas Oil Strike (January 10, 1901)" on the CBS history series, You Are There. Robert Bray was cast as Pattillo Higgins; Mike Ragan as Marion Fletcher; Parley Baer as Captain Lucas, Jean Byron as Caroline Lucas, DeForest Kelley as Al Hammill, Tyler McVey as Mayor Wheat, and William Fawcett as a farmer.</p><br>
<p>The Scandinavian Peninsula  is a peninsula in Northern Europe, which generally comprises the mainland of Sweden, the mainland of Norway , the northwestern area of Finland, as well as a narrow area in the west of the Pechengsky District of Russia.</p><br>
<p>The name of the peninsula is derived from the term Scandinavia, the cultural region of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. That cultural name is in turn derived from the name of Scania, the region at the southern extremity of the peninsula which has during periods been part of Denmark, which is the ancestral home of the Danes, and which is now part of Sweden. The derived term "Scandinavian" also refers to the Germanic peoples who speak North Germanic languages, considered to be a dialect continuum derived from Old Norse. These modern North Germanic languages found in Scandinavia are Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish; additionally Faroese and Icelandic belong to the same language group, but they are not part of the modern Scandinavian dialect continuum and are not intelligible with the other languages.</p><br>
<p>The Scandinavian Peninsula is the largest peninsula of Europe, larger than the Balkan, the Iberian and the Italian peninsulas. During the Ice Ages, the sea level of the Atlantic Ocean dropped so much that the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland disappeared, and the countries now surrounding them, including Germany, Poland, the other Baltic countries and Scandinavia, were directly joined by land.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Arguably the largest peninsula in Europe, the Scandinavian Peninsula is approximately 1,850 km long with a width varying approximately from 370 to 805 kilometres (230 to 500 miles). The Scandinavian mountain range generally defines the border between Norway and Sweden. The peninsula is bordered by several bodies of water including:</p><br>
<p>the Barents Sea to the north</p><br>
<p>the Norwegian Sea to the west</p><br>
<p>the North Sea and Baltic Sea to the south</p><br>
<p>the Baltic Sea, Kemijoki, Lake Inari and Paatsjoki to the east.</p><br>
<p>Its highest elevation was Glittertinden in Norway at 2,470 metres (8,104 feet) above sea level, but since the glacier at its summit partially melted, the highest elevation is at 2,469 metres (8,100 feet) at Galdhøpiggen, also in Norway. These mountains also have the largest glacier on the mainland of Europe, Jostedalsbreen.</p><br>
<p>About one quarter of the Scandinavian Peninsula lies north of the Arctic Circle, its northernmost point being at Cape Nordkyn, Norway.</p><br>
<p>The climate across Scandinavia varies from tundra (Köppen: ET) and subarctic (Dfc) in the north, with cool marine west coast climate (Cfc) in northwestern coastal areas reaching just north of Lofoten, to humid continental (Dfb) in the central portion and marine west coast (Cfb) in the south and southwest.</p><br>
<p>The region is rich in timber, iron and copper with the best farmland in southern Sweden. Large petroleum and natural-gas deposits have been found off Norway&#39;s coast in the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.</p><br>
<p>Much of the population of the Scandinavian Peninsula is naturally concentrated in its southern part, which is also its agricultural region. The largest cities of the peninsula are Stockholm, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; Gothenburg, Sweden; Malmö, Sweden and Bergen, Norway, in that order.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Scandinavian Peninsula occupies part of the Baltic Shield, a stable and large crust segment formed of very old, crystalline metamorphic rocks. Most of the soil covering this substrate was scraped by glaciers during the Ice Ages of antiquity, As a consequence of this scouring, the elevation of the land and the cool-to-cold climate, a relatively small percentage of its land is arable.</p><br>
<p>The glaciation during the Ice Ages also deepened many of the river valleys, which were invaded by the sea when the ice melted, creating the noteworthy fjords of Norway. In the southern part of the peninsula, the glaciers deposited vast numbers of terminal moraines, configuring a very chaotic landscape. These terminal moraines covered all of what is now Denmark.</p><br>
<p>Although the Baltic Shield is mostly geologically stable and hence resistant to the influences of other neighbouring tectonic formations, the weight of nearly four kilometres of ice during the Ice Ages caused all of the Scandinavian terrain to sink. When the ice sheet disappeared, the shield rose again, a tendency that continues to this day at a rate of about one metre per century. Conversely, the southern part has tended to sink to compensate, causing flooding of the Low Countries and Denmark.</p><br>
<p>The crystalline substrate of the land and absence of soil in many places have exposed mineral deposits of metal ores, such as those of iron, copper, nickel, zinc, silver and gold. The very most valuable of these have been the deposits of iron ore in northwestern Sweden. In the 19th century these deposits prompted the building of a railway from northwestern Sweden to the Norwegian seaport of Narvik so that the iron ore could be exported by ship to places like southern Sweden, Germany, Great Britain and Belgium for smelting into iron and steel. This railway is in a region of Norway and Sweden that otherwise does not have any railways because of the very rugged terrain, mountains and fjords of that part of Scandinavia.</p><br>
<h2>People</h2><br>
<p>The first recorded human presence in the southern area of the peninsula and Denmark dates from 12,000 years ago. As the ice sheets from the glaciation retreated, the climate allowed a tundra biome that attracted reindeer hunters. The climate warmed up gradually, favouring the growth of evergreen trees first and then deciduous forest which brought animals like aurochs. Groups of hunter-fisher-gatherers started to inhabit the area from the Mesolithic (8200 BC), up to the advent of agriculture in the Neolithic (3200 BC).</p><br>
<p>The northern and central part of the peninsula is partially inhabited by the Sami, often referred to as "Lapps" or "Laplanders," who began to arrive several thousand years after the Scandinavian Peninsula had already been inhabited in the south. In the earliest recorded periods they occupied the arctic and subarctic regions as well as the central part of the peninsula as far south as Dalarna, Sweden. They speak the Sami language, a non-Indo-European language of the Uralic family which is related to Finnish and Estonian. The first inhabitants of the peninsula were the Norwegians on the west coast of Norway, the Danes in what is now southern and western Sweden and southeastern Norway, the Svear in the region around Mälaren as well as a large portion of the present day eastern seacoast of Sweden and the Geats in Västergötland and Östergötland. These peoples spoke closely related dialects of an Indo-European language, Old Norse. Although political boundaries have shifted, descendants of these peoples still are the dominant populations in the peninsula in the early 21st century.</p><br>
<h2>Political development</h2><br>
<p>political borders in 1888</p><br>
<p>Although the Nordic countries look back on more than 1,000 years of history as distinct political entities, the international boundaries came late and emerged gradually. It was not until the middle of the 17th century that Sweden had a secure outlet on the Kattegat and control of the south Baltic coast. The Swedish and Norwegian boundaries were finally agreed and marked out in 1751. The Finnish-Norwegian border on the peninsula was established after extensive negotiation in 1809, and the common Norwegian-Russian districts were not partitioned until 1826. Even then the borders were still fluid, with Finland gaining access to the Barents Sea in 1920, but ceding this territory to Russia in 1944.</p><br>
<p>Denmark, Sweden and the Russian Empire dominated the political relationships on the Scandinavian Peninsula for centuries, with Iceland, Finland and Norway only gaining their full independence during the 20th century. The Kingdom of Norway long held in personal union by Denmark fell to Sweden after the Napoleonic Wars and only attained full independence in 1905. Having been an autonomous grand duchy within the Russian Empire since 1809, Finland declared independence during the Soviet revolution of Russia in 1917. Iceland declared its independence from Denmark in 1944, while Denmark was under the occupation of Nazi Germany. Iceland was encouraged to do this by the British and American armed forces that were defending Iceland from Nazi invasion.</p><br>
<p>The Wehrmacht invaded Norway in 1940 and the German Army occupied all of Norway until May 1945. With the acquiescence of the Kingdom of Sweden, German troops moved from northern Norway, across northern Sweden, into Finland, which had become an ally of Nazi Germany. Then, in the spring of 1941, the German Army and the Finnish Army invaded the Soviet Union together. The Republic of Finland had a grievance against the Soviet Union because the Red Army had invaded southeastern Finland in the Winter War (1939–40) and had taken a large area of territory away from Finland.</p><br>
<p>Sweden remained a neutral country during the First World War, Second World War, the Korean War and the Cold War, and it continues its neutral policies as of 2013.</p><br>
<p>In 1945, Norway, Denmark and Iceland were founding members of the United Nations. Sweden joined the U.N. soon after. Finland joined during the 1950s. The first Secretary General of the United Nations, Trygve Lie, was a Norwegian citizen. The second Secretary General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld, was a Swedish citizen. Thus the people of the Scandinavian Peninsula had a strong influence in international affairs during the 20th century.</p><br>
<p>In 1949, Norway, Denmark and Iceland became founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation for their defence against Germany, the Soviet Union and all other potential invaders, and these three countries remain members as of 2011.</p><br>
<p>Sweden and Finland joined the European Union in 1995. Norway, however, remains outside the Union.</p><br>
<p>Saint Lucia is one of many small land masses composing the insular group known as the Windward Islands. Unlike large limestone areas such as Florida, Cuba, and the Yucatan Peninsula, or the Bahamas, which is a small island group composed of coral and sand, St. Lucia is a typical Windward Island formation of volcanic rock that came into existence long after much of the region had already been formed.</p><br>
<p>St. Lucia&#39;s physical features are notable. Dominated by high peaks and rain forests in the interior, the 616 km&sup2; island is known for the twin peaks of Gros Piton and Petit Piton on the southwestern coast, its soft sandy beaches, and its magnificent natural harbors. Mount Gimie, the highest peak, is located in the central mountain range and rises to 958 m above sea level, a contrast that is also evident in the abrupt climatic transition from coastal to inland areas. The steep terrain also accentuates the many rivers that flow from central St. Lucia to the Caribbean. Fertile land holdings, which support banana farming, are scattered throughout the island.</p><br>
<p>St. Lucia has a tropical, humid climate moderated by northeast trade winds that allow for pleasant year-round conditions. Mean annual temperatures range from 26 &deg;C to 32 &deg;C at sea level and drop to an average of 13 &deg;C in the mountain peaks. The abundant annual rainfall accumulates to approximately 2,000 mm, with most precipitation occurring during the June to December wet season. Hurricanes are the most severe climatic disturbance in this area and have been known to cause extensive damage. Although St. Lucia has historically been spared from serious hurricane destruction, Hurricane Allen decimated the agricultural sector and claimed nine lives in 1980. More recently, in 2010, Hurricane Tomas claimed seven lives and also caused extensive agricultural damage, particularly to the island&#39;s burgeoning cocoa crop.</p><br>
<h2>General</h2><br>
<h3>Location</h3><br>
<p>Co-ordinates: 13.9&deg;N latitude, 61.0&deg;W longitude</p><br>
<p>Saint Lucia is in the Caribbean, an island between the Caribbean Sea and, north of Saint Vincent and north-west of Barbados. The capital city of Saint Lucia is Castries, where about one third of the population lives. Major towns include Gros Islet, Soufrière and Vieux Fort.</p><br>
<h3>Measurements</h3><br>
<p>total area: 616 km²</p><br>
<p>length: 43.5 km</p><br>
<p>width: 22.5 km</p><br>
<p>comparative area: The same as Toronto or 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC</p><br>
<p>Land boundaries: 0 km</p><br>
<p>Coastline: 158 km</p><br>
<h3>Maritime claims</h3><br>
<p>200 nmi</p><br>
<p>contiguous zone: 24 nmi</p><br>
<p>exclusive economic zone: 200 nmi</p><br>
<p>territorial sea: 12 nmi</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Saint Lucia is in the tropical zone, although its climate is moderated by northeast trade winds. Since it is fairly close to the equator, the temperature does not fluctuate much between winter and summer. The dry season is from December to June, and the rainy season is from June to November. Average daytime temperatures are around 29 &deg;C, and average nighttime temperatures are around 18 &deg;C. Average annual rainfall ranges from 1,300 mm on the coast to 3,810 mm in the mountain rainforests.</p><br>
<h2>Terrain</h2><br>
<p>Volcanic and mountainous with some broad, fertile valleys.</p><br>
<h3>Elevation extremes</h3><br>
<p>lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m</p><br>
<p>highest point: Mt. Gimie 950 m</p><br>
<h3>Natural resources</h3><br>
<p>Forests, sandy beaches minerals (pumice), mineral springs, geothermal potential.</p><br>
<h3>Land use</h3><br>
<p>Arable land: 8%</p><br>
<p>permanent crops: 21%</p><br>
<p>permanent pastures: 5%</p><br>
<p>forests and woodland: 13%</p><br>
<p>other: 53% (1993 est.)</p><br>
<p>Irrigated land: 10 km² (1993 est.)</p><br>
<h2>Political map</h2><br>
<h3>Quarters</h3><br>
<p>The island of Saint Lucia is divided into 11 quarters:</p><br>
<p>Anse la Raye</p><br>
<p>Canaries</p><br>
<p>Castries</p><br>
<p>Choiseul</p><br>
<p>Dennery</p><br>
<p>Forest Reserve</p><br>
<p>Gros Islet</p><br>
<p>Laborie</p><br>
<p>Micoud</p><br>
<p>Soufrière</p><br>
<p>Vieux Fort</p><br>
<h2>Natural hazards</h2><br>
<p>Hurricanes and volcanic activity.</p><br>
<p>The island was severely affected by Hurricane Allen in 1980 and Hurricane Tomas in 2010, causing agricultural damage and a drop in visitor arrivals, but Saint Lucia has generally had fewer hurricanes than many other Caribbean islands, due to its southerly location. Hurricanes and volcanoes would both damage the coral.</p><br>
<h2>Environment</h2><br>
<h3>Current issues</h3><br>
<p>Deforestation; soil erosion, particularly in the northern region.</p><br>
<h3>International agreements</h3><br>
<p>party to:</p><br>
<p>Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol</p><br>
<p>Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean roughly centered on</p><br>
<p>78° north latitude and 20° east longitude. The archipelago is the northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway. The three main islands in the group consist of Spitsbergen (the largest island), Nordaustlandet and Edgeøya. There are also a number of smaller islands, such as Barents Island (Barentsøya) (1,288 km&sup2;), Kvitøya (682 km&sup2;), Prins Karls Forland (English: Prince Charles Foreland) (615 km&sup2;), Kongsøya (191 km&sup2;), Bear Island (178 km&sup2;), Svenskøya (137 km&sup2;), Wilhelm Island (120 km&sup2;) and other smaller islands or skerries (621 km&sup2;).</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>There is no arable land in the island group due to heavy glaciation and the northern latitude. There are no trees native to the archipeligo, but there are shrubs such as crowberry and cloudberry. The west coast of Spitsbergen remains navigable most of the year, due to favorable winds which keep the area ice-free. Norway claims a 200 nmi fishery protection zone, but this is not recognized by neighboring Russia.</p><br>
<p>The climate of the Svalbard archipeligo is arctic, tempered by warm North Atlantic Current along the west and northern coasts. This means cool summers and cold winters along the wild, rugged mountainous islands. The high land of the island interiors is generally ice covered year round, with the west coast clear of ice about one half of the year. There are many fjords along west and north coasts</p><br>
<h2>Resources</h2><br>
<p>Svalbard has many mineral resources, and coal was mined extensively on the west side of Spitsbergen. Ice floes often block up the entrance to Bellsund (a transit point for coal exports) on the west coast and occasionally make parts of the northeastern coast inaccessible to maritime traffic</p><br>
<h3>Environmental issues</h3><br>
<p>Although many prior adverse practises are now banned, the issues surrounding past exploitation of animal resources in the Svalbard area remain a problem. With whale, seal and walrus populations are still far below than they were even two centuries ago (the average age of a Greenland whale). The population of polar bears are locally recovering from the major culls of the 1960s and 1970s that came about due to the availability of snow scooters; however, the polar bear remains threatened at a global level, due to unsustainable levels of killing by humans and marine water pollution. There are a wide variety of birds in Svalbard including puffin, Arctic skua, kittiwake and fulmar, many of which populations are being monitored.</p><br>
<h2>Physical Geography</h2><br>
<h3>Lands</h3><br>
<p>The main islands of Svalbard is parted into several lands:</p><br>
<p>Spitsbergen:</p><br>
<p>Albert I Land</p><br>
<p>Haakon VII Land</p><br>
<p>Andrée Land</p><br>
<p>Prins Karls Forland</p><br>
<p>Oscar II Land</p><br>
<p>James I Land</p><br>
<p>Dickson Land</p><br>
<p>Ny-Friesland</p><br>
<p>Olav V Land</p><br>
<p>Bünsow Land</p><br>
<p>Sabine Land</p><br>
<p>Nordenskiöld Land</p><br>
<p>Heer Land</p><br>
<p>Nathorst Land</p><br>
<p>Wedel Jarlsberg Land</p><br>
<p>Torell Land</p><br>
<p>Sørkapp Land</p><br>
<p>Nordaustlandet</p><br>
<p>Gustav V Land</p><br>
<p>Prins Oscars Land</p><br>
<p>Orvin Land</p><br>
<p>Gustav Adolf Land</p><br>
<h3>Fjords</h3><br>
<p>There are numerous fjords among the Svalbard islands; the five longest of which (measured from the head to open sea) are listed here:</p><br>
<p>Wijdefjorden, 108 km</p><br>
<p>Isfjorden, 107 km</p><br>
<p>Van Mijenfjorden, 83 km</p><br>
<p>Woodfjorden, 64 km</p><br>
<p>Wahlenbergfjord, 46 km</p><br>
<h3>Coastlines</h3><br>
<p>Coastlines of the Svalbard islands (listed from largest island to smallest) show the extensive variability characteristic of glacial formation:</p><br>
<p>Spitsbergen, 3,919 km</p><br>
<p>Nordaustlandet, 1,688 km</p><br>
<p>Edgeøya, 502 km</p><br>
<p>Barentsøya, 205 km</p><br>
<p>Kvitøya, 119 km</p><br>
<p>Prins Karls Forland, 320 km</p><br>
<p>Kongsøya, 132 km</p><br>
<p>Bear Island (Bjørnøya), 88 km</p><br>
<p>Hopen, &gt;66 km</p><br>
<p>Svenskøya, 62 km</p><br>
<p>Wilhelm Island, 58 km</p><br>
<p>Other smaller islands and skerries, 1,736 km</p><br>
<h3>Mountains</h3><br>
<p>Although they are small when compared with the mountains of Norway, the elevation of the Svalbard island mountains accounts for much of the glacial erosion:</p><br>
<p>Newtontoppen, 1,713 m</p><br>
<p>Perriertoppen, 1,712 m</p><br>
<p>Ceresfjellet, 1,675 m</p><br>
<p>Chadwickryggen, 1,640 m</p><br>
<p>Galileotoppen, 1,637 m</p><br>
<h3>Glaciers</h3><br>
<p>Austfonna (with Sørfonna and Vegafonna), 8,492 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Olav V Land, 4,150 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Vestfonna, 2,505 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Åsgårdfonna, 1,645 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Edgeøyjøkulen, 1,300 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Hinlopenbreen, 1,248 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Negribreen, 1,182 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Bråsvellbreen, 1,160 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Etonbreen, 1,070 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Leighbreen, 925 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Holtedahlfonna (with Isachsenfonna), 900 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Kvitøyjøkulen (Kvitøya (island)), 705 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Stonebreen, 700 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Kronebreen, 700 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Hochstetterbreen, 581 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Barentsjøkulen, 571 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Balderfonna, 543 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Nathorstbreen, 489 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Monacobreen, 408 km&sup2</p><br>
<h3>Rivers</h3><br>
<p>Agardhelva</p><br>
<p>Bungeelva</p><br>
<p>Grøndalselva</p><br>
<p>Lidelva</p><br>
<p>Longyear River</p><br>
<p>Reindalselva</p><br>
<p>Sassenelva</p><br>
<p>Semmeldalselva</p><br>
<p>Slaklielva</p><br>
<p>Vinda</p><br>
<h2>Settlements</h2><br>
<h3>Inhabited</h3><br>
<p>Barentsburg (Баренцбург) (Russian settlement — population of 400)</p><br>
<p>Bear Island (Norwegian weather station, population of 9)</p><br>
<p>Hopen (Norwegian weather station, population of 4)</p><br>
<p>Hornsund (Polish research station, population of 8)</p><br>
<p>Longyearbyen (population of ≈2,000)</p><br>
<p>Ny-Ålesund (population of 40)</p><br>
<p>Sveagruva (population of 310, none living permanently)</p><br>
<p>No roads link the settlements on the island; transportation includes boat, airplane, helicopter, and snowmobile. The gateway to Svalbard is Svalbard Airport, Longyearbyen.</p><br>
<h3>Former</h3><br>
<p>Harlingen kokerij (Dutch settlement established in 1636 in Houcker Bay, abandoned sometime after 1662)</p><br>
<p>Kobbefjorden (also Robbe Bay or Copenhagen Bay) (Danish settlement established in 1631, abandoned in 1658)</p><br>
<p>Engelskbukta (English settlement established around 1615, occupied until mid-century)</p><br>
<p>Gravneset (English settlement established in the early 17th century, abandoned between 1624 and 1632, after which time it was appropriated by the Dutch)</p><br>
<p>Grumant (Grumantbyen) (Грумант) (Russian settlement, abandoned in 1961, revival of mining operations announced in 2003)</p><br>
<p>Gåshamna (Two English settlements, established sometime around 1618 and occupied until at least 1655)</p><br>
<p>Lægerneset (Dutch settlement appropriated by the English in 1615, occupied by the latter until the 1650s)</p><br>
<p>Port Louis (French settlement established in 1633, abandoned in 1637)</p><br>
<p>Pyramiden (Пирамида) (Russian settlement, abandoned in 1998)</p><br>
<p>Smeerenburg (Danish-Dutch settlement established in 1619 on the southeastern promontory of Amsterdam Island, abandoned around 1660)</p><br>
<p>Ytre Norskøya (Dutch settlement possibly rivaling Smeerenburg in size; probably established by members of the Zeeland chamber in the 1620s or later, and abandoned in 1670)</p><br>
<h2>Line notes</h2><br>
<p>Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, 2 mi west of Amesbury and 8 mi north of Salisbury. It consists of a ring of standing stones, with each standing stone around 13 ft  high, 6 ft 11 in  wide and weighing around 25 tons. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.</p><br>
<p>Archaeologists believe it was constructed from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the first bluestones were raised between 2400 and 2200 BC, although they may have been at the site as early as 3000 BC.</p><br>
<p>One of the most famous landmarks in the UK, Stonehenge is regarded as a British cultural icon. It has been a legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument since 1882 when legislation to protect historic monuments was first successfully introduced in Britain. The site and its surroundings were added to UNESCO&#39;s list of World Heritage Sites in 1986. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage; the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.</p><br>
<p>Stonehenge could have been a burial ground from its earliest beginnings. Deposits containing human bone date from as early as 3000 BC, when the ditch and bank were first dug, and continued for at least another five hundred years.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The Oxford English Dictionary cites Ælfrics tenth-century glossary, in which henge-cliff is given the meaning "precipice", or stone, thus the stanenges or Stanheng "not far from Salisbury" recorded by eleventh-century writers are "supported stones". William Stukeley in 1740 notes, "Pendulous rocks are now called henges in Yorkshire...I doubt not, Stonehenge in Saxon signifies the hanging stones." Christopher Chippindales Stonehenge Complete gives the derivation of the name Stonehenge as coming from the Old English words stān meaning "stone", and either hencg meaning "hinge" (because the stone lintels hinge on the upright stones) or hen(c)en meaning "hang" or "gallows" or "instrument of torture" (though elsewhere in his book, Chippindale cites the "suspended stones" etymology). Like Stonehenge&#39;s trilithons, medieval gallows consisted of two uprights with a lintel joining them, rather than the inverted L-shape more familiar today.</p><br>
<p>The "henge" portion has given its name to a class of monuments known as henges. Archaeologists define henges as earthworks consisting of a circular banked enclosure with an internal ditch. As often happens in archaeological terminology, this is a holdover from antiquarian use, and Stonehenge is not truly a henge site as its bank is inside its ditch. Despite being contemporary with true Neolithic henges and stone circles, Stonehenge is in many ways atypical—for example, at more than 24 ft tall, its extant trilithons supporting lintels held in place with mortise and tenon joints, make it unique.</p><br>
<h2>Early history</h2><br>
<p>Mike Parker Pearson, leader of the Stonehenge Riverside Project based at Durrington Walls, noted that Stonehenge appears to have been associated with burial from the earliest period of its existence:</p><br>
<p>Stonehenge evolved in several construction phases spanning at least 1500 years. There is evidence of large-scale construction on and around the monument that perhaps extends the landscape&#39;s time frame to 6500 years. Dating and understanding the various phases of activity is complicated by disturbance of the natural chalk by periglacial effects and animal burrowing, poor quality early excavation records, and a lack of accurate, scientifically verified dates. The modern phasing most generally agreed to by archaeologists is detailed below. Features mentioned in the text are numbered and shown on the plan, right.</p><br>
<h3>Before the monument (8000 BC forward)</h3><br>
<p>Archaeologists have found four, or possibly five, large Mesolithic postholes (one may have been a natural tree throw), which date to around 8000 BC, beneath the nearby modern tourist car-park. These held pine posts around 0.75 m in diameter, which were erected and eventually rotted in situ. Three of the posts (and possibly four) were in an east-west alignment which may have had ritual significance. Another Mesolithic astronomical site from Britain is the Warren Field site in Aberdeenshire, which is considered the worlds oldest Lunar calendar corrected yearly by observing the midwinter solstice. Similar but later sites have been found in Scandinavia. A settlement that may have been contemporaneous with the posts has been found at Blick Mead, a reliable year-round spring 1 mi from Stonehenge.</p><br>
<p>Salisbury Plain was then still wooded but 4,000 years later, during the earlier Neolithic, people built a causewayed enclosure at Robin Hoods Ball and long barrow tombs in the surrounding landscape. In approximately 3500 BC, a Stonehenge Cursus was built 700 m north of the site as the first farmers began to clear the trees and develop the area. A number of other adjacent stone and wooden structures and burial mounds, previously overlooked, may date as far back as 4000 BC. The University of Buckinghams Humanities Research Institute believes that the community who built Stonehenge lived here over a period of several millennia, making it potentially "one of the pivotal places in the history of the Stonehenge landscape."</p><br>
<h3>Stonehenge 1 (ca. 3100 BC)</h3><br>
<p>The first monument consisted of a circular bank and ditch enclosure made of Late Cretaceous (Santonian Age) Seaford Chalk, measuring about 110 m in diameter, with a large entrance to the north east and a smaller one to the south. It stood in open grassland on a slightly sloping spot. The builders placed the bones of deer and oxen in the bottom of the ditch, as well as some worked flint tools. The bones were considerably older than the antler picks used to dig the ditch, and the people who buried them had looked after them for some time prior to burial. The ditch was continuous but had been dug in sections, like the ditches of the earlier causewayed enclosures in the area. The chalk dug from the ditch was piled up to form the bank. This first stage is dated to around 3100 BC, after which the ditch began to silt up naturally. Within the outer edge of the enclosed area is a circle of 56 pits, each about a metre (1 m) in diameter, known as the Aubrey holes after John Aubrey, the seventeenth-century antiquarian who was thought to have first identified them. The pits may have contained standing timbers creating a timber circle, although there is no excavated evidence of them. A recent excavation has suggested that the Aubrey Holes may have originally been used to erect a bluestone circle. If this were the case, it would advance the earliest known stone structure at the monument by some 500 years. A small outer bank beyond the ditch could also date to this period.</p><br>
<p>In 2013 a team of archaeologists, led by Mike Parker Pearson, excavated more than 50,000 cremated bones of 63 individuals buried at Stonehenge. These remains had originally been buried individually in the Aubrey holes, exhumed during a previous excavation conducted by William Hawley in 1920, been considered unimportant by him, and subsequently re-interred together in one hole, Aubrey Hole 7, in 1935. Physical and chemical analysis of the remains has shown that the cremated were almost equally men and women, and included some children. As there was evidence of the underlying chalk beneath the graves being crushed by substantial weight, the team concluded that the first bluestones brought from Wales were probably used as grave markers. Radiocarbon dating of the remains has put the date of the site 500 years earlier than previously estimated, to around 3000 BC.</p><br>
<p>Analysis of animal teeth found at nearby Durrington Walls, thought to be the builders camp, suggests that as many as 4,000 people gathered at the site for the mid-winter and mid-summer festivals; the evidence showed that the animals had been slaughtered around 9 months or 15 months after their spring birth. Strontium isotope analysis of the animal teeth showed that some had been brought from as far afield as the Scottish Highlands for the celebrations.</p><br>
<h3>Stonehenge 2 (ca. 3000 BC)</h3><br>
<p>Evidence of the second phase is no longer visible. The number of postholes dating to the early 3rd millennium BC suggest that some form of timber structure was built within the enclosure during this period. Further standing timbers were placed at the northeast entrance, and a parallel alignment of posts ran inwards from the southern entrance. The postholes are smaller than the Aubrey Holes, being only around 0.4 m in diameter, and are much less regularly spaced. The bank was purposely reduced in height and the ditch continued to silt up. At least twenty-five of the Aubrey Holes are known to have contained later, intrusive, cremation burials dating to the two centuries after the monuments inception. It seems that whatever the holes initial function, it changed to become a funerary one during Phase 2. Thirty further cremations were placed in the enclosure&#39;s ditch and at other points within the monument, mostly in the eastern half. Stonehenge is therefore interpreted as functioning as an enclosed cremation cemetery at this time, the earliest known cremation cemetery in the British Isles. Fragments of unburnt human bone have also been found in the ditch-fill. Dating evidence is provided by the late Neolithic grooved ware pottery that has been found in connection with the features from this phase.</p><br>
<h3>Stonehenge 3 I (ca. 2,600 BC)</h3><br>
<p>Archaeological excavation has indicated that around 2600 BC, the builders abandoned timber in favour of stone and dug two concentric arrays of holes (the Q and R Holes) in the centre of the site. These stone sockets are only partly known (hence on present evidence are sometimes described as forming crescents); however, they could be the remains of a double ring. Again, there is little firm dating evidence for this phase. The holes held up to 80 standing stones (shown blue on the plan), only 43 of which can be traced today. It is generally accepted that the bluestones (some of which are made of dolerite, an igneous rock), were transported by the builders from the Preseli Hills, 150 mi away in modern-day Pembrokeshire in Wales. Another theory is that they were brought much nearer to the site as glacial erratics by the Irish Sea Glacier although there is no evidence of glacial deposition within southern central England.</p><br>
<p>The long distance human transport theory was bolstered in 2011 by the discovery of a megalithic bluestone quarry at Craig Rhos-y-felin, near Crymych in Pembrokeshire, which is the most likely place for some of the stones to have been obtained. Other standing stones may well have been small sarsens (sandstone), used later as lintels. The stones, which weighed about two tons, could have been moved by lifting and carrying them on rows of poles and rectangular frameworks of poles, as recorded in China, Japan and India. It is not known whether the stones were taken directly from their quarries to Salisbury Plain or were the result of the removal of a venerated stone circle from Preseli to Salisbury Plain to "merge two sacred centres into one, to unify two politically separate regions, or to legitimise the ancestral identity of migrants moving from one region to another". Each monolith measures around 2 m in height, between 1 and wide and around 0.8 m thick. What was to become known as the Altar Stone is almost certainly derived from the Senni Beds, perhaps from 50 mi east of Mynydd Preseli in the Brecon Beacons.</p><br>
<p>The north-eastern entrance was widened at this time, with the result that it precisely matched the direction of the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset of the period. This phase of the monument was abandoned unfinished, however; the small standing stones were apparently removed and the Q and R holes purposefully backfilled. Even so, the monument appears to have eclipsed the site at Avebury in importance towards the end of this phase.</p><br>
<p>The Heelstone, a Tertiary sandstone, may also have been erected outside the north-eastern entrance during this period. It cannot be accurately dated and may have been installed at any time during phase 3. At first it was accompanied by a second stone, which is no longer visible. Two, or possibly three, large portal stones were set up just inside the north-eastern entrance, of which only one, the fallen Slaughter Stone, 4.9 m long, now remains. Other features, loosely dated to phase 3, include the four Station Stones, two of which stood atop mounds. The mounds are known as "barrows" although they do not contain burials. Stonehenge Avenue, a parallel pair of ditches and banks leading 2 mi to the River Avon, was also added. Two ditches similar to Heelstone Ditch circling the Heelstone (which was by then reduced to a single monolith) were later dug around the Station Stones.</p><br>
<h3>Stonehenge 3 II (2600 BC to 2400 BC)</h3><br>
<p>During the next major phase of activity, 30 enormous Oligocene-Miocene sarsen stones (shown grey on the plan) were brought to the site. They may have come from a quarry around 25 mi north of Stonehenge on the Marlborough Downs, or they may have been collected from a "litter" of sarsens on the chalk downs, closer to hand. The stones were dressed and fashioned with mortise and tenon joints before 30 were erected as a 33 m diameter circle of standing stones, with a ring of 30 lintel stones resting on top. The lintels were fitted to one another using another woodworking method, the tongue and groove joint. Each standing stone was around 4.1 m high, 2.1 m wide and weighed around 25 tons. Each had clearly been worked with the final visual effect in mind; the orthostats widen slightly towards the top in order that their perspective remains constant when viewed from the ground, while the lintel stones curve slightly to continue the circular appearance of the earlier monument.</p><br>
<p>The inward-facing surfaces of the stones are smoother and more finely worked than the outer surfaces. The average thickness of the stones is 1.1 m and the average distance between them is 1 m. A total of 75 stones would have been needed to complete the circle (60 stones) and the trilithon horseshoe (15 stones). It was thought the ring might have been left incomplete, but an exceptionally dry summer in 2013 revealed patches of parched grass which may correspond to the location of removed sarsens. The lintel stones are each around 3.2 m long, 1 m wide and 0.8 m thick. The tops of the lintels are 4.9 m above the ground.</p><br>
<p>Within this circle stood five trilithons of dressed sarsen stone arranged in a horseshoe shape 13.7 m across, with its open end facing north east. These huge stones, ten uprights and five lintels, weigh up to 50 tons each. They were linked using complex jointing. They are arranged symmetrically. The smallest pair of trilithons were around 6 m tall, the next pair a little higher, and the largest, single trilithon in the south west corner would have been 7.3 m tall. Only one upright from the Great Trilithon still stands, of which 6.7 m is visible and a further 2.4 m is below ground. The images of a dagger and 14 axeheads have been carved on one of the sarsens, known as stone 53; further carvings of axeheads have been seen on the outer faces of stones 3, 4, and 5. The carvings are difficult to date, but are morphologically similar to late Bronze Age weapons. early 21st-century laser scanning of the carvings supports this interpretation. The pair of trilithons in the north east are smallest, measuring around 6 m in height; the largest, which is in the south west of the horseshoe, is almost 7.5 m tall.</p><br>
<p>This ambitious phase has been radiocarbon dated to between 2600 and 2400 BC, slightly earlier than the Stonehenge Archer, discovered in the outer ditch of the monument in 1978, and the two sets of burials, known as the Amesbury Archer and the Boscombe Bowmen, discovered 3 mi to the west. At about the same time, a large timber circle and a second avenue were constructed 2 mi away at Durrington Walls overlooking the River Avon. The timber circle was oriented towards the rising sun on the midwinter solstice, opposing the solar alignments at Stonehenge. The avenue was aligned with the setting sun on the summer solstice and led from the river to the timber circle. Evidence of huge fires on the banks of the Avon between the two avenues also suggests that both circles were linked. They were perhaps used as a procession route on the longest and shortest days of the year. Parker Pearson speculates that the wooden circle at Durrington Walls was the centre of a land of the living, whilst the stone circle represented a land of the dead, with the Avon serving as a journey between the two.</p><br>
<h3>Stonehenge 3 III (2400 BC to 2280 BC)</h3><br>
<p>Later in the Bronze Age, although the exact details of activities during this period are still unclear, the bluestones appear to have been re-erected. They were placed within the outer sarsen circle and may have been trimmed in some way. Like the sarsens, a few have timber-working style cuts in them suggesting that, during this phase, they may have been linked with lintels and were part of a larger structure.</p><br>
<h3>Stonehenge 3 IV (2280 BC to 1930 BC)</h3><br>
<p>This phase saw further rearrangement of the bluestones. They were arranged in a circle between the two rings of sarsens and in an oval at the centre of the inner ring. Some archaeologists argue that some of these bluestones were from a second group brought from Wales. All the stones formed well-spaced uprights without any of the linking lintels inferred in Stonehenge 3 III. The Altar Stone may have been moved within the oval at this time and re-erected vertically. Although this would seem the most impressive phase of work, Stonehenge 3 IV was rather shabbily built compared to its immediate predecessors, as the newly re-installed bluestones were not well-founded and began to fall over. However, only minor changes were made after this phase.</p><br>
<h3>Stonehenge 3 V (1930 BC to 1600 BC)</h3><br>
<p>Soon afterwards, the north eastern section of the Phase 3 IV bluestone circle was removed, creating a horseshoe-shaped setting (the Bluestone Horseshoe) which mirrored the shape of the central sarsen Trilithons. This phase is contemporary with the Seahenge site in Norfolk.</p><br>
<h3>After the monument (1600 BC on)</h3><br>
<p>The Y and Z Holes are the last known construction at Stonehenge, built about 1600 BC, and the last usage of it was probably during the Iron Age. Roman coins and medieval artefacts have all been found in or around the monument but it is unknown if the monument was in continuous use throughout British prehistory and beyond, or exactly how it would have been used. Notable is the massive Iron Age hillfort Vespasian&#39;s Camp built alongside the Avenue near the Avon. A decapitated seventh century Saxon man was excavated from Stonehenge in 1923. The site was known to scholars during the Middle Ages and since then it has been studied and adopted by numerous groups.</p><br>
<h2>Function and construction</h2><br>
<p>Stonehenge was produced by a culture that left no written records. Many aspects of Stonehenge, such as how it was built and which purposes it was used for, remain subject to debate. A number of myths surround the stones. The site, specifically the great trilithon, the encompassing horseshoe arrangement of the five central trilithons, the heel stone, and the embanked avenue, are aligned to the sunset of the winter solstice and the opposing sunrise of the summer solstice. A natural landform at the monument&#39;s location followed this line, and may have inspired its construction. The excavated remains of culled animal bones suggest that people may have gathered at the site for the winter rather than the summer. Further astronomical associations, and the precise astronomical significance of the site for its people, are a matter of speculation and debate.</p><br>
<p>There is little or no direct evidence revealing the construction techniques used by the Stonehenge builders. Over the years, various authors have suggested that supernatural or anachronistic methods were used, usually asserting that the stones were impossible to move otherwise due to their massive size. However, conventional techniques, using Neolithic technology as basic as shear legs, have been demonstrably effective at moving and placing stones of a similar size. How the stones could be transported by a prehistoric people without the aid of the wheel or a pulley system is not known. The most common theory of how prehistoric people moved megaliths has them creating a track of logs on which the large stones were rolled along. Another megalith transport theory involves the use of a type of sleigh running on a track greased with animal fat. Such an experiment with a sleigh carrying a 40-ton slab of stone was successful near Stonehenge in 1995. A dedicated team of more than 100 workers managed to push and pull the slab along the 18 mi journey from Marlborough Downs. Proposed functions for the site include usage as an astronomical observatory or as a religious site.</p><br>
<p>More recently two major new theories have been proposed. Professor Geoffrey Wainwright, president of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and Timothy Darvill, of Bournemouth University, have suggested that Stonehenge was a place of healing—the primeval equivalent of Lourdes. They argue that this accounts for the high number of burials in the area and for the evidence of trauma deformity in some of the graves. However, they do concede that the site was probably multifunctional and used for ancestor worship as well. Isotope analysis indicates that some of the buried individuals were from other regions. A teenage boy buried approximately 1550 BC was raised near the Mediterranean Sea; a metal worker from 2300 BC dubbed the "Amesbury Archer" grew up near the alpine foothills of Germany; and the "Boscombe Bowmen" probably arrived from Wales or Brittany, France.</p><br>
<p>On the other hand, Mike Parker Pearson of Sheffield University has suggested that Stonehenge was part of a ritual landscape and was joined to Durrington Walls by their corresponding avenues and the River Avon. He suggests that the area around Durrington Walls Henge was a place of the living, whilst Stonehenge was a domain of the dead. A journey along the Avon to reach Stonehenge was part of a ritual passage from life to death, to celebrate past ancestors and the recently deceased. Both explanations were first mooted in the twelfth century by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who extolled the curative properties of the stones and was also the first to advance the idea that Stonehenge was constructed as a funerary monument. Whatever religious, mystical or spiritual elements were central to Stonehenge, its design includes a celestial observatory function, which might have allowed prediction of eclipse, solstice, equinox and other celestial events important to a contemporary religion.</p><br>
<p>There are other hypotheses and theories. According to a team of British researchers led by Mike Parker Pearson of the University of Sheffield, Stonehenge may have been built as a symbol of "peace and unity", indicated in part by the fact that at the time of its construction, Britain&#39;s Neolithic people were experiencing a period of cultural unification.</p><br>
<p>Another idea has to do with a quality of the stones themselves. Researchers from the Royal College of Art in London have discovered that some of the monument’s stones possess "unusual acoustic properties"—when they are struck they respond with a "loud clanging noise". According to Paul Devereux, editor of the journal Time and Mind: The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture, this idea could explain why certain bluestones were hauled nearly 200 mi—a major technical accomplishment at the time. In certain ancient cultures rocks that ring out, known as lithophones, were believed to contain mystic or healing powers, and Stonehenge has a history of association with rituals. The presence of these "ringing rocks" seems to support the hypothesis that Stonehenge was a "place for healing", as has been pointed out by Bournemouth University archaeologist Timothy Darvill, who consulted with the researchers. Some of the stones of Stonehenge were brought from near a town in Wales called Maenclochog, a name which means "ringing rock".</p><br>
<h2>Modern history</h2><br>
<h3>Folklore</h3><br>
<h4>"Heel Stone", "Friar’s Heel", or "Sun-Stone"</h4><br>
<p>The Heel Stone lies north east of the sarsen circle, beside the end portion of Stonehenge Avenue. It is a rough stone, 16 ft above ground, leaning inwards towards the stone circle. It has been known by many names in the past, including "Friar&#39;s Heel" and "Sun-stone". At summer solstice an observer standing within the stone circle, looking north-east through the entrance, would see the Sun rise in the approximate direction of the heel stone, and the sun has often been photographed over it.</p><br>
<p>A folk tale relates the origin of the Friar&#39;s Heel reference.</p><br>
<p>The name is not unique; there was a monolith with the same name recorded in the nineteenth century by antiquarian Charles Warne at Long Bredy in Dorset.</p><br>
<h4>Arthurian legend</h4><br>
<p>In the twelfth century, Geoffrey of Monmouth included a fanciful story in his Historia Regum Britanniae ("History of the Kings of Britain") that attributed the monuments construction to the wizard Merlin. Geoffreys story spread widely, appearing in more and less elaborate form in adaptations of his work such as Waces Norman French Roman de Brut, Layamons Middle English Brut, and the Welsh Brut y Brenhinedd.</p><br>
<p>According to Geoffrey the rocks of Stonehenge were healing rocks, called the Giants dance, which Giants had brought from Africa to Ireland for their healing properties. The fifth-century king Aurelius Ambrosius wished to erect a memorial to 3,000 nobles slain in battle against the Saxons and buried at Salisbury, and at Merlins advice chose Stonehenge. The king sent Merlin, Uther Pendragon (King Arthurs father), and 15,000 knights, to remove it from Ireland, where it had been constructed on Mount Killaraus by the Giants. They slew 7,000 Irish but, as the knights tried to move the rocks with ropes and force, they failed. Then Merlin, using "gear" and skill, easily dismantled the stones and sent them over to Britain, where Stonehenge was dedicated. After it had been rebuilt near Amesbury, Geoffrey further narrates how first Ambrosius Aurelianus, then Uther Pendragon, and finally Constantine III, were buried inside the "Giants Ring of Stonehenge".</p><br>
<p>In another legend of Saxons and Britons, in 472 the invading king Hengist invited Brythonic warriors to a feast, but treacherously ordered his men to draw their weapons from concealment and fall upon the guests, killing 420 of them. Hengist erected the stone monument—Stonehenge—on the site to show his remorse for the deed.</p><br>
<h3>Sixteenth century to present</h3><br>
<p>Stonehenge has changed ownership several times since King Henry VIII acquired Amesbury Abbey and its surrounding lands. In 1540 Henry gave the estate to the Earl of Hertford. It subsequently passed to Lord Carleton and then the Marquess of Queensberry. The Antrobus family of Cheshire bought the estate in 1824. During World War I an aerodrome (Royal Flying Corps "No. 1 School of Aerial Navigation and Bomb Dropping") was built on the downs just to the west of the circle and, in the dry valley at Stonehenge Bottom, a main road junction was built, along with several cottages and a cafe. The Antrobus family sold the site after their last heir was killed in the fighting in France. The auction by Knight Frank & Rutley estate agents in Salisbury was held on 21 September 1915 and included "Lot 15. Stonehenge with about 30 acres, 2 rods, 37 perches of adjoining downland."</p><br>
<p>Cecil Chubb bought the site for £6,600 and gave it to the nation three years later. Although it has been speculated that he purchased it at the suggestion of—or even as a present for—his wife, in fact he bought it on a whim, as he believed a local man should be the new owner.</p><br>
<p>In the late 1920s a nationwide appeal was launched to save Stonehenge from the encroachment of the modern buildings that had begun to rise around it. By 1928 the land around the monument had been purchased with the appeal donations, and given to the National Trust to preserve. The buildings were removed (although the roads were not), and the land returned to agriculture. More recently the land has been part of a grassland reversion scheme, returning the surrounding fields to native chalk grassland.</p><br>
<h4>Neopaganism</h4><br>
<p>During the twentieth century, Stonehenge began to revive as a place of religious significance, this time by adherents of Neopaganism and New Age beliefs, particularly the Neo-druids. The historian Ronald Hutton would later remark that "it was a great, and potentially uncomfortable, irony that modern Druids had arrived at Stonehenge just as archaeologists were evicting the ancient Druids from it." The first such Neo-druidic group to make use of the megalithic monument was the Ancient Order of Druids, who performed a mass initiation ceremony there in August 1905, in which they admitted 259 new members into their organisation. This assembly was largely ridiculed in the press, who mocked the fact that the Neo-druids were dressed up in costumes consisting of white robes and fake beards.</p><br>
<p>Between 1972 and 1984, Stonehenge was the site of the Stonehenge Free Festival. After the Battle of the Beanfield in 1985, this use of the site was stopped for several years and ritual use of Stonehenge is now heavily restricted. Some Druids have arranged an assembling of monuments styled on Stonehenge in other parts of the world as a form of Druidist worship.</p><br>
<h4>Setting and access</h4><br>
<p>When Stonehenge was first opened to the public it was possible to walk among and even climb on the stones, but the stones were roped off in 1977 as a result of serious erosion. Visitors are no longer permitted to touch the stones, but are able to walk around the monument from a short distance away. English Heritage does, however, permit access during the summer and winter solstice, and the spring and autumn equinox. Additionally, visitors can make special bookings to access the stones throughout the year.</p><br>
<p>The access situation and the proximity of the two roads has drawn widespread criticism, highlighted by a 2006 National Geographic survey. In the survey of conditions at 94 leading World Heritage Sites, 400 conservation and tourism experts ranked Stonehenge 75th in the list of destinations, declaring it to be "in moderate trouble".</p><br>
<p>As motorised traffic increased, the setting of the monument began to be affected by the proximity of the two roads on either side—the A344 to Shrewton on the north side, and the A303 to Winterbourne Stoke to the south. Plans to upgrade the A303 and close the A344 to restore the vista from the stones have been considered since the monument became a World Heritage Site. However, the controversy surrounding expensive re-routing of the roads has led to the scheme being cancelled on multiple occasions. On 6 December 2007, it was announced that extensive plans to build Stonehenge road tunnel under the landscape and create a permanent visitors&#39; centre had been cancelled.</p><br>
<p>On 13 May 2009, the government gave approval for a £25 million scheme to create a smaller visitors&#39; centre and close the A344, although this was dependent on funding and local authority planning consent. On 20 January 2010 Wiltshire Council granted planning permission for a centre 1.5 mi to the west and English Heritage confirmed that funds to build it would be available, supported by a £10m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. On 23 June 2013 the A344 was closed to begin the work of removing the section of road and replacing it with grass. The centre, designed by Denton Corker Marshall, opened to the public on 18 December 2013.</p><br>
<h4>Stonehenge Roundtable Access</h4><br>
<p>The earlier rituals were augmented by the Stonehenge Free Festival, loosely organised by the Politantric Circle, held between 1972 and 1984, during which time the number of midsummer visitors had risen to around 30,000. However, in 1985 the site was closed to festivalgoers by English Heritage and the National Trust. A consequence of the end of the festival in 1985 was the violent confrontation between the police and New Age travellers that became known as the Battle of the Beanfield when police blockaded a convoy of travellers to prevent them from approaching Stonehenge. Beginning in 1985, the year of the Battle of the Beanfield, no access was allowed into the stones at Stonehenge for any religious reason. This exclusion zone policy continued for almost fifteen years and until just before the arrival of the twenty-first century, visitors were not allowed to go into the stones at times of religious significance: the two Solstices (Winter and Summer) and two Equinoxes (Vernal and Autumnal).</p><br>
<p>However, now due to the Roundtable process and the Court of Human Rights rulings gained by picketing by campaigners such as Brian "Viziondanz" Felstein and King Arthur Pendragon, some access had been gained four times a year. The Court of Human Rights rulings recognises that members of any genuine religion have a right to worship in their own church, and Stonehenge is a place of worship to Neo-Druids, Pagans and other Earth based or old religions. The Roundtable meetings include members of the Wiltshire Police force, National Trust, English Heritage, Pagans, Druids, Spiritualists and others.</p><br>
<p>At the Summer Solstice 2003 which fell over a weekend over 30,000 people attended a gathering at and in the stones. The 2004 gathering was smaller (around 21,000 people).</p><br>
<h3>Archaeological research and restoration</h3><br>
<h4>1600–1900</h4><br>
<p>Throughout recorded history, Stonehenge and its surrounding monuments have attracted attention from antiquarians and archaeologists. John Aubrey was one of the first to examine the site with a scientific eye in 1666, and recorded in his plan of the monument the pits that now bear his name. William Stukeley continued Aubrey’s work in the early eighteenth century, but took an interest in the surrounding monuments as well, identifying (somewhat incorrectly) the Cursus and the Avenue. He also began the excavation of many of the barrows in the area, and it was his interpretation of the landscape that associated it with the Druids. Stukeley was so fascinated with Druids that he originally named Disc Barrows as Druids&#39; Barrows. The most accurate early plan of Stonehenge was that made by Bath architect John Wood in 1740. His original annotated survey has recently been computer redrawn and published. Importantly Wood’s plan was made before the collapse of the southwest trilithon, which fell in 1797 and was restored in 1958.</p><br>
<p>William Cunnington was the next to tackle the area in the early nineteenth century. He excavated some 24 barrows before digging in and around the stones and discovered charred wood, animal bones, pottery and urns. He also identified the hole in which the Slaughter Stone once stood. Richard Colt Hoare supported Cunningtons work and excavated some 379 barrows on Salisbury Plain including on some 200 in the area around the Stones, some excavated in conjunction with William Coxe. To alert future diggers to their work they were careful to leave initialled metal tokens in each barrow they opened. Cunningtons finds are displayed at the Wiltshire Museum. In 1877 Charles Darwin dabbled in archaeology at the stones, experimenting with the rate at which remains sink into the earth for his book The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms.</p><br>
<h4>1900–2000</h4><br>
<p>William Gowland oversaw the first major restoration of the monument in 1901 which involved the straightening and concrete setting of sarsen stone number 56 which was in danger of falling. In straightening the stone he moved it about half a metre from its original position.</p><br>
<p>Richard Atkinson, Stuart Piggott and John F. S. Stone re-excavated much of Hawleys work in the 1940s and 1950s, and discovered the carved axes and daggers on the Sarsen Stones. Atkinsons work was instrumental in furthering the understanding of the three major phases of the monument&#39;s construction.</p><br>
<p>In 1958 the stones were restored again, when three of the standing sarsens were re-erected and set in concrete bases. The last restoration was carried out in 1963 after stone 23 of the Sarsen Circle fell over. It was again re-erected, and the opportunity was taken to concrete three more stones. Later archaeologists, including Christopher Chippindale of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge and Brian Edwards of the University of the West of England, campaigned to give the public more knowledge of the various restorations and in 2004 English Heritage included pictures of the work in progress in its book Stonehenge: A History in Photographs.</p><br>
<p>In 1966 and 1967, in advance of a new car park being built at the site, the area of land immediately northwest of the stones was excavated by Faith and Lance Vatcher. They discovered the Mesolithic postholes dating from between 7000 and 8000 BC, as well as a 10 m length of a palisade ditch – a V-cut ditch into which timber posts had been inserted that remained there until they rotted away. Subsequent aerial archaeology suggests that this ditch runs from the west to the north of Stonehenge, near the avenue.</p><br>
<p>Excavations were once again carried out in 1978 by Atkinson and John Evans during which they discovered the remains of the Stonehenge Archer in the outer ditch, and in 1979 rescue archaeology was needed alongside the Heel Stone after a cable-laying ditch was mistakenly dug on the roadside, revealing a new stone hole next to the Heel Stone.</p><br>
<p>In the early 1980s Julian Richards led the Stonehenge Environs Project, a detailed study of the surrounding landscape. The project was able to successfully date such features as the Lesser Cursus, Coneybury Henge and several other smaller features.</p><br>
<p>In 1993 the way that Stonehenge was presented to the public was called a national disgrace by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. Part of English Heritage&#39;s response to this criticism was to commission research to collate and bring together all the archaeological work conducted at the monument up to this date. This two-year research project resulted in the publication in 1995 of the monograph Stonehenge in its landscape, which was the first publication presenting the complex stratigraphy and the finds recovered from the site. It presented a rephasing of the monument.</p><br>
<h4>2000s</h4><br>
<p>More recent excavations include a series of digs held between 2003 and 2008 known as the Stonehenge Riverside Project, led by Mike Parker Pearson. This project mainly investigated other monuments in the landscape and their relationship to the stones — notably Durrington Walls, where another "Avenue" leading to the River Avon was discovered. The point where the Stonehenge Avenue meets the river was also excavated, and revealed a previously unknown circular area which probably housed four further stones, most likely as a marker for the starting point of the avenue. In April 2008 Tim Darvill of the University of Bournemouth and Geoff Wainwright of the Society of Antiquaries, began another dig inside the stone circle to retrieve dateable fragments of the original bluestone pillars. They were able to date the erection of some bluestones to 2300 BC, although this may not reflect the earliest erection of stones at Stonehenge. They also discovered organic material from 7000 BC, which, along with the Mesolithic postholes, adds support for the site having been in use at least 4,000 years before Stonehenge was started. In August and September 2008, as part of the Riverside Project, Julian Richards and Mike Pitts excavated Aubrey Hole 7, removing the cremated remains from several Aubrey Holes that had been excavated by Hawley in the 1920s, and re-interred in 1935. A licence for the removal of human remains at Stonehenge had been granted by the Ministry of Justice in May 2008, in accordance with the Statement on burial law and archaeology issued in May 2008. One of the conditions of the licence was that the remains should be reinterred within two years and that in the intervening period they should be kept safely, privately and decently.</p><br>
<p>A new landscape investigation was conducted in April 2009. A shallow mound, rising to about 40 cm was identified between stones 54 (inner circle) and 10 (outer circle), clearly separated from the natural slope. It has not been dated but speculation that it represents careless backfilling following earlier excavations seems disproved by its representation in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century illustrations. Indeed, there is some evidence that, as an uncommon geological feature, it could have been deliberately incorporated into the monument at the outset.</p><br>
<p>In July 2010, the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project discovered a "henge-like" monument less than 1 km away from the main site. This new hengiform monument was subsequently revealed to be located "at the site of Amesbury 50", a round barrow in the Cursus Barrows group.</p><br>
<p>On 26 November 2011, archaeologists from University of Birmingham announced the discovery of evidence of two huge pits positioned within the Stonehenge Cursus pathway, aligned in celestial position towards midsummer sunrise and sunset when viewed from the Heel Stone. The new discovery is part of the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project which began in the summer of 2010. The project uses non-invasive geophysical imaging technique to reveal and visually recreate the landscape. According to team leader Vince Gaffney, this discovery may provide a direct link between the rituals and astronomical events to activities within the Cursus at Stonehenge.</p><br>
<p>On 18 December 2011, geologists from University of Leicester and the National Museum of Wales announced the discovery of the exact source of some of the rhyolite fragments found in the Stonehenge debitage. These fragments do not seem to match any of the standing stones or bluestone stumps. The researchers have identified the source as a 70 m long rock outcrop called Craig Rhos-y-Felin (51&deg;59&prime;30.07&Prime;N latitude, 4&deg;44&prime;40.85&Prime;W longitude), near Pont Saeson in north Pembrokeshire, located 220 km from Stonehenge.</p><br>
<p>On 10 September 2014 the University of Birmingham announced findings including evidence of adjacent stone and wooden structures and burial mounds, overlooked previously, that may date as far back as 4000 BC. An area extending to 12 km&sup2; was studied to a depth of three metres with ground-penetrating radar equipment. As many as seventeen new monuments, revealed nearby, may be Late Neolithic monuments that resemble Stonehenge. The interpretation suggests a complex of numerous related monuments. Also included in the discovery is that the cursus track is terminated by two five-meter wide extremely deep pits, whose purpose is still a mystery.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>"Stonehenge" from mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap</p><br>
<p>"Stonehenge", a 2013 song by Ylvis</p><br>
<p>Seneca Lake is the largest of the glacial Finger Lakes of the USA state of New York, and the deepest lake entirely within the state. It is promoted as being the lake trout capital of the world, and is host of the National Lake Trout Derby. Because of its depth and relative ease of access, the US Navy uses Seneca Lake to perform test and evaluation of equipment ranging from single element transducers to complex sonar arrays and systems.</p><br>
<p>The lake takes its name from the Seneca nation of Native Americans. At the north end of Seneca Lake is the city of Geneva, New York, home of Hobart and William Smith Colleges and the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, a division of Cornell University. At the south end of the lake is the village of Watkins Glen, New York, famed for auto racing and waterfalls.</p><br>
<p>Due to Seneca Lake&#39;s unique macroclimate it is home to over 50 wineries, many of them farm wineries and is the location of the Seneca Lake AVA. (See Seneca Lake wine trail).</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>At 38 mi long, it is the second longest of the Finger Lakes and has the largest volume, estimated at 3.81 mi3, roughly half of the water in all the Finger Lakes. It has an average depth of 291 ft, a maximum depth of 618 ft, and a surface area of 66.9 square miles.</p><br>
<p>For comparison, Scotland&#39;s famous Loch Ness is 22.5 mi long, 1.7 mi wide, has a surface area of 21.8 square miles, an average depth of 433 ft, a maximum depth of 744.6 ft, and total volume of 1.8 mi3 of water.</p><br>
<p>Seneca&#39;s two main inlets are Catharine Creek at the southern end and the Keuka Lake Outlet. Seneca Lake lets out into the Seneca River/ Cayuga-Seneca Canal, which joins Seneca and Cayuga Lakes at their northern ends.</p><br>
<p>It is fed by underground springs and replenished at a rate of 328,000 gallons (1240 m³) per minute. These springs keep the water moving in a circular motion, giving it little chance to freeze over. Because of Seneca Lake&#39;s great depth its temperature remains a near-constant 39 &deg;F. In summer the top 10 to 15 ft warms to 70 –.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>Seneca lake has a typical aquatic population for large deep lakes in the northeast, with coldwater fish such as lake trout and Atlantic salmon inhabiting the deeper waters, and warmwater fish such as smallmouth bass and yellow perch inhabiting the shallower areas. The lake is also home to a robust population of "sawbellies," the local term for gizzard shad.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Seneca Lake was formed at least two million years ago by glacial carving of streams and valleys. Originally it was a part of a series of rivers that flowed northward. Around this time many continental glaciers moved into the area and started the Pleistocene glaciation also known as the Ice Age. It is presumed that the Finger Lakes were created by many advances and retreats of massive glaciers that were up to 2 miles wide.</p><br>
<p>Over 200 years ago, there were Iroquois villages on Seneca Lakes surrounding hillsides. During the American Revolutionary War, their villages, including Kanadaseaga ("Seneca Castle"), were wiped out during the 1779 Sullivan Expedition by Continental troops under order by General George Washington to invade their homeland, destroy their dwellings and crops, and end their threat to the patriots. They destroyed nearly 50 Seneca and Cayuga villages. Today roadside signs trace Sullivan and Clintons route along the east side of Seneca Lake where the burning of villages and crops occurred.</p><br>
<p>After the war, the Iroquois were forced to cede their land when Britain was defeated. Their millions of acres were sold and some lands in this area were granted to veterans of the army in payment for their military service. A slow stream of European-American settlers began to arrive circa 1790. Initially the settlers were without a market nearby or a way to get their crops to market. The settlers&#39; isolation ended in 1825 with the opening of the Erie Canal.</p><br>
<p>The canal linked the Finger Lakes Region to the outside world. Steamships, barges and ferries quickly became Seneca Lake&#39;s ambassadors of commerce and trade. The former, short Crooked Lake Canal linked Seneca Lake to Keuka Lake.</p><br>
<p>Numerous canal barges sank during operations and rest on the bottom of the lake. A collection of barges at the southwest end of the lake, near the village of Watkins Glen, is being preserved and made accessible for scuba diving by the Finger Lakes Underwater Preserve Association.</p><br>
<h2>Fishing</h2><br>
<p>The lake is a popular fishing destination from all around. Fish species present in the lake include lake trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, landlocked salmon, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike, pickerel, and yellow perch.</p><br>
<h2>Painted rocks</h2><br>
<p>The painted rocks located at the southern end of the lake on the eastern cliff face depict an American flag, Tee-pee, and several Native Americans. The older paintings, located on the bottom of the cliff, were said to have been drawn in 1779 after the Senecas escaped men from John Sullivans campaign. However, this account is questioned by historian Barbara Bell, arguing that it is unlikely that the Senecas would have returned to paint the paintings having just escaped from Sullivans men. She suggests instead that these paintings may have been made much later, for tourists on Seneca Lake boat tours.</p><br>
<p>It is known that the more visible and prominent paintings of the Native Americans, American flag, and Tee-pee were added in 1929 during the Sullivan Sesquicentennial. There are two mistakes in these 1929 additions: firstly the Native Americans in the Seneca Region used longhouses and not Tee-pees, and secondly the flag is displayed pointing to the left which is never to be done on a horizontal surface.</p><br>
<h2>Seneca Guns</h2><br>
<p>Seneca Lake is also the site of strange and currently unexplained cannon-like booms and shakes that are heard and felt in the surrounding area. They are known locally as the Seneca Guns, Lake Drums, or Lake Guns, and these types of phenomena are known elsewhere as skyquakes. The term Lake Guns originated in the short story "The Lake Gun" by James Fenimore Cooper in 1851. There is no explanation that takes into account sounds the Iroquois heard before Cooper&#39;s time; it is possible sonic booms have been mistaken for natural sounds in modern days.</p><br>
<h2>Sampson Navy and Air Force bases</h2><br>
<p>The east side of Seneca Lake was once home to a military training ground called Sampson Naval Base, primarily used during World War II. It became Sampson Air Force Base during the Korean War and was used for basic training. After Sampson AFB closed, the airfield remained as Seneca Army Airfield but was closed in 2000. The training grounds of Sampson have since been converted to a civilian picnic area called Sampson State Park.</p><br>
<p>There is still a Naval facility at Seneca Lake, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Sonar test facility. A scale model of the sonar section of the nuclear submarine USS Seawolf (SSN 21) was tested during the development of this ship, which was launched in June, 1995.</p><br>
<h2>Water quality buoy</h2><br>
<p>There is a YSI EMM-2500 Buoy Platform located in the north end of Seneca Lake roughly in the center. Its  are: latitude: 42°4149.99"N, longitude: 76°5529.93"W. The buoy has cellular modem communications and measures wind speed and direction, relative humidity, air temperature, barometric pressure, light intensity, and the water&#39;s depth and temperature, conductivity, turbidity, and chlorophyll-a levels.</p><br>
<p>The buoy was initially deployed in June 2006. The water depth where it is located is about 200 ft.</p><br>
<h2>Wine</h2><br>
<p>Viticulture and winemaking in the area date back to the 19th century, with the foundation of the Seneca Lake Wine Company in 1866 marking the first major winery in the area. The modern era of wine production began in the 1970s with the establishment of several wineries and the passage of the New York Farm Winery Act of 1976. The region was established as an American Viticultural Area in 1988.</p><br>
<p>Seneca Lake Wine Trail hosts many events on and around the lake, annually. With more than 30 wineries currently located on the shores of Seneca Lake, the winter Deck the Halls event is a great time at the lake with participating wineries showcasing their vintages and pairing these wines with distinctive, tasty treats. Wineries also provide participants with an ornament at each stop to commemorate the event.</p><br>
<p>Saaremaa : Osel; Finnish: Saarenmaa; Swedish & German: Ösel) is the largest island in Estonia, measuring 2,673 km&sup2;. The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the island is Kuressaare, which has about 15,000 inhabitants; the whole island has over 30,966 inhabitants.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The island is called Saaremaa in Estonian, and in Finnish Saarenmaa — literally "isle land" or "island land". In old Scandinavian sagas, Saaremaa is called Eysysla and in the Icelandic Sagas Eysýsla, which means exactly the same as the name of the island in Estonian: "the district (land) of island". This is the origin of the islands name in Danish Øsel, German and Swedish, Ösel, Gutnish Oysl, and in Latin, Osilia. The name Eysysla appears sometimes together with Adalsysla, "the big land", perhaps Suuremaa or Suur Maa&#39; in Estonian, which refers to mainland Estonia. In Latvian, the island is called Sāmsala, which means "the island of Saami".</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>According to archaeological finds, the territory of Saaremaa has been inhabited from at least. Pre-Viking age Salme ship burials have been found in Sõrve Peninsula. Sagas talk about numerous skirmishes between islanders and Vikings. Saaremaa was the wealthiest county of ancient Estonia and the home of notorious Estonian pirates, sometimes called the Eastern Vikings. The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia describes a fleet of sixteen ships and five hundred Osilians ravaging the area that is now southern Sweden, then belonging to Denmark. In 1206, King Valdemar II of Denmark built a fortress on the island but found no volunteers to man it. The Danes burned it themselves and left.</p><br>
<p>Probably around 1000, Gunnar Hámundarson from Iceland took part in a Viking raid at Eysýsla (Saaremaa). There he obtained his famous atgeir, by taking it from a man named Hallgrímur. Njáls saga tells the following:</p><br>
<p>In 1227, Saaremaa was conquered by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword during the Livonian Crusade but remained a hotbed of Estonian resistance. The crusaders founded the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek there. When the Order was defeated by the Lithuanian army in the Battle of Saule in 1236, the Saaremaa islanders rebelled. The conflict was ended by a treaty that was signed by the Osilians and the Master of the Order. In the following year, the Sword-Brothers were absorbed into the Teutonic Order. As the crusaders hold on Saaremaa got stronger, Christianity also became more established on the island, and to this day Saaremaa has a unique set of medieval churches in Kaarma, Karja, Kihelkonna, Muhu, Pöide, Püha and Valjala churches. The crusaders fortress Kuressaare Castle, known in German as Schloss Arensburg, was built by the Teutonic Order, beginning in 1380, for the bishops of Ösel-Wieck (Estonian: Saare-Lääne). It is one of the most well-preserved medieval castles in Estonia and bears testimony to the late Medieval Age.</p><br>
<p>During the 14th–16th centuries, and possibly earlier, local inhabitants started to expand across the Baltic Sea into surrounding areas thus establishing villages at Livonian coast.</p><br>
<p>Most of Saaremaa was ruled directly by the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, while some parts were enfeoffed to the Livonian Order. In 1559, the bishopric and Saaremaa were sold to Denmark, becoming part of Danish Estonia. From 1570 until 1645 the entire island was under Danish possession.</p><br>
<p>In 1645, Saaremaa was ceded from Denmark to Sweden by the Treaty of Brömsebro. In 1721, along with the rest of Livonia, Saaremaa (then known by its Swedish name of Ösel) was ceded to the Russian Empire by the Treaty of Nystad, becoming a part of the Governorate of Livonia.</p><br>
<p>In 1840 the first spa opened in Kuressaare (then known as Arensburg), and the town experienced renaissance and became a resort for Russians and Baltic Germans.</p><br>
<p>In World War I, the Estonian islands were conquered by Imperial German Army in October 1917 and remained occupied (Operation Albion) until the end of hostilities. Estonia became independent after the October Revolution and the collapse of the Russian Empire. As a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the new state was incorporated into the Soviet Union in June 1940 as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. Most of the Baltic German population of the island was evacuated to Germany following the Pact. The island was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941 (Operation Beowulf); German troops remained there until expelled by the Red Army in the Moonzund Landing Operation in October and November 1944. In 1946, Saaremaa was declared a restricted zone, closed to foreigners and to most mainland Estonians. It remained a restricted area until 1989.</p><br>
<p>Estonian independence was regained on 20 August 1991, in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The island forms the main barrier between the Gulf of Riga and the Baltic Sea. To the south of it is the main passage out of the gulf, the Irbe Strait, next to Sõrve Peninsula, the southernmost portion of the island. In Medieval times islanders crossed the strait to form fishing villages on the Livonian coast, notably Pitrags. In those days it was easier and quicker to cross the strait towards nearby Kolka, Saunags or Mazirbe, than travel by horse large distances inland. The highest point on the island is 54 m above sea level. One particularly interesting feature found on the island is the Kaali crater. The island has lots of forested terrain. One of the symbols of the island is the juniper.</p><br>
<h3>Nature</h3><br>
<p>More than 10,000 years ago the first parts of Saaremaa arose from the Baltic Ice Lake. The uplift of the Earth&#39;s crust is continuing even today, at 2 mm per year. The West Estonian islands are lowlying plains resting on limestone, their average elevation being about 15 m above sea level. Limestone has become denuded in a great number of places, resulting in cliffs, limestone pits and quarries at Mustjala, Ninase, Pulli, Üügu and Kaugatuma.</p><br>
<p>Because of its mild maritime climate and a variety of soils, Saaremaa has a rich flora, illustrated by the fact that 80% of the plant species found in Estonia are represented here. Altogether 1200 species of vascular plants can be found in Saaremaa. About 120 of the local plant species are rare ones that have received special protection status. The most famous endemic species is Rhinanthus osiliensis, a rare little flower growing mostly in spring fens. Rare and beautiful flowers are widespread; out of the 36 species found in Estonia, 35 of them are found on Saaremaa and neighbouring islands.</p><br>
<p>Over 40% of Saaremaa is covered with forests. They are mostly mixed forests but in some areas one can find broad-leaved (deciduous) trees, which are relict plant communities of former milder climatic periods. Wooded meadows were common in Saaremaa before World War II, but many of these unique natural complexes have gradually become overgrown and thus turned into the ordinary forest. The same is true for alvars (limestone areas covered with thin soil and stunted vegetation). Once a typical and exclusive landscape element in Saaremaa alvars are now in decline. Nature conservation planning for Saaremaa now includes protection of the largest and most unusual alvar areas.</p><br>
<p>Saaremaa has a wide variety of rare wildlife species, ranging from insects to seals. The smallest protected wildlife species include Cloude Apolle butterflies and Roman snails.</p><br>
<p>The coastal areas of Saaremaa are famous seal habitats. The gray seal that is common here can be found in three large permanent resting areas on the islets off the coast in the western and southern parts of Saaremaa. The local population of grey seals is slightly increasing. Ringed seals can be encountered everywhere in the coastal waters of Saaremaa but, because of their timidity, it has not been possible to make an estimation of their number.</p><br>
<p>The islands lie in the East Atlantic Flyway, a migration path of waterfowl. This "bird road" connects northeastern Europe with Arctic regions. Each year hundreds of thousands of migratory birds visit Saaremaa in spring and autumn. The barnacle goose, mute swan, whooper swan, eider, shelduck and a great many other bird species have been given protection status. But on the whole, the islands are somewhat poorer in wildlife species than the mainland. Neither mole, mink, nor otter can be found here, the lynx and the brown bear are infrequent guests.</p><br>
<h3>Kaali Meteorite</h3><br>
<p>Kaali is a small group of nine unique meteorite craters on Saaremaa. The largest of the craters measures 110 m in diameter and contains a small lake, known as Kaali järv ("Lake Kaali"). The meteor cluster had an impact velocity of 10 – and a mass of 20–80 tons. At the altitude of 5 – the meteor broke into pieces. The largest fragment produced the main crater with a depth of 22 m. Eight smaller craters with diameters ranging from 12 to 40 m and depths varying from 1 to 4 m are all within 1 km of the main crater. The age estimates of the crater vary, with 4000 ± 1000 BCE being a commonly accepted estimate, though other estimates suggest the explosion was as recent as 660 ± 85 BCE. The energy of the impact — about 80 TJ (20 kilotons of TNT), comparable with the Hiroshima bomb) — burned forests within a radius of 6 km. There are numerous legends related to the crater; these are summarized by Lennart Meri in his book Hõbevalge.</p><br>
<h3>Resources</h3><br>
<p>Dolomite, limestone, curative mud, mineral water, sand and gravel, ceramic clay are the major local minerals. Of these local resources the dolomite is perhaps the most famous above all.</p><br>
<h2>Characteristics</h2><br>
<p>The majority of the population is Estonian (97%). The biggest minority nationality is Russian, comprising 2% of the inhabitants. Compared to the Republic of Estonia on the whole, the population of Saare County and particularly of Kuressaare town is younger, whereas the number of the retired people is considerably smaller. Saaremaa is located in the centre of the Baltic region with the most rapidly growing market in Europe containing 70 million consumers. Gates to the West include not only the newly reconstructed Kuressaare Airport and Roomassaare Port, the operation of modern ferries between Saaremaa and the mainland but also the rapid development of the telecommunications, highly important for the island. Saaremaa is a tourist destination, revisited by 35% of foreign and 95% of domestic tourists. Saaremaa has an entrepreneur-friendly, safe, and strain-free economic environment.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>There are regular bus services from Tallinn, Pärnu and Tartu on the mainland, which use the ferry from Virtsu to Muhu.</p><br>
<p>There is an airport at Kuressaare with regular flights to Tallinn operated by Transaviabaltika. In the summer season there are regular service to Ruhnu and Pärnu operated by Luftverkehr Friesland Harle, and a twice weekly service to Stockholm operated by Estonian Air.</p><br>
<p>Historically there was a Soviet air base at Aste during the Cold War. Plans to connect Saaremaa to the mainland either by the Saaremaa Bridge or Saaremaa Tunnel are being studied.</p><br>
<h2>Sport</h2><br>
<p>FC Kuressaare once competed in the first tier of Estonian football, the Meistriliiga, it now competes in the third Esiliiga B. Saaremaa competes in the biannual Island Games.</p><br>
<p>There are three main international traditional sport events in Saaremaa:</p><br>
<p>Saaremaa Rally takes place every year in October and attracts thousands of rally fans. The first rally was an amateur competition and it took place in 1974. The first professional competition took place in 1975 and from 1993 the rally has been international.</p><br>
<p>Saaremaa Velotuur is a group race of road cyclists that is oldest in the Nordic countries (held since 1957) and the only international one in the Baltic states.</p><br>
<p>Saaremaa 3-day running marathon takes place on the roads around Kuressaare town and Sõrve peninsula. Main race consist of three different runs, which are held on three sequential days (10+16,195+16=42,195 km). The first marathon was held in 1974.</p><br>
<h2>People</h2><br>
<p>Hannibal Sehested (1609–1666), Danish diplomat.</p><br>
<p>Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen (1778–1852) lead of the second expedition to successfully cross the Antarctic Circle and likely first to see continent of Antarctica.</p><br>
<p>Louis Isadore Kahn (1901–1974) was born on Saaremaa to Leopold and Bertha Kahn. One of the most influential architects of the mid-20th century.</p><br>
<p>Paul Friidrih Saagpakk (1910-1996) was born in Mustjala. He wrote the largest Estonian-English dictionary published in 1982.</p><br>
<h2>Trivia</h2><br>
<p>Saaremaa has more spas than anywhere else in Estonia.</p><br>
<p>Santorini , classically Thera , and officially Thira , is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km southeast of Greece&#39;s mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera. It forms the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 km&sup2; and a 2011 census population of 15,550. The municipality of Santorini includes the inhabited islands of Santorini and Therasia and the uninhabited islands of Nea Kameni, Palaia Kameni, Aspronisi, and Christiana. The total land area is 90.623 km&sup2;. Santorini is part of the Thira regional unit.</p><br>
<p>Santorini is essentially what remains after an enormous volcanic eruption that destroyed the earliest settlements on a formerly single island, and created the current geological caldera. A giant central, rectangular lagoon, which measures about 12 by, is surrounded by 300 m high, steep cliffs on three sides. The main island slopes downward to the Aegean Sea. On the fourth side, the lagoon is separated from the sea by another much smaller island called Therasia; the lagoon is connected to the sea in two places, in the northwest and southwest. The depth of the caldera, at 400m, makes it impossible for any but the largest ships to anchor anywhere in the protected bay; there is also a fishermans harbour at Vlychada, on the southwestern coast. The islands principal port is Athinios. The capital, Fira, clings to the top of the cliff looking down on the lagoon. The volcanic rocks present from the prior eruptions feature olivine, and have a small presence of hornblende.</p><br>
<p>It is the most active volcanic centre in the South Aegean Volcanic Arc, though what remains today is chiefly a water-filled caldera. The volcanic arc is approximately 500 km long and 20 to 40 km wide. The region first became volcanically active around 3–4 million years ago, though volcanism on Thera began around 2 million years ago with the extrusion of dacitic lavas from vents around the Akrotiri.</p><br>
<p>The island is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history: the Minoan eruption (sometimes called the Thera eruption), which occurred some 3,600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization.</p><br>
<h2>Names</h2><br>
<p>Santorini was named by the Latin Empire in the thirteenth century, and is a reference to Saint Irene, from the name of the old cathedral in the village of Perissa – the name Santorini is a contraction of the name Santa Irini. Before then, it was known as Kallístē (Καλλίστη, "the most beautiful one"), Strongýlē (Στρογγύλη, "the circular one"), or Thēra. The name Thera was revived in the nineteenth century as the official name of the island and its main city, but the colloquial name Santorini is still in popular use.</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The present municipality of Thera (officially: "Thira", Δήμος Θήρας), which covers all settlements on the islands of Santorini and Therasia, was formed at the 2011 local government reform, by the merger of the former Oia and Thera municipalities.</p><br>
<p>Oia is now called a Κοινότητα (community), within the municipality of Thera, and it consists of the local subdivisions (τοπικό διαμέρισμα) of Therasia and Oia.</p><br>
<p>The municipality of Thera includes an additional 12 local subdivisions on Santorini island: Akrotiri, Emporio, Episkopis Gonia, Exo Gonia, Imerovigli, Karterados, Megalohori, Mesaria, Pyrgos Kallistis, Thera (the seat of the municipality), Vothon, and Vourvoulos.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Santorinis primary industry is tourism. The two main sources of wealth in Santorini are agriculture and tourism. In recent years, Santorini has been voted one of the worlds most beautiful islands (, amongst others).</p><br>
<p>Santorini remains the home of a small, but flourishing wine industry, based on the indigenous Assyrtiko grape variety. White varieties also include Athiri and Aidani, whereas red varieties include mavrotragano and mandilaria.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<h3>Geological setting</h3><br>
<p>The Cyclades are part of a metamorphic complex that is known as the Cycladic Massif. The complex formed during the Miocene and was folded and metamorphosed during the Alpine orogeny around 60 million years ago. Thera is built upon a small, non-volcanic basement that represents the former non-volcanic island, which was approximately 9 by. The basement rock is primarily composed of metamorphosed limestone and schist, which date from the Alpine Orogeny. These non-volcanic rocks are exposed at the Profitis Ilias Mountains, Mesa Vouno, the Gavrillos ridge, Pyrgos, Monolithos, and the inner side of the caldera wall between Cape Plaka and Athinios.</p><br>
<p>The metamorphic grade is a blueschist facies, which results from tectonic deformation by the subduction of the African Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate. Subduction occurred between the Oligocene and the Miocene, and the metamorphic grade represents the southernmost extent of the Cycladic blueschist belt.</p><br>
<h3>Volcanism</h3><br>
<p>Volcanism on Santorini is due to the Hellenic Trench subduction zone southwest of Crete. The oceanic crust of the northern margin of the African Plate is being subducted under Greece and the Aegean Sea, which is thinned continental crust. The subduction compels the formation of the Hellenic arc, which includes Santorini and other volcanic centres, such as Methana, Milos, and Kos.</p><br>
<p>The island is the result of repeated sequences of shield volcano construction followed by caldera collapse. The inner coast around the caldera is a sheer precipice of more than 300 m drop at its highest, and exhibits the various layers of solidified lava on top of each other, and the main towns perched on the crest. The ground then slopes outwards and downwards towards the outer perimeter, and the outer beaches are smooth and shallow. Beach sand colour depends on which geological layer is exposed; there are beaches with sand or pebbles made of solidified lava of various colours: such as the Red Beach, the Black Beach and the White Beach. The water at the darker coloured beaches is significantly warmer because the lava acts as a heat absorber.</p><br>
<p>The area of Santorini incorporates a group of islands created by volcanoes, spanning across Thera, Thirasia, Aspronisi, Palea, and Nea Kameni.</p><br>
<p>Santorini has erupted many times, with varying degrees of explosivity. There have been at least twelve large explosive eruptions, of which at least four were caldera-forming. The most famous eruption is the Minoan eruption, detailed below. Eruptive products range from basalt all the way to rhyolite, and the rhyolitic products are associated with the most explosive eruptions.</p><br>
<p>The earliest eruptions, many of which were submarine, were on the Akrotiri Peninsula, and active between 650,000 and 550,000 years ago. These are geochemically distinct from the later volcanism, as they contain amphiboles.</p><br>
<p>Over the past 360,000 years there have been two major cycles, each culminating with two caldera-forming eruptions. The cycles end when the magma evolves to a rhyolitic composition, causing the most explosive eruptions. In between the caldera-forming eruptions are a series of sub-cycles. Lava flows and small explosive eruptions build up cones, which are thought to impede the flow of magma to the surface. This allows the formation of large magma chambers, in which the magma can evolve to more silicic compositions. Once this happens, a large explosive eruption destroys the cone. The Kameni islands in the centre of the lagoon are the most recent example of a cone built by this volcano, with much of them hidden beneath the water.</p><br>
<h4>Minoan eruption</h4><br>
<p>The devastating volcanic eruption of Thera has become the most famous single event in the Aegean before the fall of Troy. It may have been one of the largest volcanic eruptions on Earth in the last few thousand years, with an estimated VEI (volcanic explosivity index) of 6 according to the last studies published in 2006, confirming the prior values.</p><br>
<p>The violent eruption was centred on a small island just north of the existing island of Nea Kameni in the centre of the caldera; the caldera itself was formed several hundred thousand years ago by the collapse of the centre of a circular island, caused by the emptying of the magma chamber during an eruption. It has been filled several times by ignimbrite since then, and the process repeated itself, most recently 21,000 years ago. The northern part of the caldera was refilled by the volcano, then collapsing once more during the Minoan eruption. Before the Minoan eruption, the caldera formed a nearly continuous ring with the only entrance between the tiny island of Aspronisi and Thera; the eruption destroyed the sections of the ring between Aspronisi and Therasia, and between Therasia and Thera, creating two new channels.</p><br>
<p>On Santorini, a deposit of white tephra thrown from the eruption is found lying up to 60 m thick, overlying the soil marking the ground level before the eruption, and forming a layer divided into three fairly distinct bands indicating different phases of the eruption. Archaeological discoveries in 2006 by a team of international scientists revealed that the Santorini event was much more massive than previously thought; it expelled 61 km3 of magma and rock into the Earths atmosphere, compared to previous estimates of only 39 km3 in 1991, producing an estimated 100 km3 of tephra. Only the Mount Tambora volcanic eruption of 1815, the 181 AD eruption of Lake Taupo, and possibly Baekdu Mountains 969 AD eruption have released more material into the atmosphere during the past 5,000 years.</p><br>
<h4>=Speculation on an Exodus connection=</h4><br>
<p>In The Parting of the Sea: How Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Plagues Shaped the Exodus Story, geologist Barbara J. Sivertsen seeks to establish a link between the eruption of Santorini (c. 1600 BC) and the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt in the Bible.</p><br>
<p>A 2006 documentary film by Simcha Jacobovici, The Exodus Decoded, postulates that the eruption of the Santorini Island volcano (referred to as c. 1500 BC) caused all the biblical plagues described against Egypt. The documentary presents this date as corresponding to the time of the Biblical Moses. The film asserts that the Hyksos were the Israelites and that some of them may have originally been from Mycenae. The film also suggests that these original Mycenaean Israelites fled Egypt (which they had in fact ruled for some time) after the eruption, and went back to Mycenae. The Pharaoh of the Exodus is identified with Ahmose I. Rather than crossing the Red Sea, Jacobovici argues a marshy area in northern Egypt known as the Reed Sea would have been alternately drained and flooded by tsunamis caused by the caldera collapse, and could have been crossed during the Exodus.</p><br>
<p>Jacobovicis assertions in The Exodus Decoded have been extensively criticized by religious and other scholars. In a 2013 book on this connection, Thera and the Exodus, a dissident from the consensus Riaan Booysen, tries to support Jacobovicis theory and claims the pharaoh of the Exodus to be Amenhotep III and the biblical Moses as Crown Prince Thutmose, Amenhotep’s first-born son and heir to his throne.</p><br>
<h4>=Speculation on an Atlantis connection=</h4><br>
<p>Archaeological, seismological, and vulcanological evidence has been presented linking the Atlantis myth to Santorini. Speculation suggesting that Thera/Santorini was the inspiration for Platos Atlantis began with the excavation of Akrotiri in the 1960s, and gained increased currency as reconstructions of the islands pre-eruption shape and landscape frescos located under the ash both strongly resembled Platos description. The possibility has been more recently popularized by television documentaries such as The History Channel programme Lost Worlds (episode "Atlantis"), the Discovery Channels Solving History with Olly Steeds, and the BBCs Atlantis, The Evidence, which suggests that Thera is Platos Atlantis.</p><br>
<h4>Post-Minoan volcanism</h4><br>
<p>Post-Minoan eruptive activity is concentrated on the Kameni islands, in the centre of the lagoon. They have been formed since the Minoan eruption, and the first of them broke the surface of the sea in 197 BC Nine subaerial eruptions are recorded in the historical record since that time, with the most recent ending in 1950.</p><br>
<p>In 1707 an undersea volcano breached the sea surface, forming the current centre of activity at Nea Kameni in the centre of the lagoon, and eruptions centred on it continue—the twentieth century saw three such, the last in 1950. Santorini was also struck by a devastating earthquake in 1956. Although the volcano is dormant at the present time, at the current active crater (there are several former craters on Nea Kameni), steam and carbon dioxide are given off.</p><br>
<p>Small tremors and reports of strange gaseous odours over the course of 2011 and 2012 prompted satellite radar technological analyses and these revealed the source of the symptoms; the magma chamber under the volcano was swelled by a rush of molten rock by 10 to 20 million cubic metres between January 2011 and April 2012, which also caused parts of the island’s surface to rise out of the water by a reported 8 to 14 centimetres. Scientists say that the injection of molten rock was equivalent to 20 years’ worth of regular activity.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Santorini has a semi-arid climate (Bsh in the Koeppen climate classification) with Mediterranean characteristics. Total rainfall averages about 38 cm (15 inches) per year. In the summer season, strong winds can also be observed.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Minoan Akrotiri</h3><br>
<p>Excavations starting in 1967 at the Akrotiri site under the late Professor Spyridon Marinatos have made Thera the best-known Minoan site outside of Crete, homeland of the culture. The island was not known as Thera at this time. Only the southern tip of a large town has been uncovered, yet it has revealed complexes of multi-level buildings, streets, and squares with remains of walls standing as high as eight metres, all entombed in the solidified ash of the famous eruption of Thera. The site was not a palace-complex as found in Crete, but neither was it a conglomeration of merchants&#39; warehousing, as its excellent masonry and fine wall-paintings show. A loom-workshop suggests organized textile weaving for export. This Bronze Age civilization thrived between 3000 and 2000 BC, reaching its peak in the period between 2000 and 1580 BC.</p><br>
<p>Many of the houses in Akrotiri are major structures, some of them three storeys high. Its streets, squares, and walls were preserved in the layers of ejecta, sometimes as tall as eight metres, indicating this was a major town. In many houses stone staircases are still intact, and they contain huge ceramic storage jars (pithoi), mills, and pottery. Noted archaeological remains found in Akrotiri are wall paintings or frescoes, which have kept their original colour well, as they were preserved under many metres of volcanic ash. The town also had a highly developed drainage system and, judging from the fine artwork, its citizens were clearly sophisticated and relatively wealthy people.</p><br>
<p>Pipes with running water and water closets found at Akrotiri are the oldest such utilities discovered. The pipes run in twin systems, indicating that Therans used both hot and cold water supplies; the origin of the hot water probably was geothermic, given the volcanos proximity. The dual pipe system, the advanced architecture, and the apparent layout of the Akrotiri find resemble Platos description of the legendary lost city of Atlantis, further indicating the Minoans as the culture which primarily inspired the Atlantis legend.</p><br>
<p>Fragmentary wall-paintings at Akrotiri lack the insistent religious or mythological content familiar in Classical Greek décor. Instead, the Minoan frescoes depict "Saffron-Gatherers", who offer their crocus-stamens to a seated lady, perhaps a goddess. Crocus has been discovered to have many medicinal values including the relief of menstrual pain. This has led many archaeologists to believe that the fresco of the saffron/crocus gatherers is a coming of age fresco dealing with female pubescence. In another house are two antelopes, painted with a kind of confident, flowing, decorative, calligraphic line, the famous fresco of a fisherman with his double strings of fish strung by their gills, and the flotilla of pleasure boats, accompanied by leaping dolphins, where ladies take their ease in the shade of light canopies, among other frescoes.</p><br>
<p>The well preserved ruins of the ancient town are often compared to the spectacular ruins at Pompeii in Italy. The canopy covering the ruins collapsed in an accident in September 2005, killing one tourist and injuring seven more. The site was closed for almost seven years while a new canopy was built. The site was re-opened in April 2012.</p><br>
<p>The oldest signs of human settlement are Late Neolithic (4th millennium BC or earlier), but c. 2000–1650 BC Akrotiri developed into one of the Aegean&#39;s major Bronze Age ports, with recovered objects that came not just from Crete, but also from Anatolia, Cyprus, Syria, and Egypt, as well as from the Dodecanese and the Greek mainland.</p><br>
<h4>Dating of the Bronze Age eruption</h4><br>
<p>The Minoan eruption provides a fixed point for the chronology of the second millennium BC in the Aegean, because evidence of the eruption occurs throughout the region and the site itself contains material culture from outside. The eruption occurred during the "Late Minoan IA" period at Crete and the "Late Cycladic I" period in the surrounding islands.</p><br>
<p>Archaeological evidence, based on the established chronology of Bronze Age Mediterranean cultures, dates the eruption to around 1500 BC. These dates, however, conflict with radiocarbon dating which indicates that the eruption occurred at about 1645–1600 BC. Around the time of the radiocarbon-indicated date of the eruption, there is evidence for a significant climatic event in the Northern Hemisphere. The evidence includes failure of crops in China, as well as evidence from tree rings, and an ice core from Greenland. The tree rings date the climatic event to 1628 BC.</p><br>
<h3>Ancient period</h3><br>
<p>Santorini remained unoccupied throughout the rest of the Bronze Age, during which time the Greeks took over Crete. At Knossos, in a LMIIIA context (14th century BC), seven Linear B texts while calling upon "all the gods" make sure to grant primacy to an elsewhere-unattested entity called qe-ra-si-ja and, once, qe-ra-si-jo. If the endings -ia and -ios represent an ethnic suffix, then this means "The One From Qeras". If the initial consonant were aspirated, then *Qhera- would have become "Thera-" in later Greek. "Therasia" and its ethnikon "Therasios" are both attested in later Greek; and, since -sos was itself a genitive suffix in the Aegean Sprachbund, *Qeras could also shrink to *Qera. An alternate view takes qe-ra-si-ja and qe-ra-si-jo as proof of androgyny, and applies this name by similar arguments to the legendary seer, Tiresias, but these views are not mutually exclusive. If qe-ra-si-ja was an ethnikon first, then in following him/her/it the Cretans also feared whence it came.</p><br>
<p>Probably after what is called the Bronze Age collapse, Phoenicians founded a site on Thera. Herodotus reports that they called the island Callista and lived on it for eight generations. In the 9th century BC, Dorians founded the main Hellenic city on Mesa Vouno, 396 m above sea level. This group later claimed that they had named the city and the island after their leader, Theras. Today, that city is referred to as Ancient Thera.</p><br>
<p>In his Argonautica, written in Hellenistic Egypt in the 3rd century BC, Apollonius Rhodius includes an origin and sovereignty myth of Thera being given by Triton in Libya to the Greek Argonaut Euphemus, son of Poseidon, in the form of a clod of dirt. After carrying the dirt next to his heart for several days, Euphemus dreamt that he nursed the dirt with milk from his breast, and that the dirt turned into a beautiful woman with whom he had sex. The woman then told him that she was a daughter of Triton named Kalliste, and that when he threw the dirt into the sea it would grow into an island for his descendants to live on. The poem goes on to claim that the island was named Thera after Euphemus&#39; descendant Theras, son of Autesion, the leader of a group of refugee settlers from Lemnos.</p><br>
<p>The Dorians have left a number of inscriptions incised in stone, in the vicinity of the temple of Apollo, attesting to pederastic relations between the authors and their lovers (eromenoi). These inscriptions, found by Friedrich Hiller von Gaertringen, have been thought by some archaeologists to be of a ritual, celebratory nature, because of their large size, careful construction and – in some cases – execution by craftsmen other than the authors. According to Herodotus, following a drought of seven years, Thera sent out colonists who founded a number of cities in northern Africa, including Cyrene. In the 5th century BC, Dorian Thera did not join the Delian League with Athens; and during the Peloponnesian War, Thera sided with Dorian Sparta, against Athens. The Athenians took the island during the war, but lost it again after the Battle of Aegospotami. During the Hellenistic period, the island was a major naval base for Ptolemaic Egypt.</p><br>
<h3>Medieval and Ottoman period</h3><br>
<p>As with other Greek territories, Thera then was ruled by the Romans. When the Roman Empire was divided, the island passed to the eastern side of the Empire which today is known as the Byzantine Empire. According to George Cedrenus, the volcano erupted again in the summer of 727, the tenth year of the reign of Leo III the Isaurian. He writes: "In the same year, in the summer, a vapour like an oven&#39;s fire boiled up for days out of the middle of the islands of Thera and Therasia from the depths of the sea, and the whole place burned like fire, little by little thickening and turning to stone, and the air seemed to be a fiery torch."</p><br>
<p>The name "Santorini" first appears in in the work of the Muslim geographer al-Idrisi, as "Santurin", from the islands patron saint, Saint Irene. In 1318–1331 and 1345–1360 it was raided by the Turkish principalities of Menteshe and Aydın, but did not suffer much damage. From the 15th century on, the rule of the Republic of Venice over the island was recognized in a series of treaties by the Ottoman Empire, but this did not stop Ottoman raids, until it was captured by the Ottoman admiral Piyale Pasha in 1576, as part of a process of annexation of most remaining Latin possessions in the Aegean. It became part of the semi-autonomous domain of the Sultans Jewish favourite, Joseph Nasi. Santorini retained its privileged position in the 17th century, but suffered in turn from Venetian raids during the frequent Ottoman–Venetian wars of the period, even though there were no Muslims on the island.</p><br>
<p>Santorini was captured briefly by the Russians under Alexey Orlov during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, but returned to Ottoman control after. Following the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence on the Greek mainland in March 1821, in May Santorini followed suit, although the local Catholic population had its reservations. The island became part of the fledgling Greek state, rebelled against Governor Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1831, and became definitively part of the independent Kingdom of Greece in 1832, with the Treaty of Constantinople.</p><br>
<p>The island is still home to a Catholic community and the seat of a Catholic bishopric.</p><br>
<h3>World War II</h3><br>
<p>During the Second World War, Santorini was occupied in 1941 by Italian forces, and in 1943 by those of the Germans. In 1944, the German and Italian garrison on Santorini was raided by a group of British Special Boat Service Commandos, killing most of its men. Five locals were shot in reprisal, including the mayor.</p><br>
<h2>Modern Santorini</h2><br>
<h3>Tourism</h3><br>
<p>The 1956 Amorgos earthquake resulted in the demolishing of many buildings in the north of Santorini, leading to the desertion of many of its villages. The expansion of tourism has resulted in the growth of the economy and population. The major settlements include Fira (Phira), Oia, Emporio, Kamari, Perissa, Imerovigli, Pyrgos, and Therasia. Akrotiri is a major archaeological site, with ruins from the Minoan era. Santorinis primary industry is tourism, particularly in the summer months. In 2007, the cruise ship MS Sea Diamond ran aground and sank inside the caldera. The islands pumice quarries have been closed since 1986, in order to preserve the caldera. Santorini was ranked the world&#39;s top island for many magazines and travel sites, including the Travel+Leisure Magazine, the BBC, as well as the US News. An estimated 2 million tourists visit annually.</p><br>
<h3>Aridity</h3><br>
<p>Santorini has no rivers, and water is scarce. Until the early 1990s locals filled water cisterns from the rain that fell on roofs and courts, from small springs, and with imported assistance from other areas of Greece. In recent years a desalination plant has provided running, yet non-potable, water to most houses. Since rain is rare on the island from mid-spring till mid-autumn, many plants depend on the scant moisture provided by the common, early morning fog condensing on the ground as dew.</p><br>
<h3>Agriculture</h3><br>
<p>Because of its unique ecology and climate, and especially its volcanic ash soil, Santorini is home to unique and prized produce. Santorini tomatoes are renowned; they are cherry tomatoes that are extremely tasty and sweet, and with an intensely red, staining colour. Santorini "fava" is a purée made of the hulled, then sun-dried, then boiled legume Lathyrus clymenum – not from the yellow split pea as in the rest of Greece. The white eggplants of Santorini are very sweet, with very few seeds, and can be eaten raw. The katsoúni is a unique local variety of large cucumber which, if left unpicked when green, turn yellow and acquire a sweet taste almost indistinguishable from that of melon. Capers with their unique flavor are used in Greek salads and other local dishes.</p><br>
<h3>Cuisine</h3><br>
<p>Local specialties:</p><br>
<p>Brantada – A local Santorinian fish dish. Cod fillet coated in a mixture of flour, water, salt and sometimes beer, normally served with garlic salad. The best place to try it is in some less touristic villages, like Exo Gonia.</p><br>
<p>Koskosela (local Strapatsada)</p><br>
<p>Santorinio Sfougato – A traditional Santorini dish. Ingredients: small zucchini, onions, extra virgin olive oil, flour, eggs, rosemary leaves or spearmint tea leaves or dill, xinomyzithra or other sour milk cheese or soft feta, naxos sweet gruyère, salt and fresh ground pepper, sweet peppers, sesame seeds.</p><br>
<p>Tsounisti (Manestra)</p><br>
<p>Fava – A local Santorini dish, originally made with the broad bean. Later on, the broad bean was replaced with an easier version, the yellow shelled lentil. Its name originates from the word "favus" which is the Latin word for broad beans.</p><br>
<p>Melitinia (dessert) – Melitinia are cookies that are made for weddings, engagements and festivals. They are made of unsalted mitzithra cheese and yogurt and they also have a beautiful smell of mastic. They can be found in the traditional bakeries of Santorini.</p><br>
<p>Tomatokeftdes – also known as tomato fritters, is made with Santorini cherry sized tomatoes. It is cooked in olive oil with onions, peppers, mint and other herbs.</p><br>
<h3>Wine industry</h3><br>
<p>The island remains the home of a small, but flourishing, wine industry, based on the indigenous grape variety, Assyrtiko, with auxiliary cultivations of two other Aegean varietals, Athiri and Aidani. The vines are extremely old and resistant to phylloxera (attributed by local winemakers to the well-drained volcanic soil and its chemistry), so the vines needed no replacement during the great phylloxera epidemic of the late 19th century. In their adaptation to their habitat, such vines are planted far apart, as their principal source of moisture is dew, and they often are trained in the shape of low-spiralling baskets, with the grapes hanging inside to protect them from the winds.</p><br>
<p>The viticultural pride of the island is the sweet and strong Vinsanto ("holy wine"), a dessert wine made from the best sun-dried Assyrtiko, Athiri, and Aidani grapes, and undergoing long barrel aging (up to twenty or twenty-five years for the top cuvées). It matures to a sweet, dark amber-orange, unctuous dessert wine that has achieved worldwide fame, possessing the standard Assyrtiko aromas of citrus and minerals, layered with overtones of nuts, raisins, figs, honey and tea.</p><br>
<p>White wines from the island are extremely dry with a strong, citrus scent and mineral and iodide salt aromas contributed by the ashy volcanic soil, whereas barrel aging gives to some of the white wines a slight frankincense aroma, much like Vinsanto. It is not easy to be a winegrower in Santorini; the hot and dry conditions give the soil a very low productivity. The yield per acre is only 10 to 20% of the yields that are common in France or California. The island&#39;s wines are standardised and protected by the "Vinsanto" and "Santorini" OPAP designations of origin.</p><br>
<h3>Architecture</h3><br>
<p>The traditional architecture of Santorini is similar to that of the other Cyclades, with low-lying cubical houses, made of local stone and whitewashed or limewashed with various volcanic ashes used as colours. The unique characteristic is the common utilisation of the hypóskapha: extensions of houses dug sideways or downwards into the surrounding pumice. These rooms are prized because of the high insulation provided by the air-filled pumice, and are used as living quarters of unique coolness in the summer and warmth in the winter. These are premium storage space for produce, especially for wine cellaring: the Kánava wineries of Santorini.</p><br>
<p>When strong earthquakes struck the island in 1956, half the buildings were completely destroyed and a large number suffered repairable damage. The underground dwellings along the ridge overlooking the caldera, where the instability of the soil was responsible for the great extent of the damage, needed to be evacuated. Most of the population of Santorini had to emigrate to Piraeus and Athens.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Themison of Thera</p><br>
<p>Spyros Markezinis, politician</p><br>
<p>Mariza Koch, singer</p><br>
<p>Giannis Alafouzos, former president of Panathinaikos F.C.</p><br>
<p>Yiannis Chryssomallis (also known as Yanni), composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<h3>Land</h3><br>
<p>Bus services depart from Fira to most parts of the island.</p><br>
<h3>Ports</h3><br>
<p>Santorini has two ports: Athinios (Ferry Port) and Skala (Old Port). Cruise ships anchor off Skala and passengers are transferred by local boatmen to shore at Skala where Fira is accessed by cable car, on foot or by donkey. Tour boats depart from Skala for Nea Kameni and other Santorini destinations.</p><br>
<h3>Airport</h3><br>
<p>Santorini is one of the few Cyclades Islands with a major airport, which lies about 6 km southeast of downtown Thera. The main asphalt runway (16L-34R) is 2,125 m in length, and the parallel taxiway was built to runway specification (16R-34L). It can accommodate Boeing 757, Boeing 737, Airbus 320 series, Avro RJ, Fokker 70, and ATR 72 aircraft. Scheduled airlines include the new Olympic Air, Aegean Airlines, Ryanair and Athens Airways, with chartered flights from other airlines during the summer, and with transportation to and from the air terminal available through buses, taxis, hotel car-pickups and rental cars.</p><br>
<h2>Towns and villages</h2><br>
<p>Akrotiri</p><br>
<p>Ammoudi</p><br>
<p>Athinios</p><br>
<p>Emporio</p><br>
<p>Finika</p><br>
<p>Fira</p><br>
<p>Firostefani</p><br>
<p>Imerovigli</p><br>
<p>Kamari</p><br>
<p>Karterados</p><br>
<p>Messaria</p><br>
<p>Monolithos</p><br>
<p>Perissa</p><br>
<p>Pyrgos Kallistis</p><br>
<p>Vothonas</p><br>
<p>Vourvoulos</p><br>
<p>The Sudetes are a mountain range in Central Europe, also known in English  as the Sudeten or Sudety mountains.</p><br>
<p>The range stretches from eastern Germany (West Lusatian Hill Country and Uplands) by Tripoint to south-western Poland and to northern Czech Republic. The highest peak of the range is Sněžka (Śnieżka) in the Krkonoše (Polish: Karkonosze) mountains on the Czech Republic–Poland border, which is 1,603 m in elevation. The current geomorphological unit in the Czech part of the mountain range is Krkonošsko-jesenická subprovincie ("Krkonoše-Jeseníky"). It is separated from the Carpathian Mountains by the Moravian Gate.</p><br>
<p>The Krkonoše Mountains (also called the Giant Mountains) have experienced growing tourism for winter sports during the past ten years. Their skiing resorts are becoming a budget alternative to the Alps.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The name Sudetes is derived from Sudeti montes, a Latinization of the name Soudeta ore used in the Geographia by the Greco-Roman writer Ptolemy (Book 2, Chapter 10) c. AD 150 for a range of mountains in Germania in the general region of the modern Czech republic.</p><br>
<p>There is no consensus about which mountains he meant, and he could for example have intended the Ore Mountains, joining the modern Sudetes to their west, or even (according to Schütte) the Bohemian Forest (although this is normally considered to be equivalent to Ptolemys Gabreta forest. The modern Sudetes are probably Ptolemys Askiburgion mountains.</p><br>
<p>Ptolemy wrote "Σούδητα" in Greek, which is a neuter plural. Latin mons, however, is a masculine, hence Sudeti. The Latin version, and the modern geographical identification, is likely to be a scholastic innovation, as it is not attested in classical Latin literature. The meaning of the name is not known. In one hypothetical derivation, it means Mountains of Wild Boars, relying on Indo-European *su-, "pig". A better etymology perhaps is from Latin sudis, plural sudes, "spines", which can be used of spiny fish or spiny terrain.</p><br>
<h2>Subdivisions</h2><br>
<p>The Sudetes are usually divided into:</p><br>
<p>Eastern Sudetes (Czech: Jeseníky) in the Czech Republic and Poland</p><br>
<p>Oderské vrchy (Nízký Jeseník)</p><br>
<p>Hrubý Jeseník (High Ash) Mountains with Mt. Praděd, 1,491 m</p><br>
<p>Opawskie Mountains</p><br>
<p>Golden Mountains</p><br>
<p>Śnieżnik Mountains</p><br>
<p>Hanušovická vrchovina</p><br>
<p>Central Sudetes, in the Czech Republic and Poland</p><br>
<p>Orlické Mountains with Mt. Velká Deštná, 1,115 m</p><br>
<p>Bystrzyckie Mountains</p><br>
<p>Bardzkie Mountains</p><br>
<p>Table Mountains</p><br>
<p>Owl Mountains</p><br>
<p>Krucze Mountains</p><br>
<p>Stone Mountains</p><br>
<p>Waldenburg Mountains</p><br>
<p>Ślęża massif</p><br>
<p>Western Sudetes, in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland</p><br>
<p>Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge</p><br>
<p>Jizera Mountains</p><br>
<p>Kaczawskie Mountains</p><br>
<p>Krkonoše (Giant Mountains) with Mt. Sněžka, 1,602 m</p><br>
<p>Lusatian Mountains</p><br>
<p>Rudawy Janowickie</p><br>
<p>Lusatian Highlands</p><br>
<p>Sudeten Foreland</p><br>
<p>High Sudetes (Wysokie Sudety, Vysoké Sudety, Hohe Sudeten) is together name for the Krkonoše, Hrubý Jeseník and Śnieżnik mountain ranges. The Sudetes also comprise larger basins like the Jelenia Góra and the Kłodzko Valley.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The exact location of the Sudetes has varied over the centuries. The ancient Sudeti meant at least the northwest frontier of today&#39;s Czech Republic, probably extending to the north. By implication, it was part of the vast Hercynian Forest belt mentioned by several authors of the antiquity.</p><br>
<p>In the Middle Ages German colonists were invited by the Piast dukes of Silesia and the Přemyslid kings of Bohemia to settle in the previously Slavic areas for agricultural and urban development in the course of the Ostsiedlung (German eastward expansion) migration.</p><br>
<h3>Sudetes and "Sudetenland"</h3><br>
<p>After World War I the name Sudetenland came into use to describe areas of the First Czechoslovak Republic with large ethnic German populations. In 1918 the short-lived rump state of German-Austria proclaimed a Province of the Sudetenland in northern Moravia and Austrian Silesia around the city of Opava (Troppau).</p><br>
<p>The term was used in a wider sense when on 1 October 1933 Konrad Henlein founded the Sudeten German Party and in Nazi German parlance Sudetendeutsche (Sudeten Germans) referred to all indigenous ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia. They were heavily clustered in the entire mountainous periphery of Czechoslovakia—not only in the former Moravian Provinz Sudetenland but also along the northwestern Bohemian borderlands with German Lower Silesia, Saxony and Bavaria, in an area formerly called German Bohemia. In total the German minority population of pre-World War II Czechoslovakia numbered around 20% of the total national population.</p><br>
<p>Sparking a "Sudeten Crisis", Hitler got his future enemies to concede the Sudetenland with most of the Czechoslovak border fortifications in the 1938 Munich Agreement, leaving the remainder of Czechoslovakia shorn of its natural borders and buffer zone, finally occupied by Germany in March 1939. After being annexed by Nazi Germany, much of the region was redesignated as the Reichsgau Sudetenland.</p><br>
<p>After World War II, most of the German population within the Polish and Czechoslovak Sudetes was forcibly expelled on the basis of the Potsdam Agreement and the Beneš decrees. A considerable proportion of the Czechoslovak populace thereafter strongly objected to the use of the term Sudety. In the Czech Republic the designation Krkonošsko-jesenická subprovincie is used officially and in maps etc. usually only the discrete Czech names for the individual mountain ranges (e.g. Krkonoše) appear, as under Subdivisions above.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>The nearest international airport is in Wrocław - Copernicus Airport Wrocław.</p><br>
<p>In the Sudetes there are many spa towns with sanatoria. In many places the developed tourist base - hotels, guest houses, ski infrastructure.</p><br>
<h3>Notable towns</h3><br>
<p>Notable towns in this area include:</p><br>
<p>Jelenia Góra (Poland)</p><br>
<p>Karpacz (Poland)</p><br>
<p>Szklarska Poręba (Poland)</p><br>
<p>Świeradów-Zdrój (Poland)</p><br>
<p>Kłodzko (Poland)</p><br>
<p>Polanica-Zdrój (Poland)</p><br>
<p>Duszniki-Zdrój with Zieleniec (Poland)</p><br>
<p>Kudowa-Zdrój (Poland)</p><br>
<p>Lądek-Zdrój (Poland)</p><br>
<p>Sokołowsko (Poland)</p><br>
<p>Harrachov (Czech Republic)</p><br>
<p>Špindlerův Mlýn (Czech Republic)</p><br>
<p>Žacléř (Czech Republic)</p><br>
<p>Vrchlabí (Czech Republic)</p><br>
<p>Zittau (Germany)</p><br>
<h2>Image gallery</h2><br>
<p>The Statue of Liberty  is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.</p><br>
<p>The Statue of Liberty is a figure of a robed woman representing Libertas, a Roman goddess. She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed in Roman numerals with "JULY IV MDCCLXXVI" (July 4, 1776), the date of the USA Declaration of Independence. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, and was a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad.</p><br>
<p>Bartholdi was inspired by a French law professor and politician, Édouard René de Laboulaye, who is said to have commented in 1865 that any monument raised to USA independence would properly be a joint project of the French and American peoples. Because of the post-war instability in France, work on the statue did not commence until the early 1870s. In 1875, Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue and the USA provide the site and build the pedestal. Bartholdi completed the head and the torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions.</p><br>
<p>The torch-bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Madison Square Park in Manhattan from 1876 to 1882. Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on the pedestal was threatened by lack of funds. Publisher Joseph Pulitzer, of the New York World, started a drive for donations to finish the project and attracted more than 120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than a dollar. The statue was built in France, shipped overseas in crates, and assembled on the completed pedestal on what was then called Bedloes Island. The statues completion was marked by New York&#39;s first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland.</p><br>
<p>The statue was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War; since 1933 it has been maintained by the National Park Service. Public access to the balcony around the torch has been barred for safety since 1916.</p><br>
<h2>Design and construction process</h2><br>
<h3>Origin</h3><br>
<p>According to the National Park Service, the idea for the Statue of Liberty was first proposed by Édouard René de Laboulaye the president of the French Anti-Slavery Society and a prominent and important political thinker of his time. The project is traced to a mid-1865 conversation between de Laboulaye, a staunch abolitionist and Frédéric Bartholdi, a sculptor. In after-dinner conversation at his home near Versailles, Laboulaye, an ardent supporter of the Union in the American Civil War, is supposed to have said: "If a monument should rise in the United States, as a memorial to their independence, I should think it only natural if it were built by united effort—a common work of both our nations." The National Park Service, in a 2000 report, however, deemed this a legend traced to an 1885 fundraising pamphlet, and that the statue was most likely conceived in 1870. In another essay on their website, the Park Service suggested that Laboulaye was minded to honor the Union victory and its consequences, "With the abolition of slavery and the Unions victory in the Civil War in 1865, Laboulayes wishes of freedom and democracy were turning into a reality in the United States. In order to honor these achievements, Laboulaye proposed that a gift be built for the United States on behalf of France. Laboulaye hoped that by calling attention to the recent achievements of the United States, the French people would be inspired to call for their own democracy in the face of a repressive monarchy."</p><br>
<p>According to sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who later recounted the story, Laboulayes comment was not intended as a proposal, but it inspired Bartholdi. Given the repressive nature of the regime of Napoleon III, Bartholdi took no immediate action on the idea except to discuss it with Laboulaye. Bartholdi was in any event busy with other possible projects; in the late 1860s, he approached Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, a plan to build Progress or Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia, a huge lighthouse in the form of an ancient Egyptian female fellah or peasant, robed and holding a torch aloft, at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal in Port Said. Sketches and models were made of the proposed work, though it was never erected. There was a classical precedent for the Suez proposal, the Colossus of Rhodes: an ancient bronze statue of the Greek god of the sun, Helios. This statue is believed to have been over 100 ft high, and it similarly stood at a harbor entrance and carried a light to guide ships.</p><br>
<p>Any large project was further delayed by the Franco-Prussian War, in which Bartholdi served as a major of militia. In the war, Napoleon III was captured and deposed. Bartholdi&#39;s home province of Alsace was lost to the Prussians, and a more liberal republic was installed in France. As Bartholdi had been planning a trip to the United States, he and Laboulaye decided the time was right to discuss the idea with influential Americans. In June 1871, Bartholdi crossed the Atlantic, with letters of introduction signed by Laboulaye.</p><br>
<p>Arriving at New York Harbor, Bartholdi focused on Bedloe&#39;s Island (now named Liberty Island) as a site for the statue, struck by the fact that vessels arriving in New York had to sail past it. He was delighted to learn that the island was owned by the United States government—it had been ceded by the New York State Legislature in 1800 for harbor defense. It was thus, as he put it in a letter to Laboulaye: "land common to all the states." As well as meeting many influential New Yorkers, Bartholdi visited President Ulysses S. Grant, who assured him that it would not be difficult to obtain the site for the statue. Bartholdi crossed the United States twice by rail, and met many Americans who he thought would be sympathetic to the project. But he remained concerned that popular opinion on both sides of the Atlantic was insufficiently supportive of the proposal, and he and Laboulaye decided to wait before mounting a public campaign.</p><br>
<p>Bartholdi had made a first model of his concept in 1870. The son of a friend of Bartholdis, American artist John LaFarge, later maintained that Bartholdi made the first sketches for the statue during his USA visit at La Farges Rhode Island studio. Bartholdi continued to develop the concept following his return to France. He also worked on a number of sculptures designed to bolster French patriotism after the defeat by the Prussians. One of these was the Lion of Belfort, a monumental sculpture carved in sandstone below the fortress of Belfort, which during the war had resisted a Prussian siege for over three months. The defiant lion, 73 ft long and half that in height, displays an emotional quality characteristic of Romanticism, which Bartholdi would later bring to the Statue of Liberty.</p><br>
<h3>Design, style, and symbolism</h3><br>
<p>Bartholdi and Laboulaye considered how best to express the idea of American liberty. In early American history, two female figures were frequently used as cultural symbols of the nation. One of these symbols, the personified Columbia, was seen as an embodiment of the United States in the manner that Britannia was identified with the United Kingdom and Marianne came to represent France. Columbia had supplanted the earlier figure of an Indian princess, which had come to be regarded as uncivilized and derogatory toward Americans. The other significant female icon in American culture was a representation of Liberty, derived from Libertas, the goddess of freedom widely worshipped in ancient Rome, especially among emancipated slaves. A Liberty figure adorned most American coins of the time, and representations of Liberty appeared in popular and civic art, including Thomas Crawford&#39;s Statue of Freedom (1863) atop the dome of the United States Capitol Building.</p><br>
<p>Artists of the 18th and 19th centuries striving to evoke republican ideals commonly used representations of Libertas as an allegorical symbol. A figure of Liberty was also depicted on the Great Seal of France. However, Bartholdi and Laboulaye avoided an image of revolutionary liberty such as that depicted in Eugène Delacroixs famed Liberty Leading the People (1830). In this painting, which commemorates Frances Revolution of 1830, a half-clothed Liberty leads an armed mob over the bodies of the fallen. Laboulaye had no sympathy for revolution, and so Bartholdi&#39;s figure would be fully dressed in flowing robes. Instead of the impression of violence in the Delacroix work, Bartholdi wished to give the statue a peaceful appearance and chose a torch, representing progress, for the figure to hold.</p><br>
<p>Crawford&#39;s statue was designed in the early 1850s. It was originally to be crowned with a pileus, the cap given to emancipated slaves in ancient Rome. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, a Southerner who would later serve as President of the Confederate States of America, was concerned that the pileus would be taken as an abolitionist symbol. He ordered that it be changed to a helmet.</p><br>
<p>Delacroix&#39;s figure wears a pileus, and Bartholdi at first considered placing one on his figure as well. Instead, he used a diadem, or crown, to top its head. In so doing, he avoided a reference to Marianne, who invariably wears a pileus. The seven rays form a halo or aureole. They evoke the sun, the seven seas, and the seven continents, and represent another means, besides the torch, whereby Liberty enlightens the world.</p><br>
<p>Bartholdis early models were all similar in concept: a female figure in neoclassical style representing liberty, wearing a stola and pella (gown and cloak, common in depictions of Roman goddesses) and holding a torch aloft. According to popular accounts, the face was modeled after that of Charlotte Beysser Bartholdi, the sculptors mother, but Regis Huber, the curator of the Bartholdi Museum is on record as saying that this, as well as other similar speculations, have no basis in fact. He designed the figure with a strong, uncomplicated silhouette, which would be set off well by its dramatic harbor placement and allow passengers on vessels entering New York Bay to experience a changing perspective on the statue as they proceeded toward Manhattan. He gave it bold classical contours and applied simplified modeling, reflecting the huge scale of the project and its solemn purpose. Bartholdi wrote of his technique:</p><br>
<p>The surfaces should be broad and simple, defined by a bold and clear design, accentuated in the important places. The enlargement of the details or their multiplicity is to be feared. By exaggerating the forms, in order to render them more clearly visible, or by enriching them with details, we would destroy the proportion of the work. Finally, the model, like the design, should have a summarized character, such as one would give to a rapid sketch. Only it is necessary that this character should be the product of volition and study, and that the artist, concentrating his knowledge, should find the form and the line in its greatest simplicity.</p><br>
<p>Bartholdi made alterations in the design as the project evolved. Bartholdi considered having Liberty hold a broken chain, but decided this would be too divisive in the days after the Civil War. The erected statue does rise over a broken chain, half-hidden by her robes and difficult to see from the ground. Bartholdi was initially uncertain of what to place in Libertys left hand; he settled on a tabula ansata, used to evoke the concept of law. Though Bartholdi greatly admired the United States Constitution, he chose to inscribe "JULY IV MDCCLXXVI" on the tablet, thus associating the date of the countrys Declaration of Independence with the concept of liberty.</p><br>
<p>Bartholdi interested his friend and mentor, architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, in the project. As chief engineer, Viollet-le-Duc designed a brick pier within the statue, to which the skin would be anchored.</p><br>
<p>After consultations with the metalwork foundry Gaget, Gauthier & Co., Viollet-le-Duc chose the metal which would be used for the skin, copper sheets, and the method used to shape it, repoussé, in which the sheets were heated and then struck with wooden hammers. An advantage of this choice was that the entire statue would be light for its volume, as the copper need be only 0.094 in thick. Bartholdi had decided on a height of just over 151 ft for the statue, double that of Italy&#39;s Sancarlone and the German statue of Arminius, both made with the same method.</p><br>
<h3>Announcement and early work</h3><br>
<p>By 1875, France was enjoying improved political stability and a recovering postwar economy. Growing interest in the upcoming Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia led Laboulaye to decide it was time to seek public support. In September 1875, he announced the project and the formation of the Franco-American Union as its fundraising arm. With the announcement, the statue was given a name, Liberty Enlightening the World. The French would finance the statue; Americans would be expected to pay for the pedestal. The announcement provoked a generally favorable reaction in France, though many Frenchmen resented the United States for not coming to their aid during the war with Prussia. French monarchists opposed the statue, if for no other reason than it was proposed by the liberal Laboulaye, who had recently been elected a senator for life. Laboulaye arranged events designed to appeal to the rich and powerful, including a special performance at the Paris Opera on April 25, 1876, that featured a new cantata by composer Charles Gounod. The piece was titled La Liberté éclairant le monde, the French version of the statue&#39;s announced name.</p><br>
<p>Despite its initial focus on the elites, the Union was successful in raising funds from across French society. Schoolchildren and ordinary citizens gave, as did 181 French municipalities. Laboulaye&#39;s political allies supported the call, as did descendants of the French contingent in the American Revolutionary War. Less idealistically, contributions came from those who hoped for American support in the French attempt to build the Panama Canal. The copper may have come from multiple sources and some of it is said to have come from a mine in Visnes, Norway, though this has not been conclusively determined after testing samples. According to Cara Sutherland in her book on the statue for the Museum of the City of New York, 90,800 kilos (200,000 pounds) was needed to build the statue, and the French copper industrialist Eugène Secrétan donated 58,100 kilos (128,000 pounds) of copper.</p><br>
<p>Although plans for the statue had not been finalized, Bartholdi moved forward with fabrication of the right arm, bearing the torch, and the head. Work began at the Gaget, Gauthier & Co. workshop. In May 1876, Bartholdi traveled to the United States as a member of a French delegation to the Centennial Exhibition, and arranged for a huge painting of the statue to be shown in New York as part of the Centennial festivities. The arm did not arrive in Philadelphia until August; because of its late arrival, it was not listed in the exhibition catalogue, and while some reports correctly identified the work, others called it the "Colossal Arm" or "Bartholdi Electric Light". The exhibition grounds contained a number of monumental artworks to compete for fairgoers interest, including an outsized fountain designed by Bartholdi. Nevertheless, the arm proved popular in the exhibitions waning days, and visitors would climb up to the balcony of the torch to view the fairgrounds. After the exhibition closed, the arm was transported to New York, where it remained on display in Madison Square Park for several years before it was returned to France to join the rest of the statue.</p><br>
<p>During his second trip to the United States, Bartholdi addressed a number of groups about the project, and urged the formation of American committees of the Franco-American Union. Committees to raise money to pay for the foundation and pedestal were formed in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. The New York group eventually took on most of the responsibility for American fundraising and is often referred to as the "American Committee". One of its members was 19-year-old Theodore Roosevelt, the future governor of New York and president of the United States. On March 3, 1877, on his final full day in office, President Grant signed a joint resolution that authorized the President to accept the statue when it was presented by France and to select a site for it. President Rutherford B. Hayes, who took office the following day, selected the Bedloe&#39;s Island site that Bartholdi had proposed.</p><br>
<h3>Construction in France</h3><br>
<p>On his return to Paris in 1877, Bartholdi concentrated on completing the head, which was exhibited at the 1878 Paris World&#39;s Fair. Fundraising continued, with models of the statue put on sale. Tickets to view the construction activity at the Gaget, Gauthier & Co. workshop were also offered. The French government authorized a lottery; among the prizes were valuable silver plate and a terracotta model of the statue. By the end of 1879, about 250,000 francs had been raised.</p><br>
<p>The head and arm had been built with assistance from Viollet-le-Duc, who fell ill in 1879. He soon died, leaving no indication of how he intended to transition from the copper skin to his proposed masonry pier. The following year, Bartholdi was able to obtain the services of the innovative designer and builder Gustave Eiffel. Eiffel and his structural engineer, Maurice Koechlin, decided to abandon the pier and instead build an iron truss tower. Eiffel opted not to use a completely rigid structure, which would force stresses to accumulate in the skin and lead eventually to cracking. A secondary skeleton was attached to the center pylon, then, to enable the statue to move slightly in the winds of New York Harbor and as the metal expanded on hot summer days, he loosely connected the support structure to the skin using flat iron bars which culminated in a mesh of metal straps, known as "saddles", that were riveted to the skin, providing firm support. In a labor-intensive process, each saddle had to be crafted individually. To prevent galvanic corrosion between the copper skin and the iron support structure, Eiffel insulated the skin with asbestos impregnated with shellac.</p><br>
<p>Eiffel&#39;s design made the statue one of the earliest examples of curtain wall construction, in which the exterior of the structure is not load bearing, but is instead supported by an interior framework. He included two interior spiral staircases, to make it easier for visitors to reach the observation point in the crown. Access to an observation platform surrounding the torch was also provided, but the narrowness of the arm allowed for only a single ladder, 40 ft long. As the pylon tower arose, Eiffel and Bartholdi coordinated their work carefully so that completed segments of skin would fit exactly on the support structure. The components of the pylon tower were built in the Eiffel factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret.</p><br>
<p>The change in structural material from masonry to iron allowed Bartholdi to change his plans for the statues assembly. He had originally expected to assemble the skin on-site as the masonry pier was built; instead he decided to build the statue in France and have it disassembled and transported to the United States for reassembly in place on Bedloes Island.</p><br>
<p>In a symbolic act, the first rivet placed into the skin, fixing a copper plate onto the statues big toe, was driven by United States Ambassador to France Levi P. Morton. The skin was not, however, crafted in exact sequence from low to high; work proceeded on a number of segments simultaneously in a manner often confusing to visitors. Some work was performed by contractors—one of the fingers was made to Bartholdis exacting specifications by a coppersmith in the southern French town of Montauban. By 1882, the statue was complete up to the waist, an event Barthodi celebrated by inviting reporters to lunch on a platform built within the statue. Laboulaye died in 1883. He was succeeded as chairman of the French committee by Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of the Suez Canal. The completed statue was formally presented to Ambassador Morton at a ceremony in Paris on July 4, 1884, and de Lesseps announced that the French government had agreed to pay for its transport to New York. The statue remained intact in Paris pending sufficient progress on the pedestal; by January 1885, this had occurred and the statue was disassembled and crated for its ocean voyage.</p><br>
<p>The committees in the United States faced great difficulties in obtaining funds for the construction of the pedestal. The Panic of 1873 had led to an economic depression that persisted through much of the decade. The Liberty statue project was not the only such undertaking that had difficulty raising money: construction of the obelisk later known as the Washington Monument sometimes stalled for years; it would ultimately take over three-and-a-half decades to complete. There was criticism both of Bartholdis statue and of the fact that the gift required Americans to foot the bill for the pedestal. In the years following the Civil War, most Americans preferred realistic artworks depicting heroes and events from the nations history, rather than allegorical works like the Liberty statue. There was also a feeling that Americans should design American public works—the selection of Italian-born Constantino Brumidi to decorate the Capitol had provoked intense criticism, even though he was a naturalized USA citizen. Harpers Weekly declared its wish that "M. Bartholdi and our French cousins had gone the whole figure&#39; while they were about it, and given us statue and pedestal at once." The New York Times stated that "no true patriot can countenance any such expenditures for bronze females in the present state of our finances." Faced with these criticisms, the American committees took little action for several years.</p><br>
<h4>Design</h4><br>
<p>The foundation of Bartholdis statue was to be laid inside Fort Wood, a disused army base on Bedloes Island constructed between 1807 and 1811. Since 1823, it had rarely been used, though during the Civil War, it had served as a recruiting station. The fortifications of the structure were in the shape of an eleven-point star. The statue&#39;s foundation and pedestal were aligned so that it would face southeast, greeting ships entering the harbor from the Atlantic Ocean.</p><br>
<p>In 1881, the New York committee commissioned Richard Morris Hunt to design the pedestal. Within months, Hunt submitted a detailed plan, indicating that he expected construction to take about nine months. He proposed a pedestal 114 ft in height; faced with money problems, the committee reduced that to 89 ft.</p><br>
<p>Hunts pedestal design contains elements of classical architecture, including Doric portals, as well as some elements influenced by Aztec architecture. The large mass is fragmented with architectural detail, in order to focus attention on the statue. In form, it is a truncated pyramid, 62 ft square at the base and 39.4 ft at the top. The four sides are identical in appearance. Above the door on each side, there are ten disks upon which Bartholdi proposed to place the coats of arms of the states (between 1876 and 1889, there were 38 USA states), although this was not done. Above that, a balcony was placed on each side, framed by pillars. Bartholdi placed an observation platform near the top of the pedestal, above which the statue itself rises. According to author Louis Auchincloss, the pedestal "craggily evokes the power of an ancient Europe over which rises the dominating figure of the Statue of Liberty". The committee hired former army General Charles Pomeroy Stone to oversee the construction work. Construction on the 15 ft foundation began in 1883, and the pedestals cornerstone was laid in 1884. In Hunt&#39;s original conception, the pedestal was to have been made of solid granite. Financial concerns again forced him to revise his plans; the final design called for poured concrete walls, up to 20 ft thick, faced with granite blocks. This Stony Creek granite came from the Beattie Quarry in Branford, Connecticut. The concrete mass was the largest poured to that time.</p><br>
<p>Norwegian immigrant civil engineer Joachim Goschen Giæver designed the structural framework for the Statue of Liberty. His work involved design computations, detailed fabrication and construction drawings, and oversight of construction. In completing his engineering for the statue&#39;s frame, Giæver worked from drawings and sketches produced by Gustave Eiffel.</p><br>
<h4>Fundraising</h4><br>
<p>Fundraising for the statue had begun in 1882. The committee organized a large number of money-raising events. As part of one such effort, an auction of art and manuscripts, poet Emma Lazarus was asked to donate an original work. She initially declined, stating she could not write a poem about a statue. At the time, she was also involved in aiding refugees to New York who had fled anti-Semitic pogroms in eastern Europe. These refugees were forced to live in conditions that the wealthy Lazarus had never experienced. She saw a way to express her empathy for these refugees in terms of the statue. The resulting sonnet, "The New Colossus", including the iconic lines "Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free", is uniquely identified with the Statue of Liberty and is inscribed on a plaque in the museum in its base.</p><br>
<p>Even with these efforts, fundraising lagged. Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York, vetoed a bill to provide $50,000 for the statue project in 1884. An attempt the next year to have Congress provide $100,000, sufficient to complete the project, also failed. The New York committee, with only $3,000 in the bank, suspended work on the pedestal. With the project in jeopardy, groups from other American cities, including Boston and Philadelphia, offered to pay the full cost of erecting the statue in return for relocating it.</p><br>
<p>Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of the New York World, a New York newspaper, announced a drive to raise $100,000—the equivalent of $2.3 million today. Pulitzer pledged to print the name of every contributor, no matter how small the amount given. The drive captured the imagination of New Yorkers, especially when Pulitzer began publishing the notes he received from contributors. "A young girl alone in the world" donated "60 cents, the result of self denial." One donor gave "five cents as a poor office boys mite toward the Pedestal Fund." A group of children sent a dollar as "the money we saved to go to the circus with." Another dollar was given by a "lonely and very aged woman." Residents of a home for alcoholics in New Yorks rival city of Brooklyn—the cities would not merge until 1898—donated $15; other drinkers helped out through donation boxes in bars and saloons. A kindergarten class in Davenport, Iowa, mailed the World a gift of $1.35. As the donations flooded in, the committee resumed work on the pedestal.</p><br>
<h4>Construction</h4><br>
<p>On June 17, 1885, the French steamer Isère, laden with the Statue of Liberty, reached the New York port safely. New Yorkers displayed their new-found enthusiasm for the statue, as the French vessel arrived with the crates holding the disassembled statue on board. Two hundred thousand people lined the docks and hundreds of boats put to sea to welcome the Isère. After five months of daily calls to donate to the statue fund, on August 11, 1885, the World announced that $102,000 had been raised from 120,000 donors, and that 80 percent of the total had been received in sums of less than one dollar.</p><br>
<p>Even with the success of the fund drive, the pedestal was not completed until April 1886. Immediately thereafter, reassembly of the statue began. Eiffels iron framework was anchored to steel I-beams within the concrete pedestal and assembled. Once this was done, the sections of skin were carefully attached. Due to the width of the pedestal, it was not possible to erect scaffolding, and workers dangled from ropes while installing the skin sections. Nevertheless, no one died during the construction. Bartholdi had planned to put floodlights on the torchs balcony to illuminate it; a week before the dedication, the Army Corps of Engineers vetoed the proposal, fearing that ships pilots passing the statue would be blinded. Instead, Bartholdi cut portholes in the torch—which was covered with gold leaf—and placed the lights inside them. A power plant was installed on the island to light the torch and for other electrical needs. After the skin was completed, renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, co-designer of New Yorks Central Park and Brooklyns Prospect Park, supervised a cleanup of Bedloes Island in anticipation of the dedication.</p><br>
<h3>Dedication</h3><br>
<p>A ceremony of dedication was held on the afternoon of October 28, 1886. President Grover Cleveland, the former New York governor, presided over the event. On the morning of the dedication, a parade was held in New York City; estimates of the number of people who watched it ranged from several hundred thousand to a million. President Cleveland headed the procession, then stood in the reviewing stand to see bands and marchers from across America. General Stone was the grand marshal of the parade. The route began at Madison Square, once the venue for the arm, and proceeded to the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan by way of Fifth Avenue and Broadway, with a slight detour so the parade could pass in front of the World building on Park Row. As the parade passed the New York Stock Exchange, traders threw ticker tape from the windows, beginning the New York tradition of the ticker-tape parade.</p><br>
<p>A nautical parade began at 12:45 p.m., and President Cleveland embarked on a yacht that took him across the harbor to Bedloes Island for the dedication. De Lesseps made the first speech, on behalf of the French committee, followed by the chairman of the New York committee, Senator William M. Evarts. A French flag draped across the statues face was to be lowered to unveil the statue at the close of Evartss speech, but Bartholdi mistook a pause as the conclusion and let the flag fall prematurely. The ensuing cheers put an end to Evartss address. President Cleveland spoke next, stating that the statues "stream of light shall pierce the darkness of ignorance and mans oppression until Liberty enlightens the world". Bartholdi, observed near the dais, was called upon to speak, but he declined. Orator Chauncey M. Depew concluded the speechmaking with a lengthy address.</p><br>
<p>No members of the general public were permitted on the island during the ceremonies, which were reserved entirely for dignitaries. The only females granted access were Bartholdis wife and de Lessepss granddaughter; officials stated that they feared women might be injured in the crush of people. The restriction offended area suffragists, who chartered a boat and got as close as they could to the island. The groups leaders made speeches applauding the embodiment of Liberty as a woman and advocating womens right to vote. A scheduled fireworks display was postponed until November 1 because of poor weather.</p><br>
<p>Shortly after the dedication, The Cleveland Gazette, an African American newspaper, suggested that the statue&#39;s torch not be lit until the United States became a free nation "in reality":</p><br>
<p>"Liberty enlightening the world," indeed! The expression makes us sick. This government is a howling farce. It can not or rather does not protect its citizens within its own borders. Shove the Bartholdi statue, torch and all, into the ocean until the "liberty" of this country is such as to make it possible for an inoffensive and industrious colored man to earn a respectable living for himself and family, without being ku-kluxed, perhaps murdered, his daughter and wife outraged, and his property destroyed. The idea of the "liberty" of this country "enlightening the world," or even Patagonia, is ridiculous in the extreme.</p><br>
<h2>After dedication</h2><br>
<h3>Lighthouse Board and War Department (1886–1933)</h3><br>
<p>When the torch was illuminated on the evening of the statues dedication, it produced only a faint gleam, barely visible from Manhattan. The World characterized it as "more like a glowworm than a beacon." Bartholdi suggested gilding the statue to increase its ability to reflect light, but this proved too expensive. The United States Lighthouse Board took over the Statue of Liberty in 1887 and pledged to install equipment to enhance the torchs effect; in spite of its efforts, the statue remained virtually invisible at night. When Bartholdi returned to the United States in 1893, he made additional suggestions, all of which proved ineffective. He did successfully lobby for improved lighting within the statue, allowing visitors to better appreciate Eiffels design. In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt, once a member of the New York committee, ordered the statues transfer to the War Department, as it had proved useless as a lighthouse. A unit of the Army Signal Corps was stationed on Bedloe&#39;s Island until 1923, after which military police remained there while the island was under military jurisdiction.</p><br>
<p>The statue rapidly became a landmark. Many immigrants who entered through New York saw it as a welcoming sight. Oral histories of immigrants record their feelings of exhilaration on first viewing the Statue of Liberty. One immigrant who arrived from Greece recalled,</p><br>
<p>I saw the Statue of Liberty. And I said to myself, "Lady, you&#39;re such a beautiful! You opened your arms and you get all the foreigners here. Give me a chance to prove that I am worth it, to do something, to be someone in America." And always that statue was on my mind.</p><br>
<p>Originally, the statue was a dull copper color, but shortly after 1900 a green patina, also called verdigris, caused by the oxidation of the copper skin, began to spread. As early as 1902 it was mentioned in the press; by 1906 it had entirely covered the statue. Believing that the patina was evidence of corrosion, Congress authorized for various repairs, and to paint the statue both inside and out. There was considerable public protest against the proposed exterior painting. The Army Corps of Engineers studied the patina for any ill effects to the statue and concluded that it protected the skin, "softened the outlines of the Statue and made it beautiful." The statue was painted only on the inside. The Corps of Engineers also installed an elevator to take visitors from the base to the top of the pedestal.</p><br>
<p>On July 30, 1916, during World War I, German saboteurs set off a disastrous explosion on the Black Tom peninsula in Jersey City, New Jersey, in what is now part of Liberty State Park, close to Bedloe&#39;s Island. Carloads of dynamite and other explosives that were being sent to Britain and France for their war efforts were detonated, and seven people were killed. The statue sustained minor damage, mostly to the torch-bearing right arm, and was closed for ten days. The cost to repair the statue and buildings on the island was about. The narrow ascent to the torch was closed for public-safety reasons, and it has remained closed ever since.</p><br>
<p>That same year, Ralph Pulitzer, who had succeeded his father Joseph as publisher of the World, began a drive to raise for an exterior lighting system to illuminate the statue at night. He claimed over 80,000 contributors, but failed to reach the goal. The difference was quietly made up by a gift from a wealthy donor—a fact that was not revealed until 1936. An underwater power cable brought electricity from the mainland and floodlights were placed along the walls of Fort Wood. Gutzon Borglum, who later sculpted Mount Rushmore, redesigned the torch, replacing much of the original copper with stained glass. On December 2, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson pressed the telegraph key that turned on the lights, successfully illuminating the statue.</p><br>
<p>After the United States entered World War I in 1917, images of the statue were heavily used in both recruitment posters and the Liberty Bond drives that urged American citizens to support the war financially. This impressed upon the public the war&#39;s stated purpose—to secure liberty—and served as a reminder that embattled France had given the United States the statue.</p><br>
<p>In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge used his authority under the Antiquities Act to declare the statue a National Monument. The only successful suicide in the statues history occurred five years later, when a man climbed out of one of the windows in the crown and jumped to his death, glancing off the statues breast and landing on the base.</p><br>
<h3>Early National Park Service years (1933–1982)</h3><br>
<p>In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the statue to be transferred to the National Park Service (NPS). In 1937, the NPS gained jurisdiction over the rest of Bedloes Island. With the Armys departure, the NPS began to transform the island into a park. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) demolished most of the old buildings, regraded and reseeded the eastern end of the island, and built granite steps for a new public entrance to the statue from its rear. The WPA also carried out restoration work within the statue, temporarily removing the rays from the statue&#39;s halo so their rusted supports could be replaced. Rusted cast-iron steps in the pedestal were replaced with new ones made of reinforced concrete; the upper parts of the stairways within the statue were replaced, as well. Copper sheathing was installed to prevent further damage from rainwater that had been seeping into the pedestal. The statue was closed to the public from May until December 1938.</p><br>
<p>During World War II, the statue remained open to visitors, although it was not illuminated at night due to wartime blackouts. It was lit briefly on December 31, 1943, and on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when its lights flashed "dot-dot-dot-dash", the Morse code for V, for victory. New, powerful lighting was installed in 1944–1945, and beginning on V-E Day, the statue was once again illuminated after sunset. The lighting was for only a few hours each evening, and it was not until 1957 that the statue was illuminated every night, all night. In 1946, the interior of the statue within reach of visitors was coated with a special plastic so that graffiti could be washed away.</p><br>
<p>In 1956, an Act of Congress officially renamed Bedloes Island as Liberty Island, a change advocated by Bartholdi generations earlier. The act also mentioned the efforts to found an American Museum of Immigration on the island, which backers took as federal approval of the project, though the government was slow to grant funds for it. Nearby Ellis Island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument by proclamation of President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. In 1972, the immigration museum, in the statues base, was finally opened in a ceremony led by President Richard Nixon. The museum&#39;s backers never provided it with an endowment to secure its future and it closed in 1991 after the opening of an immigration museum on Ellis Island.</p><br>
<p>In 1970, Ivy Bottini led a demonstration at the statue where she and others from the National Organization for Women&#39;s New York chapter draped an enormous banner over a railing which read "WOMEN OF THE WORLD UNITE!"</p><br>
<p>Beginning December 26, 1971, 15 anti-Vietnam War veterans occupied the statue, flying a US flag upside down from her crown. They left December 28 following a Federal Court order. The statue was also several times taken over briefly by demonstrators publicizing causes such as Puerto Rican independence, opposition to abortion, and opposition to US intervention in Grenada. Demonstrations with the permission of the Park Service included a Gay Pride Parade rally and the annual Captive Baltic Nations rally.</p><br>
<p>A powerful new lighting system was installed in advance of the American Bicentennial in 1976. The statue was the focal point for Operation Sail, a regatta of tall ships from all over the world that entered New York Harbor on July 4, 1976, and sailed around Liberty Island. The day concluded with a spectacular display of fireworks near the statue.</p><br>
<h3>Renovation and rededication (1982–2000)</h3><br>
<p>The statue was examined in great detail by French and American engineers as part of the planning for its centennial in 1986. In 1982, it was announced that the statue was in need of considerable restoration. Careful study had revealed that the right arm had been improperly attached to the main structure. It was swaying more and more when strong winds blew and there was a significant risk of structural failure. In addition, the head had been installed 2 ft off center, and one of the rays was wearing a hole in the right arm when the statue moved in the wind. The armature structure was badly corroded, and about two percent of the exterior plates needed to be replaced. Although problems with the armature had been recognized as early as 1936, when cast iron replacements for some of the bars had been installed, much of the corrosion had been hidden by layers of paint applied over the years.</p><br>
<p>In May 1982, President Ronald Reagan announced the formation of the Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Centennial Commission, led by Chrysler Corporation chair Lee Iacocca, to raise the funds needed to complete the work. Through its fundraising arm, the Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., the group raised more than $350 million in donations. The Statue of Liberty was one of the earliest beneficiaries of a cause marketing campaign. A 1983 promotion advertised that for each purchase made with an American Express card, the company would contribute one cent to the renovation of the statue. The campaign generated contributions of $1.7 million to the restoration project.</p><br>
<p>In 1984, the statue was closed to the public for the duration of the renovation. Workers erected the worlds largest free-standing scaffold, which obscured the statue from view. Liquid nitrogen was used to remove layers of paint that had been applied to the interior of the copper skin over decades, leaving two layers of coal tar, originally applied to plug leaks and prevent corrosion. Blasting with baking soda powder removed the tar without further damaging the copper. The restorers work was hampered by the asbestos-based substance that Bartholdi had used—ineffectively, as inspections showed—to prevent galvanic corrosion. Workers within the statue had to wear protective gear, dubbed "moon suits", with self-contained breathing circuits. Larger holes in the copper skin were repaired, and new copper was added where necessary. The replacement skin was taken from a copper rooftop at Bell Labs, which had a patina that closely resembled the statues; in exchange, the laboratory was provided some of the old copper skin for testing. The torch, found to have been leaking water since the 1916 alterations, was replaced with an exact replica of Bartholdis unaltered torch. Consideration was given to replacing the arm and shoulder; the National Park Service insisted that they be repaired instead. The original torch was removed and replaced in 1986 with the current one, whose flame is covered in 24-carat gold. The torch reflects the sun&#39;s rays in daytime and is lighted by floodlights at night.</p><br>
<p>The entire puddled iron armature designed by Gustave Eiffel was replaced. Low-carbon corrosion-resistant stainless steel bars that now hold the staples next to the skin are made of Ferralium, an alloy that bends slightly and returns to its original shape as the statue moves. To prevent the ray and arm making contact, the ray was realigned by several degrees. The lighting was again replaced—night-time illumination subsequently came from metal-halide lamps that send beams of light to particular parts of the pedestal or statue, showing off various details. Access to the pedestal, which had been through a nondescript entrance built in the 1960s, was renovated to create a wide opening framed by a set of monumental bronze doors with designs symbolic of the renovation. A modern elevator was installed, allowing handicapped access to the observation area of the pedestal. An emergency elevator was installed within the statue, reaching up to the level of the shoulder.</p><br>
<p>July 3–6, 1986, was designated "Liberty Weekend", marking the centennial of the statue and its reopening. President Reagan presided over the rededication, with French President François Mitterrand in attendance. July 4 saw a reprise of Operation Sail, and the statue was reopened to the public on July 5. In Reagan&#39;s dedication speech, he stated, "We are the keepers of the flame of liberty; we hold it high for the world to see."</p><br>
<h3>Closures and reopenings (2001–present)</h3><br>
<p>Following the September 11 attacks, the statue and Liberty Island were immediately closed to the public. The island reopened at the end of 2001, while the pedestal and statue remained off-limits. The pedestal reopened in August 2004, but the National Park Service announced that visitors could not safely be given access to the statue due to the difficulty of evacuation in an emergency. The Park Service adhered to that position through the remainder of the Bush administration. New York Congressman Anthony Weiner made the statues reopening a personal crusade. On May 17, 2009, President Barack Obamas Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, announced that as a "special gift" to America, the statue would be reopened to the public as of July 4, but that only a limited number of people would be permitted to ascend to the crown each day.</p><br>
<p>The statue, including the pedestal and base, closed on October 29, 2011, for installation of new elevators and staircases and to bring other facilities, such as restrooms, up to code. The statue was reopened on October 28, 2012, For part of October 2013, Liberty Island was closed to the public due to the United States federal government shutdown of 2013, along with other federally funded museums, parks, monuments, construction projects and buildings.</p><br>
<p>On October 7, 2016, construction started on a new Statue of Liberty museum on Liberty Island. The new $70 million, 26,000 ft2 museum will be able to accommodate all of the islands visitors when it opens in 2019, as opposed to the current museum, which only 20% of the islands visitors can visit. The original torch will be relocated here, and in addition to exhibits relating to the statue&#39;s construction and history, there will be a theater where visitors can watch an aerial view of the statue. The museum, designed by FXFOWLE Architects, will integrate with the parkland around it. It is being funded privately by Diane von Fürstenberg, Michael Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos, Coca-Cola, NBCUniversal, the family of Laurence Tisch and Preston Robert Tisch, Mellody Hobson, and George Lucas. Von Fürstenberg heads the fundraising for the museum, and the project had garnered more than $40 million in fundraising as of groundbreaking.</p><br>
<h2>Access and attributes</h2><br>
<h3>Location and tourism</h3><br>
<p>The statue is situated in Upper New York Bay on Liberty Island south of Ellis Island, which together comprise the Statue of Liberty National Monument. Both islands were ceded by New York to the federal government in 1800. As agreed in an 1834 compact between New York and New Jersey that set the state border at the bay&#39;s midpoint, the original islands remain New York territory despite their location on the New Jersey side of the state line. Liberty Island is one of the islands that are part of the borough of Manhattan in New York. Land created by reclamation added to the 2.3 acre original island at Ellis Island is New Jersey territory.</p><br>
<p>No charge is made for entrance to the national monument, but there is a cost for the ferry service that all visitors must use, as private boats may not dock at the island. A concession was granted in 2007 to Statue Cruises to operate the transportation and ticketing facilities, replacing Circle Line, which had operated the service since 1953.</p><br>
<p>The ferries, which depart from Liberty State Park in Jersey City and Battery Park in Lower Manhattan, also stop at Ellis Island when it is open to the public, making a combined trip possible. All ferry riders are subject to security screening, similar to airport procedures, prior to boarding. Visitors intending to enter the statue&#39;s base and pedestal must obtain a complimentary museum/pedestal ticket along with their ferry ticket. Those wishing to climb the staircase within the statue to the crown purchase a special ticket, which may be reserved up to a year in advance. A total of 240 people per day are permitted to ascend: ten per group, three groups per hour. Climbers may bring only medication and cameras—lockers are provided for other items—and must undergo a second security screening.</p><br>
<h3>Inscriptions, plaques, and dedications</h3><br>
<p>There are several plaques and dedicatory tablets on or near the Statue of Liberty.</p><br>
<p>A plaque on the copper just under the figure in front declares that it is a colossal statue representing Liberty, designed by Bartholdi and built by the Paris firm of Gaget, Gauthier et Cie (Cie is the French abbreviation analogous to Co.).</p><br>
<p>A presentation tablet, also bearing Bartholdi&#39;s name, declares the statue is a gift from the people of the Republic of France that honors "the Alliance of the two Nations in achieving the Independence of the United States of America and attests their abiding friendship."</p><br>
<p>A tablet placed by the New York committee commemorates the fundraising done to build the pedestal.</p><br>
<p>The cornerstone bears a plaque placed by the Freemasons.</p><br>
<p>In 1903, a bronze tablet that bears the text of Emma Lazarus&#39;s sonnet, "The New Colossus" (1883), was presented by friends of the poet. Until the 1986 renovation, it was mounted inside the pedestal; today it resides in the Statue of Liberty Museum, in the base.</p><br>
<p>"The New Colossus" tablet is accompanied by a tablet given by the Emma Lazarus Commemorative Committee in 1977, celebrating the poet&#39;s life.</p><br>
<p>A group of statues stands at the western end of the island, honoring those closely associated with the Statue of Liberty. Two Americans—Pulitzer and Lazarus—and three Frenchmen—Bartholdi, Eiffel, and Laboulaye—are depicted. They are the work of Maryland sculptor Phillip Ratner.</p><br>
<h2>UNESCO World Heritage Site</h2><br>
<p>In 1984, the Statue of Liberty was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The UNESCO "Statement of Significance" describes the statue as a "masterpiece of the human spirit" that "endures as a highly potent symbol—inspiring contemplation, debate and protest—of ideals such as liberty, peace, human rights, abolition of slavery, democracy and opportunity."</p><br>
<h3>Physical characteristics</h3><br>
<h2>Depictions</h2><br>
<p>Hundreds of replicas of the Statue of Liberty are displayed worldwide. A smaller version of the statue, one-fourth the height of the original, was given by the American community in Paris to that city. It now stands on the Île aux Cygnes, facing west toward her larger sister. A replica 30 ft tall stood atop the Liberty Warehouse on West 64th Street in Manhattan for many years; it now resides at the Brooklyn Museum. In a patriotic tribute, the Boy Scouts of America, as part of their Strengthen the Arm of Liberty campaign in 1949–1952, donated about two hundred replicas of the statue, made of stamped copper and 100 in in height, to states and municipalities across the United States. Though not a true replica, the statue known as the Goddess of Democracy temporarily erected during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 was similarly inspired by French democratic traditions—the sculptors took care to avoid a direct imitation of the Statue of Liberty. Among other recreations of New York City structures, a replica of the statue is part of the exterior of the New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.</p><br>
<p>As an American icon, the Statue of Liberty has been depicted on the countrys coinage and stamps. It appeared on commemorative coins issued to mark its 1986 centennial, and on New Yorks 2001 entry in the state quarters series. An image of the statue was chosen for the American Eagle platinum bullion coins in 1997, and it was placed on the reverse, or tails, side of the Presidential Dollar series of circulating coins. Two images of the statues torch appear on the current ten-dollar bill. The statues intended photographic depiction on a 2010 forever stamp proved instead to be of the replica at the Las Vegas casino.</p><br>
<p>Depictions of the statue have been used by many regional institutions. Between 1986 and 2000, New York State issued license plates with an outline of the statue to either the front or the side of the serial number. The Womens National Basketball Associations New York Liberty use both the statues name and its image in their logo, in which the torchs flame doubles as a basketball. The New York Rangers of the National Hockey League depicted the statues head on their third jersey, beginning in 1997. The National Collegiate Athletic Associations 1996 Mens Basketball Final Four, played at New Jerseys Meadowlands Sports Complex, featured the statue in its logo. The Libertarian Party of the United States uses the statue in its emblem.</p><br>
<p>The statue is a frequent subject in popular culture. In music, it has been evoked to indicate support for American policies, as in Toby Keiths song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)", and in opposition, appearing on the cover of the Dead Kennedys album Bedtime for Democracy, which protested the Reagan administration. In film, the torch is the setting for the climax of director Alfred Hitchcocks 1942 movie Saboteur. The statue makes one of its most famous cinematic appearances in the 1968 picture Planet of the Apes, in which it is seen half-buried in sand. It is knocked over in the science-fiction film Independence Day and in Cloverfield the head is ripped off. In Jack Finneys time-travel novel Time and Again, the right arm of the statue, on display in the early 1880s in Madison Square Park, plays a crucial role. Robert Holdstock, consulting editor of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, wondered in 1979,</p><br>
<p>Where would science fiction be without the Statue of Liberty? For decades it has towered or crumbled above the wastelands of deserted arth—giants have uprooted it, aliens have found it curious... the symbol of Liberty, of optimism, has become a symbol of science fiction&#39;s pessimistic view of the future.</p><br>
<p>Sarkel  was a large limestone-and-brick fortress built by the Khazars with Byzantine assistance in the 830s. It was named Sarkel, or white-house, because of the white limestone bricks used in its construction. Sarkel was located on the right bank of the lower Don River, in present-day Rostov Oblast of Russia.</p><br>
<h2>Construction</h2><br>
<p>Sarkel was built to protect the north-western border of the Khazar state in 833. The Khazars asked their ally, Byzantine emperor Theophilus, for engineers to build a fortified capital, and Theophilus sent his chief engineer Petronas Kamateros. In recompense for these services, the Khazar khagan ceded Chersonesos and some other Crimean dependencies to Byzantium.</p><br>
<p>Historians have been unable to determine why such a strong fortress was built on the Don. They generally assert that the costly construction must have been due to the rise of a strong regional power that posed a threat to the Khazars. Alexander Vasiliev and George Vernadsky, among others, argue that Sarkel was built to defend a vital portage between the Don and the Volga from the Rus&#39; Khaganate. Other historians believe this polity was situated many hundred miles to the north. Another nascent power, the Hungarians, was not particularly threatening to the Khazars as long as they paid tribute to the khagan.</p><br>
<p>Constantine Porphyrogenitus records in his work De Administrando Imperio that the Khazars asked the Emperor Teophilos to have the fortress of Sarkel built for them. His record is connected to the Hungarians on the basis that the new fortress must have become necessary because of the appearance of a new enemy of the Khazars, and other peoples could not be taken into account as the Khazars’ enemies at that time. In the 10th century, a Persian explorer and geographer Ahmad ibn Rustah mentioned that the Khazars entrenched themselves against the attacks of the Hungarians.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The city served as a bustling commercial center, as it controlled the Volga-Don portage, which was used by the Rus to cross from the Black Sea to the Volga and thence to the Caspian and Baltic; the route was known as the "Khazarian Way". A garrison fortified at Sarkel included Oghuz and Pecheneg mercenaries.</p><br>
<p>Sarkels fortress and city were captured by Kievan Rus under prince Sviatoslav I in 965. The city was renamed Belaya Vezha (Slavic for White Tower or White Fortress) and settled by Slavs. It remained Slavic until the 12th century, when the district was taken over by the Kipchaks.</p><br>
<p>Mikhail Artamonov excavated the site in the 1930s. It was the most ambitious excavation of a Khazar site ever undertaken. Among many Khazar and Rus items, Artamonov discovered Byzantine columns used in the construction of Sarkel. The site is now submerged by the Tsimlyansk Reservoir, so no further excavations may be conducted.</p><br>
<p>Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. It is part of the</p><br>
<p>province of West Nusa Tenggara, but there are presently steps being taken by the Indonesian government to turn the island into a separate province. Traditionally the island is known as the source of sappanwood used to make red dye, as well as honey and sandalwood. Its savanna-like climate and vast grassland is used to breed horses and cattle and to hunt deer.</p><br>
<p>Sumbawa has an area (including minor offshore islands) of 15,448 km&sup2; (three times the size of Lombok) with a current population (January 2014) of around 1.39 million. It marks the boundary between the islands to the west, which were influenced by religion and culture spreading from India, and the region to the east that was less influenced. In particular this applies to both Hinduism and Islam.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The 14th-century Nagarakretagama mentioned several principalities identified to be on Sumbawa; Dompu, Bima, Sape and Sang Hyang Api volcanic island just offcoast of northeast Sumbawa. Four principalities in western Sumbawa were dependencies of the Majapahit Empire of eastern Java. Because of Sumbawa&#39;s natural resources, it was regularly invaded by outside forces – from Javanese, Balinese, Makassarese, Dutch and Japanese. The Dutch first arrived in 1605, but did not effectively rule Sumbawa until the early 20th century.</p><br>
<p>The Balinese kingdom of Gelgel ruled western Sumbawa for a short period as well. The eastern parts of the island were also home to the Sultanate of Bima, an Islamic polity that had links to Bugis and Makasarese people of South Sulawesi, as well as other Malay-Islamic polities in the archipelago.</p><br>
<p>Historical evidence indicates that people on Sumbawa island were known in the East Indies for their honey, horses,Jong Boers, B.D. de (2007), ‘The ‘Arab’ of the Indonesian Archipelago: The Famed Horse Breeds of Sumbawa’ in: Greg Bankoff and Sandra Swart (eds), Breeds of Empire: The ‘invention’ of the horse in Southern Africa and Maritime Southeast Asia, 1500–1950. Copenhagen: NIAS Press, pp 51–64.</p><br>
<p>sappan wood for producing red dye, and sandalwood used for incense and medications. The area was thought to be highly productive agriculturally. In the 18th century the Dutch introduced coffee plantation on the western slopes of Mount Tambora, thus creating the Tambora coffee variant.</p><br>
<h2>Administration</h2><br>
<p>Sumbawa is administratively divided into four regencies (kabupaten) and one kota (city). They are:</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<p>Islam was introduced via the Makassarese language of Sulawesi island.</p><br>
<p>Sumbawa has historically had two major linguistic groups who spoke languages that were unintelligible to each other. One group centered in the western side of the island speaks Basa Semawa (Indonesian: Bahasa Sumbawa) which is similar to the Sasak language from Lombok; the second group in the east speaks Nggahi Mbojo (Bahasa Bima). They were once separated by the Tambora culture, which spoke a language related to neither. After the demise of Tambora, the kingdoms located in Sumbawa Besar and Bima were the two focal points of Sumbawa. This division of the island into two parts remains today; Sumbawa Besar and Bima are the two largest towns on the island, and are the centers of distinct cultural groups that share the island.</p><br>
<p>The population of the island (including minor outliers) was 1.33 million at the latest decennial census in 2010, comprising 29.58% of the population of the entire province&#39;s with 4.5 million people. Due to lack of work opportunities on the island and its frequent droughts (unlike wet Bali), many people on the island seek work in the Middle East as laborers or domestic servants; some 500,000 workers, or over 10% of the population of West Nusa Tenggara, have left the country to work overseas.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The island is bound by bodies of water; to the west is Alas Strait, south is the Indian Ocean, Saleh Bay creates a major north-central indentation in the island, and the Flores Sea runs the length of the northern coastline. The Sape Strait lies to the east of the island and separates Sumbawa from Flores and the Komodo Islands, there are a number bays and gulfs, most notably Bima Bay, Cempi Bay, and Waworada Bay</p><br>
<p>Sumbawa&#39;s most distinguishing feature is Saleh Bay and the Tambora Peninsula with Mount Tambora. Highlands rise in four spots on the island, as well as on Sangeang Island, the large western lobe of Sumbawa is dominated by a large central highland, there is Mt. Tambora, Dompu and Bima each have more minor highlands.</p><br>
<p>There are a number of large surrounding islands, most notably are Moyo Island, volcanically active Sangeang Island, and the tourist Komodo Islands (administered under Flores) to the east.</p><br>
<h3>List of offshore islands</h3><br>
<p>There are a number of smaller offshore islands which fall within the regencies based on Sumbawa Island:</p><br>
<p>West Sumbawa Regency</p><br>
<p>Susait</p><br>
<p>Belang</p><br>
<p>Songi</p><br>
<p>Ular</p><br>
<p>Kenawa</p><br>
<p>Natano</p><br>
<p>Sumbawa Besar Regency</p><br>
<p>Panjang Island</p><br>
<p>Saringi</p><br>
<p>Kemudang</p><br>
<p>Ayer Tawat</p><br>
<p>Romo</p><br>
<p>Medang Island</p><br>
<p>Saleh Bay, Sumbawa Besar Regency</p><br>
<p>Moyo Island</p><br>
<p>Dangar Besar</p><br>
<p>Liang</p><br>
<p>Ngali</p><br>
<p>Tengar</p><br>
<p>Kelapang</p><br>
<p>Dompo</p><br>
<p>Takebo</p><br>
<p>Paming</p><br>
<p>Lipa</p><br>
<p>Rakit</p><br>
<p>Dompu Regency</p><br>
<p>P. Besar</p><br>
<p>P. Nisa Pudu</p><br>
<p>P. Nisa Rate</p><br>
<p>Bima Regency, Tambora Peninsula exclave</p><br>
<p>Satonda Island</p><br>
<p>Bima Regency</p><br>
<p>Sangeang Island</p><br>
<p>Sanai Island</p><br>
<p>Matagate Island</p><br>
<p>Banta Island</p><br>
<h2>Volcanoes</h2><br>
<p>Sumbawa lies within the Pacific Ring of Fire. It is a volcanic island, including Mount Tambora (8°14’41”S, 117°59’35”E) which exploded in April 1815, the most destructive volcanic eruption in modern history (roughly four times larger than the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, between Java and Sumatra, in terms of volume of magma ejected). The eruption killed as many as 72,000. It also apparently destroyed a small culture of Southeast Asian affinity, known to archaeologists as the Tambora culture. It launched 100 km3 of ash into the upper atmosphere, which caused 1816 to be the "year without a summer".</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Many of the island residents are at risk of starvation when crops fail due to lack of rainfall. The majority of the population works in agriculture. Tourism is very nascent, with a few surf spots renowned for being world class, Jelenga and Supersuck Beaches near the mine, as well as Hu&#39;u and Lakey Beach in the Gulf of Cempi.</p><br>
<p>Due to the mine, Sumbawa Barat Regency (statistically), along with other remote mining towns, and Jakarta, have the highest GDP per capita rates in Indonesia, Sumbawa Barat&#39;s is 156.25 million rupiah ($17,170 USD), yet it is an area that sees entrenched, repeated starvation deaths and severe malnutrition in children.</p><br>
<h3>Newmont Mine</h3><br>
<p>The Southwestern extreme portion of Sumbawa is monopolized by American firm Newmont Mining Corporation; a large gold and copper mine, Newmonts Batu Hijau mine in Sumbawa began commercial operations in 2000, a decade after the copper and gold were discovered. Newmont holds a 45% stake in the operation through its shareholding in PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara. A local unit of Japans Sumitomo Corporation has a 35% share.</p><br>
<p>Newmont and its partners have invested about $1.9 billion in the mine. The reserves are expected to last until 2034, making Batu Hijau one of the largest copper mines in the world.</p><br>
<p>Newmont has been accused of being involved in scandals of mercury and arsenic poisoning in Sulawesi Island, as well as having been embroiled in pollution cases on four continents. Protests on Sumbawa where police fired on protesters of a different gold project did not involve Newmont operations.</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<p>There is a road network in Sumbawa, but it is poorly maintained and has long portions of rough gravel. Frequent ferry service to Sumbawa (Poto Tano) from Lombok (Labuhan Lombok) exists, however ferry service to Flores from Sape is infrequent. Bima is the largest city on Sumbawa and has ferry and bus service directly to Java and Bali, though service breakdowns are common.</p><br>
<p>Sulawesi, formerly known as Celebes , is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world&#39;s eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Within Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger populations.</p><br>
<p>The landmass of Sulawesi includes four peninsulas: the northern Minahasa Peninsula; the East Peninsula; the South Peninsula; and the South-east Peninsula. Three gulfs separate these peninsulas: the Gulf of Tomini between the northern Minahasa and East peninsulas; the Tolo Gulf between the East and Southeast peninsulas; and the Bone Gulf between the South and Southeast peninsulas. The Strait of Makassar runs along the western side of the island and separates the island from Borneo.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The name Sulawesi possibly comes from the words sula ("island") and besi ("iron") and may refer to the historical export of iron from the rich Lake Matano iron deposits. The term "sula" also means tines, horn or spikes, derived from Sanskrit, as trishula refer to "trident". Thus "sulawesi" means "iron spikes", which suggested that the island was also a producer of iron edged weapons. The name came into common use in English following Indonesian independence.</p><br>
<p>The name Celebes was originally given to the island by Portuguese explorers. It is widely considered a Portuguese rendering of the native name "Sulawesi".</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Sulawesi is the worlds eleventh-largest island, covering an area of 174,600 km&sup2;. The central part of the island is ruggedly mountainous, such that the islands peninsulas have traditionally been remote from each other, with better connections by sea than by road. The three bays that divide Sulawesi&#39;s peninsulas are, from north to south, the Tomini, the Tolo and the Boni. These separate the Minahassa or Northern Peninsula, the East Peninsula, the Southeast Peninsula and the South Peninsula.</p><br>
<p>The Strait of Makassar runs along the western side of the island. The island is surrounded by Borneo to the west, by the Philippines to the north, by Maluku to the east, and by Flores and Timor to the south.</p><br>
<h3>Minor islands</h3><br>
<p>The Selayar Islands make up a peninsula stretching southwards from Southwest Sulawesi into the Flores Sea are administratively part of Sulawesi. The Sangihe Islands and Talaud Islands stretch northward from the northeastern tip of Sulawesi, while Buton Island and its neighbours lie off its southeast peninsula, the Togian Islands are in the Gulf of Tomini, and Peleng Island and Banggai Islands form a cluster between Sulawesi and Maluku. All the above-mentioned islands, and many smaller ones are administratively part of Sulawesi&#39;s six provinces.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The island slopes up from the shores of the deep seas surrounding the island to a high, mostly non-volcanic, mountainous interior. Active volcanoes are found in the northern Minahassa Peninsula, stretching north to the Sangihe Islands. The northern peninsula contains several active volcanoes such as Mount Lokon, Mount Awu, Soputan and Karangetang.</p><br>
<p>According to plate reconstructions, the island is believed to have been formed by the collision of terranes from the Asian Plate (forming the west and southwest) and from the Australian Plate (forming the southeast and Banggai), with island arcs previously in the Pacific (forming the north and east peninsulas). Because of its several tectonic origins, various faults scar the land and as a result the island is prone to earthquakes.</p><br>
<p>Sulawesi, in contrast to most of the other islands in the biogeographical region of Wallacea, is not truly oceanic, but a composite island at the centre of the Asia-Australia collision zone. Parts of the island were formerly attached to either the Asian or Australian continental margin and became separated from these areas by vicariant processes. In the west, the opening of the Makassar Strait separated West Sulawesi from Sundaland in the Eocene c. 45 Mya. In the east, the traditional view of collisions of multiple micro-continental fragments sliced from New Guinea with an active volcanic margin in West Sulawesi at different times since the Early Miocene c. 20 Mya has recently been replaced by the hypothesis that extensional fragmentation has followed a single Miocene collision of West Sulawesi with the Sula Spur, the western end of an ancient folded belt of Variscan origin in the Late Paleozoic.</p><br>
<h2>Prehistory</h2><br>
<p>Before October 2014, the settlement of South Sulawesi by modern humans had been dated to c. 30,000 BC on the basis of radiocarbon dates obtained from rock shelters in Maros. No earlier evidence of human occupation had at that point been found, but the island almost certainly formed part of the land bridge used for the settlement of Australia and New Guinea by at least 40,000 BCE. There is no evidence of Homo erectus having reached Sulawesi; crude stone tools first discovered in 1947 on the right bank of the Walennae River at Berru, Indonesia, which were thought to date to the Pleistocene on the basis of their association with vertebrate fossils, are now thought to date to perhaps 50,000 BC.</p><br>
<p>Following Peter Bellwoods model of a southward migration of Austronesian-speaking farmers (AN), radiocarbon dates from caves in Maros suggest a date in the mid-second millennium BC for the arrival of a group from east Borneo speaking a Proto-South Sulawesi language (PSS). Initial settlement was probably around the mouth of the Sadan river, on the northwest coast of the peninsula, although the south coast has also been suggested. Subsequent migrations across the mountainous landscape resulted in the geographical isolation of PSS speakers and the evolution of their languages into the eight families of the South Sulawesi language group. If each group can be said to have a homeland, that of the Bugis – today the most numerous group – was around lakes Témpé and Sidénréng in the Walennaé depression. Here for some 2,000 years lived the linguistic group that would become the modern Bugis; the archaic name of this group (which is preserved in other local languages) was Ugiq. Despite the fact that today they are closely linked with the Makasar, the closest linguistic neighbours of the Bugis are the Toraja.</p><br>
<p>Pre-1200 Bugis society was most likely organised into chiefdoms. Some anthropologists have speculated these chiefdoms would have warred and, in times of peace, exchanged women with each other. Further, they have speculated that personal security would have been negligible and head-hunting an established cultural practice. The political economy would have been a mixture of hunting and gathering and swidden or shifting agriculture. Speculative planting of wet rice may have taken place along the margins of the lakes and rivers.</p><br>
<p>In Central Sulawesi, there are over 400 granite megaliths, which various archaeological studies have dated to be from 3000 BC to AD 1300. They vary in size from a few centimetres to around 4.5 m. The original purpose of the megaliths is unknown. About 30 of the megaliths represent human forms. Other megaliths are in form of large pots (Kalamba) and stone plates (Tutu&#39;na).</p><br>
<p>In October 2014 it was announced that cave paintings in Maros had been dated as being about 40,000 years old. Dr Maxime Aubert, of Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, said that the minimum age for the outline of a hand was 39,900 years old, which made it "the oldest hand stencil in the world" and added, "Next to it is a pig that has a minimum age of 35,400 years old, and this is one of the oldest figurative depictions in the world, if not the oldest one."</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Starting in the 13th century, access to prestige trade goods and to sources of iron started to alter long-standing cultural patterns and to permit ambitious individuals to build larger political units. It is not known why these two ingredients appeared together; one was perhaps the product of the other.</p><br>
<p>In 1367, several identified polities, located on the island, were mentioned in the Javanese manuscript Nagarakretagama dated from the Majapahit period. Canto 14 mentioned polities including Gowa, Makassar, Luwu and Banggai. It seems that by the 14th century, polities in the island were connected in an archipelagic maritime trading network, centered in the Majapahit port in East Java. By 1400, a number of nascent agricultural principalities had arisen in the western Cenrana valley, as well as on the south coast and on the west coast near modern Parepare.</p><br>
<p>The first Europeans to visit the island (which they believed to be an archipelago due to its contorted shape) were the Portuguese sailors Simão de Abreu, in 1523, and Gomes de Sequeira (among others) in 1525, sent from the Moluccas in search of gold, which the islands had the reputation of producing. A Portuguese base was installed in Makassar in the first decades of the 16th century, lasting until 1665, when it was taken by the Dutch. The Dutch had arrived in Sulawesi in 1605 and were quickly followed by the English, who established a factory in Makassar. From 1660, the Dutch were at war with Gowa, the major Makasar west coast power. In 1669, Admiral Speelman forced the ruler, Sultan Hasanuddin, to sign the Treaty of Bongaya, which handed control of trade to the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch were aided in their conquest by the Bugis warlord Arung Palakka, ruler of the Bugis kingdom of Bone. The Dutch built a fort at Ujung Pandang, while Arung Palakka became the regional overlord and Bone the dominant kingdom. Political and cultural development seems to have slowed as a result of the status quo.</p><br>
<p>In 1905 the entire island became part of the Dutch state colony of the Netherlands East Indies until Japanese occupation in the Second World War. During the Indonesian National Revolution, the Dutch Captain Turk Westerling led campaigns in which hundreds, maybe thousands died during the South Sulawesi Campaign. Following the transfer of sovereignty in December 1949, Sulawesi became part of the federal United States of Indonesia, which in 1950 became absorbed into the unitary Republic of Indonesia.</p><br>
<h3>Central Sulawesi</h3><br>
<p>The Portuguese were rumoured to have a fort in Parigi in 1555. The Kaili were an important group based in the Palu valley and related to the Toraja. Scholars relate that their control swayed under Ternate and Makassar, but this might have been a decision by the Dutch to give their vassals a chance to govern a difficult group. Padbruge commented that in the 1700s Kaili numbers were significant and a highly militant society. In the 1850s a war erupted between the Kaili groups, including the Banawa, in which the Dutch decided to intervene. A complex conflict also involving the Sulu Island pirates and probably Wyndham (a British merchant who commented on being involved in arms dealing to the area in this period and causing a row).</p><br>
<p>In the late 19th century the Sarasins journeyed through the Palu valley as part of a major initiative to bring the Kaili under Dutch rule. Some very surprising and interesting photographs were taken of shamans called Tadulako. Further Christian religious missions entered the area to make one of the most detailed ethnographic studies in the early 20th century. A Swede by the name of Walter Kaudern later studied much of the literature and produced a synthesis. Erskine Downs in the 1950s produced a summary of Kruyts and Andrianis work: "The religion of the Bare&#39;e-Speaking Toradja of Central Celebes," which is invaluable for English-speaking researchers. One of the most recent publications is "When the bones are left," a study of the material culture of central Sulawesi, offering extensive analysis. Also worthy of study are the brilliant works of Monnig Atkinson on the Wana shamans who live in the Mori area.</p><br>
<h2>Population</h2><br>
<p>The 2000 census population of the provinces of Sulawesi was 14,946,488, about 7.25% of Indonesia&#39;s total population.</p><br>
<p>By the 2010 Census the total had reached 17,371,782, and the latest official estimate (for January 2014) is 18,455,058. The largest city is Makassar.</p><br>
<h3>Religion</h3><br>
<p>Islam is the majority religion in Sulawesi. The conversion of the lowlands of the south western peninsula (South Sulawesi) to Islam occurred in the early 17th century. The kingdom of Luwu in the Gulf of Bone was the first to accept Islam in February 1605; the Makassar kingdom of Goa-Talloq, centred on the modern-day city of Makassar, followed suit in September. However, the Gorontalo and the Mongondow peoples of the northern peninsula largely converted to Islam only in the 19th century. Most Muslims are Sunnis.</p><br>
<p>Christians form a substantial minority on the island. According to the demographer Toby Alice Volkman, 17% of Sulawesis population is Protestant and less than 2% is Roman Catholic. Christians are concentrated on the tip of the northern peninsula around the city of Manado, which is inhabited by the Minahasa, a predominantly Protestant people, and the northernmost Sangir and Talaud Islands. The famous Toraja people of Tana Toraja in Central Sulawesi have largely converted to Christianity since Indonesias independence. There are also substantial numbers of Christians around Lake Poso in Central Sulawesi, among the Pamona speaking peoples of Central Sulawesi, and near Mamasa.</p><br>
<p>Though most people identify themselves as Muslims or Christians, they often subscribe to local beliefs and deities as well. It is not uncommon for both groups to make offerings to local gods, goddesses, and spirits.</p><br>
<p>Smaller communities of Buddhists and Hindus are also found on Sulawesi, usually among the Chinese, Balinese and Indian communities.</p><br>
<h2>Administration</h2><br>
<p>The island is subdivided into six provinces: Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and North Sulawesi. West Sulawesi is a new province, created in 2004 from part of South Sulawesi. The largest cities on the island are Makassar, Manado, Palu, Kendari, Bitung, Gorontalo, Palopo and Bau-Bau.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Sulawesi is part of Wallacea, meaning that it has a mix of both Asian and Australasian species. There are 8 national parks on the island, of which 4 are mostly marine. The parks with the largest terrestrial area are Bogani Nani Wartabone with 2,871 km and Lore Lindu National Park with 2,290 km. Bunaken National Park which protects a rich coral ecosystem has been proposed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.</p><br>
<h3>Mammals</h3><br>
<p>There are 127 known mammalian species in Sulawesi. A large percentage of these mammals, 62% (79 species) are endemic, meaning that they are found nowhere else in Indonesia or the world. The largest native mammals in Sulawesi are the two species of anoa or dwarf buffalo. Other mammalian species inhabiting Sulawesi are the babirusas, which are aberrant pigs, the Sulawesi palm civet, and primates including a number of tarsiers (the spectral, Dians, Lariang and pygmy species) and several species of macaque, including the crested black macaque, the moor macaque and the booted macaque. Although virtually all Sulawesis mammals are placental, and generally have close relatives in Asia, several species of cuscus, marsupials of Australasian origin, are also present.</p><br>
<p>Sulawesi is home to a large number of endemic rodent genera. Rodent genera endemic to Sulawesi and immediately adjacent islands (such as the Togian Islands, Buton Island, and Muna Island) are Bunomys, Echiothrix, Hyosciurus, Margaretamys, Paucidentomys, Prosciurillus, Taeromys, Tateomys, and Waiomys, as well as the single-species genera Eropeplus, Hyorhinomys, Melasmothrix, Paruromys, Rubrisciurus, and Sommeromys. All belong to the family Muridae except for the genera Hyosciurus, Prosciurillus, and Rubrisciurus, which belong to the family Sciuridae.</p><br>
<h3>Birds</h3><br>
<p>By contrast, Sulawesian bird species tend to be found on other nearby islands as well, such as Borneo; 31% of Sulawesis birds are found nowhere else. One endemic bird is the largely ground-dwelling, chicken-sized maleo, a megapode which uses hot sand close to the islands volcanic vents to incubate its eggs. There are around 350 known bird species in Sulawesi. An international partnership of conservationists, donors, and local people have formed the Alliance for Tompotika Conservation, in an effort to raise awareness and protect the nesting grounds of these birds on the central-eastern arm of the island.</p><br>
<h3>Freshwater fishes</h3><br>
<p>Sulawesi also has several endemic species of freshwater fish, such as those in the genus Nomorhamphus, a species flock of viviparous halfbeaks containing 12 species that only are found on Sulawesi (others are from the Philippines). In addition to Nomorhamphus, the majority of Sulawesi&#39;s 70+ freshwater fish species are ricefishes, gobies (Glossogobius and Mugilogobius) and Telmatherinid sail-fin silversides. The last family is almost entirely restricted to Sulawesi, especially the Malili Lake system, consisting of Matano and Towuti, and the small Lontoa (Wawantoa), Mahalona and Masapi. Another unusual endemic is Lagusia micracanthus from rivers in South Sulawesi, which is the sole member of its genus and among the smallest grunters. The gudgeon Bostrychus microphthalmus from the Maros Karst is the only described species of cave-adapted fish from Sulawesi, but an apparently undescribed species from the same region and genus also exists.</p><br>
<h3>Freshwater crustaceans and snails</h3><br>
<p>There are many species of Caridina freshwater shrimp and parathelphusid freshwater crabs (Migmathelphusa, Nautilothelphusa, Parathelphusa, Sundathelphusa and Syntripsa) that are endemic to Sulawesi. Several of these species have become very popular in the aquarium hobby, and since most are restricted to a single lake system, they are potentially vulnerable to habitat loss and overexploitation. There are also several endemic cave-adapted shrimp and crabs, especially in the Maros Karst. This includes Cancrocaeca xenomorpha, which has been called the "most highly cave-adapted species of crab known in the world".</p><br>
<p>The genus Tylomelania of freshwater snails is also endemic to Sulawesi, with the majority of the species restricted to Lake Poso and the Malili Lake system.</p><br>
<h3>Miscellaneous</h3><br>
<p>The mimic octopus is also present in the waters of Sulawesi&#39;s coast.</p><br>
<h3>Conservation</h3><br>
<p>Sulawesi island was recently the subject of an Ecoregional Conservation Assessment, coordinated by The Nature Conservancy. Detailed reports about the vegetation of the island are available. The assessment produced a detailed and annotated list of conservation portfolio sites. This information was widely distributed to local government agencies and nongovernmental organizations. Detailed conservation priorities have also been outlined in a recent publication.</p><br>
<p>The lowland forests on the island have mostly been removed. Because of the relative geological youth of the island and its dramatic and sharp topography, the lowland areas are naturally limited in their extent. The past decade has seen dramatic conversion of this rare and endangered habitat. The island also possesses one of the largest outcrops of serpentine soil in the world, which support an unusual and large community of specialized plant species. Overall, the flora and fauna of this unique center of global biodiversity is very poorly documented and understood and remains critically threatened.</p><br>
<p>The islands of Pepaya, Mas and Raja islands, located in Sumalata Village - North Gorontalo Regency (about 30km from Saronde Island), have been named a nature reserve since the Dutch colonial time in 1936. Four of the only seven species of turtles can be found in the islands, the world&#39;s best turtle habitat. They include Penyu Hijau (Chelonia midas), Penyu Sisik (Eretmochelys imbricata), Penyu Tempayan (Caretta caretta) and Penyu Belimbing (Dermochelys coriacea). In 2011, the habitat was threatened by human activities such as illegal poaching and fish bombing activities; furthermore, a lot of coral reefs, which represent a source of food for turtles, have been damaged.</p><br>
<h2>Environment</h2><br>
<p>The largest environmental issue in Sulawesi is deforestation. In 2007, scientists found that 80 percent of Sulawesis forest had been lost or degraded, especially centered in the lowlands and the mangroves. Forests have been felled for logging and large agricultural projects. Loss of forest has resulted in many of Sulawesis endemic species becoming endangered. In addition, 99 percent of Sulawesi&#39;s wetlands have been lost or damaged.</p><br>
<p>Other environmental threats included bushmeat hunting and mining.</p><br>
<h3>Parks</h3><br>
<p>The island of Sulawesi has six national parks and nineteen nature reserves. In addition, Sulawesi has three marine protected areas. Many of Sulawesi&#39;s parks are threatened by logging, mining, and deforestation for agriculture.</p><br>
<p>The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis is the inland sea, entirely within the borders of Turkey, that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey&#39;s Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black Sea and the Dardanelles strait to the Aegean Sea. The former also separates Istanbul into its Asian and European sides. The Sea of Marmara is the smallest sea in the world. It has an area of 11,350 km² . Its greatest depth is 1,370 m.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The sea takes its name from the island of Marmara, which is rich in sources of marble, from the Greek μάρμαρον (marmaron), "marble".</p><br>
<p>The sea&#39;s ancient Greek name Propontis derives from pro- (before) and pontos (sea), deriving from the fact that the Greeks sailed through it to reach the Black Sea, Pontos. In Greek mythology, a storm on Propontis brought the Argonauts back to an island they had left, precipitating a battle where either Jason or Heracles killed King Cyzicus, who mistook them for his Pelasgian enemies.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The surface salinity of the sea averages about 22 parts per thousand, which is slightly greater than that of the Black Sea, but only about two-thirds that of most oceans. The water is much more saline at the sea bottom, averaging salinities of around 38 parts per thousand, similar to that of the Mediterranean Sea. This high-density saline water, like that of the Black Sea, does not migrate to the surface. Water from the Susurluk, Biga (Granicus) and Gonen Rivers also reduces the salinity of the sea, though with less influence than on the Black Sea. With little land in Thrace draining southward, almost all of these rivers flow from Anatolia.</p><br>
<p>The sea contains the archipelago of the Prince Islands and Marmara Island, Avşa and Paşalimanı.</p><br>
<p>The south coast of the sea is heavily indented, and includes the Gulf of İzmit (İzmit Körfezi), the Gulf of Gemlik (Gemlik Körfezi) Gulf of Bandırma (Bandırma Körfezi) and the Gulf of Erdek (Erdek Körfezi). During a storm on December 29, 1999, the Russian oil tanker Volgoneft broke in two in the Sea of Marmara, and more than 1,500 tonnes of oil were spilled into the water.</p><br>
<p>The North Anatolian Fault, which has triggered many major earthquakes in recent years, such as the August and November 1999 earthquakes in Izmit and Düzce, respectively, runs under the sea.</p><br>
<h3>Extent</h3><br>
<p>The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Sea of Marmara as follows:</p><br>
<h2>Towns and cities</h2><br>
<p>Towns and cities on the Marmara Sea coast include:</p><br>
<p>The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion and the highest mountain range on the continent of mainland Australia. It contains the Australian mainland&#39;s highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches to a height of 2,228 m above sea level. The range also contains the five highest peaks on the Australian mainland , all of which are above 2,100 m. They are located in southern New South Wales and are part of the larger Australian Alps and Great Dividing Range. Unusual for Australia, the mountain range experiences large natural snowfalls every winter. Snow normally falls the most during June, July and early August. Therefore, most of the snow usually melts by late spring. The Tasmanian highlands makes up the other  alpine region present in Australia.</p><br>
<p>The range is host to the mountain plum-pine, a low-lying type of conifer that is suspected of being the world&#39;s oldest living plant. It is considered to be one of the centres of the Australian ski industry during the winter months, with all four snow resorts in New South Wales being located in the region.</p><br>
<p>The Alpine Way and Snowy Mountains Highway are the major roads through the Snowy Mountains region.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The mountain range is thought to have had Aboriginal occupation for 20,000 years. Large scale intertribal gatherings were held in the High Country during summer for collective feasting on the Bogong moth. This practice continued until around 1865.</p><br>
<p>The area was first explored by Europeans in 1835, and in 1840, Edmund Strzelecki ascended Mount Kosciuszko and named it after the Polish patriot. High country stockmen followed who used the Snowy Mountains for grazing during the summer months. Banjo Paterson&#39;s famous poem The Man From Snowy River recalls this era. The cattle graziers have left a legacy of mountain huts scattered across the area. Today these huts are maintained by the National Parks and Wildlife Service or volunteer organisations like the Kosciuszko Huts Association.</p><br>
<p>In the 19th century gold was mined on the high plains near Kiandra. At its height this community had a population of about 4,000 people, and ran 14 hotels. Since the last resident left in 1974, Kiandra has become a ghost town of ruins and abandoned diggings.</p><br>
<p>The Kosciuszko National Park came into existence as the National Chase Snowy Mountains on 5 December 1906. In 1944 this became the Kosciuszko State Park, and then the Kosciuszko National Park in 1967.</p><br>
<p>Recreational skiing began at Kiandra in the 1860s and experienced a boom in the 20th century following the commencement of the construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme between 1949 and 1976 which brought many European workers to the district and opened up access to the ranges.</p><br>
<h3>Skiing</h3><br>
<p>The discovery of gold at Kiandra (elevation 1,400 m), in 1859, briefly enticed a population of thousands above the snowline and saw the introduction of recreational skiing to the Snowy Mountains around 1861. The Kiandra Goldrush was short-lived, but the township remained a service centre for recreational and survival skiing for over a century. Australia&#39;s first T-Bar was installed at Kiandra in 1957, but the ski facilities were finally shifted up the hill to Selwyn Snowfields in 1978. Steeper slopes and more reliable snows lie further to the south and in the 20th Century, the focus of recreational skiing in New South Wales shifted southward, to the Mount Kosciuszko region.</p><br>
<p>The Kosciuszko Chalet was built at Charlotte Pass in 1930, giving relatively comfortable access to Australias highest terrain. In 1964, Australia briefly boasted the "Worlds Longest Chairlift", designed to carry skiers from the Thredbo Valley to Charlotte Pass, but technical difficulties soon closed the facility. At 1,760 m, Charlotte Pass has the highest village base elevation of any Australia ski resort and can only be accessed via over-snow transport in winter. The growing number of ski enthusiasts heading to Charlotte Pass led to the establishment of a cafe at Smiggin Holes around 1939, where horse-drawn sleighs would deliver skiers to begin the arduous ski to the Kosciusko Chalet. It was the construction of the vast Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme from 1949 that really opened up the Snowy Mountains for large scale development of a ski industry and led to the establishment of Thredbo and Perisher as leading Australian resorts. The Construction of Guthega Dam brought skiers to the isolated Guthega district and a rope tow was installed there in 1957.</p><br>
<p>Skifields up by Kosciusko&#39;s side were also established during this period, though their existence is now little realised. The Australian Alpine Club was founded in 1950 by Charles Anton. Huts were constructed in the "Backcountry" close to Mount Kosciusko, including Kunama Hut, which opened for the 1953 season. A rope tow was installed on Mount Northcote at the site and opened in 1954. The site proved excellent for speed skiing, but the hut was destroyed in an avalanche, which also killed one person, in 1956.</p><br>
<p>Anton also recognised the potential of the Thredbo Valley for construction of a major resort and village, with good vertical terrain. Construction began in 1957. Today, Thredbo has 14 ski-lifts and possesses Australias longest ski resort run, the 5.9 km from Karels T-Bar to Friday Flat; Australia&#39;s greatest vertical drop of 672 m; and the highest lifted point in Australia at 2037 m.</p><br>
<p>The last establishment of a major skifield in NSW came with the development of Mount Blue Cow in the 1980s. In 1987 the Swiss designed Skitube Alpine Railway opened to deliver skiers from Bullocks Flat, on the Alpine Way, to Perisher Valley and to Blue Cow, which also opened in 1987. The operators of Blue Cow purchased Guthega in 1991, and the new combined resort later merged with Perisher-Smiggins to become the largest ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere. In 2009 Perisher had 48 lifts covering 1,245 hectares and four village base areas: Perisher Valley, Blue Cow, Smiggin Holes and Guthega.</p><br>
<h3>Snowy Mountains Scheme</h3><br>
<p>The Snowy Mountains also feed the Murrumbidgee and Murray rivers from the Tooma River, Whites River and Yarrangobilly River. The range is perhaps best known for the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a project to dam the Snowy River, providing both water for irrigation and hydroelectricity.</p><br>
<p>The project began in 1949 employing 100,000 men, two-thirds of whom came from thirty other countries during the post-World War II years. Socially this project symbolises a period during which Australia became an ethnic "melting pot" of the twentieth century but which also changed Australia&#39;s character and increased its appreciation for a wide range of cultural diversity.</p><br>
<p>The Scheme built several temporary towns for its construction workers, several of which have become permanent: Cabramurra (the highest town in Australia); and Khancoban. Additionally, the economy of Cooma has been sustained by the Scheme. Townships at Adaminaby, Jindabyne and Talbingo were inundated by the construction of Lakes Eucumbene, Jindabyne and Talbingo. Improved vehicular access to the High Country enabled ski-resort villages to be constructed at Thredbo and Guthega in the 1950s by ex-Snowy Scheme workers who realised the potential for expansion of the Australian ski industry.</p><br>
<p>By 1974, 145 km of underground tunnels and 80 km of aqueducts connected the sixteen dams, seven power stations (two underground), and one pumping station. The American Society of Civil Engineers has rated the Snowy Scheme as "a world-class civil engineering project".</p><br>
<p>The principal lakes created by the scheme include: Lake Eucumbene, Blowering Dam, Talbingo Dam, Lake Jindabyne and Tantangara Dam.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>The higher regions of the park experience an alpine climate which is unusual on mainland Australia. However, only the peaks of the main range are subject to consistent heavy winter snow. The climate station at Charlotte Pass recorded Australia&#39;s lowest temperature of -23.0 °C on 28 June 1994.</p><br>
<h3>Glacial lakes</h3><br>
<p>Part of the mountains known as Main Range contains mainland Australia&#39;s five glacial lakes. The largest of these lakes is Blue Lake, one of the headwaters of the Snowy River. The other four glacial lakes are Lake Albina, Lake Cootapatamba, Club Lake and Headley Tarn.</p><br>
<p>During the last ice age, which peaked about 20,000 years ago in the Pleistocene epoch, the highest peaks of the main range near Mount Kosciuszko experienced a climate which favoured the formation of glaciers, evidence of which can still be seen today. Cirques moraines, tarn lakes, roche moutonnées and other glacial features can all be seen in the area. Lake Cootapatamba, which was formed by an ice spilling from Mount Kosciuszko&#39;s southern flank, is the highest lake on the Australian mainland. Lake Albina, Club Lake, Blue Lake, and Hedley Tarn also have glacial origins.</p><br>
<p>There is some disagreement as to exactly how widespread Pleistocene glaciation was on the main range, and little or no evidence from earlier glacial periods exists. The David Moraine, a one kilometre long ridge running across Spencers Creek valley seems to indicate a larger glacier existed in this area at some time, however the glacial origin of this feature is disputed.</p><br>
<p>There is evidence of periglacial activity in the area. Solifluction appears to have created terraces on the north west flank of Mount Northcote. Frost heave is also a significant agent of soil erosion in the Kosciuszko Area.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>The Snowy Mountains cover a variety of climatic regions which support several distinct ecosystems. The alpine area above the tree line is one of the most fragile and covers the smallest area. This area is a patchwork of alpine heaths, herbfields, feldmarks, bogs and fens. The windswept feldmark ecotope is endemic to the alpine region, and covers a mere 300,000 m&sup2;. It is most vulnerable to the wandering footsteps of unmindful tourists.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>Many rare or threatened plant and animal species occur within the Snowy Mountains. The Kosciuszko National Park is home to one of Australia&#39;s most threatened species (the corroboree frog). The endangered mountain pygmy possum and the more common dusky antechinus are located in the high country of the park.</p><br>
<p>By 2008, wild horse numbers in the National Park had reached 1,700 with that figure growing by 300 each year, resulting in park authorities coordinating their culling and relocation.</p><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>The high country is dominated by alpine woodlands, characterised by the snow gum. Montane and wet sclerophyll forests also occur across the ranges, supporting large stands of alpine ash and mountain gum. In the southern Byadbo wilderness area, dry sclerophyll and wattle forests predominate. Amongst the many different native trees in the park, the large Chinese elm has become naturalised.</p><br>
<p>The bushfires in 2003 severely damaged tree cover in the region. Fires are a natural feature of the park&#39;s ecosystem, but it will take some time for the region to return to its pre 2003 condition.</p><br>
<p>The Small Isles  are a small archipelago of islands in the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. They lie south of Skye and north of Mull and Ardnamurchan &ndash; the most westerly point of mainland Scotland. The Small Isles is one of 40 National Scenic Areas in Scotland.</p><br>
<h2>Main islands</h2><br>
<p>The four main islands are Canna, Rùm, Eigg and Muck. The largest is Rùm with an area of 41 square miles.</p><br>
<p>The islands now form part of Lochaber, in the Highland council area. Until 1891 Canna, Rùm and Muck were historically part of the counties of Argyll; Eigg was historically part of Inverness-shire, and all of the Small Isles were in Inverness-shire, from 1891 to 1975. The Gaelic name is literally "cross isles" referring to their position between the Morar and the Uists.</p><br>
<h2>Smaller islands</h2><br>
<p>Smaller islands surrounding the main four include:</p><br>
<p>Sanday, separated from Canna by a narrow tidal channel</p><br>
<p>Eilean Chathastail, near Eigg and</p><br>
<p>Eilean nan Each (Horse Island), near the north coast of Muck</p><br>
<h2>Skerries</h2><br>
<p>There are also a number of skerries:</p><br>
<p>Hyskeir or Òigh-sgeir, (not to be confused with Heisker or the Monach Islands in the Outer Hebrides)</p><br>
<p>Garbh Sgeir,</p><br>
<p>Eagamol, near Eilean nan Each</p><br>
<p>Humla, and</p><br>
<p>two places called Dubh Sgeir</p><br>
<h2>Footnotes</h2><br>
<p>Shetland , also called the Shetland Islands, is a subarctic archipelago that lies northeast of the island of Great Britain and forms part of Scotland, United Kingdom.</p><br>
<p>The islands lie some 80 km to the northeast of Orkney and 280 km southeast of the Faroe Islands. They form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total area is 1,466 km&sup2, and the population totalled 23,210 in 2011. Comprising the Shetland constituency of the Scottish Parliament, Shetland Islands Council is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland; the islands&#39; administrative centre and only burgh is Lerwick, which has also been the capital of Shetland since taking over from Scalloway in 1708.</p><br>
<p>The largest island, known as the "Mainland", has an area of 967 km&sup2, making it the third-largest Scottish island and the fifth-largest of the British Isles. There are an additional 15 inhabited islands. The archipelago has an oceanic climate, a complex geology, a rugged coastline and many low, rolling hills.</p><br>
<p>Humans have lived in Shetland since the Mesolithic period. The earliest written references to the islands date back to Roman times. The early historic period was dominated by Scandinavian influences, especially from Norway, and the islands did not become part of Scotland until the 15th century. When Scotland became part of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, trade with northern Europe decreased. Fishing has continued to be an important aspect of the economy up to the present day. The discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s significantly boosted Shetland&#39;s economy, employment and public sector revenues.</p><br>
<p>The local way of life reflects the Scottish and Norse heritage of the isles, including the Up Helly Aa fire festival, and a strong musical tradition, especially the traditional fiddle style. The islands have produced a variety of writers of prose and poetry, often in the distinct Shetland dialect of Scots. There are numerous areas set aside to protect the local fauna and flora, including a number of important sea bird nesting sites. The Shetland pony and Shetland Sheepdog are two well-known Shetland animal breeds. Other local breeds include the Shetland sheep, cow, goose, and duck. The Shetland pig, or grice, has been extinct since about 1930.</p><br>
<p>The islands motto, which appears on the Councils coat of arms, is Með lögum skal land byggja. This Old Norse phrase is taken from the Danish 1241 Basic Law, Code of Jutland, and is also mentioned in Njáls saga, and means "By law shall land be built".</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The name of Shetland is derived from the Old Norse words, hjalt (hilt), and land (land).</p><br>
<p>In AD 43 and 77 the Roman authors Pomponius Mela and Pliny the Elder referred to the seven islands they respectively called Haemodae and Acmodae, both of which are assumed to be Shetland. Another possible early written reference to the islands is Tacitus report in Agricola in AD 98, after describing the discovery and conquest of Orkney, that the Roman fleet had seen "Thule, too". In early Irish literature, Shetland is referred to as Inse Catt—"the Isles of Cats", which may have been the pre-Norse inhabitants name for the islands. The Cat tribe also occupied parts of the northern Scottish mainland and their name can be found in Caithness, and in the Gaelic name for Sutherland (Cataibh, meaning "among the Cats").</p><br>
<p>The oldest version of the modern name Shetland is Hetlandensis, the Latinised adjectival form of the Old Norse name recorded in a letter from Harald, Count of Shetland in 1190, becoming Hetland in 1431 after various intermediate transformations. It is possible that the Pictish "cat" sound forms part of this Norse name. It then became Hjaltland in the 16th century.</p><br>
<p>As Norn was gradually replaced by Scots in the form of the Shetland dialect, Hjaltland became Ȝetland. The initial letter is the Middle Scots letter, "yogh", the pronunciation of which is almost identical to the original Norn sound, "". When the use of the letter yogh was discontinued, it was often replaced by the similar-looking letter z, hence Zetland, the form used in the name of the pre-1975 county council. This is also the source of the ZE postcode used for Shetland.</p><br>
<p>Most of the individual islands have Norse names, although the derivations of some are obscure and may represent pre-Norse, possibly Pictish or even pre-Celtic names or elements.</p><br>
<h2>Geography and geology</h2><br>
<p>Shetland is around 170 km north of mainland Scotland, covers an area of 1,468 km&sup2; and has a coastline 2,702 km long.</p><br>
<p>Lerwick, the capital and largest settlement, has a population of 6,958 and about half of the archipelago&#39;s total population of 23,167 people live within 16 km of the town.</p><br>
<p>Scalloway on the west coast, which was the capital until 1708, has a population of less than 1,000.</p><br>
<p>Only 16 of about 100 islands are inhabited. The main island of the group is known as Mainland. The next largest are Yell, Unst, and Fetlar, which lie to the north, and Bressay and Whalsay, which lie to the east. East and West Burra, Muckle Roe, Papa Stour, Trondra and Vaila are smaller islands to the west of Mainland. The other inhabited islands are Foula 28 km west of Walls, Fair Isle 38 km south-west of Sumburgh Head, and the Out Skerries to the east.</p><br>
<p>The uninhabited islands include Mousa, known for the Broch of Mousa, the finest preserved example in Scotland of an Iron Age broch; Noss to the east of Bressay, which has been a national nature reserve since 1955; St Ninians Isle, connected to Mainland by the largest active tombolo in the UK; and Out Stack, the northernmost point of the British Isles. Shetlands location means that it provides a number of such records: Muness is the most northerly castle in the United Kingdom and Skaw the most northerly settlement.</p><br>
<p>The geology of Shetland is complex, with numerous faults and fold axes. These islands are the northern outpost of the Caledonian orogeny, and there are outcrops of Lewisian, Dalradian and Moine metamorphic rocks with histories similar to their equivalents on the Scottish mainland. There are also Old Red Sandstone deposits and granite intrusions. The most distinctive features are the ultrabasic ophiolite, peridotite and gabbro on Unst and Fetlar, which are remnants of the Iapetus Ocean floor.</p><br>
<p>Much of Shetland&#39;s economy depends on the oil-bearing sediments in the surrounding seas. Geological evidence shows that in around 6100 BC a tsunami caused by the Storegga Slides hit Shetland, as well as the rest of the east coast of Scotland, and may have created a wave of up to 25 m high in the voes where modern populations are highest.</p><br>
<p>The highest point of Shetland is Ronas Hill at 450 m. The Pleistocene glaciations entirely covered the islands. During that period, the Stanes of Stofast, a 2000-tonne glacial erratic, came to rest on a prominent hilltop in Lunnasting.</p><br>
<p>Shetland is a National Scenic Area which, unusually, includes a number of discrete locations: Fair Isle, Foula, South West Mainland (including the Scalloway Islands), Muckle Roe, Esha Ness, Fethaland and Herma Ness.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Shetland has an oceanic, temperate maritime climate bordering on the subpolar variety, with long but cool winters and short mild summers. The climate all year round is moderate due to the influence of the surrounding seas, with average peak temperatures of 7 &deg;C in March and 18 &deg;C in July and August. Temperatures over 25 &deg;C are very rare. The highest temperature on record was 28.4 &deg;C in July 1991 and the lowest -8.9 &deg;C in the Januaries of 1952 and 1959. The frost-free period may be as little as three months. In contrast, inland areas of nearby Scandinavia on similar latitudes experience significantly larger temperature differences between summer and winter, with the average highs of regular July days comparable to Lerwick&#39;s all-time record heat that is around 23 &deg;C, further demonstrating the moderating effect of the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, winters are considerably milder than those expected in nearby continental areas, even comparable to winter temperatures of many parts of England and Wales much further south.</p><br>
<p>The general character of the climate is windy and cloudy with at least 2 mm of rain falling on more than 250 days a year. Average yearly precipitation is 1,003 mm, with November and December the wettest months. Snowfall is usually confined to the period November to February, and snow seldom lies on the ground for more than a day. Less rain falls from April to August although no month receives less than 50 mm. Fog is common during summer due to the cooling effect of the sea on mild southerly airflows.</p><br>
<p>Due to the islands&#39; latitude, on clear winter nights the "northern lights" can sometimes be seen in the sky, while in summer there is almost perpetual daylight, a state of affairs known locally as the "simmer dim". Annual bright sunshine averages 1110 hours, and overcast days are common.</p><br>
<h2>Prehistory</h2><br>
<p>Due to the practice, dating to at least the early Neolithic, of building in stone on virtually treeless islands, Shetland is extremely rich in physical remains of the prehistoric eras and there are over 5,000 archaeological sites all told. A midden site at West Voe on the south coast of Mainland, dated to 4320–4030 BC, has provided the first evidence of Mesolithic human activity on Shetland. The same site provides dates for early Neolithic activity and finds at Scord of Brouster in Walls have been dated to 3400 BC. "Shetland knives" are stone tools that date from this period made from felsite from Northmavine.</p><br>
<p>Pottery shards found at the important site of Jarlshof also indicate that there was Neolithic activity there although the main settlement dates from the Bronze Age. This includes a smithy, a cluster of wheelhouses and a later broch. The site has provided evidence of habitation during various phases right up until Viking times. Heel-shaped cairns, are a style of chambered cairn unique to Shetland, with a particularly large example on Vementry.</p><br>
<p>Numerous brochs were erected during the Iron Age. In addition to Mousa there are significant ruins at Clickimin, Culswick, Old Scatness and West Burrafirth, although their origin and purpose is a matter of some controversy. The later Iron Age inhabitants of the Northern Isles were probably Pictish, although the historical record is sparse. Hunter (2000) states in relation to King Bridei I of the Picts in the sixth century AD: "As for Shetland, Orkney, Skye and the Western Isles, their inhabitants, most of whom appear to have been Pictish in culture and speech at this time, are likely to have regarded Bridei as a fairly distant presence.” In 2011, the collective site, "The Crucible of Iron Age Shetland", including Broch of Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof, joined the UKs "Tentative List" of World Heritage Sites.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Scandinavian colonisation</h3><br>
<p>The expanding population of Scandinavia led to a shortage of available resources and arable land there and led to a period of Viking expansion, the Norse gradually shifting their attention from plundering to invasion. Shetland was colonised during the late 8th and 9th centuries, the fate of the existing indigenous population being uncertain. Modern Shetlanders have almost identical proportions of Scandinavian matrilineal and patrilineal genetic ancestry, suggesting that the islands were settled by both men and women in equal measure.</p><br>
<p>Vikings then used the islands as a base for pirate expeditions to Norway and the coasts of mainland Scotland. In response, Norwegian king Harald Hårfagre ("Harald Fair Hair") annexed the Northern Isles (comprising Orkney and Shetland) in 875. Rognvald Eysteinsson received Orkney and Shetland from Harald as an earldom as reparation for the death of his son in battle in Scotland, and then passed the earldom on to his brother Sigurd the Mighty.</p><br>
<p>The islands converted to Christianity in the late 10th century. King Olav Tryggvasson summoned the jarl Sigurd the Stout during a visit to Orkney and said, "I order you and all your subjects to be baptised. If you refuse, I&#39;ll have you killed on the spot and I swear I will ravage every island with fire and steel." Unsurprisingly, Sigurd agreed and the islands became Christian at a stroke. Unusually, from c. 1100 onwards the Norse jarls owed allegiance both to Norway and to the Scottish crown through their holdings as Earls of Caithness.</p><br>
<p>In 1194, when Harald Maddadsson was Earl of Orkney and Shetland, a rebellion broke out against King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway. The Øyskjeggs ("Island Beardies") sailed for Norway but were beaten in the Battle of Florvåg near Bergen. After his victory King Sverre placed Shetland under direct Norwegian rule, a state of affairs that continued for nearly two centuries.</p><br>
<h3>Increased Scottish interest</h3><br>
<p>From the mid-13th century onwards Scottish monarchs increasingly sought to take control of the islands surrounding the mainland. The process was begun in earnest by Alexander II and was continued by his successor Alexander III. This strategy eventually led to an invasion of Scotland by Haakon Haakonsson, King of Norway. His fleet assembled in Bressay Sound before sailing for Scotland. After the stalemate of the Battle of Largs, Haakon retreated to Orkney, where he died in December 1263, entertained on his deathbed by recitations of the sagas. His death halted any further Norwegian expansion in Scotland and following this ill-fated expedition, the Hebrides and Mann were yielded to the Kingdom of Scotland as a result of the 1266 Treaty of Perth, although the Scots recognised continuing Norwegian sovereignty over Orkney and Shetland.</p><br>
<h3>Annexation by Scotland</h3><br>
<p>In the 14th century, Orkney and Shetland remained a Norwegian possession, but Scottish influence was growing. Jon Haraldsson, who was murdered in Thurso in 1231, was the last of an unbroken line of Norse jarls, and thereafter the earls were Scots noblemen of the houses of Angus and St Clair. On the death of Haakon VI in 1380, Norway formed a political union with Denmark, after which the interest of the royal house in the islands declined. In 1469, Shetland was pledged by Christian I, in his capacity as King of Norway, as security against the payment of the dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to James III of Scotland. As the money was never paid, the connection with the Crown of Scotland became permanent. In 1470, William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness ceded his title to James III, and the following year the Northern Isles were directly annexed to the Crown of Scotland, an action confirmed by the Parliament of Scotland in 1472. Nonetheless, Shetland&#39;s connection with Norway has proved to be enduring.</p><br>
<p>From the early 15th century on the Shetlanders sold their goods through the Hanseatic League of German merchantmen. The Hansa would buy shiploads of salted fish, wool and butter, and import salt, cloth, beer and other goods. The late 16th century and early 17th century were dominated by the influence of the despotic Robert Stewart, Earl of Orkney, who was granted the islands by his half-sister Mary Queen of Scots, and his son Patrick. The latter commenced the building of Scalloway Castle, but after his imprisonment in 1609 the Crown annexed Orkney and Shetland again until 1643 when Charles I granted them to William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton. These rights were held on and off by the Mortons until 1766, when they were sold by James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton to Laurence Dundas.</p><br>
<h3>18th and 19th centuries</h3><br>
<p>The trade with the North German towns lasted until the 1707 Act of Union, when high salt duties prevented the German merchants from trading with Shetland. Shetland then went into an economic depression, as the local traders were not as skilled in trading salted fish. However, some local merchant-lairds took up where the German merchants had left off, and fitted out their own ships to export fish from Shetland to the Continent. For the independent farmers of Shetland this had negative consequences, as they now had to fish for these merchant-lairds.</p><br>
<p>Smallpox afflicted the islands in the 17th and 18th centuries, but as vaccines became common after 1760 the population increased to a maximum of 31,670 in 1861. However, British rule came at price for many ordinary people as well as traders. The Shetlanders nautical skills were sought by the Royal Navy. Some 3,000 served during the Napoleonic wars from 1800 to 1815 and press gangs were rife. During this period 120 men were taken from Fetlar alone, and only 20 of them returned home. By the late 19th century 90% of all Shetland was owned by just 32 people, and between 1861 and 1881 more than 8,000 Shetlanders emigrated. With the passing of the Crofters Act in 1886 the Liberal prime minister William Gladstone emancipated crofters from the rule of the landlords. The Act enabled those who had effectively been landowners&#39; serfs to become owner-occupiers of their own small farms. By this time fishermen from Holland, who had traditionally gathered each year off the coast of Shetland to fish for herring, triggered an industry in the islands that boomed from around 1880 until the 1920s when stocks of the fish began to dwindle. The production peaked in 1905 at more than a million barrels, of which 708,000 were exported.</p><br>
<h3>20th century</h3><br>
<p>During World War I many Shetlanders served in the Gordon Highlanders, a further 3,000 served in the Merchant Navy, and more than 1,500 in a special local naval reserve. The 10th Cruiser Squadron was stationed at Swarbacks Minn (the stretch of water to the south of Muckle Roe), and during a single year from March 1917 more than 4,500 ships sailed from Lerwick as part of an escorted convoy system. In total, Shetland lost more than 500 men, a higher proportion than any other part of Britain, and there were further waves of emigration in the 1920s and 1930s.</p><br>
<p>During World War II a Norwegian naval unit nicknamed the "Shetland Bus" was established by the Special Operations Executive in the autumn of 1940 with a base first at Lunna and later in Scalloway to conduct operations around the coast of Norway. About 30 fishing vessels used by Norwegian refugees were gathered and the Shetland Bus conducted covert operations, carrying intelligence agents, refugees, instructors for the resistance, and military supplies. It made over 200 trips across the sea, and Leif Larsen, the most highly decorated allied naval officer of the war, made 52 of them. Several RAF airfields and sites were also established at Sullom Voe and several lighthouses suffered enemy air attacks.</p><br>
<p>Oil reserves discovered in the later 20th century in the seas both east and west of Shetland have provided a much-needed alternative source of income for the islands. The East Shetland Basin is one of Europes largest oil fields and as a result of the oil revenue and the cultural links with Norway, a small Home Rule movement developed briefly to recast the constitutional position of Shetland. It saw as its models the Isle of Man, as well as Shetlands closest neighbour, the Faroe Islands, an autonomous dependency of Denmark.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Today, the main revenue producers in Shetland are agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, renewable energy, the petroleum industry (crude oil and natural gas production), the creative industries and tourism.</p><br>
<p>Fishing remains central to the islands&#39; economy today, with the total catch being 75,767 to ton in 2009, valued at over £73.2 million. Mackerel makes up more than half of the catch in Shetland by weight and value, and there are significant landings of haddock, cod, herring, whiting, monkfish and shellfish. Farming is mostly concerned with the raising of Shetland sheep, known for their unusually fine wool. Crops raised include oats and barley; however, the cold, windswept islands make for a harsh environment for most plants. Crofting, the farming of small plots of land on a legally restricted tenancy basis, is still practised and is viewed as a key Shetland tradition as well as an important source of income.</p><br>
<p>Oil and gas were first landed in 1978 at Sullom Voe, which has subsequently become one of the largest terminals in Europe. Taxes from the oil have increased public sector spending on social welfare, art, sport, environmental measures and financial development. Three quarters of the islands workforce is employed in the service sector, and the Shetland Islands Council alone accounted for 27.9% of output in 2003. Shetlands access to oil revenues has funded the Shetland Charitable Trust, which in turn funds a wide variety of local programmes. The balance of the fund in 2011 was £217 million, i.e., about £9,500 per head.</p><br>
<p>In January 2007, the Shetland Islands Council signed a partnership agreement with Scottish and Southern Energy for the Viking Wind Farm, a 200-turbine wind farm and subsea cable. This renewable energy project would produce about 600 megawatts and contribute about £20 million to the Shetland economy per year. The plan met with significant opposition within the islands, primarily resulting from the anticipated visual impact of the development. The PURE project on Unst is a research centre which uses a combination of wind power and fuel cells to create a wind hydrogen system. The project is run by the Unst Partnership, the local community&#39;s development trust.</p><br>
<p>Knitwear is important both to the economy and culture of Shetland, and the Fair Isle design is well known. However, the industry faces challenges due to plagiarism of the word "Shetland" by manufacturers operating elsewhere, and a certification trademark, "The Shetland Lady", has been registered.</p><br>
<p>Shetland is served by a weekly local newspaper, The Shetland Times and the online Shetland News with radio service being provided by BBC Radio Shetland and the commercial radio station SIBC.</p><br>
<p>Shetland is a popular destination for cruise ships, and in 2010 the Lonely Planet guide named Shetland as the sixth best region in the world for tourists seeking unspoilt destinations. The islands were described as "beautiful and rewarding" and the Shetlanders as "a fiercely independent and self-reliant bunch". Overall visitor expenditure was worth £16.4 million in 2006, in which year just under 26,000 cruise liner passengers arrived at Lerwick Harbour. In 2009, the most popular visitor attractions were the Shetland Museum, the RSPB reserve at Sumburgh Head, Bonhoga Gallery at Weisdale Mill and Jarlshof.</p><br>
<h3>Quarries</h3><br>
<p>Brindister: 60.114475&deg;N latitude, 1.215874&deg;W longitude</p><br>
<p>Scord: 60.142287&deg;N latitude, 1.261629&deg;W longitude</p><br>
<p>Sullom: 60.439953&deg;N latitude, 1.382306&deg;W longitude</p><br>
<p>Vatster: 60.212887&deg;N latitude, 1.220861&deg;W longitude</p><br>
<h3>Transport</h3><br>
<p>Transport between islands is primarily by ferry, and Shetland Islands Council operates various inter-island services. Shetland is also served by a domestic connection from Lerwick to Aberdeen on mainland Scotland. This service, which takes about 12 hours, is operated by NorthLink Ferries. Some services also call at Kirkwall, Orkney, which increases the journey time between Aberdeen and Lerwick by 2 hours. There are plans for road tunnels to some of the islands, especially Bressay and Whalsay, however it is hard to convince the mainland government to finance them.</p><br>
<p>Sumburgh Airport, the main airport on Shetland, is located close to Sumburgh Head, 40 km south of Lerwick. Loganair operates flights for FlyBe to other parts of Scotland up to ten times a day, the destinations being Kirkwall, Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Lerwick/Tingwall Airport is located 11 km west of Lerwick. Operated by Directflight Limited in partnership with Shetland Islands Council, it is devoted to inter-island flights from the Shetland Mainland to most of the inhabited islands.</p><br>
<p>Scatsta Airport near Sullom Voe allows frequent charter flights from Aberdeen to transport oilfield workers and this small terminal has the fifth largest number of international passengers in Scotland.</p><br>
<p>Public bus services are operated on Mainland, Whalsay, Burra, Unst and Yell.</p><br>
<p>The archipelago is exposed to wind and tide, and there are numerous sites of wrecked ships. Lighthouses are sited as an aid to navigation at various locations.</p><br>
<h2>Public services</h2><br>
<p>The Shetland Islands Council is the Local Government authority for all the islands and is based in Lerwick Town Hall.</p><br>
<p>Shetland is sub-divided into 18 community council areas and into 12 civil parishes that are used for statistical purposes.</p><br>
<h2>Education</h2><br>
<p>In Shetland there are two high schools—Anderson and Brae—five junior high schools, and 24 primary schools.</p><br>
<p>Shetland is also home to the North Atlantic Fisheries College, the Centre for Nordic Studies and Shetland College, which are all associated with the University of the Highlands and Islands.</p><br>
<h2>Sport</h2><br>
<p>The islands are represented by the Shetland football team who regularly compete in the Island Games. The islands&#39; senior football league is the G&S Flooring Premier League.</p><br>
<h2>Churches and religion</h2><br>
<p>The Reformation reached the archipelago in 1560. This was an apparently peaceful transition and there is little evidence of religious intolerance in Shetland&#39;s recorded history.</p><br>
<p>In the 2011 census, Shetland registered a higher proportion of people with no religion than the Scottish average. Nevertheless, a variety of religious denominations are represented in the islands.</p><br>
<p>The Methodist Church has a relatively high membership in Shetland, which is a District of the Methodist Church (with the rest of Scotland comprising a separate District).</p><br>
<p>The Church of Scotland has a Presbytery of Shetland that includes St. Columba&#39;s Church in Lerwick.</p><br>
<p>The Catholic population is served by the church of St. Margaret and the Sacred Heart in Lerwick. The Parish is part of the Diocese of Aberdeen.</p><br>
<p>The Scottish Episcopal Church (part of the Anglican Communion) has regular worship at St Magnus Church, Lerwick, St Colmans Church, Burravoe, and the Chapel of Christ the Encompasser, Fetlar, the last of which is maintained by the Society of Our Lady of the Isles, the most northerly and remote Anglican religious order of nuns.</p><br>
<p>The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a congregation in Lerwick. The former print works and offices of the local newspaper, The Shetland Times, has been converted into a chapel.</p><br>
<h2>Politics</h2><br>
<p>Shetland is represented in the House of Commons as part of the Orkney and Shetland constituency, which elects one Member of Parliament, the current incumbent being Alistair Carmichael. This seat has been held by the Liberal Democrats or their predecessors the Liberal Party since 1950, longer than any other they represent in the UK.</p><br>
<p>In the Scottish Parliament the Shetland constituency elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post system. The current MSP is Tavish Scott of the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Shetland is within the Highlands and Islands electoral region.</p><br>
<p>The Wir Shetland movement was set up in 2015 to campaign for greater autonomy.</p><br>
<p>The political composition of the Council is 21 Independents and 1 Scottish National Party. Thus it is one of only three Councils in Scotland with a majority of elected members not representing a political party.</p><br>
<h2>Shetland Flag</h2><br>
<p>Roy Grönneberg, who founded the local chapter of the Scottish National Party in 1966, designed the flag of Shetland in cooperation with Bill Adams to mark the 500th anniversary of the transfer of the islands from Norway to Scotland. The colours are identical to those of the flag of Scotland, but are shaped in the Nordic cross. After several unsuccessful attempts, including a plebiscite in 1985, the Lord Lyon King of Arms approved it as the official flag of Shetland in 2005.</p><br>
<h2>Local culture and the arts</h2><br>
<p>After the islands were transferred to Scotland, thousands of Scots families emigrated to Shetland in the 16th and 17th centuries but studies of the genetic makeup of the islands&#39; population indicate that Shetlanders are just under half Scandinavian in origin. A sizeable component of Scandinavian patrilineal ancestry has been reported in Orkney (55%) and Shetland (68%). This combination is reflected in many aspects of local life. For example, almost every place name in use can be traced back to the Vikings. The Norn language was a form of Old Norse, which continued to be spoken until the 18th century when it was replaced by an insular dialect of Scots known as Shetlandic, which is in turn being replaced by Scottish English. Although Norn was spoken for hundreds of years it is now extinct and few written sources remain. Shetlandic is used both in local radio and dialect writing, and kept alive by the Shetland Folk Society.</p><br>
<p>The Lerwick Up Helly Aa is one of several fire festivals held in Shetland annually in the middle of winter—it is always started on the last Tuesday of January. The festival is just over 100 years old in its present, highly organised form. Originally, a festival held to break up the long nights of winter and mark the end of Yule, the festival has become one celebrating the isles&#39; heritage and includes a procession of men dressed as Vikings and the burning of a replica longship.</p><br>
<p>The cuisine of Shetland is based on locally produced lamb, beef and seafood, much of it organic. Inevitably, the real ale-producing Valhalla Brewery is the most northerly in Britain. The Shetland Black is a variety of blue potato with a dark skin and indigo coloured flesh markings.</p><br>
<p>Shetland competes in the biennial International Island Games, which it hosted in 2005.</p><br>
<h3>Music</h3><br>
<p>Shetlands culture and landscapes have inspired a variety of musicians, writers and film-makers. The Forty Fiddlers was formed in the 1950s to promote the traditional fiddle style, which is a vibrant part of local culture today. Notable exponents of Shetland folk music include Aly Bain, Fiddlers Bid, and the late Tom Anderson and Peerie Willie Johnson. Thomas Fraser was a country musician who never released a commercial recording during his life, but whose work has become popular more than 20 years after his untimely death in 1978.</p><br>
<h3>Writers</h3><br>
<p>Walter Scotts 1822 novel The Pirate is set in "a remote part of Shetland", and was inspired by his 1814 visit to the islands. The name Jarlshof meaning "Earls Mansion" is a coinage of his. Robert Cowie, a doctor born in Lerwick published the 1874 work</p><br>
<p>Hugh MacDiarmid, the Scots poet and writer lived in Whalsay from the mid-1930s through 1942, and wrote many poems there, including a number that directly address or reflect the Shetland environment such as "On A Raised Beach", which was inspired by a visit to West Linga. The 1975 novel North Star by Hammond Innes is largely set in Shetland and Raman Mundairs 2007 book of poetry A Choreographers Cartography offers a British Asian perspective on the landscape. The Shetland Quartet by Ann Cleeves, who previously lived in Fair Isle, is a series of crime novels set around the islands. In 2013 her novel Red Bones became the basis of BBC crime drama television series Shetland.</p><br>
<p>Vagaland, who grew up in Walls, was arguably Shetland&#39;s finest poet of the 20th century. Haldane Burgess was a Shetland historian, poet, novelist, violinist, linguist and socialist and Rhoda Bulter (1929–94) is one of the best-known Shetland poets of recent times. Other 20th and 21st century poets and novelists include Christine De Luca, Robert Alan Jamieson who grew up in Sandness, the late Lollie Graham of Veensgarth, Stella Sutherland of Bressay, the late William J Tait from Yell and Laureen Johnson.</p><br>
<p>There are two monthly magazines in production: Shetland Life and ii Shetland. The quarterly The New Shetlander, founded in 1947, is said to be Scotland&#39;s longest-running literary magazine. For much of the later 20th century it was the major vehicle for the work of local writers — and others, including early work by George Mackay Brown.</p><br>
<h3>Films and television</h3><br>
<p>Michael Powell made The Edge of the World in 1937, a dramatisation based on the true story of the evacuation of the last 36 inhabitants of the remote island of St Kilda on 29 August 1930. St Kilda lies in the Atlantic Ocean, 64 km west of the Outer Hebrides but Powell was unable to get permission to film there. Undaunted, he made the film over four months during the summer of 1936 on Foula and the film transposes these events to Shetland. Forty years later, the documentary Return to the Edge of the World was filmed, capturing a reunion of cast and crew of the film as they revisited the island in 1978.</p><br>
<p>A number of other films have been made on or about Shetland including A Crofters Life in Shetland (1932) A Shetland Lyric (1934), Devils Gate (2003) and It&#39;s Nice Up North (2006), a comedy documentary by Graham Fellows. An annual film festival takes place in the newly built Mareel, a cinema, music and education venue.</p><br>
<p>Although much of the BBC&#39;s Shetland (TV series) was filmed on mainland Scotland, the cast and crew did work in Shetland on occasion, particularly in and near Lerwick.</p><br>
<h2>Wildlife</h2><br>
<p>Shetland has three national nature reserves, at the seabird colonies of Hermaness and Noss, and at Keen of Hamar to preserve the serpentine flora. There are a further 81 SSSIs, which cover 66% or more of the land surfaces of Fair Isle, Papa Stour, Fetlar, Noss and Foula. Mainland has 45 separate sites.</p><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>The landscape in Shetland is marked by the grazing of sheep and the harsh conditions have limited the total number of plant species to about 400. Native trees such as rowan and crab apple are only found in a few isolated places such as cliffs and loch islands. The flora is dominated by Arctic-alpine plants, wild flowers, moss and lichen. Spring squill, buck&#39;s-horn plantain, Scots lovage, roseroot and sea campion are abundant, especially in sheltered places. Shetland mouse-ear (Cerastium nigrescens) is an endemic flowering plant found only in Shetland. It was first recorded in 1837 by botanist Thomas Edmondston. Although reported from two other sites in the nineteenth century, it currently grows only on two serpentine hills on the island of Unst. The nationally scarce oysterplant is found on several islands and the British Red Listed bryophyte Thamnobryum alopecurum has also been recorded. Listed marine algae include: Polysiphonia fibrillosa (Dillwyn) Sprengel, Polysiphonia atlantica Kapraun and J.Norris, Polysiphonia brodiaei (Dillwyn) Sprengel, Polysiphonia elongata (Hudson) Sprengel, Polysiphonia elongella. Harvey The Shetland Monkeyflower is unique to Shetland and is a mutation of the Monkeyflower (mimulus guttatus) introduced to Shetland in the 19th century.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>Shetland has numerous seabird colonies. Birds found on the islands include Atlantic puffin, storm-petrel, red-throated diver, northern gannet and great skua (locally called the "bonxie"). Numerous rarities have also been recorded including black-browed albatross and snow goose, and a single pair of snowy owls bred on Fetlar from 1967 to 1975. The Shetland wren, Fair Isle wren and Shetland starling are subspecies endemic to Shetland. There are also populations of various moorland birds such as curlew, snipe and golden plover.</p><br>
<p>The geographical isolation and recent glacial history of Shetland have resulted in a depleted mammalian fauna and the brown rat and house mouse are two of only three species of rodent present on the islands. The Shetland field mouse is the third and the archipelago&#39;s fourth endemic subspecies, of which there are three varieties on Yell, Foula and Fair Isle. They are variants of Apodemus sylvaticus and archaeological evidence suggests that this species was present during the Middle Iron Age (around 200 BC to AD 400). It is possible that Apodemus was introduced from Orkney where a population has existed since at the least the Bronze Age.</p><br>
<h3>Domesticated animals</h3><br>
<p>There is a variety of indigenous breeds, of which the diminutive Shetland pony is probably the best known, as well as being an important part of the Shetland farming tradition. The first written record of the pony was in 1603 in the Court Books of Shetland and, for its size, it is the strongest of all the horse breeds. Others are the Shetland Sheepdog or "Sheltie", the endangered Shetland cattle and Shetland Goose and the Shetland sheep which is believed to have originated prior to 1000 AD. The Grice was a breed of semi-domesticated pig that had a habit of attacking lambs, and that became extinct in 1930.</p><br>
<p>The Suez Canal  is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez. Constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869, it was officially opened on November 17, 1869. The canal offers watercraft a shorter journey between the North Atlantic and northern Indian Oceans via the Mediterranean and Red seas by avoiding the South Atlantic and southern Indian oceans, in turn reducing the journey by approximately 7,000 km. It extends from the northern terminus of Port Said to the southern terminus of Port Tewfik at the city of Suez. Its length is 193.30 km, including its northern and southern access channels. In 2012, 17,225 vessels traversed the canal .</p><br>
<p>The original canal was a single-lane waterway with passing locations in the Ballah Bypass and the Great Bitter Lake. It contains no locks system, with seawater flowing freely through it. In general, the canal north of the Bitter Lakes flows north in winter and south in summer. South of the lakes, the current changes with the tide at Suez.</p><br>
<p>The canal is owned and maintained by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) of Egypt. Under the Convention of Constantinople, it may be used "in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag".</p><br>
<p>In August 2014, construction was launched to expand and widen the Ballah Bypass for 35 km to speed the canal&#39;s transit time. The expansion was planned to double the capacity of the Suez Canal from 49 to 97 ships a day. At a cost of $8.4 billion, this project was funded with interest-bearing investment certificates issued exclusively to Egyptian entities and individuals. The "New Suez Canal", as the expansion was dubbed, was opened with great fanfare in a ceremony on 6 August 2015.</p><br>
<p>On 24 February 2016, the Suez Canal Authority officially opened the new side channel. This side channel, located at the northern side of the east extension of the Suez Canal, serves the East Terminal for berthing and unberthing vessels from the terminal. As the East Container Terminal is located on the Canal itself, before the construction of the new side channel it was not possible to berth or unberth vessels at the terminal while the convoy was running.</p><br>
<h2>Precursors</h2><br>
<p>Ancient west–east canals were built to facilitate travel from the Nile River to the Red Sea. One smaller canal is believed to have been constructed under the auspices of Senusret II or Ramesses II. Another canal, probably incorporating a portion of the first, was constructed under the reign of Necho II, but the only fully functional canal was engineered and completed by Darius I.</p><br>
<h3>2nd millennium BC</h3><br>
<p>The legendary Sesostris (likely either Pharaoh Senusret II or Senusret III of the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt)</p><br>
<p>In his Meteorology, Aristotle wrote:</p><br>
<p>One of their kings tried to make a canal to it (for it would have been of no little advantage to them for the whole region to have become navigable; Sesostris is said to have been the first of the ancient kings to try), but he found that the sea was higher than the land. So he first, and Darius afterwards, stopped making the canal, lest the sea should mix with the river water and spoil it.</p><br>
<p>Strabo wrote that Sesostris started to build a canal, and Pliny the Elder wrote:</p><br>
<p>165. Next comes the Tyro tribe and, the harbour of the Daneoi, from which Sesostris, king of Egypt, intended to carry a ship-canal to where the Nile flows into what is known as the Delta; this is a distance of over 60 miles. Later the Persian king Darius had the same idea, and yet again Ptolemy II, who made a trench 100 feet wide, 30 feet deep and about 35 miles long, as far as the Bitter Lakes.</p><br>
<p>In the second half of the 19th century, French cartographers discovered the remnants of an ancient north–south canal past the east side of Lake Timsah and ending near the north end of the Great Bitter Lake. This proved to be the celebrated canal made by the Persian king Darius I, as his stele commemorating its construction was found at the site. (This ancient, second canal may have followed a course along the shoreline of the Red Sea when it once extended north to Lake Timsah. This was dated to the Middle Kingdom of Egypt by extrapolating the dates of ancient sites along its course.</p><br>
<p>The reliefs of the Punt expedition under Hatshepsut, 1470 BC, depict seagoing vessels carrying the expeditionary force returning from Punt. This suggests that a navigable link existed between the Red Sea and the Nile. Recent excavations in Wadi Gawasis may indicate that Egypt&#39;s maritime trade started from the Red Sea and did not require a canal. Evidence seems to indicate its existence by the 13th century BC during the time of Ramesses II.</p><br>
<h3>Canals dug by Necho, Darius I and Ptolemy</h3><br>
<p>Remnants of an ancient west–east canal through the ancient Egyptian cities of Bubastis, Pi-Ramesses, and Pithom were discovered by Napoleon Bonaparte and his engineers and cartographers in 1799.</p><br>
<p>According to the Histories of the Greek historian Herodotus, about 600 BC, Necho II undertook to dig a west–east canal through the Wadi Tumilat between Bubastis and Heroopolis, and perhaps continued it to the Heroopolite Gulf and the Red Sea. Regardless, Necho is reported as having never completed his project.</p><br>
<p>Herodotus was told that 120,000 men perished in this undertaking, but this figure is doubtless exaggerated. According to Pliny the Elder, Necho&#39;s extension to the canal was about 57 English miles, equal to the total distance between Bubastis and the Great Bitter Lake, allowing for winding through valleys. The length that Herodotus tells, of over 1000 stadia (i.e., over 114 mi), must be understood to include the entire distance between the Nile and the Red Sea at that time.</p><br>
<p>With Nechos death, work was discontinued. Herodotus tells that the reason the project was abandoned was because of a warning received from an oracle that others would benefit from its successful completion. Nechos war with Nebuchadnezzar II most probably prevented the canal&#39;s continuation.</p><br>
<p>Nechos project was completed by Darius I of Persia, who ruled over Ancient Egypt after it had been conquered by his predecessor Cambyses II. It may be that by Dariuss time a natural in the vicinity of the Egyptian town of Shaluf (alt. Chalouf or Shaloof), located just south of the Great Bitter Lake, had become so blocked with silt that Darius needed to clear it out so as to allow navigation once again. According to Herodotus, Darius&#39;s canal was wide enough that two triremes could pass each other with oars extended, and required four days to traverse. Darius commemorated his achievement with a number of granite stelae that he set up on the Nile bank, including one near Kabret, and a further one a few miles north of Suez. The Darius Inscriptions read:</p><br>
<p>The canal left the Nile at Bubastis. An inscription on a pillar at Pithom records that in 270 or 269 BC, it was again reopened, by Ptolemy II Philadelphus. In Arsinoe, Ptolemy constructed a navigable lock, with sluices, at the Heroopolite Gulf of the Red Sea, which allowed the passage of vessels but prevented salt water from the Red Sea from mingling with the fresh water in the canal.</p><br>
<h3>Receding Red Sea and the dwindling Nile</h3><br>
<p>The Red Sea is believed by some historians to have gradually receded over the centuries, its coastline slowly moving southward away from Lake Timsah and the Great Bitter Lake. Coupled with persistent accumulations of Nile silt, maintenance and repair of Ptolemy&#39;s canal became increasingly cumbersome over each passing century.</p><br>
<p>Two hundred years after the construction of Ptolemys canal, Cleopatra seems to have had no west–east waterway passage, because the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, which fed Ptolemys west–east canal, had by that time dwindled, being choked with silt.</p><br>
<h3>Old Cairo to the Red Sea</h3><br>
<p>By the 8th century, a navigable canal existed between Old Cairo and the Red Sea, but accounts vary as to who ordered its construction—either Trajan or Amr ibn al-As, or Omar the Great. This canal was reportedly linked to the River Nile at Old Cairo and ended near modern Suez. A geography treatise by Dicuil reports a conversation with an English monk, Fidelis, who had sailed on the canal from the Nile to the Red Sea during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the first half of the 8th century</p><br>
<p>The Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur is said to have ordered this canal closed in 767 to prevent supplies from reaching Arabian detractors.</p><br>
<h3>Repair by al-Ḥākim</h3><br>
<p>Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah is claimed to have repaired the Cairo to Red Sea passageway, but only briefly, circa 1000 AD, as it soon "became choked with sand." However, we are told that parts of this canal still continued to fill in during the Nile&#39;s annual inundations.</p><br>
<h3>Conception by Venice</h3><br>
<p>The successful 1488 navigation of southern Africa by Bartolomeu Dias opened a direct maritime trading route to India and the spice islands, and forever changed the balance of Mediterranean trade. One of the most prominent losers in the new order, as former middlemen, was the former spice trading center of Venice.</p><br>
<p>Despite entering negotiations with Egypt&#39;s ruling Mamelukes, the Venetian plan to build the canal was quickly put to rest by the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517, led by Sultan Selim I</p><br>
<h3>Napoleon's discovery of an ancient canal</h3><br>
<p>During the French campaign in Egypt and Syria in late 1798, Napoleon showed an interest in finding the remnants of an ancient waterway passage. This culminated in a cadre of archaeologists, scientists, cartographers and engineers scouring northern Egypt. Their findings, recorded in the Description de lÉgypte, include detailed maps that depict the discovery of an ancient canal extending northward from the Red Sea and then westward toward the Nile., containing Mémoire sur la communication de la mer des Indes à la Méditerranée par la mer Rouge et l&#39;Isthme de Sueys,</p><br>
<p>par M. J.M. Le Père, ingénieur en chef, inspecteur divisionnaire au corps impérial des ponts et chaussées, membre de lInstitut dÉgypte, pp. 21–186</p><br>
<p>Later, Napoleon, who would become French Emperor in 1804, contemplated the construction of a north–south canal to connect the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. But the plan was abandoned because it wrongly concluded that the waterway would require locks to operate. These would be very expensive and take a long time to construct. This decision was based on an erroneous belief that the Red Sea was 10 m higher than the Mediterranean. The error was the result of using fragmentary survey measurements taken in wartime during Napoleon&#39;s Egyptian Expedition. In 1819 the Pacha of Egypt undertook some canal work.</p><br>
<p>However, as late as 1861, the unnavigable ancient route discovered by Napoleon from Bubastis to the Red Sea still channeled water in spots as far east as Kassassin.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Interim period</h3><br>
<p>Although the alleged difference in sea levels could be problematic for construction, the idea of finding a shorter route to the east remained alive. In 1830, F. R. Chesney submitted a report to the British government that stated that there was no difference in altitude and that the Suez Canal was feasible, but his report received no further attention. Lieutenant Waghorn established his "Overland Route", which transported post and passengers to India via Egypt. Linant de Bellefonds, a French explorer of Egypt, became chief engineer of Egypts Public Works. In addition to his normal duties, he surveyed the Isthmus of Suez and made plans for the Suez Canal. French Saint-Simonianists showed an interest in the canal and in 1833, Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin tried to draw Muhammad Alis attention to the canal but was unsuccessful. Alois Negrelli, the Austrian railroad pioneer, became interested in the idea in 1836. In 1846, Prosper Enfantins Société dÉtudes du Canal de Suez invited a number of experts, among them Robert Stephenson, Negrelli and Paul-Adrien Bourdaloue to study the feasibility of the Suez Canal (with the assistance of Linant de Bellefonds). Bourdaloue&#39;s survey of the isthmus was the first generally accepted evidence that there was no practical difference in altitude between the two seas. Britain, however, feared that a canal open to everyone might interfere with its India trade and therefore preferred a connection by train from Alexandria via Cairo to Suez, which was eventually built by Stephenson.</p><br>
<h3>Construction by the Suez Canal Company</h3><br>
<p>In 1854 and 1856, Ferdinand de Lesseps obtained a concession from Said Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, to create a company to construct a canal open to ships of all nations. The company was to operate the canal for 99 years from its opening. De Lesseps had used his friendly relationship with Said, which he had developed while he was a French diplomat in the 1830s. As stipulated in the concessions, Ferdinand convened the International Commission for the piercing of the isthmus of Suez (Commission Internationale pour le percement de listhme des Suez) consisting of 13 experts from seven countries, among them John Robinson McClean, later President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in London, and again Negrelli, to examine the plans developed by Linant de Bellefonds, and to advise on the feasibility of and the best route for the canal. After surveys and analyses in Egypt and discussions in Paris on various aspects of the canal, where many of Negrellis ideas prevailed, the commission produced a unanimous report in December 1856 containing a detailed description of the canal complete with plans and profiles. The Suez Canal Company (Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez) came into being on 15 December 1858 and work started on the shore of the future Port Said on 25 April 1859.</p><br>
<p>The excavation took some 10 years using forced labour (corvée) of Egyptian workers during the first years. Some sources estimate that over 30,000 people were working on the canal at any given period, that more than 1.5 million people from various countries were employed, and that thousands of labourers died, many of them from cholera and similar epidemics.</p><br>
<p>The British government had opposed the project from the outset to its completion. As one of the diplomatic moves against the canal, it disapproved of the use of "slave labour" of forced workers. The British Empire was the major global naval force and officially condemned the forced work and sent armed Bedouins to start a revolt among workers. Involuntary labour on the project ceased, and the viceroy condemned the corvée, halting the project.</p><br>
<p>Angered by the British opportunism, de Lesseps sent a letter to the British government remarking on the British lack of remorse a few years earlier when forced workers died in similar conditions building the British railway in Egypt.</p><br>
<p>Initially international opinion was skeptical and Suez Canal Company shares did not sell well overseas. Britain, Austria, and Russia did not buy a significant number of shares. All French shares were quickly sold in France. A contemporary British skeptic claimed "One thing is sure... our local merchant community doesnt pay practical attention at all to this grand work, and it is legitimate to doubt that the canals receipts... could ever be sufficient to recover its maintenance fee. It will never become a large ship&#39;s accessible way in any case."</p><br>
<p>The canal opened under French control on 17 November 1869. Although numerous technical, political, and financial problems had been overcome, the final cost was more than double the original estimate. The opening was performed by Khedive Ismail Pasha of Egypt and Sudan, and at Ismails invitation French Empress Eugenie in the Imperial yacht L&#39;Aigle piloted by Napoléon Coste, who was bestowed by the Khedive the Ottoman Order of the Medjidie.</p><br>
<p>The first ship to follow LAigle through the canal was the British P&O liner Delta. Although LAigle was officially the first vessel through the canal, HMS Newport, captained by George Nares, passed through it first. On the night before the canal was due to open, Captain Nares navigated his vessel, in total darkness and without lights, through the mass of waiting ships until it was in front of L&#39;Aigle. When dawn broke, the French were horrified to find that the Royal Navy was first in line and that it would be impossible to pass them. Nares received both an official reprimand and an unofficial vote of thanks from the Admiralty for his actions in promoting British interests and for demonstrating such superb seamanship. An Anchor Line ship, the S.S. Dido, became the first to pass through the Canal from South to North.</p><br>
<p>After the opening, the Suez Canal Company was in financial difficulties. The remaining works were completed only in 1871, and traffic was below expectations in the first two years. De Lesseps therefore tried to increase revenues by interpreting the kind of net ton referred to in the second concession (tonneau de capacité) as meaning a ship&#39;s cargo capacity and not only the theoretical net tonnage of the "Moorsom System" introduced in Britain by the Merchant Shipping Act in 1854. The ensuing commercial and diplomatic activities resulted in the International Commission of Constantinople establishing a specific kind of net tonnage and settling the question of tariffs in its protocol of 18 December 1873. This was the origin of the Suez Canal Net Tonnage and the Suez Canal Special Tonnage Certificate, both of which are still in use today.</p><br>
<h3>Company rule after opening</h3><br>
<p>The canal had an immediate and dramatic effect on world trade. Combined with the American transcontinental railroad completed six months earlier, it allowed the world to be circled in record time. It played an important role in increasing European colonization of Africa. The construction of the canal was one of the reasons for the Panic of 1873, because goods from the Far East were carried in sailing vessels around the Cape of Good Hope and were stored in British warehouses. As sailing vessels were not adaptable for use through the canal, because the prevailing winds of the Mediterranean blow from west to east, British entrepôt trade suffered. External debts forced Said Pashas successor, Ismail Pasha, to sell his countrys share in the canal for £4,000,000 (about £ million in -1) to the United Kingdom in 1875, but French shareholders still held the majority. Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli was accused by William Ewart Gladstone of undermining Britains constitutional system, because he had not referred to, or obtained consent from Parliament when purchasing the shares with funding from the Rothschilds.</p><br>
<p>The Convention of Constantinople in 1888 declared the canal a neutral zone under the protection of the British, who had occupied Egypt and Sudan at the request of Khedive Tewfiq to suppress the Urabi Revolt against his rule. The revolt went on from 1879 to 1882. As a result of British involvement on the side of Khedive Tewfiq, Britain gained control of the canal in 1882. The British defended the strategically important passage against a major Ottoman attack in 1915, during the First World War. Under the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, the UK retained control over the canal. The canal was again strategically important in the 1939–1945 Second World War, and Italo-German attempts to capture it were repulsed during the North Africa Campaign, during which the canal was closed to Axis shipping. In 1951 Egypt repudiated the treaty and in October 1954 the UK agreed to remove its troops. Withdrawal was completed on 18 July 1956.</p><br>
<h3>Suez Crisis</h3><br>
<p>Because of Egyptian overtures towards the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States withdrew their pledge to support the construction of the Aswan Dam. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser responded by nationalizing the canal on 26 July 1956 and transferring it to the Suez Canal Authority, intending to finance the dam project using revenue from the canal. On the same day that the canal was nationalized Nasser also closed the Straits of Tiran to all Israeli ships. This led to the Suez Crisis in which the UK, France, and Israel invaded Egypt. According to the pre-agreed war plans under the Protocol of Sèvres, the Israelis invaded the Sinai Peninsula, forcing Egypt to engage them militarily, and allowing the Anglo-French partnership to declare the resultant fighting a threat to stability in the Middle East and enter the war - officially to divide the two forces but in reality to regain the Canal and bring down the Nasser regime.</p><br>
<p>To save the British from what he thought was a disastrous action and to stop the war from a possible escalation, Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Lester B. Pearson proposed the creation of the first United Nations peacekeeping force to ensure access to the canal for all and an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. On 4 November 1956, a majority at the United Nations voted for Pearson&#39;s peacekeeping resolution, which mandated the UN peacekeepers to stay in Sinai unless both Egypt and Israel agreed to their withdrawal. The United States backed this proposal by putting pressure on the British government through the selling of sterling, which would cause it to depreciate. Britain then called a ceasefire, and later agreed to withdraw its troops by the end of the year. Pearson was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. As a result of damage and ships sunk under orders from Nasser the canal was closed until April 1957, when it was cleared with UN assistance. A UN force (UNEF) was established to maintain the free navigability of the canal, and peace in the Sinai Peninsula.</p><br>
<p>According to the historian Abd aI-Azim Ramadan, Nasser&#39;s decision to nationalize the Suez Canal was his alone, made without political or military consultation. The events leading up to the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company, as other events during Nasser’s rule, showed Nasser’s inclination to solitary decision making. Ramadan considered Nasser to be far from a rational, responsible leader.</p><br>
<h3>Arab–Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973</h3><br>
<p>In May 1967, Nasser ordered the UN peacekeeping forces out of Sinai, including the Suez Canal area. Israel objected to the closing of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. The canal had been closed to Israeli shipping since 1949, except for a short period in 1951–1952.</p><br>
<p>After the 1967 Six Day War, Israeli forces occupied the Sinai peninsula, including the entire east bank of the Suez Canal. Unwilling to allow the Israelis to use the canal, Egypt immediately imposed a blockade which closed the canal to all shipping until 5 June 1975. As a result, 15 cargo ships, known as the "Yellow Fleet", were trapped in the canal for over eight years.</p><br>
<p>In 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, the canal was the scene of a major crossing by the Egyptian army into Israeli-occupied Sinai and a counter-crossing by the Israeli army to Egypt. Much wreckage from this conflict remains visible along the canal&#39;s edges.</p><br>
<p>After the Yom Kippur War the United States initiated Operation Nimbus Moon. The amphibious assault ship USS Inchon (LPH-12) was sent to the Canal, carrying 12 RH-53D minesweeping helicopters of HM-12. These partly cleared the canal between May and December 1974. She was relieved by the LST USS Barnstable County (LST1197). The British Royal Navy initiated Operation Rheostat and Task Group 65.2 provided for Operation Rheostat One (six months in 1974), the minehunters HMS Maxton, HMS Bossington, and HMS Wilton, the Fleet Clearance Diving Team (FCDT) and HMS Abdiel, a practice minelayer/MCMV support ship; and for Operation Rheostat Two (six months in 1975) the minehunters HMS Hubberston and HMS Sheraton, and HMS Abdiel. When the Canal Clearance Operations were completed, the canal and its lakes were considered 99% clear of mines. The canal was then reopened by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat aboard an Egyptian destroyer, which led the first convoy northbound to Port Said in 1975. At his side stood the Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, delegated to represent his father, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. The cruiser USS Little Rock was the only American naval ship in the convoy.</p><br>
<p>The UNEF mandate expired in 1979. Despite the efforts of the United States, Israel, Egypt, and others to obtain an extension of the UN role in observing the peace between Israel and Egypt, as called for under the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty of 1979, the mandate could not be extended because of the veto by the Soviet Union in the UN Security Council, at the request of Syria. Accordingly, negotiations for a new observer force in the Sinai produced the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), stationed in Sinai in 1981 in coordination with a phased Israeli withdrawal. It is there under agreements between the United States, Israel, Egypt, and other nations.</p><br>
<h3>Bypass expansion</h3><br>
<p>In the summer of 2014, months after taking office as President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered the expansion of the Ballah Bypass from 61 metres wide to 312 metres wide for 35 kilometers. The project was called the New Suez Canal, as it would allow ships to transit the canal in both directions simultaneously. The project cost more than $8 billion and was completed within one year. Sisi declared the expanded channel open for business in a ceremony on 6 August 2015.</p><br>
<h3>Timeline</h3><br>
<p>Circa 1799 – Napoleon Bonaparte conquers Egypt and orders a feasibility analysis. This reports a supposed 10 m difference in sea levels and a high cost, so the project is put on hold.</p><br>
<p>Circa 1840 – A second survey finds the first analysis incorrect. A direct link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea is possible and not as expensive as previously estimated.</p><br>
<p>30 November 1854 – The former French consul in Cairo, Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps, obtains the first license for construction and subsequent operation from the Viceroy for a period of 99 years.</p><br>
<p>6 January 1856 – de Lesseps is provided with a second, more detailed license.</p><br>
<p>15 December 1858 – de Lesseps establishes the "Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez", with Said Pasha acquiring 22% of the Suez Canal Company; the majority is controlled by French private holders.</p><br>
<p>25 April 1859 – construction officially starts.</p><br>
<p>17 November 1869 – The canal is opened, owned and operated by Suez Canal Company.</p><br>
<p>18 December 1873 – The International Commission of Constantinople establishes the Suez Canal Net Ton and the Suez Canal Special Tonnage Certificate (as known today)</p><br>
<p>25 November 1875 – Britain becomes a minority share holder in the company, acquiring 44%, with the remainder being controlled by French business syndicates.</p><br>
<p>20 May 1882 – Britain invades Egypt, with French assistance, and begins its occupation of Egypt.</p><br>
<p>25 August 1882 – Britain takes control of the canal.</p><br>
<p>2 March 1888 – The Convention of Constantinople renews the guaranteed right of passage of all ships through the canal during war and peace; these rights were already part of the licenses awarded to de Lesseps, but are recognised as international law.</p><br>
<p>14 November 1936 – Following a new treaty, Britain theoretically pulls out of Egypt, but establishes the Suez Canal Zone under its control.</p><br>
<p>13 June 1956 – Suez Canal Zone is restored to Egyptian sovereignty, following British withdrawal and years of negotiations.</p><br>
<p>26 July 1956 – Egypt nationalizes the company; its Egyptian assets, rights and obligations are transferred to the Suez Canal Authority, which compensates the previous owners at the established pre-nationalization price. Egypt closes the canal to Israeli shipping as part of a broader blockade involving the Straits of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba.</p><br>
<p>31 October 1956 to 24 April 1957 – the canal is blocked to shipping following the Suez Crisis, a conflict that leads to Israeli, and later French and British, occupation of the canal zone.</p><br>
<p>22 December 1956 – The canal zone is restored to Egyptian control, following French and British withdrawal, and the landing of UNEF troops.</p><br>
<p>5 June 1967 to 10 June 1975 – the canal is blocked by Egypt, following the war with Israel; it becomes the front line during the ensuing War of Attrition and the 1973 war, remaining closed to international shipping, until general agreement was near.</p><br>
<p>1 January 2008 – New rules of navigation passed by the Suez Canal Authority come into force.</p><br>
<p>6 August 2015 – The new canal extensions are opened.</p><br>
<h3>Leadership</h3><br>
<p>Presidents of the Suez Canal Company (1858–1956):</p><br>
<p>Ferdinand de Lesseps (15 December 1858 – 7 December 1894)</p><br>
<p>Jules Guichard (17 December 1892 – 17 July 1896) (acting for de Lesseps to 7 December 1894)</p><br>
<p>Auguste-Louis-Albéric, prince d&#39;Arenberg (3 August 1896 – 1913)</p><br>
<p>Charles Jonnart (19 May 1913 – 1927)</p><br>
<p>Louis de Vogüé (4 April 1927 – 1 March 1948)</p><br>
<p>François Charles-Roux (4 April 1948 – 26 July 1956)</p><br>
<p>Chairmen of the Suez Canal Authority (1956–present):</p><br>
<p>Doctor Mohamed Helmy Bahgat Badawy (26 July 1956 – 9 July 1957)</p><br>
<p>Engineer Mahmoud Younis (10 July 1957 – 10 October 1965)</p><br>
<p>Engineer Mashhour Ahmed Mashhour (14 October 1965 – 31 December 1983)</p><br>
<p>Engineer Mohamed Ezzat Adel (1 January 1984 – December 1995)</p><br>
<p>Admiral Ahmed Ali Fadel (22 January 1996 – Aug 2012)</p><br>
<p>Admiral Mohab Mamish (2012 – present)</p><br>
<h2>Layout and operation</h2><br>
<p>When built, the canal was 164 km long and 8 m deep. After several enlargements, it is 193.30 km long, 24 m deep and 205 m wide. It consists of the northern access channel of 22 km, the canal itself of 162.25 km and the southern access channel of 9 km.</p><br>
<p>The so-called New Suez Canal, functional since 6 August 2015, currently has a new parallel canal in the middle part, with its length over 35 km. The current parameters of the Suez Canal, including both individual canals of the parallel section are: depth 23 to 24 m and width at least 205 to 225 m (that width measured at 11 m of depth).</p><br>
<h3>Capacity</h3><br>
<p>The canal allows passage of ships up to 20 m draft or 240,000 deadweight tons and up to a height of 68 m above water level and a maximum beam of 77.5 m under certain conditions. The canal can handle more traffic and larger ships than the Panama Canal, as Suezmax dimensions are greater than both Panamax and New Panamax. Some supertankers are too large to traverse the canal. Others can offload part of their cargo onto a canal-owned boat to reduce their draft, transit, and reload at the other end of the canal.</p><br>
<h3>Navigation</h3><br>
<p>The canal has no locks because of the flat terrain, and the minor sea level difference between each end is inconsequential for shipping. As the canal has no sea surge gates, the ports at the ends would be subject to the sudden impact of tsunamis from the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea, according to a 2012 article in the Journal of Coastal Research.</p><br>
<p>There is one shipping lane with passing areas in Ballah-Bypass near El Qantara and in the Great Bitter Lake.</p><br>
<p>On a typical day, three convoys transit the canal, two southbound and one northbound. The passage takes between 11 and 16 hours at a speed of around 8 kn. The low speed helps prevent erosion of the banks by ships&#39; wakes.</p><br>
<p>By 1955, about two-thirds of Europe&#39;s oil passed through the canal. Around 8% of world sea trade is carried via the canal. In 2008, 21,415 vessels passed through the canal and the receipts totaled $5.381 billion, with an average cost per ship of $251,000.</p><br>
<p>New Rules of Navigation came into force on 1 January 2008, passed by the board of directors of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) to organise vessels&#39; transit. The most important amendments include allowing vessels with 62 ft draught to pass, increasing the allowed breadth from 32 m to 40 m (following improvement operations), and imposing a fine on vessels using divers from outside the SCA inside the canal boundaries without permission. The amendments allow vessels loaded with dangerous cargo (such as radioactive or flammable materials) to pass if they conform with the latest amendments provided by international conventions.</p><br>
<p>The SCA has the right to determine the number of tugs required to assist warships traversing the canal, to achieve the highest degree of safety during transit.</p><br>
<h3>Operation</h3><br>
<p>As of July 2015, the canal was too narrow for free two-way traffic, so ships pass in convoys and they use bypasses. The by-passes are 78 km out of 193 km (40%). From north to south, they are: Port Said by-pass (entrances) 36.5 km, Ballah by-pass & anchorage, 9 km, Timsah by-pass 5 km, and the Deversoir by-pass (northern end of the Great Bitter Lake) 27.5 km. The bypasses were completed in 1980.</p><br>
<p>Typically, it takes a ship 12 to 16 hours to transit the canal. The canal&#39;s 24-hour capacity is about 76 standard ships.</p><br>
<p>In August 2014, Egypt chose a consortium that includes the Egyptian army and global engineering firm Dar Al-Handasah to develop an international industrial and logistics hub in the Suez Canal area, and began the construction of a new canal section from km 60 to km 95 combined with expansion and deep digging of the other 37 km of the canal. This will allow navigation in both directions simultaneously in the 72 km long central section of the canal. These extensions were formally opened on 6 August 2015 by President Al-Sisi.</p><br>
<h3>Convoy sailing</h3><br>
<p>Since the canal does not cater to unregulated two-way traffic, all ships transit in convoys on regular times, scheduled on a 24-hour basis. Each day, a single northbound convoy starts at 04:00 from Suez. At dulka lane sections, the convoy uses the eastern route. Synchronised with this convoy&#39;s passage is the southbound convoy. It starts at 03:30 from Port Said and so passes the Northbound convoy in the two-lane section.</p><br>
<h3>Canal crossings</h3><br>
<p>From north to south, the crossings are:</p><br>
<p>The Suez Canal Bridge (30.828248&deg;N latitude, 32.317572&deg;E longitude), also called the Egyptian-Japanese Friendship Bridge, a high-level road bridge at El Qantara. In Arabic, al qantara means "arch". Opened in 2001, it has a 70 m clearance over the canal and was built with assistance from the Japanese government and by Kajima.</p><br>
<p>El Ferdan Railway Bridge (30.657&deg;N latitude, 32.334&deg;E longitude) 20 km north of Ismailia (30&deg;35&prime;N latitude, 32&deg;16&prime;E longitude) was completed in 2001 and is the longest swing-span bridge in the world, with a span of 340 m (1100 ft). The previous bridge was destroyed in 1967 during the Arab-Israeli conflict.</p><br>
<p>Pipelines taking fresh water under the canal to Sinai, about 57 km north of Suez, at 30&deg; latitude, 27.3&deg; longitude.</p><br>
<p>Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel (30&deg;5&prime;9&Prime;N latitude, 32&deg;34&prime;32&Prime;E longitude) south of the Great Bitter Lake (30&deg;20&prime;N latitude, 32&deg;23&prime;E longitude) was built in 1983. Because of leakage problems, a new water-tight tunnel was built inside the old one from 1992 to 1995.</p><br>
<p>The Suez Canal overhead powerline crossing (29.996&deg;N latitude, 32.583&deg;E longitude) was built in 1999.</p><br>
<p>A railway on the west bank runs parallel to the canal for its entire length.</p><br>
<p>Six new tunnels for cars and trains are also planned across the canal. Currently the Ahmed Hamdi is the only tunnel connecting Suez to the Sinai.</p><br>
<h2>Alternative routes</h2><br>
<h3>Cape Agulhas</h3><br>
<p>The main alternative is around Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa, commonly referred as the Cape of Good Hope route. This was the only sea route before the canal was constructed, and when the canal was closed. It is still the only route for ships that are too large for the canal. In the early 21st century, the Suez Canal has suffered from diminished traffic due to piracy in Somalia, with many shipping companies choosing to take the long route instead. Between 2008 and 2010, it is estimated that the canal lost 10% of traffic due to the threat of piracy, and another 10% due to the financial crisis. An oil tanker going from Saudi Arabia to the United States has 2,700 mi longer to go when taking the route south of Africa rather than the canal.</p><br>
<p>Before the canal&#39;s opening in 1869, goods were sometimes offloaded from ships and carried overland between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.</p><br>
<h3>Northern Sea Route</h3><br>
<p>In recent years, the shrinking Arctic sea ice has made the Northern Sea Route feasible for commercial cargo ships between Europe and East Asia during a six-to-eight-week window in the summer months, shortening the voyage by thousands of miles compared to that through the Suez Canal. According to polar climate researchers, as the extent of the Arctic summer ice pack recedes the route will become passable without the help of icebreakers for a greater period each summer.</p><br>
<p>The Bremen-based Beluga Group claimed in 2009 to be the first Western company to attempt using the Northern Sea Route without assistance from icebreakers, cutting 4000 nautical miles off the journey between Ulsan, Korea and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.</p><br>
<h3>Negev desert railroad</h3><br>
<p>Israel has declared that it will construct a railroad through the Negev desert to compete with the canal, with construction partly financed by China.</p><br>
<h2>Environmental impact</h2><br>
<p>The opening of the canal created the first salt-water passage between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Although the Red Sea is about 1.2 m higher than the eastern Mediterranean, the current between the Mediterranean and the middle of the canal at the Bitter Lakes flows north in winter and south in summer. The current south of the Bitter Lakes is tidal, varying with the tide at Suez. The Bitter Lakes, which were hypersaline natural lakes, blocked the migration of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean for many decades, but as the salinity of the lakes gradually equalised with that of the Red Sea the barrier to migration was removed, and plants and animals from the Red Sea have begun to colonise the eastern Mediterranean. The Red Sea is generally saltier and more nutrient-poor than the Atlantic, so the Red Sea species have advantages over Atlantic species in the less salty and nutrient-rich eastern Mediterranean. Accordingly, most Red Sea species invade the Mediterranean biota, and only few do the opposite. This migratory phenomenon is called Lessepsian migration (after Ferdinand de Lesseps) or "Erythrean invasion". Also impacting the eastern Mediterranean, starting in 1968, was the operation of Aswan High Dam across the Nile. While providing for increased human development, the project reduced the inflow of freshwater and ended all natural nutrient-rich silt entering the eastern Mediterranean at the Nile Delta. This provided less natural dilution of Mediterranean salinity and ended the higher levels of natural turbidity, additionally making conditions more like those in the Red Sea.</p><br>
<p>Invasive species originated from the Red Sea and introduced into the Mediterranean by the canal have become a major component of the Mediterranean ecosystem and have serious impacts on the ecology, endangering many local and endemic species. About 300 species from the Red Sea have been identified in the Mediterranean, and there are probably others yet unidentified. The Egyptian government&#39;s intent to enlarge the canal has raised concerns from marine biologists, fearing that this will worsen the invasion of Red Sea species.</p><br>
<p>Construction of the canal was preceded by cutting a small fresh-water canal called Sweet Water Canal from the Nile delta along Wadi Tumilat to the future canal, with a southern branch to Suez and a northern branch to Port Said. Completed in 1863, these brought fresh water to a previously arid area, initially for canal construction, and subsequently facilitating growth of agriculture and settlements along the canal.</p><br>
<p>Troy  was a city situated in the far northwest of the region known in late Classical antiquity as Asia Minor, now known as Anatolia in modern Turkey, near  the southwest mouth of the Dardanelles strait and northwest of Mount Ida. The present-day location is known as Hisarlik. It was the setting of the Trojan War described in the Greek Epic Cycle, in particular in the Iliad, one of the two epic poems attributed to Homer. Metrical evidence from the Iliad and the Odyssey suggests that the name Ἴλιον  formerly began with a digamma: Ϝίλιον ; this is also supported by the Hittite name for what is thought to be the same city, Wilusa.</p><br>
<p>A new capital called Ilium (from Greek Ilion) was founded on the site in the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus. It flourished until the establishment of Constantinople, became a bishopric and declined gradually in the Byzantine era, but is now a Latin Catholic titular see.</p><br>
<p>In 1865, English archaeologist Frank Calvert excavated trial trenches in a field he had bought from a local farmer at Hisarlik, and in 1868, Heinrich Schliemann, a wealthy German businessman and archaeologist, also began excavating in the area after a chance meeting with Calvert in Çanakkale. These excavations revealed several cities built in succession. Schliemann was at first skeptical about the identification of Hisarlik with Troy, but was persuaded by Calvert and took over Calverts excavations on the eastern half of the Hisarlik site, which was on Calverts property. Troy VII has been identified with the city that the Hittites called Wilusa, the probable origin of the Greek Ἴλιον, and is generally (but not conclusively) identified with Homeric Troy.</p><br>
<p>Today, the hill at Hisarlik has given its name to a small village near the ruins, which supports the tourist trade visiting the Troia archaeological site. It lies within the province of Çanakkale, some 30 km south-west of the provincial capital, also called Çanakkale. The nearest village is Tevfikiye. The map here shows the adapted Scamander estuary with Ilium a little way inland across the Homeric plain.</p><br>
<p>Troy was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998.</p><br>
<h2>Homeric Troy</h2><br>
<p>Ancient Greek historians variously placed the Trojan War in the 12th, 13th, or 14th centuries BC: Eratosthenes to 1184 BC, Herodotus to 1250 BC, and Duris of Samos to 1334 BC. Modern archaeologists associate Homeric Troy with archaeological Troy VII.</p><br>
<p>In the Iliad, the Achaeans set up their camp near the mouth of the River Scamander (presumably modern Karamenderes), where they had beached their ships. The city of Troy itself stood on a hill, across the plain of Scamander, where the battles of the Trojan War took place. The site of the ancient city is some 5 km from the coast today, but 3,000 years ago the mouths of Scamander were much closer to the city, discharging into a large bay that formed a natural harbor and which has since been filled with alluvial material. Recent geological findings have permitted the identification of the ancient Trojan coastline, and the results largely confirm the accuracy of the Homeric geography of Troy.</p><br>
<p>In November 2001, the geologist John C. Kraft from the University of Delaware and the classicist John V. Luce from Trinity College, Dublin, presented the results of investigations, begun in 1977, into the geology of the region. They compared the present geology with the landscapes and coastal features described in the Iliad and other classical sources, notably Strabos Geographia, and concluded that there is a regular consistency between the location of Schliemanns Troy and other locations such as the Greek camp, the geological evidence, descriptions of the topography and accounts of the battle in the Iliad.</p><br>
<p>Besides the Iliad, there are references to Troy in the other major work attributed to Homer, the Odyssey, as well as in other ancient Greek literature (such as Aeschylus&#39;s Oresteia). The Homeric legend of Troy was elaborated by the Roman poet Virgil in his Aeneid. The Greeks and Romans took for a fact the historicity of the Trojan War and the identity of Homeric Troy with the site in Anatolia. Alexander the Great, for example, visited the site in 334 BC and there made sacrifices at tombs associated with the Homeric heroes Achilles and Patroclus.</p><br>
<p>After the 1995 find of a Luwian biconvex seal at Troy VII, there has been a heated discussion over the language that was spoken in Homeric Troy. Frank Starke of the University of Tübingen recently demonstrated that the name of Priam, king of Troy at the time of the Trojan War, is connected to the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous". "The certainty is growing that Wilusa/Troy belonged to the greater Luwian-speaking community," although it is not entirely clear whether Luwian was primarily the official language or in daily colloquial use.</p><br>
<h2>The search for Troy</h2><br>
<p>With the rise of critical history, Troy and the Trojan War were, for a long time, consigned to the realms of legend. However, the true location of ancient Troy had from classical times remained the subject of interest and speculation.</p><br>
<p>The Troad peninsula was anticipated to be the location. Early modern travellers in the 16th and 17th centuries, including Pierre Belon and Pietro Della Valle, had identified Troy with Alexandria Troas, a ruined town approximately 20 km south of the currently accepted location. In the late 18th century, Jean Baptiste LeChevalier had identified a location near the village of Pınarbaşı, Ezine as the site of Troy, a mound approximately 5 km south of the currently accepted location. LeChavalier&#39;s location, published in his Voyage de la Troade, was the most commonly accepted theory for almost a century.</p><br>
<p>In 1822, the Scottish journalist Charles Maclaren was the first to identify with confidence the position of the city as it is now known.</p><br>
<p>In 1866, Frank Calvert, the brother of the United States&#39; consular agent in the region, made extensive surveys and published in scholarly journals his identification of the hill of New Ilium (which was on farmland owned by his family) on the same site. The hill, near the city of Çanakkale, was known as Hisarlik.</p><br>
<h3>Schliemann</h3><br>
<p>In 1868, German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann visited Calvert and secured permission to excavate Hisarlik. In 1871–73 and 1878–79, he excavated the hill and discovered the ruins of a series of ancient cities dating from the Bronze Age to the Roman period. Schliemann declared one of these cities—at first Troy I, later Troy II—to be the city of Troy, and this identification was widely accepted at that time. Schliemanns finds at Hisarlik have become known as Priams Treasure. They were acquired from him by the Berlin museums, but significant doubts about their authenticity persist.</p><br>
<p>Schliemann became interested in digging at the mound of Hisarlik at the persuasion of Frank Calvert. The British diplomat, considered a pioneer for the contributions he made to the archaeology of Troy, spent more than 60 years in the Troad (modern day Biga peninsula, Turkey) conducting field work. As Calvert was a principal authority on field archaeology in the region, his findings supplied evidence that Homeric Troy might exist in the hill, and played a major role in directing Heinrich Schliemann to dig at the Hisarlik. However, Schliemann downplayed his collaboration with Calvert when taking credit for the findings, such that Susan Heuek Allen recently described Schliemann as a "relentlessly self-promoting amateur archaeologist".</p><br>
<p>Schliemanns excavations were condemned by later archaeologists as having destroyed the main layers of the real Troy. Kenneth W. Harl in the Teaching Companys Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor lecture series sarcastically claims that Schliemanns excavations were carried out with such rough methods that he did to Troy what the Greeks couldnt do in their times, destroying and levelling down the entire city walls to the ground. Other scholars agree that the damage caused to the site is irreparable.</p><br>
<h3>Dörpfeld and Blegen</h3><br>
<p>After Schliemann, the site was further excavated under the direction of Wilhelm Dörpfeld (1893–94) and later Carl Blegen (1932–38).</p><br>
<p>These excavations have shown that there were at least nine cities built, one on top of the other, at this site. In his research, Blegen came to a conclusion that Troy&#39;s nine levels could be further divided into forty-six sublevels.</p><br>
<h3>Korfmann</h3><br>
<p>In 1988, excavations were resumed by a team from the University of Tübingen and the University of Cincinnati under the direction of Professor Manfred Korfmann, with Professor Brian Rose overseeing Post-Bronze Age (Greek, Roman, Byzantine) excavation along the coast of the Aegean Sea at the Bay of Troy. Possible evidence of a battle was found in the form of bronze arrowheads and fire-damaged human remains buried in layers dated to the early 12th century BC. The question of Troy&#39;s status in the Bronze-Age world has been the subject of a sometimes acerbic debate between Korfmann and the Tübingen historian Frank Kolb in 2001–2002.</p><br>
<p>In August 1993, following a magnetic imaging survey of the fields below the fort, a deep ditch was located and excavated among the ruins of a later Greek and Roman city. Remains found in the ditch were dated to the late Bronze Age, the alleged time of Homeric Troy. It is claimed by Korfmann that the ditch may have once marked the outer defences of a much larger city than had previously been suspected. The latter city has been dated by his team to about 1250 BC, and it has been also suggested &mdash; based on recent archeological evidence uncovered by Professor Manfred Korfmann&#39;s team &mdash; that this was indeed the Homeric city of Troy.</p><br>
<h3>Recent developments</h3><br>
<p>The archaeological site of Troy was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998.</p><br>
<p>In summer 2006, the excavations continued under the direction of Korfmann&#39;s colleague Ernst Pernicka, with a new digging permit.</p><br>
<p>In 2013, an international team made up of cross-disciplinary experts led by William Aylward, an archaeologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was to carry out new excavations. This activity was to be conducted under the auspices of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University and was to use the new technique of "molecular archaeology". A few days before the Wisconsin team was to leave, Turkey cancelled about 100 excavation permits, including Wisconsin&#39;s.</p><br>
<p>In March 2014, it was announced that a new excavation would take place to be sponsored by a private company and carried out by Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University. This will be the first Turkish team to excavate and is planned as a 12-month excavation led by associate professor Rüstem Aslan. The University&#39;s rector stated that "Pieces unearthed in Troy will contribute to Çanakkale’s culture and tourism. Maybe it will become one of Turkey’s most important frequented historical places.”</p><br>
<h2>Historical Troy uncovered</h2><br>
<p>The layers of ruins in the citadel at Hisarlik are numbered Troy ITroy IX, with various subdivisions:</p><br>
<p>Troy I 3000–2600 BC (Western Anatolian EB 1)</p><br>
<p>Troy II 2600–2250 BC (Western Anatolian EB 2)</p><br>
<p>Troy III 2250–2100 BC (Western Anatolian EB 3 )</p><br>
<p>Troy IV 2100–1950 BC (Western Anatolian EB 3 )</p><br>
<p>Troy V: 20th–18th centuries BC (Western Anatolian EB 3 )</p><br>
<p>Troy VI: 17th–15th centuries BC</p><br>
<p>Troy VIh: late Bronze Age, 14th century BC</p><br>
<p>Troy VIIa: c. 1300–1190 BC, most likely setting for Homer&#39;s story</p><br>
<p>Troy VIIb1: 12th century BC</p><br>
<p>Troy VIIb2: 11th century BC</p><br>
<p>Troy VIIb3: until c. 950 BC</p><br>
<p>Troy VIII: c. 700–85 BC</p><br>
<p>Troy IX: 85 BC–c. AD 500</p><br>
<h3>Troy I–V</h3><br>
<p>The first city on the site was founded in the 3rd millennium BC. During the Bronze Age, the site seems to have been a flourishing mercantile city, since its location allowed for complete control of the Dardanelles, through which every merchant ship from the Aegean Sea heading for the Black Sea had to pass. Around 1900 BC a mass migration was set off by the Hittites to the east. Cities to the east of Troy were destroyed, and although Troy was not burned, the next period shows a change of culture indicating a new people had taken over Troy.</p><br>
<h4>Schliemann's Troy II</h4><br>
<p>When Schliemann came across Troy II, in 1871, he believed he had found Homer&#39;s city. Schliemann and his team unearthed a large feature he dubbed the Scaean Gate, a western gate unlike the three previously found leading to the Pergamos. This gate, as he describes, was the gate that Homer had featured. As Schliemann states in his publication Troja:</p><br>
<p>"I have proved that in a remote antiquity there was in the plain of Troy a large city, destroyed of old by a fearful catastrophe, which had on the hill of Hisarlık only its Acropolis with its temples and a few other large edifices, southerly, and westerly direction on the site of the later Ilium; and that, consequently, this city answers perfectly to the Homeric description of the sacred site of Ilios."</p><br>
<h3>Troy VI and VII</h3><br>
<p>Troy VI was destroyed around 1250 BC, probably by an earthquake. Only a single arrowhead was found in this layer, and no remains of bodies. However, the town quickly recovered and was rebuilt in a layout that was more orderly.</p><br>
<p>Troy VIIa, which has been dated to the mid-to-late-13th century BC, is the most often cited candidate for the Troy of Homer. Troy VIIa appears to have been destroyed by war. The evidence of fire and slaughter around 1184 BC, which brought Troy VIIa to a close, led to this phase being identified with the city besieged by the Greeks during the Trojan War. This was immortalized in the Iliad written by Homer.</p><br>
<h4>Calvert's Thousand-Year Gap</h4><br>
<p>Initially, the layers of Troy VI and VII were overlooked entirely, because Schliemann favoured the burnt city of Troy II. It was not until the need to close "Calverts Thousand Year Gap" arose—from Dörpfelds discovery of Troy VI—that archaeology turned away from Schliemann&#39;s Troy and began working towards finding Homeric Troy once more.</p><br>
<p>"Calverts Thousand Year Gap" (1800–800 BC) was a period not accounted for by Schliemanns archaeology and thus constituting a hole in the Trojan timeline. In Homers description of the city, a section of one side of the wall is said to be weaker than the rest. During his excavation of more than three hundred yards of the wall, Dörpfeld came across a section very closely resembling the Homeric description of the weaker section. Dörpfeld was convinced he had found the walls of Homers city, and now he would excavate the city itself. Within the walls of this stratum (Troy VI), much Mycenaean pottery dating from Late Helladic (LH) periods III A and III B (1400–1200 BC) was uncovered, suggesting a relation between the Trojans and Mycenaeans. The great tower along the walls seemed likely to be the "Great Tower of Ilios".</p><br>
<p>The evidence seemed to indicate that Dörpfeld had stumbled upon Ilios, the city of Homer&#39;s epics. Schliemann himself had conceded that Troy VI was more likely to be the Homeric city, but he never published anything stating so. The only counter-argument, confirmed initially by Dörpfeld (who was as passionate as Schliemann about finding Troy), was that the city appeared to have been destroyed by an earthquake, not by men. There was little doubt that this was the Troy of which the Mycenaeans would have known.</p><br>
<h3>Troy VIII</h3><br>
<p>In 480 BC, the Persian king Xerxes sacrificed 1,000 cattle at the sanctuary of Athena Ilias while marching through the Hellespontine region towards Greece. Following the Persian defeat in 480–479, Ilion and its territory became part of the continental possessions of Mytilene and remained under Mytilenaean control until the unsuccessful Mytilenean revolt in 428–427. Athens liberated the so-called Actaean cities including Ilion and enrolled these communities in the Delian League. Athenian influence in the Hellespont waned following the oligarchic coup of 411, and in that year the Spartan general Mindaros emulated Xerxes by likewise sacrificing to Athena Ilias. From c. 410–399, Ilion was within the sphere of influence of the local dynasts at Lampsacus (Zenis, his wife Mania, and the usurper Meidias) who administered the region on behalf of the Persian satrap Pharnabazus.</p><br>
<p>In 399, the Spartan general Dercylidas expelled the Greek garrison at Ilion who were controlling the city on behalf of the Lampsacene dynasts during a campaign which rolled back Persian influence throughout the Troad. Ilion remained outside the control of the Persian satrapal administration at Dascylium until the Peace of Antalcidas in 387–386. In this period of renewed Persian control c. 387–367, a statue of Ariobarzanes, the satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, was erected in front of the temple of Athena Ilias. In 360–359 the city was briefly controlled by Charidemus of Oreus, a Euboean mercenary leader who occasionally worked for the Athenians. In 359, he was expelled by the Athenian Menelaos son of Arrabaios, whom the Ilians honoured with a grant of proxeny—this is recorded in the earliest civic decree to survive from Ilion. In May 334 Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont and came to the city, where he visited the temple of Athena Ilias, made sacrifices at the tombs of the Homeric heroes, and made the city free and exempt from taxes. According to the so-called Last Plans of Alexander which became known after his death in June 323, he had planned to rebuild the temple of Athena Ilias on a scale that would have surpassed every other temple in the known world.</p><br>
<p>Antigonus Monophthalmus took control of the Troad in 311 and created the new city of Antigoneia Troas which was a synoikism of the cities of Skepsis, Kebren, Neandreia, Hamaxitos, Larisa, and Kolonai. In c. 311–306 the koinon of Athena Ilias was founded from the remaining cities in the Troad and along the Asian coast of the Dardanelles and soon after succeeded in securing a guarantee from Antigonus that he would respect their autonomy and freedom (he had not respected the autonomy of the cities which were synoikized to create Antigoneia). The koinon continued to function until at least the 1st century AD and primarily consisted of cities from the Troad, although for a time in the second half of the 3rd century it also included Myrlea and Chalcedon from the eastern Propontis. The governing body of the koinon was the synedrion on which each city was represented by two delegates. The day-to-day running of the synedrion, especially in relation to its finances, was left to a college of five agonothetai, on which no city ever had more than one representative. This system of equal (rather than proportional) representation ensured that no one city could politically dominate the koinon. The primary purpose of the koinon was to organize the annual Panathenaia festival which was held at the sanctuary of Athena Ilias. The festival brought huge numbers of pilgrims to Ilion for the duration of the festival as well as creating an enormous market (the panegyris) which attracted traders from across the region. In addition, the koinon financed new building projects at Ilion, for example a new theatre c. 306 and the expansion of the sanctuary and temple of Athena Ilias in the 3rd century, in order to make the city a suitable venue for such a large festival.</p><br>
<p>In the period 302–281, Ilion and the Troad were part of the kingdom of Lysimachus, who during this time helped Ilion synoikize several nearby communities, thus expanding the citys population and territory. Lysimachus was defeated at the Battle of Corupedium in February 281 by Seleucus I Nikator, thus handing the Seleucid kingdom control of Asia Minor, and in August or September of 281 when Seleucus passed through the Troad on his way to Lysimachia in the nearby Thracian Chersonese Ilion passed a decree in honour of him, indicating the citys new loyalties. In September Seleucus was assassinated at Lysimachia by Ptolemy Keraunos, making his successor, Antiochus I Soter, the new king. In 280 or soon after Ilion passed a long decree lavishly honouring Antiochus in order to cement their relationship with him. During this period Ilion still lacked proper city walls except for the crumbling Troy VI fortifications around the citadel, and in 278 during the Gallic invasion the city was easily sacked. Ilion enjoyed a close relationship with Antiochus for the rest of his reign: for example, in 274 Antiochus granted land to his friend Aristodikides of Assos which for tax purposes was to be attached to the territory of Ilion, and c. 275–269 Ilion passed a decree in honour of Metrodoros of Amphipolis who had successfully treated the king for a wound he received in battle.</p><br>
<h3>Troy IX</h3><br>
<p>The city was destroyed by Sullas rival, the Roman general Fimbria, in 85 BC following an eleven-day siege. Later that year when Sulla had defeated Fimbria he bestowed benefactions on Ilion for its loyalty which helped with the citys rebuilding. Ilion reciprocated this act of generosity by instituting a new civic calendar which took 85 BC as its first year. However, the city remained in financial distress for several decades, despite its favoured status with Rome. In the 80s BC, Roman publicani illegally levied taxes on the sacred estates of Athena Ilias and the city was required to call on L. Julius Caesar for restitution; while in 80 BC, the city suffered an attack by pirates. In 77 BC the costs of running the annual festival of the koinon of Athena Ilias became too pressing for both Ilion and the other members of the koinon and L. Julius Caesar was once again required to arbitrate, this time reforming the festival so that it would be less of a financial burden. In 74 BC the Ilians once again demonstrated their loyalty to Rome by siding with the Roman general Lucullus against Mithridates VI. Following the final defeat of Mithridates in 63–62, Pompey rewarded the citys loyalty by becoming the benefactor of Ilion and patron of Athena Ilias. In 48 BC, Julius Caesar likewise bestowed benefactions on the city, recalling the citys loyalty during the Mithridatic Wars, the citys connection with his cousin L. Julius Caesar, and the familys claim that they were ultimately descended from Venus through the Trojan prince Aeneas and therefore shared kinship with the Ilians.</p><br>
<p>In 20 BC, the Emperor Augustus visited Ilion and stayed in the house of a leading citizen, Melanippides son of Euthydikos. As a result of his visit, he also financed the restoration and rebuilding of the sanctuary of Athena Ilias, the bouleuterion (council house) and the theatre. Soon after work on the theatre was completed in 12–11 BC, Melanippides dedicated a statue of Augustus in the theatre to record this benefaction.</p><br>
<h2>Classical Ilium (Ilion)</h2><br>
<p>A new city called Ilium (from Greek Ilion) was founded on the site in the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus. It flourished until the establishment of Constantinople, became a bishopric in the Roman province Hellespontus (civil Diocese of Asia but declined gradually in the Byzantine era</p><br>
<h3>Ecclesiastical history</h3><br>
<p>No later than the 4th century, it was a suffragan of the provincial capital&#39;s Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cyzicus, in the sway of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.</p><br>
<p>Several bishops are historically documented :</p><br>
<p>Orion attended the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325</p><br>
<p>Leucadius was among the schismatic group of Arian heretical bishops abandoning the Council of Sardica and Council of Philippopolis in 344 to convene their alternative synod.</p><br>
<p>Teosebius partook in the Council of Chalcedon in 451.</p><br>
<p>Johannes participated in the second Council of Constantinople in 553.</p><br>
<p>Niceta attended the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.</p><br>
<p>Georgius participated in the Photian Council of 869 which condemned Patriarch Photios of Constantinople in his own capital.</p><br>
<h3>Titular see</h3><br>
<p>The diocese was nominally restored no later then 1926 as Latin Titular bishopric of Ilium (Latin) / Ilio (Curiate Italian) / Ilien(sis) (Latin adjective).</p><br>
<p>It is vacant for decades, having had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank :</p><br>
<p>Michel-Joseph Bourguignon d’Herbigny, Jesuit Order (S.J.) (1926.02.11 – 1937.07)</p><br>
<p>James Maguire (1939.10.05 – 1944.10.10)</p><br>
<p>Eugene Joseph McGuinness (1944.11.11 – 1948.02.01)</p><br>
<p>Leo John Steck (1948.03.13 – 1950.06.19)</p><br>
<p>Francesco Maria Franco (1950.07.10 – 1968.02.07)</p><br>
<h2>Other views and voices on Troy</h2><br>
<h3>Alternative views on Troy's location</h3><br>
<p>A small minority of contemporary writers argue that Homeric Troy was not at the Hisarlik site, but elsewhere in Anatolia or outside it—e.g. in England, Pergamum, Scandinavia, or Herzegovina. These proposals have not been accepted by mainstream scholarship.</p><br>
<h3>Hittite and Egyptian evidence</h3><br>
<p>In the 1920s, the Swiss scholar Emil Forrer claimed that the placenames Wilusa and Taruisa found in Hittite texts should be identified with Ilion and Troia, respectively. He further noted that the name of Alaksandu, a king of Wilusa mentioned in a Hittite treaty, is quite similar to Homers Paris, whose birthname was Alexandros. Subsequent to this, the Tawagalawa letter (CTH 181) was found to document an unnamed Hittite kings correspondence to the king of the Ahhiyawa, referring to an earlier "Wilusa episode" involving hostility on the part of the Ahhiyawa. The Hittite king was long held to be Mursili II (c. 1321–1296), but, since the 1980s, his son Hattusili III (1265–1240) is commonly preferred, although his other son Muwatalli (c. 1296–1272) remains a possibility.</p><br>
<p>Inscriptions of the New Kingdom of Egypt also record a nation T-R-S as one of the Sea Peoples who attacked Egypt during the XIX and XX Dynasties. An inscription at Deir el-Medina records a victory of Ramesses III over the Sea Peoples, including one named "Tursha" (Egyptian: ). It is probably the same as the earlier "Teresh" (Egyptian: ) on the stele commemorating Merneptah&#39;s victory in a Libyan campaign around 1220 BC.</p><br>
<p>These identifications were rejected by many scholars as being improbable or at least unprovable. However, Trevor Bryce championed them in his 1998 book The Kingdom of the Hittites, citing a piece of the Manapa-Tarhunda letter referring to the kingdom of Wilusa as beyond the land of the Seha River (the classical Caicus and modern Bakırçay) and near the land of "Lazpa" (Lesbos). Recent evidence also adds weight to the theory that Wilusa is identical to archaeological Troy. Hittite texts mention a water tunnel at Wilusa, and a water tunnel excavated by Korfmann, previously thought to be Roman, has been dated to around 2600 BC. The identifications of Wilusa with Troy and of the Ahhiyawa with Homer&#39;s Achaeans remain somewhat controversial but gained enough popularity during the 1990s to be considered majority opinion. That agrees with metrical evidence in the Iliad that the name ᾽Ιλιον (Ilion) for Troy was formerly Ϝιλιον (Wilion) with a digamma.</p><br>
<h3>In later legend</h3><br>
<p>Such was the fame of the Epic Cycle in Roman and Medieval times that it was built upon to provide a starting point for various founding myths of national origins. The most influential, Virgils Aeneid, traces the journeys of the Trojan prince Aeneas, supposed ancestor of the founders of Rome and the Julio-Claudian dynasty. In a later era, the heroes of Troy, both those noted in Homer and those invented for the purpose, often continued to appear in the origin stories of the nations of Early Medieval Europe. The Roman de Troie was common cultural ground for European dynasties, as a Trojan pedigree was both gloriously ancient and established an equality with the ruling class of Rome. A Trojan pedigree could justify the occupation of parts of Romes former territories.</p><br>
<p>On that basis, the Franks filled the lacunae of their legendary origins with Trojan and pseudo-Trojan names: in Fredegar&#39;s 7th-century chronicle of Frankish history, Priam appears as the first king of the Franks. The Trojan origin of France was such an established article of faith that in 1714, the learned Nicolas Fréret was Bastilled for showing through historical criticism that the Franks had been Germanic, a sore point counter to Valois and Bourbon propaganda.</p><br>
<p>In similar manner, Geoffrey of Monmouth reworked earlier material such as the Historia Brittonum to trace the legendary kings of the Britons from a supposed descendant of Aeneas called Brutus.</p><br>
<p>Likewise, Snorri Sturluson, in the prologue to his Icelandic Prose Edda, traced the genealogy of the ancestral figures in Norse mythology to characters appearing at Troy in Homer&#39;s epic, notably making Thor to be the son of Memnon. Sturluson referred to these figures as having made a journey across Europe towards Scandinavia, setting up kingdoms as they went.</p><br>
<h3>Prose Edda's Troy</h3><br>
<p>The Icelandic national bard and possibly most important source of Norse Mythology, Snorri Sturluson, identifies Troy with Åsgard. About it were 12 kingdoms and 12 chiefs. One of them, Múnón, married Priam&#39;s daughter, Tróán, and had by her a son, Trór, to be pronounced Thor in Old Norse. Similarly the Áss Vidarr is identified with Aeneas.</p><br>
<p>Thailands 514,000 square kilometers lie in the middle of mainland Southeast Asia. The nation&#39;s axial position influenced many aspects of Thailand&#39;s society and culture&mdash;it controls the only land route from Asia to Malaysia and Singapore.</p><br>
<h2>Geographic coordinates</h2><br>
<p>The fertile floodplain and tropical monsoon climate, ideally suited to wet-rice (tham na) cultivation, attracted settlers to this central area over to the marginal uplands and the highlands of the northern region or the Khorat Plateau to the northeast.</p><br>
<p>By the 11th century AD, a number of loosely connected rice-growing and trading states flourished in the upper Chao Phraya Valley. They broke free from domination of the Khmer Empire, but from the middle of the 14th century gradually came under the control of the Ayutthaya kingdom at the southern extremity of the floodplain.</p><br>
<p>Successive capitals, built at various points along the river, became centers of great Thai kingdoms based on rice cultivation and foreign commerce. Unlike the neighboring Khmer and Burmese, the Thai continued to look outward across the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea toward foreign ports of trade.</p><br>
<p>When European imperialism brought a new phase in Southeast Asian commerce in the late 1800s, Thailand (known then as Siam) was able to maintain its independence as a buffer zone between British-controlled Burma to the west and French-dominated Indochina to the east, but losing over 50% of its territory in the process. Fortunately, most of the areas lost contained a non-Thai population (Khmer, Lao or Shan). The Thai-speaking heartland remains intact.</p><br>
<h2>Boundaries</h2><br>
<h3>Land boundaries</h3><br>
<p>*Total: 4,863 km</p><br>
<p>*Border countries: Myanmar 1,800 km, Cambodia 803 km, Laos 1,754 km, Malaysia 506 km</p><br>
<h3>Coastline</h3><br>
<p>*Total: 3,219 km</p><br>
<h3>Maritime claims</h3><br>
<p>*territorial sea: 12 nmi</p><br>
<p>*exclusive economic zone: 200 nmi</p><br>
<p>*continental shelf: 20-m depth or to the depth of exploitation</p><br>
<h2>Topography and drainage</h2><br>
<p>The most conspicuous features of Thailand&#39;s terrain are high mountains, a central plain, and an upland plateau. Mountains cover much of northern Thailand and extend along the Myanmar border down through the Kra Isthmus and the Malay Peninsula. The central plain is a lowland area drained by the Chao Phraya River and its tributaries, the country&#39;s principal river system, which feeds into the delta at the head of the Bay of Bangkok. The Chao Phraya system drains about one-third of the nation&#39;s territory. In the northeastern part of the country the Khorat Plateau, a region of gently rolling low hills and shallow lakes, drains into the Mekong through the Mun River. The Mekong system empties into the South China Sea and includes a series of canals and dams.</p><br>
<p>Together, the Chao Phraya and Mekong systems sustain Thailand&#39;s agricultural economy by supporting wet-rice cultivation and providing waterways for the transport of goods and people. In contrast, the distinguishing natural features of peninsular Thailand are long coastlines, offshore islands, and diminishing mangrove swamps.</p><br>
<h2>Area</h2><br>
<p>*Total: 513,120 km&sup2;</p><br>
<p>**Land: 510,890 km&sup2;</p><br>
<p>**Water: 2,230 km&sup2;</p><br>
<p>Thailand uses a unit of land area called the rai, which is 1,600 m&sup2;.</p><br>
<h2>Extreme points</h2><br>
<p>*Northernmost point: Myanmar border, Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai Province, at</p><br>
<p>*Southernmost point: Malaysian border, Betong District, Yala Province, at</p><br>
<p>*Easternmost point: Laos border, Khong Chiam District, Ubon Ratchathani Province, at</p><br>
<p>*Westernmost point: Myanmar border, Mae Sariang District, Mae Hong Son Province, at</p><br>
<h3>Elevation extremes</h3><br>
<p>*Highest point: Doi Inthanon, 2,565 m, at</p><br>
<p>*Lowest point: Gulf of Thailand, 0 metres - sea level</p><br>
<h2>Regions</h2><br>
<p>The National Research Council divides Thailand into six geographical regions, based on natural features including landforms and drainage, as well as human cultural patterns. They are, namely: the North Region, the Northeast Region, the Central Region, the East Region, the West Region and the South Region of Thailand. Although Bangkok geographically is part of the central plain, as the capital and largest city this metropolitan area may be considered in other respects a separate region. Each of the six geographical regions differs from the others in population, basic resources, natural features, and level of social and economic development. The diversity of the regions is in fact the most pronounced attribute of Thailand&#39;s physical setting.</p><br>
<h3>Northern Thailand</h3><br>
<p>Northern Thailand is a mountainous area. Parallel mountain ranges extend from the Daen Lao Range (ทิวเขาแดนลาว), in the southern region of the Shan Hills, in a north/south direction, the Dawna Range (ทิวเขาดอยมอนกุจู) forming the western border of Thailand between Mae Hong Son and the Salween River, the Thanon Thong Chai Range (เทือกเขาถนนธงชัย), the Khun Tan Range (ดอยขุนตาน), the Phi Pan Nam Range (ทิวเขาผีปันน้ำ), as well as the western part of the Luang Prabang Range (ทิวเขาหลวงพระบาง).</p><br>
<p>These high mountains are incised by steep river valleys and upland areas that border the central plain. Most rivers, including the Nan, Ping, Wang, and Yom, unite in the lowlands of the lower-north region and the upper-central region. The Ping River and the Nan River unite to form the Chao Phraya River. The northeastern part is drained by rivers flowing into the Mekong basin, like the Kok and Ing.</p><br>
<p>Traditionally, these natural features made possible several different types of agriculture, including wet-rice farming in the valleys and shifting cultivation in the uplands. The forested mountains also promoted a spirit of regional independence. Forests, including stands of teak and other economically useful hardwoods that once dominated the north and parts of the northeast, had diminished by the 1980s to 130,000 km². In 1961 they covered 56 percent of the country, but by the mid-1980s forestland had been reduced to less than 30 percent of Thailand&#39;s total area.</p><br>
<p>During the winter months in mountainous northern Thailand, the temperature is cool enough for the cultivation of fruits such as lychees and strawberries.</p><br>
<h3>Northeastern Thailand</h3><br>
<p>The northeast, with its poor soils, is not favoured agriculturally. However, sticky rice, the staple food of the region, which requires flooded, poorly drained paddy fields, thrives and where fields can be flooded from nearby streams, rivers and ponds, often two harvests are possible each year. Cash crops such as sugar cane and manioc are cultivated on a vast scale, and to a lesser extent, rubber. Silk production is an important cottage industry and contributes significantly to the economy.</p><br>
<p>The region consists mainly of the dry Khorat Plateau which in some parts is extremely flat, and a few low but rugged and rocky hills, the Phu Phan Mountains. The short monsoon season brings heavy flooding in the river valleys. Unlike the more fertile areas of Thailand, the northeast has a long dry season, and much of the land is covered by sparse grasses. Mountains ring the plateau on the west and the south, and the Mekong delineates much of the northern and eastern rim. Some varieties of traditional medicinal herbs, particularly of the Genus Curcuma, family Zingiberaceae, are indigenous to the region.</p><br>
<h3>Central Thailand</h3><br>
<p>The "heartland", central Thailand, is a natural self-contained basin often termed "the rice bowl of Asia." The complex irrigation system developed for wet-rice agriculture in this region provided the necessary economic support to sustain the development of the Thai state from the 13th century Sukhothai Kingdom to contemporary Bangkok. Here the rather flat unchanging landscape facilitated inland water and road transport. The fertile area was able to sustain a dense population, 422 people per square kilometer in 1987, compared with an average of 98 for the country as a whole. The terrain of the region is dominated by the Chao Phraya and its tributaries and by the cultivated paddy fields. Metropolitan Bangkok, the focal point of trade, transport, and industrial activity, is on the southern edge of the region at the head of the Gulf of Thailand and includes part of the Chao Phraya delta.</p><br>
<h3>Eastern Thailand</h3><br>
<p>Eastern Thailand lies between the Sankamphaeng Range, which forms the border of the northeastern plateau to the north, and the Gulf of Thailand to the south. The western end of the Cardamom Mountains, known in Thailand as Thio Khao Banthat, extends into eastern Thailand. The geography of the region is characterised by short mountain ranges alternating with small basins of short rivers which drain into the Gulf of Thailand.</p><br>
<p>Fruit is a major component of agriculture in the area, and tourism plays a strong part in the economy. The region&#39;s coastal location has helped promote industrial development, a major factor in the economy of the region.</p><br>
<h3>Western Thailand</h3><br>
<p>Thailand&#39;s long mountainous border with Myanmar continues south from the north into western Thailand with the Tenasserim Hills, known in Thailand as Thio Khao Tanaosi (เทือกเขาตะนาวศรี). The geography of the western region of Thailand, like the north, is characterised by high mountains and steep river valleys.</p><br>
<p>Western Thailand hosts much of Thailand&#39;s less-disturbed forest areas. Water and minerals are also important natural resources. The region is home to many of the country&#39;s major dams, and mining is an important industry in the area.</p><br>
<h3>Southern Thailand</h3><br>
<p>Southern Thailand, part of a narrow peninsula, is distinctive in climate, terrain, and resources. Its economy is based on tourism, and palm oil and rubber plantations. In Krabi Province, for example, palm plantations occupy 980,000 rai (1,568 km), or 52 percent of the province&#39;s farmland. Other sources of income include coconut plantations, tin mining. Rolling and mountainous terrain and the absence of large rivers are conspicuous features of the south. North-south mountain barriers and impenetrable tropical forest caused the early isolation and separate political development of this region. International access through the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand made the south a crossroads for both Theravada Buddhism, centered at Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Islam, especially in the former Pattani Kingdom on the border with Malaysia.</p><br>
<h3>Provinces</h3><br>
<p>Thailand&#39;s regions are divided politically into a total of 76 provinces plus Bangkok, which is a special administrative area.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Thailand&#39;s climate is influenced by monsoon winds that have a seasonal character (the southwest and northeast monsoon). The southwest monsoon, which starts from May until October is characterized by movement of warm, moist air from the Indian Ocean to Thailand, causing abundant rain over most of the country. The northeast monsoon, starting from October until February brings cold and dry air from China over most of Thailand. In southern Thailand, the northeast monsoon brings mild weather and abundant rainfall on the eastern coast of that region. Most of Thailand has a "tropical wet and dry or savanna climate" type (Köppen&#39;s Tropical savanna climate). The south and the eastern tip of the east have a tropical monsoon climate.</p><br>
<p>Thailand has three seasons. The first is the rainy or southwest monsoon season (mid–May to mid–October) which prevails over most of the country. This season is characterized by abundant rain with August and September being the wettest period of the year. This can occasionally lead to floods. In addition to rainfall caused by the southwest monsoon, the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and tropical cyclones also contribute to producing heavy rainfall during the rainy season. Nonetheless, dry spells commonly occur for 1 to 2 weeks from June to early July. This is due to the northward movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone to southern China. Winter or the northeast monsoon starts from mid–October until mid–February. Most of Thailand experiences dry weather during this season with mild temperatures. The exception is the southern parts of Thailand where it receives abundant rainfall, particularly during October to November. Summer or the pre–monsoon season runs from mid–February until mid–May and is characterized by warmer weather.</p><br>
<p>Due to its inland nature and latitude, the north, northeast, central, and eastern parts of Thailand experience a long period of warm weather. During the hottest time of the year (March to May), temperatures usually reach up to 40 &deg;C or more with the exception of coastal areas where sea breezes moderate afternoon temperatures. In contrast, outbreaks of cold air from China can bring colder temperatures; in some cases (particularly the north and northeast) close to or below 0 &deg;C. Southern Thailand is characterized by mild weather year-round with less diurnal and seasonal variations in temperatures due to maritime influences.</p><br>
<p>Most of the country receives a mean annual rainfall of 1200 to 1600 mm. However, certain areas on the windward sides of mountains such as Ranong province in the west coast of southern Thailand and eastern parts of Trat Province receive more than 4,500 mm of rainfall per year. The driest areas are on the leeward side in the central valleys and northernmost portion of south Thailand where mean annual rainfall is less than 1,200 mm. Most of Thailand (north, northeast, central and east) is characterized by dry weather during the northeast monsoon and abundant rainfall during the southwest monsoon. In the southern parts of Thailand, abundant rainfall occurs in both the northeast and southwest monsoon seasons with a peak in September for the western coast and a peak in November–January on the eastern coast.</p><br>
<p>The northeast experiences a long dry season—although the dry 2007-2008 season lasted only from late-November through to mid-March. Its red, laterite, dense clayey soils retain water well, which limits their agricultural potential for many crops, but is ideal for keeping water in paddy fields and local village reservoirs. The well-drained, loose sandy alluvium of the Mekong flood plain is very fertile, the main crops being tomatoes, tobacco, and pineapples, grown on an industrial-scale.</p><br>
<h2>Resources and land use</h2><br>
<h3>Natural resources</h3><br>
<p>* Tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land. (Source: The World Fact Book)</p><br>
<h3>Land use</h3><br>
<p>*Arable land: 30.7 percent</p><br>
<p>**Permanent crops: 8.8 percent</p><br>
<p>**Other: 60.5 percent (2011)</p><br>
<h3>Land ownership</h3><br>
<p>Pattamawadee Pochanukul, a lecturer from the Faculty of Economics at Thammasat University, estimates that about 59 percent of all arable land in Thailand belongs to the state. the Treasury Department owned 176,467 plots of land, consisting of about 9.9 million rai (15,769.6 km). The Ministry of Defence owns about 2.6 million rai (4,230 km) or about 21.2 percent of total public land. Information from the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) shows that members of the house of representatives in 2013 owned a total of 35,786 rai of land (about 57.3 km).</p><br>
<h3>Irrigated land</h3><br>
<p>*Total: 64,150 km² (2007)</p><br>
<h3>Total renewable water resources</h3><br>
<p>*Total: 438.6 km (2011)</p><br>
<h2>Environmental concerns</h2><br>
<h3>Natural hazards</h3><br>
<p>Land subsidence in Bangkok area resulting from the depletion of the water table; droughts (see also 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and 2011 Thai floods).</p><br>
<h4>Droughts</h4><br>
<p>* Example of areas affected</p><br>
<p>Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phayao, Lamphun, Tak, Phrae, Uttaradit, Sukhothai, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Nakhon Sawan, Kalasin, Udon Thani, Bueng Kan, Mahasarakham, Yasothon, Amnat Charoen, Nakhon Phanom, Loei, Chaiyaphum, Khon Kaen, Buriram, Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon Ratchathani, Surin and Chanthaburi http://www.chiangraitimes.com/northern-thailand-severely-affected-by-drought.html</p><br>
<p>* Example of measures undertaken</p><br>
<p>Drinking water supply trucks sent out as part of relief operation</p><br>
<p>Water rationing</p><br>
<p>Provision of low-priced produce (e.g. eggs)</p><br>
<p>Asking farmers to delay rice production (reduce water usage until relief from monsoon rains)</p><br>
<p>Asking farmers to stop off-season cropping and plan more drought-resistant crops (e.g. beans)</p><br>
<p>Cloud seeding to create artificial rain https://monsoon.yale.edu/thailand-drought-leaves-lasting-effects-even-as-rainy-season-begins/</p><br>
<p>Public awareness – drought situation updates http://www.disaster.go.th/en/cdetail-8311-disaster_news-147-1/Drought+Mitigation+measures:+DDPM+endorses+%E2%80%9CPra-cha-rad%E2%80%9D,+or+a+public-private+partnership+to+effectively+manage+water+resources+during+the+drought+season</p><br>
<p>Drought monitoring and forecasting system http://www.droughtmanagement.info/literature/UNW-DPC_NDMP_Country_Report_Thailand_2014.pdf</p><br>
<p>Drought hazard mapping of drought and prepared water sources map</p><br>
<h3>Current environmental issues</h3><br>
<p>*Air pollution</p><br>
<p>*Water pollution from organic and factory wastes</p><br>
<p>*Deforestation</p><br>
<p>*Soil erosion</p><br>
<p>*Wildlife populations threatened by illegal hunting</p><br>
<h3>International environmental agreements</h3><br>
<p>*Party to: biodiversity, climate change, climate change-Kyoto Protocol, desertification, endangered species, hazardous wastes, marine life conservation, Ozone layer protection, tropical timber 83, tropical timber 94, wetlands</p><br>
<p>*Signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea</p><br>
<h2>Territorial disputes</h2><br>
<h3>History</h3><br>
<p>Thailand shares boundaries with Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Myanmar. Although neither China nor Vietnam border Thailand, their territories lie within 100 km of Thai territory.</p><br>
<p>Many parts of Thailand&#39;s boundaries follow natural features, such as the Mekong. Most borders were stabilized and demarcated in the late-19th and early-20th centuries in accordance with treaties forced on Thailand and its neighbors by Britain and France. In some areas, however, exact boundaries, especially along Thailand&#39;s eastern borders with Laos and Cambodia, are still disputed.</p><br>
<p>Adding to general border tensions were the activities of communist-led insurgents, whose operations were of paramount concern to the Thai government and its security forces for several decades. The problem of communist insurgency was compounded by the activity of what the Thai government labelled "antistate elements". Often the real source of border problems was ordinary criminals or local merchants involved in illegal mining, logging, smuggling, and narcotics production and trade.</p><br>
<h3>Cambodia</h3><br>
<p>Cambodia&#39;s disputes with Thailand after 1951 arose in part from ill-defined boundaries and changes in France&#39;s colonial fortunes. Recently, the most notable case has been a dispute over Prasat Preah Vihear submitted to the International Court of Justice, which ruled in favor of Cambodia in 1962. During the years that the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, was controlled by the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot (1975 to 1979), the border disputes continued.</p><br>
<h3>Laos</h3><br>
<p>Demarcation is complete except for certain Mekong islets. The border is marked by the Mekong: at high water during the rainy season, the centre line of the current is the border, while during low water periods, all islands, mudbanks, sandbanks, and rocks that are revealed belong to Laos.</p><br>
<h3>Malaysia</h3><br>
<p>In contrast to dealings with Cambodia, which attracted international attention, boundary disputes with Malaysia are usually handled more cooperatively. Continuing mineral exploration and fishing, however, are sources of potential conflict. A one kilometre segment at the mouth of the Kolok River remained in dispute with Malaysia as of 2004.</p><br>
<p>Malaysia is a Southeast Asian country occupying parts of the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo. It&#39;s known for its beaches, rainforests and mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian and European cultural influences. The capital, Kuala Lumpur, is home to colonial buildings, busy shopping districts such as Bukit Bintang and skyscrapers such as the iconic, 451m-tall Petronas Twin Towers.</p><br>
<p>Capital: Kuala Lumpur</p><br>
<p>Dialing code: +60</p><br>
<p>Currency: Malaysian ringgit</p><br>
<p>Official script: Malay (Latin) alphabet</p><br>
<p>Population: 31.19 million (2016) World Bank</p><br>
<h3>Myanmar</h3><br>
<p>Significant differences remain with Myanmar over boundary alignment and the handling of ethnic rebels, refugees, and the drug trade, in addition to mineral exploration and fishing rights. Groups in both countries have expressed concern over the Peoples Republic of China&#39;s construction of 13 hydroelectric dams on the Salween River in Yunnan.</p><br>
<p>Tromelin Island  is a low, flat, island in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometers north of Réunion, and about 450 km east of Madagascar. Tromelin is administered as a French overseas territory; however, Mauritius claims sovereignty over the island, on grounds of its absence in the listing of the 8th article of the French version of the 1814 Paris Treaty. France and Mauritius have been negotiating for years in regard to a possible co-management of the island in the future.</p><br>
<p>Tromelin has facilities for scientific expeditions and a weather station. It is a nesting site for birds and green sea turtles.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The island is named for the chevalier Bernard Boudin de Tromelin, the captain of the French warship La Dauphine. He arrived at the island on 29 November 1776, and rescued 16 stranded people.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>As Tromelin is only 7 m high studies could not determine if it is the summit of a volcano or an atoll.</p><br>
<p>Tromelin is about 1,700 m long and 700 m wide, with an area of 80 ha (200 acres), covered in scrub dominated by octopus bush and surrounded by coral reefs. There are no harbours or anchorages, so that access by sea is quite difficult. A 1,200-metre (3,900 ft) airstrip provides a link with the outside world.</p><br>
<h3>Important Bird Area</h3><br>
<p>The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because of its significance as a seabird breeding site. Both masked (with up to 250 pairs) and red-footed boobies (up to 180 pairs) nesting there. Sulidae populations have seriously declined in the western Indian Ocean with those on Tromelin among the healthiest remaining.</p><br>
<p>The island’s masked boobies are of the western Indian Ocean subspecies (Sula dactylatra melanops), of which Tromelin is a stronghold. The red-footed boobies constitute the only polymorphic population in the region, indicating its biogeographical isolation. Both great and lesser frigatebirds used to nest on the island. The breeding populations of both birds have since been extirpated, although they continue to use the island for roosting.</p><br>
<p>There are no resident landbirds.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The island was discovered by France in 1720s. It was recorded by the French navigator Jean Marie Briand de la Feuillée and named "Île des Sables" (Island of Sands).</p><br>
<h3>Wreck of the slave ship l'Utile</h3><br>
<p>In 1761 the French ship Utile, carrying slaves from Madagascar to Mauritius, ran onto the reefs of the island.</p><br>
<p>On September 27, 1761, the 123 person French contingent, crew and officers, left Tromelin aboard the raft, Providence, which they had built with the available wood on the island. They left the slaves — sixty Malagasy men and women — on the desert island; promising to return and rescue them. When the crew of the ship reached Madagascar they requested that the colonial authorities send a ship to rescue the people on the island. However, they met with a categorical refusal, based on the fact that France was fighting the Seven Years&#39; War and thus no ship could be spared.</p><br>
<p>The Malagasy people, who had been left on the bleak little island, built a shed with coral stones, for most of the wood had been used in the construction of the raft for the crew. They also built a lookout on the highest point of the island in order not to miss the ship that would, they hoped, come to their rescue. They were all from the Central Highlands of Madagascar, and had no knowledge of how produce food in the marine environment. Most died within the first few months.</p><br>
<p>Fifteen years later, in 1776, the French warship La Dauphine, arrived at the island. They rescued the survivors — seven women and an eight-month-old child.</p><br>
<h3>Sovereignty claims</h3><br>
<p>The French claim to sovereignty dates from 29 November 1776, the date that the ship La Dauphine arrived.</p><br>
<p>The Mauritian claim to sovereignty is based on the fact that the island was not ceded to France by the treaty of Paris in 1814.</p><br>
<p>The United Nations never recognized the Mauritian sovereignty over Tromelin. In 1954, France constructed a meteorological station and a landing strip on the island.</p><br>
<p>It is a matter of dispute whether the building agreement transferred sovereignty of Tromelin from one to the other, and Mauritius claims the island as part of its territory, on the grounds that sovereignty was not transferred to France in 1814, and the island was thus part of the colony of Mauritius at the time of independence. Indeed, as early as 1959, even before independence, Mauritius informed the World Meteorological Organization that it considered Tromelin to be part of its territory. France and Mauritius reached a co-management treaty in 2010.</p><br>
<p>Tromelin has an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 280,000 km&sup2, contiguous with that of Réunion. The island&#39;s weather station, which warns of cyclones, is still operated by France and is staffed by meteorologists from Réunion.</p><br>
<p>Tierra del Fuego  is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, with an area of 48,100 km&sup2, and a group of many islands, including Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez Islands. Tierra del Fuego is divided between Chile and Argentina, with the latter controlling the eastern half of the main island and the former the western half plus the islands south of Beagle Channel. The southernmost extent of the archipelago is at about latitude 55 S.</p><br>
<p>The earliest known human settlement in Tierra del Fuego dates to around 8,000 B.C. Europeans first explored the islands during Ferdinand Magellan&#39;s expedition of 1520; Tierra del Fuego and similar namings stem from sightings of the many bonfires that the natives built. Settlement by those of European descent and the great displacement of the native populations did not begin until the second half of the 19th century, at the height of the Patagonian sheep farming boom and of the local gold rush. Today, petroleum extraction dominates economic activity in the north of Tierra del Fuego, while tourism, manufacturing, and Antarctic logistics are important in the south.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Prehistory and European exploration</h3><br>
<p>The earliest human settlement occurred around 8,000 B.C. The Yaghan were some of the earliest known humans to settle in Tierra del Fuego. Archeological sites with characteristics of their culture have been found at locations such as Navarino Island.</p><br>
<p>The name Tierra del Fuego derives from the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan; sailing for the Spanish Crown, in 1520 he was the first European to visit these lands. He believed he was seeing the many fires (fuego in Spanish) of the Yaghan, which were visible from the sea, and that the "Indians" were waiting in the forests to ambush his armada.</p><br>
<p>In 1525 Francisco de Hoces was the first to speculate that Tierra del Fuego was one or more islands rather than part of what was then called Terra Australis. Francis Drake in 1578 and a Dutch VOC expedition in 1616 learned more about the geography. The latter expedition named Cape Horn.</p><br>
<p>On his first voyage with the HMS Beagle in 1830, Robert FitzRoy picked up four native Fuegians, including "Jemmy Button" (Orundellico) and brought them to England. The surviving three were taken to London to meet the King and Queen and were, for a time, celebrities. They returned to Tierra del Fuego in the Beagle with FitzRoy and Charles Darwin, who made extensive notes about his visit to the islands.</p><br>
<h3>European colonization and extinction of Native Americans (1860–1910)</h3><br>
<p>During the second half of the 19th century, the archipelago began to come under Chilean and Argentine influence. Both countries sought to claim the whole archipelago based on de jure Spanish colonial titles. Salesian Catholic missions were established in Río Grande and Dawson Island.</p><br>
<p>Anglican missions were established by British colonists at Keppel Island in the Falklands in 1855 and in 1870 at Ushuaia on the main island, which continued to operate through the 19th century. Thomas Bridges (1842–1898) learned the language and compiled a 30,000-word Yaghan grammar and dictionary while he worked at Ushuaia.</p><br>
<p>An 1879 Chilean expedition led by Ramón Serrano Montaner reported large amounts of placer gold in the streams and river beds of Tierra del Fuego. This prompted massive immigration to the main island between 1883 and 1909. Numerous Argentines, Chileans and Croatians settled in the main island, leading to increased conflicts with native Selk&#39;nam.</p><br>
<p>Julius Popper, a Romanian explorer, was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the region. Granted rights by the Argentine government to exploit any gold deposits he found in Tierra del Fuego, Popper has been identified as a central figure in the Selk&#39;nam Genocide.</p><br>
<p>Following contact with Europeans, the native Selknam and Yaghan populations were greatly reduced by unequal conflict and persecution by settlers, by infectious diseases to which the indigenous people had no immunity, and by mass transfer to the Salesian mission of Dawson Island. Despite the missionaries efforts, many natives died. Today, only a few Selk&#39;nam remain. Some of the few remaining Yaghan have settled in Villa Ukika in Navarino Island; others have scattered across Chile and Argentina.</p><br>
<p>Following the signing of the Boundary Treaty of 1881, Tierra del Fuego was divided between Argentina and Chile; previously, it had been claimed in its entirety by both countries.</p><br>
<p>The gold rushes of the late 19th century led to the founding of numerous small settlements by immigrants such as the Argentine settlements of Ushuaia and Río Grande and the Chilean settlements of Porvenir and Puerto Toro.</p><br>
<h3>Recent history (1940–present)</h3><br>
<p>In 1945 a division of Chilean CORFO (Spanish acronym for Production Development Corporation) engaged in oil exploration made a breakthrough discovery of oil in northern Tierra del Fuego. Extraction began in 1949, and in 1950 the state created ENAP (National Petroleum Company) to deal with oil extraction and prospecting. Until 1960, most oil extracted in Chile came from Tierra del Fuego.</p><br>
<p>During the 1940s Chile and Argentina formulated their Antarctic claims. The governments realized the key role of Tierra del Fuegos geographical proximity in backing their claims as well as in supplying their Antarctic bases. In the 1950s, the Chilean military founded Puerto Williams to counter Ushuaias monopoly as the only settlement in the Beagle Channel, a zone where Argentina disputed the 1881 borders.</p><br>
<p>In the 1960s and 1970s, sovereignty claims by Argentina over Picton, Lennox and Nueva Islands in Tierra del Fuego led the two countries in December 1978 to the brink of war. In response to the threat of an Argentine invasion, minefields were deployed and bunkers built on the Chilean side in some areas of Tierra del Fuego. The threat of war caused the Chilean Pinochet regime to give logistical support and information to the British during the Falklands War of 1982. Chilean radar supplied the British with information on Argentine jet movements in Tierra del Fuego, from where the Argentine Air Force launched raids on targets in the Falklands.</p><br>
<p>In 1986 the Argentine congress decided that the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego should be a new province; the law was not promulgated until 26 April 1990.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The archipelago consists of a main island, Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, often called simply Tierra del Fuego or Isla Grande, with an area of 48,100 km&sup2, and a group of smaller islands. The main island is split between two countries: 18,507.3 km&sup2, 38.57% of the total area, belongs to Argentina, while 29,484.7 km&sup2, 61.43% of the total area, belongs to Chile. The archipelago is divided by an east–west channel, the Beagle Channel, immediately south of the main island. The largest islands south of the Beagle Channel are Hoste and Navarino.</p><br>
<p>The western part of the main island, and almost all the other islands, belong to Chile. They are part of the Magallanes y Antártica Chilena Region, the capital and chief town of which is Punta Arenas, situated on the mainland across the strait. The biggest Chilean towns are Porvenir, capital of the Chilean Province of Tierra del Fuego, located on the main island; and, on Navarino Island, Puerto Williams, which is the capital of the Antártica Chilena Province. Puerto Toro lies a few kilometers south of Puerto Williams and is arguably the southernmost village in the world. The mostly uninhabited islands north and west of the main island are part of Magallanes Province.</p><br>
<p>The eastern part of the main island, and a few small islands in the Beagle Channel, belong to Argentina. They are part of the Tierra del Fuego, Antarctic Territory and South Atlantic Islands Province, whose capital is Ushuaia, the biggest city of the archipelago. The other important city in the region is Río Grande on the Atlantic coast.</p><br>
<p>The Cordillera Darwin in the southwestern part of the main island contains many glaciers that reach the ocean. Mount Darwin is the highest peak at 2,488 m.</p><br>
<h3>Geology</h3><br>
<p>The geology of the archipelago is characterized by the effects of the Andean orogeny and the repeated Pleistocene glaciations. The geology of the island can be divided into large east–west-oriented units. The southwestern islands of the archipelago, including Cape Horn, are part of the Patagonian Batholith, while Cordillera Darwin and the area around Beagle Channel form the principal codillera hosting the highest mountains. The Magallanes fold and thrust belt extends north of Almirantazgo Fjord and Fagnano Lake, and north of this lies the Magallanes foreland; an old sedimentary basin that hosts hydrocarbon reserves. Orthogneiss dated at 525 million years is known to underlie some of the oil wells in northern Tierra del Fuego.</p><br>
<p>The Magallanes–Fagnano Fault, a dextral strike slip fault crosses the southern part of the main island from west to east. It is an active fault, located inside and parallel to the Fuegian fold and thrust belt, and marks the boundary between a southern belt of Paleozoic meta sediments and a northern Mesozoic belt of sedimentary sequences. Fagnano Lake occupies a glacier-carved depression in a pull-apart basin that has developed along the Magallanes-Fagnano Fault zone.</p><br>
<p>Podzols and inceptisols occur beneath Nothofagus betuloides forests in Tierra del Fuego.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>This region has a subpolar oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfc) with short, cool summers and long, wet, moderately mild winters: the precipitation averages 3,000 mm a year in the far west, but precipitation decreases rapidly to the eastern side. Temperatures are steady throughout the year: in Ushuaia they hardly surpass 9 &deg;C in summers and average 0 &deg;C in winters. Snowfall can occur in summer. The cold and wet summers help preserve the ancient glaciers. The southernmost islands possess a sub-antarctic climate typical of tundra that makes the growth of trees impossible. Some areas in the interior have a polar climate. Regions in the world with similar climates to southern Tierra del Fuego are: the Aleutian islands, Iceland, the Alaska Peninsula, the Faroe Islands, Macquarie Island, and the Heard and McDonald Islands.</p><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>Only 30% of the islands have forests, which are classified as Magellanic subpolar. The northeast is made up of steppe and cool semi-desert.</p><br>
<p>Six species of tree are found in Tierra del Fuego: canelo or winter&#39;s bark (Drimys winteri), Maytenus magellanica, Pilgerodendron uviferum, the southernmost conifer in the world, and three kinds of southern beech: Nothofagus antarctica, Nothofagus pumilio, and the evergreen Nothofagus betuloides. Several kinds of fruit grow in open spaces in these forests, such as beach strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis var. chiloensis forma chiloensis) and calafate (Berberis buxifolia), which have long been gathered by both Native Americans and residents of European descent. These forests are unique in the world for having developed in a climate with such cold summers. Tree cover extends very close to the southernmost tip of South America. Winds are so strong that trees in wind-exposed areas grow into twisted shapes, inspiring people to call them "flag-trees". Tree vegetation extends as far south as the Isla de los Estados, Navarino Island, and the northern part of Hoste Island. Dwarf nothofagus communities are found at altitudes above 500 m. Going farther south, Wollaston Islands and the southern part of Hoste Island are covered by subantarctic tundra.</p><br>
<p>Forests from Tierra del Fuego have expanded beyond local importance; they have been a source of trees that have been planted abroad in places with practically the same climate but which were originally devoid of trees, such as the Faroe Islands and nearby archipelagos. Most species were gathered from the coldest places in Tierra del Fuego, mainly sites with tundra borders. This effort resulted in positive changes, as the heavy winds and cool summers in the Faroe Islands did not allow the growth of trees from other regions in the world. The imported trees are used ornamentally, as curtains against wind, and for fighting erosion caused by storms and grazing in the Faroe Islands.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>Among the most notable animals in the archipelago are austral parakeets, sea gulls, guanacos, foxes, kingfishers, condors, king penguins, owls, and firecrown hummingbirds.</p><br>
<p>North American beavers, introduced during the 1940s, have proliferated and caused considerable damage to the island&#39;s forests. The governments have established a wide-reaching program to trap and kill beavers in Tierra del Fuego.</p><br>
<p>Like the mainland of Chile and Argentina to the north, this archipelago boasts some of the finest trout fishing in the world. Sea-run brown trout often exceed 9 kg, particularly in rivers such as the Rio Grande and the San Pablo and in the Lago Fagnano. Much of this water is privately owned, with catch and release and fly fishing only.</p><br>
<p>Waters adjacent to Tierra del Fuego are very rich in cetacean diversity. Sightings of southern right whales in Tierra del Fuego have increased in the 2000s, as well as humpbacks and some others such as blue whales, southern fins, southern seis, and southern minkes. Beagle Channel is a prominent area to watch rare, endemic dolphins, and the less-studied pygmy right whales.</p><br>
<p>Pinnipeds inhabiting the areas include South American sea lions, South American fur seals, carnivorous leopard seals (seal-eating seal) and gigantic southern elephant seals.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Today, the main economic activities are fishing, natural gas and oil extraction, sheep farming, and ecotourism. Tourism is gaining in importance and becoming increasingly important as it attracts numerous upmarket visitors. Much of the tourism is based on claims of "southernmost" things: for example, both Ushuaia and Puerto Williams claim to be the "southernmost city in the world." On the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego, the government has promoted the establishment of several electronic companies.</p><br>
<p>Energy production is a crucial economic activity. On the Argentine side of Tierra del Fuego during the 2005 to 2010 period, petroleum and natural gas extraction contributed to 20% of the region’s economic output.</p><br>
<p>Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia, on the western part. The Indonesian part, also known as West Timor, constitutes part of the province of East Nusa Tenggara. Within West Timor lies an exclave of East Timor called Oecusse District. The island covers an area of 30,777 km&sup2;. The name is a variant of timur, Malay for "east&quot it is so called because it lies at the eastern end of the Lesser Sunda Islands.</p><br>
<h2>Language, ethnic groups and religion</h2><br>
<p>Anthropologists identify eleven distinct ethno-linguistic groups in Timor. The largest are the Atoni of western Timor, and the Tetum of central and eastern Timor. Most indigenous Timorese languages belong to the Timor–Babar branch of the Austronesian languages spoken throughout the Indonesian archipelago. The non-Austronesian languages are thought to be related to languages spoken on Halmahera and in Western New Guinea. Some are so mixed it is difficult to tell which family they descend from.</p><br>
<p>The official languages of East Timor are Tetum and Portuguese, while in West Timor it is Indonesian. Indonesian is also widely spoken and understood in East Timor.</p><br>
<p>Christianity is the dominant religion throughout the island of Timor, at about 90% of the population, but unequally distributed as West Timor is 58% Protestant and 37% Catholic, and East Timor is 98% Catholic and 1% Protestant. Islam and animism make up most of the remainder at about 5% each across the island.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Timor is located north of Australia, and is one of the easternmost Sunda Islands. Together with Sumba, Babar and associated smaller islands, Timor forms the southern outer archipelago of the Lesser Sunda Islands with the inner islands of Flores, Alor and Wetar to the north, and beyond them Sulawesi.</p><br>
<p>Timor is the principal island of the Outer Banda Arc, which has been upthrust by collision with the Australian continent. Timor has older geology and lacks the volcanic nature of the northern Lesser Sunda Islands. The orientation of the main axis of the island also differs from its neighbors. These features have been explained as the result of being on the northern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate as it meets the Eurasian Plate and pushes into South East Asia. The climate includes a long dry season with hot winds blowing over from Australia. Rivers on the island include the Southern and Northern Laclo Rivers in East Timor.</p><br>
<p>The largest towns on the island are the provincial capital of Kupang in West Timor, Indonesia and the Portuguese colonial towns of Dili the capital, and Baucau in East Timor. Poor roads make transport to inland areas difficult, in East Timor especially. East Timor is a poor country, with health issues including malaria and dengue fever. Sources of revenue include gas and oil in the Timor Sea, coffee growing and tourism.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Timor and its offshore islands such as Atauro, a former place of exile increasingly known for its beaches and coral, as well as Jaco along with Wetar and the other Barat Daya Islands to the northeast constitute the Timor and Wetar deciduous forests ecoregion. The natural vegetation was tropical dry broadleaf forests with an undergrowth of shrubs and grasses supporting a rich wildlife. However much of the original forest has been cleared for farming, especially on the coasts of Timor and on the smaller islands like Atauro. Apart from one large block in the centre of Timor only patches remain. This ecoregion is part of the Wallacea area with a mixture of plants and animals of Asian and Australasian origin; it lies in the western part of Wallacea, in which Asian species predominate.</p><br>
<p>Many trees are deciduous or partly deciduous, dropping their leaves during the dry season, there are also evergreen and thorn trees in the woodland. Typical trees of the lowland slopes include Sterculia foetida, Calophyllum teysmannii and Aleurites moluccanus.</p><br>
<p>During the Pleistocene epoch, Timor was the abode of extinct giant monitor lizards similar to the Komodo dragon. Like Flores, Sumba and Sulawesi, Timor was also once a habitat of extinct dwarf stegodonts, relatives of elephants.</p><br>
<p>Fauna of today includes a number of endemic species such as the distinctive Timor shrew and Timor rat. The northern common cuscus, a marsupial of Australasian origin occurs as well, but is thought to be introduced. The island have a great number of birds, mainly of Asian origin with some of Australasian origin. There is a total of 250 species of which twenty four are endemic, due to the relative isolation of Timor, including five threatened species; the slaty cuckoo-dove, Wetar ground dove, Timor green pigeon, Timor imperial pigeon, and iris lorikeet.</p><br>
<p>Saltwater crocodiles are found in the wetlands whereas reticulated pythons can be found in forests and grasslands of Timor. However, the population sizes and status are unknown.</p><br>
<p>Frog species in Timor include Duttaphrynus melanostictus, Hoplobatrachus tigerinus, Limnonectes timorensis, Litoria everetti, and Polypedates leucomystax. A new species of microlyhid frog belonging to the genus Kaloula has also recently been discovered in Timor.</p><br>
<p>Late Cretaceous fossils of marine vertebrates are known from East Timor deposits. These include mosasaurs such as Globidens timorensis, lamniforme sharks, coelacanths and the choristodere Champsosaurus.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The earliest historical record about Timor island is 14th century Nagarakretagama, Canto 14, that identify Timur as an island within Majapahit&#39;s realm. Timor was incorporated into ancient Javanese, Chinese and Indian trading networks of the 14th century as an exporter of aromatic sandalwood, slaves, honey and wax, and was settled by both the Portuguese, in the end of the 16th century, and the Dutch, based in Kupang, in the mid-17th century.</p><br>
<p>As the nearest island with a European settlement at the time, Timor was the destination of William Bligh and seamen loyal to him following the infamous mutiny on the Bounty in 1789. It was also where survivors of the wrecked HMS Pandora, sent to arrest the Bounty mutineers, landed in 1791 after that ship sank in the Great Barrier Reef.</p><br>
<p>The island has been politically divided in two parts for centuries. The Dutch and Portuguese fought for control of the island until it was divided by treaty in 1859, but they still did not formally resolve the matter of the boundary until 1912. West Timor, was known as Dutch Timor until 1949 when it became Indonesian Timor, a part of the nation of Indonesia which was formed from the old Netherlands East Indies; while East Timor was known as Portuguese Timor, a Portuguese colony until 1975. It includes the exclave of Oecussi-Ambeno in West Timor.</p><br>
<p>Japanese forces occupied the whole island from 1942 to 1945. They were resisted in a guerrilla campaign led initially by Australian commandos.</p><br>
<p>Following the military coup in Portugal in 1974 the Portuguese began to withdraw from Timor, the subsequent internal unrest and fear of the communist Fretilin party encouraged an invasion by Indonesia, who opposed the concept of an independent East Timor. In 1975, East Timor was annexed by Indonesia and became known as Timor Timur or Tim-Tim for short. It was regarded by Indonesia as the country&#39;s 27th province, but this was never recognised by the United Nations (UN) or Portugal.</p><br>
<p>The people of East Timor, through Falintil the military wing of Fretilin, resisted 35,000 Indonesian troops in a prolonged guerrilla campaign, but the whole island remained under Indonesian control until a referendum held in 1999 under a UN-sponsored agreement between Indonesia and Portugal in which its people rejected the offer of autonomy within Indonesia. The UN then temporarily governed East Timor until it became independent as Timor-Leste in 2002 under the presidency of Falintil leader Xanana Gusmão. Although political strife continued as the new nation coped with poverty the UN presence was much reduced.</p><br>
<p>A group of people on the Indonesian side of Timor have been reported active since 2001 trying to establish a Great Timor State. However, there is no real evidence whatsoever that the people of West Timor, most of whom are from Atoni ethnicity who are the traditional enemy of the East Timorese, have any interest in joining their tribal enemies. Additionally, East Timors independence movement never laid claim to West Timor at any time, before the Indonesian invasion or thereafter. Similarly, the government of East Timor fully recognizes Indonesias existing boundaries as inherited from the Netherlands East Indies. This is similar to the position taken by Papua New Guinea in relation to Western New Guinea, when the former became independent of Australia.</p><br>
<p>The Tower of London, officially Her Majesty&#39;s Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. The castle was used as a prison from 1100  until 1952 , although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.</p><br>
<p>The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history. It was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of England. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II, a procession would be led from the Tower to Westminster Abbey on the coronation of a monarch. In the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower is in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period. In the late 15th century, the castle was the prison of the Princes in the Tower. Under the Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle, its defences lagged behind developments to deal with artillery.</p><br>
<p>The peak period of the castles use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries, when many figures who had fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Elizabeth Throckmorton, were held within its walls. This use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower". Despite its enduring reputation as a place of torture and death, popularised by 16th-century religious propagandists and 19th-century writers, only seven people were executed within the Tower before the World Wars of the 20th century. Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle, with 112 occurring there over a 400-year period. In the latter half of the 19th century, institutions such as the Royal Mint moved out of the castle to other locations, leaving many buildings empty. Anthony Salvin and John Taylor took the opportunity to restore the Tower to what was felt to be its medieval appearance, clearing out many of the vacant post-medieval structures. In the First and Second World Wars, the Tower was again used as a prison and witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz was repaired, and the castle reopened to the public. Today, the Tower of London is one of the countrys most popular tourist attractions. Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, it is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<h3>Layout</h3><br>
<p>The Tower was orientated with its strongest and most impressive defences overlooking Saxon London, which archaeologist Alan Vince suggests was deliberate. It would have visually dominated the surrounding area and stood out to traffic on the River Thames. The castle is made up of three "wards", or enclosures. The innermost ward contains the White Tower and is the earliest phase of the castle. Encircling it to the north, east, and west is the inner ward, built during the reign of Richard the Lionheart (1189–1199). Finally, there is the outer ward which encompasses the castle and was built under Edward I. Although there were several phases of expansion after William the Conqueror founded the Tower of London, the general layout has remained the same since Edward I completed his rebuild in 1285. The castle encloses an area of almost 12 acre with a further 6 acre around the Tower of London constituting the Tower Liberties – land under the direct influence of the castle and cleared for military reasons. The precursor of the Liberties was laid out in the 13th century when Henry III ordered that a strip of land adjacent to the castle be kept clear. Despite popular fiction, the Tower of London never had a permanent torture chamber, although the basement of the White Tower housed a rack in later periods. Tower Wharf was built on the bank of the Thames under Edward I and was expanded to its current size during the reign of Richard II (1377–1399).</p><br>
<h3>White Tower</h3><br>
<p>The White Tower is a keep (also known as a donjon), which was often the strongest structure in a medieval castle, and contained lodgings suitable for the lord – in this case the king or his representative. According to military historian Allen Brown, "The great tower was also, by virtue of its strength, majesty and lordly accommodation, the donjon par excellence". As one of the largest keeps in the Christian world,</p><br>
<p>The White Tower, not including its projecting corner towers, measures 36 by at the base, and is 27 m high at the southern battlements. The structure was originally three storeys high, comprising a basement floor, an entrance level, and an upper floor. The entrance, as is usual in Norman keeps, was above ground, in this case on the south face, and accessed via a wooden staircase which could be removed in the event of an attack. It was probably during Henry II&#39;s reign (1154–1189) that a forebuilding was added to the south side of the tower to provide extra defences to the entrance, but it has not survived. Each floor was divided into three chambers, the largest in the west, a smaller room in the north-east, and the chapel taking up the entrance and upper floors of the south-east. At the western corners of the building are square towers, while to the north-east a round tower houses a spiral staircase. At the south-east corner there is a larger semi-circular projection which accommodates the apse of the chapel. As the building was intended to be a comfortable residence as well as a stronghold, latrines were built into the walls, and four fireplaces provided warmth.</p><br>
<p>The main building material is Kentish rag-stone, although some local mudstone was also used. Caen stone was imported from northern France to provide details in the Towers facing, although little of the original material survives as it was replaced with Portland stone in the 17th and 18th centuries. As most of the Towers windows were enlarged in the 18th century, only two original – albeit restored – examples remain, in the south wall at the gallery level.</p><br>
<p>The tower was terraced into the side of a mound, so the northern side of the basement is partially below ground level. As was typical of most keeps, the bottom floor was an undercroft used for storage. One of the rooms contained a well. Although the layout has remained the same since the tower&#39;s construction, the interior of the basement dates mostly from the 18th century when the floor was lowered and the pre-existing timber vaults were replaced with brick counterparts. The basement is lit through small slits.</p><br>
<p>The entrance floor was probably intended for the use of the Constable of the Tower, Lieutenant of the Tower of London and other important officials. The south entrance was blocked during the 17th century, and not reopened until 1973. Those heading to the upper floor had to pass through a smaller chamber to the east, also connected to the entrance floor. The crypt of St John&#39;s Chapel occupied the south-east corner and was accessible only from the eastern chamber. There is a recess in the north wall of the crypt; according to Geoffrey Parnell, Keeper of the Tower History at the Royal Armouries, "the windowless form and restricted access, suggest that it was designed as a strong-room for safekeeping of royal treasures and important documents".</p><br>
<p>The upper floor contained a grand hall in the west and residential chamber in the eastboth originally open to the roof and surrounded by a gallery built into the walland St Johns Chapel in the south-east. The top floor was added in the 15th century, along with the present roof. St Johns Chapel was not part of the White Towers original design, as the apsidal projection was built after the basement walls. Due to changes in function and design since the towers construction, except for the chapel little is left of the original interior. The chapels current bare and unadorned appearance is reminiscent of how it would have been in the Norman period. In the 13th century, during Henry IIIs reign, the chapel was decorated with such ornamentation as a gold-painted cross, and stained glass windows that depicted the Virgin Mary and the Holy Trinity.</p><br>
<h3>Innermost ward</h3><br>
<p>The innermost ward encloses an area immediately south of the White Tower, stretching to what was once the edge of the River Thames. As was the case at other castles, such as the 11th-century Hen Domen, the innermost ward was probably filled with timber buildings from the Towers foundation. Exactly when the royal lodgings began to encroach from the White Tower into the innermost ward is uncertain, although it had happened by the 1170s. Construction of Wakefield and Lanthorn Towers – located at the corners of the innermost wards wall along the river – began around 1220.</p><br>
<h3>Inner Ward</h3><br>
<p>The inner ward was created during Richard the Lionhearts reign, when a moat was dug to the west of the innermost ward, effectively doubling the castles size. Henry III created the wards east and north walls, and the wards dimensions remain to this day. Between the Wakefield and Lanthorn Towers, the innermost wards wall also serves as a curtain wall for the inner ward. The main entrance to the inner ward would have been through a gatehouse, most likely in the west wall on the site of what is now Beauchamp Tower. The inner wards western curtain wall was rebuilt by Edward I. The 13th-century Beauchamp Tower marks the first large-scale use of brick as a building material in Britain, since the 5th-century departure of the Romans. The Beauchamp Tower is one of 13 towers that stud the curtain wall. Anti-clockwise from the south-west corner they are: Bell, Beauchamp, Devereux, Flint, Bowyer, Brick, Martin, Constable, Broad Arrow, Salt, Lanthorn, Wakefield, and the Bloody Tower. While these towers provided positions from which flanking fire could be deployed against a potential enemy, they also contained accommodation. As its name suggests, Bell Tower housed a belfry, its purpose to raise the alarm in the event of an attack. The royal bow-maker, responsible for making longbows, crossbows, catapults, and other siege and hand weapons, had a workshop in the Bowyer Tower. A turret at the top of Lanthorn Tower was used as a beacon by traffic approaching the Tower at night.</p><br>
<p>As a result of Henrys expansion, St Peter ad Vincula, a Norman chapel which had previously stood outside the Tower, was incorporated into the castle. Henry decorated the chapel by adding glazed windows, and stalls for himself and his queen. Immediately west of Wakefield Tower, the Bloody Tower was built at the same time as the inner wards curtain wall, and as a water-gate provided access to the castle from the River Thames. It was a simple structure, protected by a portcullis and gate. The Bloody Tower acquired its name in the 16th century, as it was believed to be the site of the murder of the Princes in the Tower. Between 1339 and 1341, a gatehouse was built into the curtain wall between Bell and Salt Towers. During the Tudor period, a range of buildings for the storage of munitions was built along the inside of the north inner ward. The castle buildings were remodelled during the Stuart period, mostly under the auspices of the Office of Ordnance. In 1663 just over £4,000 was spent building a new storehouse (now known as the New Armouries) in the inner ward. Construction of the Grand Storehouse north of the White Tower began in 1688, on the same site as the dilapidated Tudor range of storehouses; it was destroyed by fire in 1841. The Waterloo Block, a former barracks in the castellated Gothic Revival style with Domestic Tudor details, was built on the site and remains to this day, housing the Crown Jewels on the ground floor.</p><br>
<h3>Outer Ward</h3><br>
<p>A third ward was created during Edward Is extension to the Tower, as the narrow enclosure completely surrounded the castle. At the same time a bastion known as Legges Mount was built at the castles north-west corner. Brass Mount, the bastion in the north-east corner, was a later addition. The three rectangular towers along the east wall 15 m apart were dismantled in 1843. Although the bastions have often been ascribed to the Tudor period, there is no evidence to support this; archaeological investigations suggest that Legges Mount dates from the reign of Edward I. Blocked battlements (also known as crenellations) in the south side of Legges Mount are the only surviving medieval battlements at the Tower of London (the rest are Victorian replacements). A new 50 m moat was dug beyond the castles new limits; it was originally 4.5 m deeper in the middle than it is today. which became known as the Lion Tower as it was associated with the animals as part of the Royal Menagerie since at least the 1330s. The Lion Tower itself no longer survives. By 1560, the Mint was located in a building in the outer ward near Salt Tower. Between 1348 and 1355, a second water-gate, Cradle Tower, was added east of St Thomass Tower for the kings private use.</p><br>
<h2>Foundation and early history</h2><br>
<p>Victorious at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, the invading Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, spent the rest of the year securing his holdings, by fortifying key positions. He founded several castles along the way, but took a circuitous route toward London; only when he reached Canterbury did he turn towards Englands largest city. As the fortified bridge into London was held by Saxon troops, he decided instead to ravage Southwark before continuing his journey around southern England. A series of Norman victories along the route cut the citys supply lines and in December 1066, isolated and intimidated, its leaders yielded London without a fight. Between 1066 and 1087, William established 36 castles, although references in the Domesday Book indicate that many more were founded by his subordinates. The new ruling elite undertook what has been described as "the most extensive and concentrated programme of castle-building in the whole history of feudal Europe". They were multi-purpose buildings, serving as fortifications (used as a base of operations in enemy territory), centres of administration, and residences.</p><br>
<p>William sent an advance party to prepare the city for his entrance, to celebrate his victory and found a castle; in the words of William&#39;s biographer, William of Poitiers, "certain fortifications were completed in the city against the restlessness of the huge and brutal populace. For he realised that it was of the first importance to overawe the Londoners". The fortification that would later become known as the Tower of London was built onto the south-east corner of the Roman town walls, using them as prefabricated defences, with the River Thames providing additional protection from the south. This earliest phase of the castle would have been enclosed by a ditch and defended by a timber palisade, and probably had accommodation suitable for William.</p><br>
<p>Most of the early Norman castles were built from timber, but by the end of the 11th century a few, including the Tower of London, had been renovated or replaced with stone. is usually considered to have begun in 1078, however the exact date is uncertain. William made Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester, responsible for its construction, although it may not have been completed until after William&#39;s death in 1087. At the latest, it was probably finished by 1100 when Bishop Ranulf Flambard was imprisoned there. Flambard was loathed by the English for exacting harsh taxes. Although he is the first recorded prisoner held in the Tower, he was also the first person to escape from it, using a smuggled rope secreted in a butt of wine. He was held in luxury and permitted servants, but on 2 February 1101 he hosted a banquet for his captors. After plying them with drink, when no one was looking he lowered himself from a secluded chamber, and out of the Tower. The escape came as such a surprise that one contemporary chronicler accused the bishop of witchcraft.</p><br>
<p>The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 1097 King William II ordered a wall to be built around the Tower of London; it was probably built from stone as a replacement for the timber palisade that arced around the north and west sides of the castle, between the Roman wall and the Thames. The Norman Conquest of London manifested itself not only with a new ruling class, but in the way the city was structured. Land was confiscated and redistributed amongst the Normans, who also brought over hundreds of Jews, for financial reasons. The Jews arrived under the direct protection of the Crown, as a result of which Jewish communities were often found close to castles. The Jews used the Tower as a retreat, when threatened by anti-Jewish violence.</p><br>
<p>The death in 1135 of Henry I left England with a disputed succession; although the king had persuaded his most powerful barons to swear support for the Empress Matilda, just a few days after Henrys death Stephen of Blois arrived from France to lay claim to the throne. The importance of the city and its Tower is marked by the speed at which he secured London. The castle, which had not been used as a royal residence for some time, was usually left in the charge of a Constable, a post held at this time by Geoffrey de Mandeville. As the Tower was considered an impregnable fortress in a strategically important position, possession was highly valued. Mandeville exploited this, selling his allegiance to Matilda after Stephen was captured in 1141 at the Battle of Lincoln. Once her support waned, the following year he resold his loyalty to Stephen. Through his role as Constable of the Tower, Mandeville became "the richest and most powerful man in England". When he tried the same ploy again, this time holding secret talks with Matilda, Stephen had him arrested, forced him to cede control of his castles, and replaced him with one of his most loyal supporters. Until then the position had been hereditary, originally held by Geoffrey de Mandeville (a friend of William the Conquerors and ancestor of the Geoffrey that Stephen and Matilda dealt with), but the positions authority was such that from then on it remained in the hands of an appointee of the monarch. The position was usually given to someone of great importance, who might not always be at the castle due to other duties. Although the Constable was still responsible for maintaining the castle and its garrison, from an early stage he had a subordinate to help with this duty: the Lieutenant of the Tower. Constables also had civic duties relating to the city. Usually they were given control of the city and were responsible for levying taxes, enforcing the law and maintaining order. The creation in 1191 of the position of Lord Mayor of London removed many of the Constables civic powers, and at times led to friction between the two.</p><br>
<h2>Expansion</h2><br>
<p>The castle probably retained its form as established by 1100 until the reign of Richard the Lionheart (1189–1199). The castle was extended under William Longchamp, King Richards Lord Chancellor and the man in charge of England while he was on crusade. The Pipe Rolls record £2,881 1s 10d spent at the Tower of London between 3 December 1189 and 11 November 1190, from an estimated £7,000 spent by Richard on castle building in England. According to the contemporary chronicler Roger of Howden, Longchamp dug a moat around the castle and tried in vain to fill it from the Thames. Longchamp was also Constable of the Tower, and undertook its expansion while preparing for war with King Richards younger brother, Prince John, who in Richards absence arrived in England to try to seize power. As Longchamps main fortress, he made the Tower as strong as possible. The new fortifications were first tested in October 1191, when the Tower was besieged for the first time in its history. Longchamp capitulated to John after just three days, deciding he had more to gain from surrender than prolonging the siege.</p><br>
<p>John succeeded Richard as king in 1199, but his rule proved unpopular with many of his barons, who in response moved against him. In 1214, while the king was at Windsor Castle, Robert Fitzwalter led an army into London and laid siege to the Tower. Although under-garrisoned, the Tower resisted and the siege was lifted once John signed the Magna Carta. The king reneged on his promises of reform, leading to the outbreak of the First Barons War. Even after the Magna Carta was signed, Fitzwalter maintained his control of London. During the war, the Towers garrison joined forces with the barons. John was deposed in 1216 and the barons offered the English throne to Prince Louis, the eldest son of the French king. However, after Johns death in October 1216, many began to support the claim of his eldest son, Prince Henry. War continued between the factions supporting Louis and Henry, with Fitzwalter supporting Louis. Fitzwalter was still in control of London and the Tower, both of which held out until it was clear that Henrys supporters would prevail.</p><br>
<p>In the 13th century, Kings Henry III (1216–1272) and Edward I (1272–1307) extended the castle, essentially creating it as it stands today. Henry was disconnected from his barons, and a mutual lack of understanding led to unrest and resentment towards his rule. As a result, he was eager to ensure the Tower of London was a formidable fortification; at the same time Henry was an aesthete and wished to make the castle a comfortable place to live. From 1216 to 1227 nearly £10,000 was spent on the Tower of London; in this period, only the work at Windsor Castle cost more (£15,000). Most of the work was focused on the palatial buildings of the innermost ward.</p><br>
<p>Beginning around 1238, the castle was expanded to the east, north, and north-west. The work lasted through the reign of Henry III and into that of Edward I, interrupted occasionally by civil unrest. New creations included a new defensive perimeter, studded with towers, while on the west, north, and east sides, where the wall was not defended by the river, a defensive ditch was dug. The eastern extension took the castle beyond the bounds of the old Roman settlement, marked by the city wall which had been incorporated into the castles defences. The Tower had long been a symbol of oppression, despised by Londoners, and Henrys building programme was unpopular. So when the gatehouse collapsed in 1240, the locals celebrated the setback. The expansion caused disruption locally and £166 was paid to St Katherine&#39;s Hospital and the prior of Holy Trinity in compensation.</p><br>
<p>Henry III often held court at the Tower of London, and held parliament there on at least two occasions (1236 and 1261) when he felt that the barons were becoming dangerously unruly. In 1258, the discontented barons, led by Simon de Montfort, forced the King to agree to reforms including the holding of regular parliaments. Relinquishing the Tower of London was among the conditions. Henry III resented losing power and sought permission from the pope to break his oath. With the backing of mercenaries, Henry installed himself in the Tower in 1261. While negotiations continued with the barons, the King ensconced himself in the castle, although no army moved to take it. A truce was agreed with the condition that the King hand over control of the Tower once again. Henry won a significant victory at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, allowing him to regain control of the country and the Tower of London. Cardinal Ottobuon came to England to excommunicate those who were still rebellious; the act was deeply unpopular and the situation was exacerbated when the cardinal was granted custody of the Tower. Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, marched on London in April 1267 and laid siege to the castle, declaring that custody of the Tower was "not a post to be trusted in the hands of a foreigner, much less of an ecclesiastic". Despite a large army and siege engines, Gilbert de Clare was unable to take the castle. The Earl retreated, allowing the King control of the capital, and the Tower experienced peace for the rest of Henry&#39;s reign.</p><br>
<p>Although he was rarely in London, Edward I undertook an expensive remodelling of the Tower, costing £21,000 between 1275 and 1285, over double that spent on the castle during the whole of Henry IIIs reign. Edward I was a seasoned castle builder, and used his experience of siege warfare during the crusades to bring innovations to castle building. His programme of castle building in Wales heralded the introduction of the widespread use of arrowslits in castle walls across Europe, drawing on Eastern influences. At the Tower of London, Edward filled in the moat dug by Henry III and built a new curtain wall along its line, creating a new enclosure. A new moat was created in front of the new curtain wall. The western part of Henry IIIs curtain wall was rebuilt, with Beauchamp Tower replacing the castles old gatehouse. A new entrance was created, with elaborate defences including two gatehouses and a barbican. In an effort to make the castle self-sufficient, Edward I also added two watermills. Six hundred Jews were imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1278, charged with coin clipping. Persecution of the countrys Jewish population under Edward began in 1276 and culminated in 1290 when he issued the Edict of Expulsion, forcing the Jews out of the country.</p><br>
<h2>Later Medieval Period</h2><br>
<p>During Edward IIs reign (1307–1327) there was relatively little activity at the Tower of London. However, it was during this period that the Privy Wardrobe was founded. The institution was based at the Tower and responsible for organising the states arms. In 1321, Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere became the first woman imprisoned in the Tower of London after she refused Queen Isabella admittance to Leeds Castle and ordered her archers to fire upon Isabella, killing six of the royal escort. Generally reserved for high-ranking inmates, the Tower was the most important royal prison in the country. However it was not necessarily very secure, and throughout its history people bribed the guards to help them escape. In 1322 Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, was aided in his escape from the Tower by the Sub-Lieutenant of the Tower who let Mortimers men inside. They hacked a hole in his cell wall and Mortimer escaped to a waiting boat. He fled to France where he encountered Edwards Queen. They began an affair and plotted to overthrow the King. One of Mortimers first acts on entering England was to capture the Tower and release the prisoners held there. For three years he ruled while Edward III was too young to do so himself; in 1330, Edward and his supporters captured Mortimer and threw him in the Tower. Under Edward IIIs rule (1312–1377) England experienced renewed success in warfare after his fathers reign had put the realm on the backfoot against the Scots and French. Amongst Edwards successes were the battles of Crécy and Poitiers where King John II of France was taken prisoner, and the capture of the King David II of Scotland at Neville&#39;s Cross. During this period, the Tower of London held many noble prisoners of war. Edward II had allowed the Tower of London to fall into a state of disrepair, and by the reign of Edward III the castle was an uncomfortable place. The nobility held captive within its walls were unable to engage in activities such as hunting which were permissible at other royal castles used as prisons, for instance Windsor. Edward III ordered that the castle should be renovated.</p><br>
<p>When Richard II was crowned in 1377, he led a procession from the Tower to Westminster Abbey. This tradition began in at least the early 14th century and lasted until 1660. Six years later there was again civil unrest, and Richard spent Christmas in the security of the Tower rather than Windsor as was more usual. When Henry Bolingbroke returned from exile in 1399, Richard was imprisoned in the White Tower. He abdicated and was replaced on the throne by Bolingbroke, who became King Henry IV. In the 15th century, there was little building work at the Tower of London, yet the castle still remained important as a place of refuge. When supporters of the late Richard II attempted a coup, Henry IV found safety in the Tower of London. During this period, the castle also held many distinguished prisoners. The heir to the Scottish throne, later King James I of Scotland, was kidnapped while journeying to France in 1406 and held in the Tower. The reign of Henry V (1413–1422) renewed Englands fortune in the Hundred Years War against France. As a result of Henry&#39;s victories, such as the Battle of Agincourt, many high-status prisoners were held in the Tower of London until they were ransomed.</p><br>
<p>Much of the latter half of the 15th century was occupied by the Wars of the Roses between the claimants to the throne, the houses of Lancaster and York. The castle was once again besieged in 1460, this time by a Yorkist force. The Tower was damaged by artillery fire but only surrendered when Henry VI was captured at the Battle of Northampton. With the help of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (nicknamed "the Kingmaker") Henry recaptured the throne for a short time in 1470. However, Edward IV soon regained control and Henry VI was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he was probably murdered. During the wars, the Tower was fortified to withstand gunfire, and provided with loopholes for cannons and handguns: an enclosure was created for this purpose to the south of Tower Hill, although it no longer survives.</p><br>
<p>Shortly after the death of Edward IV in 1483, the notorious murder of the Princes in the Tower is traditionally believed to have taken place. The incident is one of the most infamous events associated with the Tower of London. Edward V&#39;s uncle Richard Duke of Gloucester was declared Lord Protector while the prince was too young to rule. Traditional accounts have held that the 12-year-old Edward was confined to the Tower of London along with his younger brother Richard. The Duke of Gloucester was proclaimed King Richard III in July. The princes were last seen in public in June 1483; it has traditionally been thought that the most likely reason for their disappearance is that they were murdered late in the summer of 1483. Bones thought to belong to them were discovered in 1674 when the 12th-century forebuilding at the entrance to the White Tower was demolished; however, the reputed level at which the bones were found (10 ft) would put the bones at a depth similar to that of the recently discovered Roman graveyard found 12 ft underneath the Minories a few hundred yards to the north. Opposition to Richard escalated until he was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 by the Lancastrian Henry Tudor, who ascended to the throne as Henry VII.</p><br>
<h2>Changing use</h2><br>
<p>The beginning of the Tudor period marked the start of the decline of the Tower of Londons use as a royal residence. As 16th-century chronicler Raphael Holinshed said the Tower became used more as "an armouries and house of munition, and thereunto a place for the safekeeping of offenders than a palace roiall for a king or queen to sojourne in". The Yeoman Warders have been the Royal Bodyguard since at least 1509. During the reign of Henry VIII, the Tower was assessed as needing considerable work on its defences. In 1532, Thomas Cromwell spent £3,593 on repairs and imported nearly 3,000 tons of Caen stone for the work. Even so, this was not sufficient to bring the castle up to the standard of contemporary military fortifications which were designed to withstand powerful artillery. Although the defences were repaired, the palace buildings were left in a state of neglect after Henrys death. Their condition was so poor that they were virtually uninhabitable. From 1547 onwards, the Tower of London was only used as a royal residence when its political and historic symbolism was considered useful, for instance each of Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I briefly stayed at the Tower before their coronations.</p><br>
<p>In the 16th century, the Tower acquired an enduring reputation as a grim, forbidding prison. This had not always been the case. As a royal castle, it was used by the monarch to imprison people for various reasons, however these were usually high-status individuals for short periods rather than common citizenry as there were plenty of prisons elsewhere for such people. Contrary to the popular image of the Tower, prisoners were able to make their life easier by purchasing amenities such as better food or tapestries through the Lieutenant of the Tower. As holding prisoners was originally an incidental role of the Tower – as would have been the case for any castle – there was no purpose-built accommodation for prisoners until 1687 when a brick shed, a "Prison for Soldiers", was built to the north-west of the White Tower. The Towers reputation for torture and imprisonment derives largely from 16th-century religious propagandists and 19th-century romanticists. Although much of the Towers reputation is exaggerated, the 16th and 17th centuries marked the castles zenith as a prison, with many religious and political undesirables locked away. The rack was introduced to England in 1447 by the Duke of Exeter, the Constable of the Tower; consequentially it was also known as the Duke of Exeters daughter. One of those tortured at the Tower was Guy Fawkes, who was brought there on 6 November 1605; after torture he signed a full confession to the Gunpowder Plot.</p><br>
<p>Among those held and executed at the Tower was Anne Boleyn. The Tower was often a safer place than other prisons in London such as the Fleet, where disease was rife. High-status prisoners could live in conditions comparable to those they might expect outside; one such example was that while Walter Raleigh was held in the Tower his rooms were altered to accommodate his family, including his son who was born there in 1605. Before the 20th century, there had been seven executions within the castle on Tower Green; as was the case with Lady Jane Grey, this was reserved for prisoners for whom public execution was considered dangerous. After Lady Jane Greys execution on 12 February 1554, Queen Mary I imprisoned her sister Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth I, in the Tower under suspicion of causing rebellion as Sir Thomas Wyatt had led a revolt against Mary in Elizabeths name.</p><br>
<p>The Office of Ordnance and Armoury Office were founded in the 15th century, taking over the Privy Wardrobes duties of looking after the monarchs arsenal and valuables. As there was no standing army before 1661, the importance of the royal armoury at the Tower of London was that it provided a professional basis for procuring supplies and equipment in times of war. The two bodies were resident at the Tower from at least 1454, and by the 16th century they had moved to a position in the inner ward. The Board of Ordnance (successor to these Offices) had its headquarters in the White Tower and used surrounding buildings for storage. In 1855 the Board was abolished; its successor (the Military Store Department of the War Office) was also based there until 1869, after which its headquarters staff were relocated to the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich (where the recently closed Woolwich Dockyard was converted into a vast ordnance store).</p><br>
<p>Political tensions between Charles I and Parliament in the second quarter of the 17th century led to an attempt by forces loyal to the King to secure the Tower and its valuable contents, including money and munitions. Londons Trained Bands, a militia force, were moved into the castle in 1640. Plans for defence were drawn up and gun platforms were built, readying the Tower for war. The preparations were never put to the test. In 1642, Charles I attempted to arrest five members of parliament. When this failed he fled the city, and Parliament retaliated by removing Sir John Byron, the Lieutenant of the Tower. The Trained Bands had switched sides, and now supported Parliament; together with the London citizenry, they blockaded the Tower. With permission from the King, Byron relinquished control of the Tower. Parliament replaced Byron with a man of their own choosing, Sir John Conyers. By the time the English Civil War broke out in November 1642, the Tower of London was already in Parliaments control.</p><br>
<p>The last monarch to uphold the tradition of taking a procession from the Tower to Westminster to be crowned was Charles II in 1660. At the time, the castles accommodation was in such poor condition that he did not stay there the night before his coronation. Under the Stuart kings the Towers buildings were remodelled, mostly under the auspices of the Office of Ordnance. Just over £4,000 was spent in 1663 on building a new storehouse, now known as the New Armouries in the inner ward. In the 17th century there were plans to enhance the Tower&#39;s defences in the style of the trace italienne, however they were never acted on. Although the facilities for the garrison were improved with the addition of the first purpose-built quarters for soldiers (the "Irish Barracks") in 1670, the general accommodations were still in poor condition.</p><br>
<p>When the Hanoverian dynasty ascended the throne, their situation was uncertain and with a possible Scottish rebellion in mind, the Tower of London was repaired. Gun platforms added under the Stuarts had decayed. The number of guns at the Tower was reduced from 118 to 45, and one contemporary commentator noted that the castle "would not hold out four and twenty hours against an army prepared for a siege". For the most part, the 18th-century work on the defences was spasmodic and piecemeal, although a new gateway in the southern curtain wall permitting access from the wharf to the outer ward was added in 1774. The moat surrounding the castle had become silted over the centuries since it was created despite attempts at clearing it. It was still an integral part of the castle&#39;s defences, so in 1830 the Constable of the Tower, the Duke of Wellington, ordered a large-scale clearance of several feet of silt. However this did not prevent an outbreak of disease in the garrison in 1841 caused by poor water supply, resulting in several deaths. To prevent the festering ditch posing further health problems, it was ordered that the moat should be drained and filled with earth. The work began in 1843 and was mostly complete two years later. The construction of the Waterloo Barracks in the inner ward began in 1845, when the Duke of Wellington laid the foundation stone. The building could accommodate 1,000 men; at the same time, separate quarters for the officers were built to the north-east of the White Tower. The building is now the headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The popularity of the Chartist movement between 1828 and 1858 led to a desire to refortify the Tower of London in the event of civil unrest. It was the last major programme of fortification at the castle. Most of the surviving installations for the use of artillery and firearms date from this period.</p><br>
<p>During the First World War, eleven men were tried in private and shot by firing squad at the Tower for espionage. During the Second World War, the Tower was once again used to hold prisoners of war. One such person was Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler&#39;s deputy, albeit just for four days in 1941. He was the last state prisoner to be held at the castle. The last person to be executed at the Tower was German spy Josef Jakobs who was shot on 15 August 1941. The executions for espionage during the wars took place in a prefabricated miniature rifle range which stood in the outer ward and was demolished in 1969. The Second World War also saw the last use of the Tower as a fortification. In the event of a German invasion, the Tower, together with the Royal Mint and nearby warehouses, was to have formed one of three "keeps" or complexes of defended buildings which formed the last-ditch defences of the capital.</p><br>
<h2>Restoration and tourism</h2><br>
<p>The Tower of London has become established as one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country. It has been a tourist attraction since at least the Elizabethan period, when it was one of the sights of London that foreign visitors wrote about. Its most popular attractions were the Royal Menagerie and displays of armour. The Crown Jewels also garner much interest, and have been on public display since 1669. The Tower steadily gained popularity with tourists through the 19th century, despite the opposition of the Duke of Wellington to visitors. Numbers became so high that by 1851 a purpose-built ticket office was erected. By the end of the century, over 500,000 were visiting the castle every year.</p><br>
<p>Over the 18th and 19th centuries, the palatial buildings were slowly adapted for other uses and demolished. Only the Wakefield and St Thomas&#39;s Towers survived. Between 1845 and 1885 institutions such as the Mint which had inhabited the castle for centuries moved to other sites; many of the post-medieval structures left vacant were demolished. In 1855, the War Office took over responsibility for manufacture and storage of weapons from the Ordnance Office, which was gradually phased out of the castle. At the same time, there was greater interest in the history of the Tower of London.</p><br>
<p>Public interest was partly fuelled by contemporary writers, of whom the work of William Harrison Ainsworth was particularly influential. In The Tower of London: A Historical Romance he created a vivid image of underground torture chambers and devices for extracting confessions that stuck in the public imagination. Harrison also played another role in the Tower&#39;s history, as he suggested that Beauchamp Tower should be opened to the public so they could see the inscriptions of 16th- and 17th-century prisoners. Working on the suggestion, Anthony Salvin refurbished the tower and led a further programme for a comprehensive restoration at the behest of Prince Albert. Salvin was succeeded in the work by John Taylor. When a feature did not meet his expectations of medieval architecture Taylor would ruthlessly remove it; as a result, several important buildings within the castle were pulled down and in some cases post-medieval internal decoration removed.</p><br>
<p>Although only one bomb fell on the Tower of London in the First World War (it landed harmlessly in the moat), the Second World War left a greater mark. On 23 September 1940, during the Blitz, high-explosive bombs damaged the castle, destroying several buildings and narrowly missing the White Tower. After the war, the damage was repaired and the Tower of London was reopened to the public.</p><br>
<p>In 1974, there was a bomb explosion in the Mortar Room in the White Tower, leaving one person dead and 35 injured. No one claimed responsibility for the blast, but the police investigated suspicions that the IRA was behind it.</p><br>
<p>In the 21st century, tourism is the Towers primary role, the remaining routine military activities, under the Royal Logistic Corps, having wound down in the latter half of the 20th century and moved out of the castle. However, the Tower is still home to the ceremonial regimental headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, and the museum dedicated to it and its predecessor, the Royal Fusiliers. Also, a detachment of the unit providing the Queens Guard at Buckingham Palace still mounts a guard at the Tower, and with the Yeomen Warders, takes part in the Ceremony of the Keys each day. On several occasions through the year gun salutes are fired from the Tower by the Honourable Artillery Company, these consist of 62 rounds for royal occasions, and 41 on other occasions.</p><br>
<p>Since 1990, the Tower of London has been cared for by an independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces, which receives no funding from the Government or the Crown. In 1988, the Tower of London was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, in recognition of its global importance and to help conserve and protect the site. However, recent developments, such as the construction of skyscrapers nearby, have pushed the Tower towards being added to the United Nations&#39; Heritage in Danger List. The remains of the medieval palace have been open to the public since 2006. Visitors can explore the chambers restored to their former glory, once used by past kings and queens. Although the position of Constable of the Tower remains the highest position held at the Tower, the responsibility of day-to-day administration is delegated to the Resident Governor. At least six ravens are kept at the Tower at all times, in accordance with the belief that if they are absent, the kingdom will fall. They are under the care of the Yeomen Warders. The earliest known reference to a Tower raven is a picture from 1883. As well as having ceremonial duties, the Yeoman Warders provide guided tours around the Tower. Just over 2.7 million people visited the Tower of London in 2016.</p><br>
<h2>Crown Jewels</h2><br>
<p>The tradition of housing the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London probably dates from the reign of Henry III (1216–1272). The Jewel House was built specifically to house the royal regalia, including jewels, plate, and symbols of royalty such as the crown, sceptre, and sword. When money needed to be raised, the treasure could be pawned by the monarch. The treasure allowed the monarch independence from the aristocracy, and consequently was closely guarded. A new position for "keeper of the jewels, armouries and other things" was created, which was well rewarded; in the reign of Edward III (1312–1377) the holder was paid 12d a day. The position grew to include other duties including purchasing royal jewels, gold, and silver, and appointing royal goldsmiths and jewellers.</p><br>
<p>In 1649, during the English Civil War, the contents of the Jewel House were disposed of along with other royal properties, as decreed by Cromwell. Metal items were sent to the Mint to be melted down and re-used, and the crowns were "totallie broken and defaced".</p><br>
<p>When the monarchy was restored in 1660, the only surviving items of the coronation regalia were a 12th-century spoon and three ceremonial swords. (Some pieces that had been sold were later returned to the Crown.) Detailed records of old regalia survived, and replacements were made for the coronation of Charles II in 1661 based on drawings from the time of Charles I. For the coronation of Charles II, gems were rented because the treasury could not afford to replace them.</p><br>
<p>In 1669, the Jewel House was demolished and the Crown Jewels moved into Martin Tower (until 1841). They were displayed here for viewing by the paying public. This was exploited two years later when Colonel Thomas Blood attempted to steal them. Blood and his accomplices bound and gagged the Jewel House keeper. Although they laid their hands on the Imperial State Crown, Sceptre and Orb, they were foiled when the keeper&#39;s son turned up unexpectedly and raised the alarm.</p><br>
<p>Since 1994, the Crown Jewels have been on display in the Jewel House in the Waterloo Block. Some of the pieces are used regularly by the Queen. The display includes 23,578 gemstones, the 800-year-old Coronation Spoon, St. Edward&#39;s Crown (worn during all crownings at Westminster Abbey) and the Imperial State Crown.</p><br>
<h2>Royal Menagerie</h2><br>
<p>The Royal Menagerie is frequently referenced during the reign of Henry III. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II had presented Henry with three leopards, circa 1235, which were kept in the Tower. There is evidence, however, that King John (1166 – 1216) had first started keeping wild animals at the Tower. Records from 1210-1212 show payments to lion keepers.</p><br>
<p>In 1251, the sheriffs were ordered to pay fourpence a day towards the upkeep for the King&#39;s polar bear, a gift from Haakon IV of Norway in the same year; the bear attracted a great deal of attention from Londoners when it went fishing in the Thames while tied to the land by a chain.</p><br>
<p>In 1254 or 1255, Henry III received an African elephant from Louis IX of France depicted by Matthew Paris in his ‘Chronica Majora’. A wooden structure was built to house the elephant, 12.2 m (40 ft) long by 6.1 m (20 ft) wide. The animal died in 1258, possibly because it was given red wine, but also perhaps because of the cold climate of England.</p><br>
<p>In 1288, Edward I added a lion and a lynx and appointed the first official Keeper of the animals.</p><br>
<p>Edward III added other types of animals, two lions, a leopard and two wildcats. Under subsequent kings, the number of animals grew to include additional cats of various types, jackals, hyenas, and an old brown bear, Max, gifted to Henry VIII by Emperor Maximilian. In 1436, during the time of Henry V, all of the lions died; Keeper William Kerby was terminated because of this.</p><br>
<p>Historical records indicate that a semi-circular structure or barbican was built by Edward I in 1277; this area was later named the Lion Tower, to the immediate west of the Middle Tower. Records from 1335 indicate the purchase of a lock and key for the lions and leopards, also suggesting they were located near the western entrance of the Tower. By the 1500s that area was called the Menagerie.</p><br>
<p>Between 1604 and 1606 the Menagerie was extensive refurbished and an exercise yard was created in the moat area beside the Lion Tower. An overhead platform was added for viewing of the lions by the royals, during lion baiting, for example in the time of James I. Reports from 1657 include mention of six lions, increasing to 11 by 1708, in addition to other types of cats, eagles, owls and a jackal.</p><br>
<p>By the 18th century, the menagerie was open to the public; admission cost three half-pence or the supply of a cat or dog to be fed to the lions. By the end of the century, that had increased to 9 pence. A particularly famous inhabitant was Old Martin, a large grizzly bear given to George III by the Hudson&#39;s Bay Company in 1811.</p><br>
<p>An 1800 inventory also indicated a tiger, leopards, a hyena, a large baboon, various types of monkeys, wolves and "other animals". By 1822, however, the collection included only a grizzly bear, an elephant and some birds. Additional animals were then introduced. In 1828 there were over 280 representing at least 60 species as the new keeper Alfred Copps was actively acquiring animals.</p><br>
<p>After the death of George IV in 1830, a decision was made to close down the Menagerie. In 1831, most of the stock was moved to the London Zoo which had opened in 1828. The last of the animals left in 1835, relocated to Regent&#39;s Park. This decision was made after an incident, although sources vary as to the specifics: either a lion was accused of biting a soldier, or a sailor, Ensign Seymour, had been bitten by a monkey. The Menagerie buildings were removed in 1852 but the Keeper of the Royal Menagerie was entitled to use the Lion Tower as a house for life. Consequently, even though the animals had long since left the building, the tower was not demolished until the death of Copps, the last keeper, in 1853.</p><br>
<p>In 1999, physical evidence of lion cages was found, one being 3x3 meters (6.5x10 feet) in size, very small for a lion that can grow to be 2.5 meters (approximately 8 feet) long.</p><br>
<p>In 2008, the skulls of two male Barbary lions (now extinct in the wild) from northwest Africa were found in the moat area of the Tower. Radicarbon tests dated them from 1280-1385 and 1420-1480. During 2011 an exhibition was hosted at the Tower with fine wire sculptures by Kendra Haste.</p><br>
<h2>Ghosts</h2><br>
<p>Anne Boleyn was beheaded in 1536 for treason against Henry VIII; her ghost supposedly haunts the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, where she is buried, and has been said to walk around the White Tower carrying her head under her arm. This haunting is commemorated in the 1934 comic song "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm". Other reported ghosts include Henry VI, Lady Jane Grey, Margaret Pole, and the Princes in the Tower. In January 1816, a sentry on guard outside the Jewel House claimed to have witnessed an apparition of a bear advancing towards him, and reportedly died of fright a few days later. In October 1817, a tubular, glowing apparition was claimed to have been seen in the Jewel House by the Keeper of the Crown Jewels, Edmund Lenthal Swifte. He said that the apparition hovered over the shoulder of his wife, leading her to exclaim: "Oh, Christ! It has seized me!" Other nameless and formless terrors have been reported, more recently, by night staff at the Tower.</p><br>
<p>The Tigris  is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq and empties itself into the Persian Gulf.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Tigris is 1,750 km long, rising in the Taurus Mountains of eastern Turkey about 25 km southeast of the city of Elazig and about 30 km from the headwaters of the Euphrates. The river then flows for 400 km through Turkish territory before becoming the border between Syria and Turkey. This stretch of 44 km is the only part of the river that is located in Syria.</p><br>
<p>Close to its confluence with the Euphrates, the Tigris splits into several channels. First, the artificial Shatt al-Hayy branches off, to join the Euphrates near Nasiriyah. Second, the Shatt al-Muminah and Majar al-Kabir branch off to feed the Central Marshes. Further downstream, two other distributary channels branch off (the Al-Musharrah and Al-Kahla), which feed the Hawizeh Marshes. The main channel continues southwards and is joined by the Al-Kassarah, which drains the Hawizeh Marshes. Finally, the Tigris joins the Euphrates near al-Qurnah to form the Shatt-al-Arab. According to Pliny and other ancient historians, the Euphrates originally had its outlet into the sea separate from that of the Tigris.</p><br>
<p>Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, stands on the banks of the Tigris. The port city of Basra straddles the Shatt al-Arab. In ancient times, many of the great cities of Mesopotamia stood on or near the Tigris, drawing water from it to irrigate the civilization of the Sumerians. Notable Tigris-side cities included Nineveh, Ctesiphon, and Seleucia, while the city of Lagash was irrigated by the Tigris via a canal dug around 2900 B.C.</p><br>
<h2>Navigation</h2><br>
<p>The Tigris has long been an important transport route in a largely desert country. Shallow-draft vessels can go as far as Baghdad, but rafts are needed for transport upstream to Mosul.</p><br>
<p>General Francis Rawdon Chesney hauled two steamers overland through Syria in 1836 to explore the possibility of an overland and river route to India. One steamer, the Tigris, was wrecked in a storm which sank and killed twenty. Chesney proved the river navigable to powered craft. Later, the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company was established in 1861 by the Lynch Brothers trading company. They had 2 steamers in service. By 1908 ten steamers were on the river. Tourists boarded steam yachts to venture inland as this was the first age of archaeological tourism, and the sites of Ur and Ctesiphon became popular to European travellers.</p><br>
<p>In the First World War, during the British conquest of Ottoman Mesopotamia, Indian and Thames River paddlers were used to supply General Townsend&#39;s Army. See Siege of Kut and the Fall of Baghdad (1917). The Tigris Flotilla included vessels Clio, Espiegle, Lawrence, Odin, armed tug Comet, armed launches Lewis Pelly, Miner, Shaitan, Sumana, and stern wheelers Muzaffari/Mozaffir. These were joined by Royal Navy Fly-class gunboats Butterfly, Cranefly, Dragonfly, Mayfly, Sawfly, Snakefly, and Mantis, Moth, and Tarantula.</p><br>
<p>After the war, river trade declined in importance during the 20th century as the Basra-Baghdad-Mosul railway, an unfinished portion of the Baghdad Railway, was completed and roads took over much of the freight traffic.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The Ancient Greek form Tigris (Τίγρις) was borrowed from Old Persian Tigrā, itself from Elamite Tigra, itself from Sumerian Idigna.</p><br>
<p>The original Sumerian Idigna or Idigina was probably from *id (i)gina "running water", which can be interpreted as "the swift river", contrasted to its neighbour, the Euphrates, whose leisurely pace caused it to deposit more silt and build up a higher bed than the Tigris. The Sumerian form was borrowed into Akkadian as Idiqlat, and from there into the other Semitic languages (cf. Hebrew Ḥîddeqel, Syriac Deqlaṯ, Arabic Dijlah).</p><br>
<p>Another name for the Tigris used in Middle Persian was Arvand Rud, literally "swift river". Today, however, Arvand Rud (New Persian: اروند رود) refers to the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers (known in Arabic as the Shatt al-Arab). In Kurdish, it is also known as Ava Mezin, "the Great Water".</p><br>
<p>The name of the Tigris in languages that have been important in the region:</p><br>
<h2>Management and water quality</h2><br>
<p>The Tigris is heavily dammed in Iraq and Turkey to provide water for irrigating the arid and semi-desert regions bordering the river valley. Damming has also been important for averting floods in Iraq, to which the Tigris has historically been notoriously prone following April melting of snow in the Turkish mountains.</p><br>
<p>Recent Turkish damming of the river has been the subject of some controversy, for both its environmental effects within Turkey and its potential to reduce the flow of water downstream. Mosul Dam is the largest dam in Iraq.</p><br>
<p>Water from both rivers is used as a means of pressure during conflicts.</p><br>
<p>In 2014 a major breakthrough in developing consensus between multiple stakeholder representatives of Iraq and Turkey on a Plan of Action for promoting exchange and calibration of data and standards pertaining to Tigris river flows was achieved. The consensus which is referred to as the "Geneva Consensus On Tigris River" was reached at a meeting organized in Geneva by the think tank Strategic Foresight Group.</p><br>
<p>In February 2016, the United States Embassy in Iraq as well as the Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi issued warnings that Mosul Dam could collapse. The United States warned people to evacuate the floodplain of the Tigris because between 500,000 and 1.5 million people were at risk of drowning due to flash flood if the dam collapses, and that the major Iraqi cities of Mosul, Tikrit, Samarra, and Baghdad were at risk.</p><br>
<h2>Religion and mythology</h2><br>
<p>In Sumerian mythology, the Tigris was created by the god Enki, who filled the river with flowing water.</p><br>
<p>In Hittite and Hurrian mythology, Aranzah (or Aranzahas in the Hittite nominative form) is the Hurrian name of the Tigris River, which was divinized. He was the son of Kumarbi and the brother of Teshub and Tašmišu, one of the three gods spat out of Kumarbi&#39;s mouth onto Mount Kanzuras. Later he colluded with Anu and the Teshub to destroy Kumarbi (The Kumarbi Cycle).</p><br>
<p>The Tigris appears twice in the Old Testament. First, in the Book of Genesis, it is the third of the four rivers branching off the river issuing out of the Garden of Eden. The second mention is in the Book of Daniel, wherein the prophet states he received one of his visions "when I was by that great river the Tigris".</p><br>
<p>The Tigris River is also mentioned in Islam. The tomb of Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal and Syed Abdul Razzaq Jilani is in Baghdad and the flow of Tigris restricts the number of visitors.</p><br>
<p>The river featured on the coat of arms of Iraq from 1932-1959.</p><br>
<p>Tristan da Cunha, colloquially Tristan, is both a remote group of volcanic islands in the south Atlantic Ocean and the main island of that group. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, 2,000 km from the nearest inhabited land, Saint Helena, and 2,400 km from the nearest continental land, South Africa. It is 3,360 km from South America. The territory consists of the main island, Tristan da Cunha, which has a north–south length of 11.27 km and an area of 98 km&sup2, and the smaller, uninhabited Nightingale Islands and the wildlife reserves of Inaccessible and Gough islands., the main island has 262 permanent inhabitants. The other islands are uninhabited, except for the personnel of a weather station on Gough Island.</p><br>
<p>Tristan da Cunha is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. This includes Saint Helena and near-equatorial Ascension Island, some 3,730 km to the north of Tristan.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Discovery</h3><br>
<p>The islands were first recorded as sighted in 1506 by Portuguese explorer Tristão da Cunha; rough seas prevented a landing. He named the main island after himself, Ilha de Tristão da Cunha. It was later anglicised from its earliest mention on British Admiralty charts, to Tristan da Cunha Island. Some sources state that the Portuguese made the first landing in 1520, when the Lás Rafael captained by Ruy Vaz Pereira called at Tristan for water. The first undisputed landing was made on 7 February 1643 by the crew of the Dutch East India Company ship Heemstede, captained by Claes Gerritsz Bierenbroodspot. The Dutch stopped at the island four more times in the next 25 years, and in 1656 created the first rough charts of the archipelago.</p><br>
<p>The first full survey of the archipelago was made by crew of the French corvette Heure du Berger in 1767. The first scientific exploration was conducted by French naturalist Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars, who stayed on the island for three days in January 1793, during a French mercantile expedition from Brest, France to Mauritius. Aubert made botanical collections and reported traces of human habitation, including fireplaces and overgrown gardens, probably left by Dutch explorers in the 17th century.</p><br>
<h3>19th century</h3><br>
<p>The first permanent settler was Jonathan Lambert, from Salem, Massachusetts, United States, who arrived at the islands in December 1810 with two other men, and later a third. Lambert publicly declared the islands his property and named them the Islands of Refreshment. Three of the four men died in 1812; however, the survivor among the original three permanent settlers, Thomas Currie (or Tommaso Corri) remained as a farmer on the island.</p><br>
<p>In 1816, the United Kingdom annexed the islands, ruling them from the Cape Colony in South Africa. This is reported to have primarily been a measure to ensure that the French would be unable to use the islands as a base for a rescue operation to free Napoleon Bonaparte from his prison on Saint Helena. The occupation also prevented the United States from using Tristan da Cunha as a cruiser base, as it had during the War of 1812.</p><br>
<p>The islands were occupied by a garrison of British Marines and a civilian population gradually grew. Whalers set up bases on the islands for operations in the Southern Atlantic. However, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, together with the gradual transition from sailing ships to coal-fired steam ships, increased the isolation of the islands. They were no longer needed as a stopping port for lengthy sail voyages, or for shelter for journeys from Europe to East Asia.</p><br>
<p>In 1867, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and second son of Queen Victoria, visited the islands. The main settlement, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, was named in honour of his visit.</p><br>
<p>On 15 October 1873, the Royal Navy scientific survey vessel HMS Challenger docked at Tristan to conduct geographic and zoological surveys on Tristan, Inaccessible Island and the Nightingale Islands. In his log, Captain George Nares recorded a total of 15 families and 86 individuals living on the island.</p><br>
<h3>20th century</h3><br>
<p>After an especially difficult winter in 1906, and years of hardship since the 1880s, the British government offered to evacuate the island.</p><br>
<p>The Shackleton–Rowett Expedition stopped in Tristan for five days in May 1922, collecting geological and botanical samples before returning to Cape Town. Of the few ships that visited in the coming years were the RMS Asturias, a Royal Mail Steam Packet Company passenger liner, in 1927, and the ocean liners RMS Empress of France in 1928, in 1929, and RMS Empress of Australia in 1935.</p><br>
<p>In 1936, The Daily Telegraph of London reported the population of the island was 167 individuals, with 185 cattle and 42 horses.</p><br>
<p>From December 1937 to March 1938, a Norwegian party made a dedicated scientific expedition to Tristan da Cunha, and sociologist Peter A. Munch extensively documented island culture - he would later revisit the island in 1964-1965. The island was also visited in 1938 by W. Robert Foran, reporting for the National Geographic Society; his account, Tristan da Cunha, Isles of Contentment, was published in November 1938.</p><br>
<p>On 12 January 1938 by letters patent, Britain declared the islands a dependency of Saint Helena, creating the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena and Dependencies, which also included Ascension Island.</p><br>
<p>During the Second World War, Britain used the islands as a secret Royal Navy weather and radio station codenamed, to monitor Nazi U-boats (which were required to maintain radio contact) and shipping movements in the South Atlantic Ocean.</p><br>
<p>The Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen&#39;s consort, visited the islands in 1957 as part of a world tour on board the royal yacht HMY Britannia.</p><br>
<p>On 10 October 1961, the eruption of Queen Mary&#39;s Peak forced the evacuation of the entire population of 264 individuals. Evacuees took to the water in open boats and sailed to uninhabited Nightingale Island, where they were picked up by a Dutch passenger ship that took them via Cape Town to Britain. The islanders arrived in the UK to a big press reception, and were settled in an old Royal Air Force camp near Calshot, Hampshire. The following year a Royal Society expedition went to the islands to assess the damage, and reported that the settlement of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas had been only marginally affected. Most families returned in 1963.</p><br>
<h3>21st century</h3><br>
<p>On 23 May 2001, the islands were hit by an extratropical cyclone that generated winds up to 120 mph. A number of structures were severely damaged, and numerous cattle were killed, prompting emergency aid provided by the British government.</p><br>
<p>In 2005, the islands were given a United Kingdom post code (TDCU 1ZZ), to make it easier for the residents to order goods online.</p><br>
<p>On 13 February 2008, fire destroyed the fishing factory and the four generators that supplied power to the island. On 14 March 2008, new generators were installed and uninterrupted power was restored. This fire was devastating to the island because fishing is a mainstay of the economy. While a new factory was being planned and built, M/V Kelso came to the island and acted as a factory ship, with island fishermen based on board for stints normally of one week. The new facility was ready in July 2009, for the start of the 2009–10 fishing season.</p><br>
<p>The St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009 ended the "dependency status" of Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.</p><br>
<p>On 16 March 2011, the freighter ran aground on Nightingale Island, spilling tons of heavy fuel oil into the ocean. The resulting oil slick threatened the island&#39;s population of rockhopper penguins. Nightingale Island has no fresh water, so the penguins were transported to Tristan da Cunha for cleaning.</p><br>
<p>A total solar eclipse will pass over the island on 5 December 2048. The island is calculated to be on the centre line of the umbra&#39;s path for nearly three and a half minutes of totality.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Tristan da Cunha is thought to have been formed by a long-lived centre of upwelling mantle called the Tristan hotspot. Tristan da Cunha is the main island of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, which consists of the following islands:</p><br>
<p>Tristan da Cunha, the main and largest island, area: 98 km&sup2, (37&deg;6&prime;44&Prime;S latitude, 12&deg;16&prime;56&Prime;W longitude)</p><br>
<p>Inaccessible Island, area: 14 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Nightingale Islands, area: 3.4 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Nightingale Island, area: 3.2 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Middle Island, area: 0.1 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Stoltenhoff Island, area: 0.1 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Gough Island (Diego Alvarez), area: 91 km&sup2</p><br>
<p>Inaccessible Island and the Nightingale Islands are 35 km SW by W and SSW off the main island respectively, whereas Gough Island is 395 km SSE.</p><br>
<p>The main island is generally mountainous. The only flat area is on the north-west coast, which is the location of the only settlement, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. The highest point is a volcano called Queen Mary&#39;s Peak 2,062 m, which is covered by snow in winter. The other islands of the group are uninhabited, except for a weather station with a staff of six on Gough Island. This has been operated by South Africa since 1956 and has been at its present location at Transvaal Bay on the south-east coast since 1963.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>The archipelago has a wet oceanic climate under the Köppen system with mild temperatures, but consistent moderate to heavy rainfall and very limited sunshine, due to the persistent westerly winds. Under the Trewartha classification Tristan da Cunha is a humid subtropical climate due to the lack of cold weather. The number of rainy days is comparable to the Aleutian Islands at a much higher latitude in the northern hemisphere, while sunshine hours are comparable to Juneau, Alaska, 20° farther from the equator. Frost is unknown below elevations of 500 m and summer temperatures are similarly mild, never reaching 25 &deg;C. Sandy Point on the east coast is reputed to be the warmest and driest place on the island, being in the lee of the prevailing winds.</p><br>
<h3>Flora and fauna</h3><br>
<p>Many of the flora and fauna have a broad circumpolar distribution in the South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans. Thus many of the species that occur in Tristan da Cunha appear as far away as New Zealand. For example, the plant species Nertera depressa was first collected in Tristan da Cunha, but has since been recorded in occurrence as far distant as New Zealand.</p><br>
<p>Tristan is primarily known for its wildlife. The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because there are 13 known species of breeding seabirds on the island and two species of resident land birds. The seabirds include northern rockhopper penguins, Atlantic yellow-nosed albatrosses, sooty albatrosses, Atlantic petrels, great-winged petrels, soft-plumaged petrels, broad-billed prions, grey petrels, great shearwaters, sooty shearwaters, Tristan skuas, Antarctic terns and brown noddies. Tristan and Gough Islands are the only known breeding sites in the world for the Atlantic petrel (; IUCN status EN). Inaccessible Island is also the only known breeding ground of the Spectacled Petrel (; IUCN Vulnerable). The (IUCN status CR) is known to breed only on Gough and Inaccessible Islands: all nest on Gough except for one or two pairs who nest on Inaccessible Island.</p><br>
<p>The endemic Tristan thrush or starchy occurs on all of the northern islands and each has its own subspecies, with Tristan birds being slightly smaller and duller than those on Nightingale and Inaccessible. The endemic Inaccessible Island rail, the smallest extant flightless bird in the world, is found only on Inaccessible Island. In 1956 eight Gough moorhens were released at Sandy Point on Tristan, and have subsequently colonised the island.</p><br>
<p>Various species of whales and dolphins can be seen around Tristan from time to time with increasing sighting rate although recovery of baleen whales especially the southern right whale were severely hindered by illegal whaling by the Soviet Union. The subantarctic fur seal Arctocephalus tropicalis can also be found in the Tristan archipelago, mostly on Gough Island.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>The island&#39;s unique social and economic organisation has evolved over the years, but is based on the principles set out by William Glass in 1817, when he established a settlement based on equality. All Tristan families are farmers, owning their own stock and/or fishing. All land is communally owned. All households have plots of land at The Patches on which they grow potatoes. Livestock numbers are strictly controlled to conserve pasture and to prevent better-off families from accumulating wealth. Unless the community votes for a change in its law, no outsiders are allowed to buy land or settle on Tristan; theoretically the whole island would have to be put up for sale. All people – including children and pensioners – are involved in farming, while adults additionally have salaried jobs working either for the government, or, a small number in domestic service. Many of the men are involved in the fishing industry, going to sea in good weather. The nominal fishing season lasts 90 days; however, during the 2013 fishing season – 1 July to 30 September – there were only 10 days suitable for fishing.</p><br>
<p>Valuable foreign earnings come from the royalties from the commercial crawfish or Tristan rock lobster (Jasus) industry. Other revenues are derived from the sale of postage stamps and coins, especially to collectors worldwide. Limited revenue from tourism includes providing accommodation, guides and sales of handicrafts and souvenirs to visitors and by mail order. The income from foreign revenue earners enables Tristan to run government services, especially health and education.</p><br>
<p>The 1961 volcanic eruption destroyed the Tristan da Cunha canned crawfish factory, which was rebuilt a short time later. The crawfish catchers and processors work for the South African company Ovenstone, which has an exclusive contract to sell crawfish to the United States and Japan. Although Tristan da Cunha is a UK overseas territory, it is not permitted direct access to European Union markets. Recent economic conditions have meant that the islanders have had to draw from their reserves. The islands&#39; financial problems may cause delays in updating communication equipment and improving education on the island. The fire of 13 February 2008 (see History) resulted in major temporary economic disruption.</p><br>
<p>Although Tristan da Cunha is part of the same overseas territory as Saint Helena, it does not use the local Saint Helena pound. Instead, the island uses the United Kingdom issue of the pound sterling. The Bank of Saint Helena was established on Saint Helena and Ascension Island in 2004. This bank does not have a physical presence on Tristan da Cunha, but residents of Tristan are entitled to its services. There are occasionally commemorative coins minted for the island.</p><br>
<p>The island is located in the South Atlantic Anomaly, an area of the Earth with an abnormally weak magnetic field. On 14 November 2008 a geomagnetic observatory was inaugurated on the island as part of a joint venture between the Danish Meteorological Institute and DTU Space.</p><br>
<h3>Transport</h3><br>
<p>The remote location of the islands makes transport to the outside world difficult. Lacking an airport, the islands can be reached only by sea. Fishing boats from South Africa service the islands eight or nine times a year. The RMS Saint Helena used to connect the main island to St Helena and South Africa once each year during its January voyage, but has done so only twice in the last few years, in 2006 and 2011. The wider territory normally has access to air travel, with Ascension island served by RAF Ascension Island., though flights for civilians were indefinitely suspended in April 2017. The Saint Helena Airport became operational with its first commercial flight on 14 October 2017. There is no direct, regular service to Tristan da Cunha itself from either location. The harbour at Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is called Calshot Harbour, named after the place in Hampshire where the islanders temporarily stayed during the volcanic eruption.</p><br>
<h3>Communications</h3><br>
<h4>Telecommunication</h4><br>
<p>Although Tristan da Cunha shares the +290 code with St Helena, residents have access to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Telecommunications Network, provided by Global Crossing. This uses a London 020 numbering range, meaning that numbers are accessed via the UK telephone numbering plan.</p><br>
<p>From 1998 to 2006, internet was available in Tristan da Cunha but its high cost made it almost unaffordable for the local population, who primarily used it only to send email. The connection was also extremely unreliable, connecting through a 64 kbit/s satellite phone connection provided by Inmarsat. From 2006, a very-small-aperture terminal provided 3072 kbit/s of publicly accessible bandwidth via an internet cafe.</p><br>
<p>There is no mobile phone coverage on the islands.</p><br>
<h4>Amateur radio</h4><br>
<p>DXpeditions are sometimes conducted in the island group by amateur radio operators. One was ZD9ZS in September/October 2014.</p><br>
<h2>Government</h2><br>
<p>Executive authority is vested in the Queen, who is represented in the territory by the Governor of Saint Helena. As the Governor resides permanently in Saint Helena, an Administrator is appointed to represent the Governor in the islands. The Administrator is a career civil servant in the Foreign Office and is selected by London. Since 1998, each Administrator has served a three-year term (which begins in September, upon arrival of the supply ship from Cape Town.) The Administrator acts as the local head of government, and takes advice from the Tristan da Cunha Island Council. Sean Burns began a second term as Administrator in November 2016. The Island Council is made up of eight elected and three appointed members, who serve a three-year term which begins in February (or March).</p><br>
<p>Chief Islander: From amongst the eight elected councillors, the one receiving the most votes is named Chief Islander and sometimes serves as Acting Administrator when the Administrator is off the island: Ian Lavarello was elected for a third consecutive three-year term in 2016. As Chief Islander, he lit the islands beacon celebrating the Queens Diamond Jubilee in 2012.</p><br>
<p>The Administrator and Island Council work from the Government Building, which is the only two-storey building on the island. The building is sometimes referred to as "Whitehall" or the "Hadmin Building" and contains the Administrators Office, Treasury Department, Administration Offices, and the Council Chamber where Island Council meetings are held.</p><br>
<p>There are no political parties or trade unions on Tristan. Policing is undertaken by one full-time police inspector and three special constables</p><br>
<p>Tristan da Cunha has some legislation of its own, but the law of Saint Helena applies generally to the extent that it is not inconsistent with local law, insofar as it is suitable for local circumstances and subject to such modifications as local circumstances make necessary.</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<p>Tristan da Cunha recorded a population of 293 in the March 2016 census. The only settlement is Edinburgh of the Seven Seas (known locally as "The Settlement"). The only religion is Christianity, with denominations of Anglican and Roman Catholic. The current population is thought to have descended from 15 ancestors; eight males and seven females, who arrived on the island at various times between 1816 and 1908. The men were European and the women were mixed race and African. Now all of the population has mixed ancestry. In addition, a male contributor of eastern European/Russian descent arrived in the early 1900s. In 1963 when families returned after the evacuation due to the 1961 volcanic eruption, the 200 settlers included four Tristan da Cunha women who brought with them new English husbands.</p><br>
<p>The women descendants have been traced by genetic study to five female founders, believed to be women of colour (mixed-race, of African, Asian and European descent) from Saint Helena. The historical data recounted that there were two pairs of sisters, but the MtDNA evidence showed only one pair of sisters.</p><br>
<p>The early male founders originated from Scotland, England, the Netherlands, the United States and Italy, and belonged to 3 Y-haplogroups: I (M170), R-SRY10831.2 and R (M207) (xSRY10831.2) and share nine surnames: Collins, Glass, Green, Hagan, Lavarello, Repetto, Rogers, Squibb and Swain. Another four instances of non-paternity were found among male descendants, but researchers believed their fathers were probably among the island population.</p><br>
<p>There are 80 families on the island. Tristan da Cunhas isolation has led to development of an unusual, patois-like dialect of English described by the writer Simon Winchester as "a sonorous amalgam of Home Counties lockjaw and 19th century idiom, Afrikaans slang and Italian." Bill Bryson documents some examples of the islands dialect in his book, The Mother Tongue.</p><br>
<h3>Education</h3><br>
<p>Education is fairly rudimentary; children leave school at age 16, and although they can take GCSEs a year later, few do. The school on the island is St Mary&#39;s School, which serves children from ages 4 to 16. It opened in 1975 and has five classrooms, a kitchen, a stage, a computer room, and a craft and science room.</p><br>
<p>The Tristan Song Project was a collaboration between St Marys School and amateur composers in Britain, led by music teacher Tony Triggs. It began in 2010 and involved St Marys pupils writing poems and Tony Triggs providing musical settings by himself and his pupils. A desktop publication entitled Rockhopper Penguins and Other Songs (2010) embraced most of the songs completed that year and funded a consignment of guitars to the school. In February 2013 the Tristan Post Office issued a set of four Song Project stamps featuring island musical instruments and lyrics from Song Project songs about Tristan&#39;s volcano and wildlife. In 2014 the project broadened its scope and continues as the International Song Project.</p><br>
<h3>Health</h3><br>
<p>There are instances of health problems attributed to endogamy, including glaucoma. In addition, there is a very high (42%) incidence of asthma among the population and research by Dr. Noe Zamel of the University of Toronto has led to discoveries about the genetic nature of the disease. Three of the original settlers of the island were asthma sufferers.</p><br>
<p>In 2012 Dr Gerard Bulger was the only qualified doctor on the island, providing medical services for the 270 inhabitants. A small hospital - the Camogli Hospital - which has ultrasound, X-ray facilities a gastroscope, but no sigmoidoscope. There were no nurses, only care assistants, but Bulger praised the care provided in the community. Bulger reported difficulty keeping pharmacy and consumable stocks in date. Supplies came from South Africa. One of his jobs was to check the water supply.</p><br>
<p>Healthcare is funded by the government, undertaken by one resident doctor from South Africa and five nurses. Surgery or facilities for complex childbirth are therefore limited, and emergencies can necessitate communicating with passing fishing vessels so the injured person can be ferried to Cape Town. As of late 2007, IBM and Beacon Equity Partners, co-operating with Medweb, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the islands government on "Project Tristan", has supplied the islands doctor with access to long distance tele-medical help, making it possible to send EKG and X-ray pictures to doctors in other countries for instant consultation. This system has been limited owing to the poor reliability of Internet connections and an absence of qualified technicians on the island to service fibre optic links between the hospital and Internet centre at the administration buildings.</p><br>
<h2>Culture</h2><br>
<h3>Media</h3><br>
<p>Local television began in 1984 using taped programming on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings. Live television did not arrive on the island until 2001, with the introduction of the British Forces Broadcasting Service, which now provides BBC1, BBC2, ITV and BFBS Extra, relayed to islanders via local analogue transmitters. BFBS Radio 2 is the locally available radio station.</p><br>
<p>A comprehensive website is provided by the island government and the Tristan da Cunha Association which maintains it from the UK. A weekly local printed newsletter, Village Voice, is produced on the island.</p><br>
<h3>Holidays</h3><br>
<p>According to the island&#39;s January 2014 newsletter, the summer season gets under way with Sheep Shearing Day held on a Saturday in mid-December. Almost the entire population gathers on the far end of Patches Plain where the sheep pens are sited. Hand-clippers are used in the shearing and the wool is later carded, spun and hand-knitted into garments, some of which are sold under the name "37 Degrees South Knitwear Range".</p><br>
<p>There is an annual break from government and factory work which begins before Christmas and lasts for three weeks. Break-Up Day is usually marked with parties at various work "departments". Break-Up includes the Island Store, which means that families must be organised to have a full larder of provisions during the period. In 2013, the Island Store closed a week earlier than usual to conduct a comprehensive inventory, and all purchases had to be made by Friday 13 December as the shop did not open again until a month later.</p><br>
<p>The January 2014 New Year Message from Administrator Alex Mitham announced that, in 2013, the Island Council recognised there was no national holiday that specifically celebrates Tristans heritage and culture, So I am pleased to announce that the Council have agreed that a new national holiday called Longboat Day that will be instated in 2015, and the traditional longboats race brought back.&#39; There was no immediate indication of which date would be selected for the new holiday.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Edwin Heron Dodgson (1846 – 1918), a clergyman in the Church of England, was the youngest brother of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), author of Alice&#39;s Adventures in Wonderland. He is primarily remembered for his work as a missionary in the island of Tristan da Cunha from 1880 to 1884.</p><br>
<p>Conrad "Connie" Glass MBE (born 1961) is a Tristanian police officer and a former Chief Islander. He lives on Tristan da Cunha and is the first islander to have written a book about it, Rockhopper Copper (2005).</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<h3>Film</h3><br>
<p>In Wim Wenders&#39; Wings of Desire, a dying man recollecting the things that have apparently meant most to him mentions "Tristan da Cunha".</p><br>
<p>37°4 S is a short film about two teenagers who live on the island.</p><br>
<h3>Literature</h3><br>
<p>Edgar Allan Poe&#39;s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838), Chapter 15, has a detailed history and description of the island.</p><br>
<p>In Jules Vernes novel In Search of the Castaways, one of the chapters is set on Tristan da Cunha, and a brief history of the island is mentioned. The island is also referred to in Vernes novel The Sphinx of the Ice Fields (1897), which he wrote as an unauthorised sequel to Poe&#39;s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. The 1899 English translation by Mrs. Cashel Hoey of Ice Fields was published under the title An Antarctic Mystery.</p><br>
<p>South African poet Roy Campbell wrote "Tristan de Cunha" (1927), an elegiac poem about the island.</p><br>
<p>Tristan da Cunha is the site of a top-secret nuclear disarmament conference in Fletcher Knebel&#39;s 1968 political thriller Vanished. The book was adapted as a 1971 two-part NBC made-for-TV movie starring Richard Widmark.</p><br>
<p>Hervé Bazin&#39;s novel Les Bienheureux de la Désolation (1970) describes the 1961 forced exile of the population to England after the volcano erupted, and their subsequent return.</p><br>
<p>In Primo Levi&#39;s memoir The Periodic Table (1975), one of the fictional short stories, "Mercurio", is set on Tristan da Cunha, named "Desolation Island".</p><br>
<p>In Patrick OBrians novel The Mauritius Command (1977), Tristan da Cunha is mentioned by a man fond of birds, Captain Fortescue of the schooner Wasp, who spent an extended period on the island studying the Albatross whilst cast ashore. Also in OBrians The Thirteen-Gun Salute (1991), the ship Dianne is nearly wrecked on Inaccessible Island, with the cover of the book depicting the scene.</p><br>
<p>Zinnie Harris&#39;s play, Further Than the Furthest Thing (2000), is inspired by events on the island, notably the 1961 volcanic eruption and evacuation of the islanders.</p><br>
<p>Raoul Schrott&#39;s novel, Tristan da Cunha oder die Hälfte der Erde (2003), is almost entirely set on Tristan da Cunha and Gough islands, and chronicles the history of the archipelago.</p><br>
<p>Alice Munro&#39;s short story Deep-Holes in her 2009 short story collection Too Much Happiness. The female protagonist, a mother, confides to her young son about her fascination with remote islands like Tristan da Cunha and the Faeroe Islands. Later, when her son goes missing, she fantasises that he has found his way to one of these islands and is living there.</p><br>
<p>In the book Pulse by Jeremy Robinson, Tristan de Cunha is the top secret headquarters of "Beta Incorporated", a shell company of the antagonistic "Manifold Genetics", which is later destroyed by artificially causing an eruption to self-destruct said base, killing most of the Edinburgh of the Seven Seas population.</p><br>
<h3>Non-fiction</h3><br>
<p>Frank T. Bullen provides details of visiting the island in the 1870s in his book The Cruise of the Cachalot, first published in 1898.</p><br>
<p>Raymond Rallier du Baty describes the people and the island circa 1908 in his book 15,000 Miles in a Ketch (1915).</p><br>
<p>In by Captain Frank Wild (1923), several chapters (with photographs) recount events on the island during the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition in May 1922.</p><br>
<p>Rose Annie Rogers, part of an American missionary couple, wrote a memoir of her time on Tristan da Cunha, called (1927).</p><br>
<p>Katherine Mary Barrow&#39;s book (1910) is a "simple and true description of daily life among a very small community cut off from the rest of the world" based on entries to her diaries and letters written during the period to her sister.</p><br>
<p>Martin Holdgate describes a visit to the island by a scientific expedition heading for Gough Island in 1955 in Mountains in the Sea.</p><br>
<p>Simon Winchesters Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire (1985, reprinted in 2003), devotes a chapter to the island, which he visited in the mid-1980s. In the foreword to the reprint, the author states that he was banned from Tristan da Cunha because of his writing about the war-time romance of a local woman. He published a of his banishment in Lathams Quarterly.</p><br>
<p>In 2005, Rockhopper Copper, the first book about the island written by an Islander, was published. It was written by Conrad Glass, Tristan da Cunha&#39;s longtime Police and Conservation officer.</p><br>
<p>Robert A. Heinlein&#39;s book Tramp Royale (1992), about a world trip in 1953–54, devoted a chapter to his near visit to Tristan da Cunha. He talked to islanders but could not go ashore owing to the weather.</p><br>
<p>The Tyrrhenian Sea  is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian people, identified since the 6th century BCE with the Etruscans of Italy.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The sea is bounded by the islands of Corsica and Sardinia (to the west), the Italian peninsula (regions of Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata, and Calabria) to the east, and the island of Sicily (to the south). The Tyrrhenian sea also includes a number of small islands like Capri, Elba and Ustica.</p><br>
<p>The maximum depth of the sea is 3,785 m.</p><br>
<p>The Tyrrhenian Sea is situated near where the African and Eurasian Plates meet; therefore mountain chains and active volcanoes such as Mount Marsili are found in its depths. The eight Aeolian Islands and Ustica are located in the southern part of the sea, north of Sicily.</p><br>
<h3>Extent</h3><br>
<p>The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Tyrrhenian Sea as follows:</p><br>
<p>In the Strait of Messina: A line joining the North extreme of Cape Paci (15°42′E) with the East extreme of the Island of Sicily, Cape Peloro (38°16′N).</p><br>
<p>On the Southwest: A line running from Cape Lilibeo (West extreme of Sicily) to the South extreme of Cape Teulada (8°38′E) in Sardinia.</p><br>
<p>In the Strait of Bonifacio: A line joining the West extreme of Cape Testa (41°14′N) in Sardinia with the Southwest extreme of Cape Feno (41°23′N) in Corsica.</p><br>
<p>On the North: A line joining Cape Corse (Cape Grosso, 9°23′E) in Corsica, with Tinetto Island (44&deg;01&prime;N latitude, 9&deg;51&prime;E longitude) and thence through Tino and Palmaria islands to San Pietro Point (44&deg;03&prime;N latitude, 9&deg;50&prime;E longitude) on the coast of Italy.</p><br>
<h3>Exits</h3><br>
<p>There are four exits from the Tyrrhenian Sea (north to south):</p><br>
<h3>Basins</h3><br>
<p>The Tyrrhenian Basin is divided into two basins (or plains), the Vavilov plain and the Marsili plain. They are separated by the undersea ridge known as the Issel Bridge, after Arturo Issel.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>Its name derives from the Greek name for the Etruscans, who were said to be emigrants from Lydia and led by the prince Tyrrhenus. The Etruscans settled along the coast of modern Tuscany and referred to the water as the "Sea of the Etruscans".</p><br>
<h2>Ports</h2><br>
<p>The main ports of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Italy are: Naples, Palermo, Civitavecchia (Rome), Salerno, Trapani and Gioia Tauro. In France the most important port is Bastia.</p><br>
<p>Note that even though the phrase "port of Rome" is frequently used, there is in fact no port in Rome. Instead, the "port of Rome" refers to the maritime facilities at Civitavecchia, some 42 mi to the northwest of Rome, not too far from its airport.</p><br>
<p>Giglio Porto is a small island port in this area. It rose to prominence, when the Costa Concordia ran aground a few metres off the coast of Giglio and sank. The ship was later refloated and towed to Genoa for scrapping.</p><br>
<h2>Winds</h2><br>
<p>In Greek mythology, it is believed that the cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea housed the four winds kept by Aeolus. The winds are the Mistral from the Rhône valley, the Libeccio from the southwest, and the Sirocco and Ostro from the south.</p><br>
<h2>Image gallery</h2><br>
<p>Tavolara is a small island off the northeast coast of Sardinia, Italy. The island is a limestone massif 5 km long and 1 km wide, with steep cliffs except at its ends. Its highest point, Monte Cannone, is 565 m above sea level. A cove and beach can be found at each end of the island, Spalmatore di Fuori at the northeast, and Spalmatore di Terra at the southwest. Currently, the island is inhabited by only a handful of families, and has a small cemetery and summer restaurant. The water around the island is a popular spot for scuba diving.</p><br>
<p>The nearest sizable town is Olbia, and the small fishing village of Porto San Paolo is directly across a small strait. The islands of Molara and Molarotto are nearby.</p><br>
<p>Most of the population of the island was displaced in 1962 when a NATO radiogoniometric station was constructed on the eastern half of the island. The aerials from the station can be seen from quite a distance, and that entire half of the island is restricted to military personnel.</p><br>
<p>Tavolara is also home of the VLF-transmitter ICV, which works on 20.27 kHz and 20.76 kHz and which is used for transmitting messages to submarines. It can also be received (but not decoded) by PCs with a coil antenna at the soundcard entrance and FFT-analysis software.</p><br>
<p>The island and the surrounding waters are part of the Tavolara and Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Preserve created in 1997. The environmental protections placed on the park have added restrictions to the use of the area for tourism.</p><br>
<p>A natural column of rock on the islands coast resembles a human figure and is known as "the Stone Sentry" or "Popes Rock." Other stone formations include "Ulysses&#39; Bow" (a natural arch) and the "Grotta del Papa" (a cave accessible by sea and boasting Neolithic cave paintings).</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>A rare species of thorny knapweed, Centaurea horrida, is endemic only to Tavolara and a few other fringe areas of northern Sardinia. In his Natural History of Sardinia (1774), Francesco Cetti reported huge rats inhabiting Tavolara, but these were likely Sardinian pikas, an endemic species of lagomorph that had already been driven to extinction in Sardinia proper by then. In the 18th century, Sardinian lore claimed the wild goats of Tavolara had gold teeth. The goat herds were moved to Sardinia when the NATO station was built and there are no longer any goats on the island. The critically endangered monk seal had a breeding colony here until the 1960s. Once the home of a thriving lobster industry, Tavolara now attracts divers who come to view the coral, sponges, sea anemones, bottlenose dolphins, and even a few specimens of Pinna nobilis, the rare giant clam whose byssus fibers were formerly used in the manufacture of sea silk for royal garments.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The island was known in ancient times as Hermea. According to tradition, Pope St. Pontian died on Tavolara following his abdication and exile in 235. It is probably the island previously called Tolar, which was used by some Arab ships in 848-849 as a base to attack nearby coasts.</p><br>
<p>Joachim Murat visited Tavolara in 1815 during his attempt to regain the Kingdom of Naples. At that time the island was uninhabited.</p><br>
<p>In the 19th and 20th centuries, a tiny kingdom was set up on the island by the Bertoleoni family as the Kingdom of Tavolara, sanctioned by Charles Albert, King of Sardinia.</p><br>
<p>After Italian unification, King Paolo actively sought recognition from Italy. During his reign, in 1868 the Italian government began operating a lighthouse on the northeast end of the island.</p><br>
<p>After Paolo&#39;s death in 1886, he was succeeded by his son, Carlo I. In 1900.</p><br>
<p>Carlo was succeeded upon his death in 1928 by his son King Paolo II. Paolo went abroad, however, and left Carlo&#39;s sister Mariangela as regent in his absence. Mariangela died in 1934, leaving the kingdom to Italy.</p><br>
<p>Her nephew Paolo II still claimed the kingdom, however, until his death in 1962. That year marked the installation of the NATO station.</p><br>
<p>The present claimant is an Italian citizen named Tonino Bertoleoni, who runs "Da Tonino," a restaurant on the island. Politically, the interests of the island are represented in its external dealings by Prince Ernesto Geremia di Tavolara, of La Spezia, Italy, who has written a history of the island.</p><br>
<p>The tomb of Paolo I is in the graveyard on the island, surmounted by a crown.</p><br>
<h2>VLF- Antenna</h2><br>
<p>The VLF-antenna of Tavolara VLF transmitter is spun between a 133 metres tall mast</p><br>
<p>at 40&deg;55&prime;23&Prime;N latitude, 9&deg;43&prime;51.51&Prime;E longitude on Spalmatore di Furi and 4 masts, which are situated on mountains southwards.</p><br>
<p>They are situated at 40&deg;54&prime;52.45&Prime;N latitude, 9&deg;44&prime;9.03&Prime;E longitude, at 40&deg;54&prime;51.42&Prime;N latitude, 9&deg;44&prime;8.21&Prime;E longitude, at 40&deg;54&prime;51.09&Prime;N latitude, 9&deg;43&prime;30.38&Prime;E longitude and at 40&deg;54&prime;51.09&Prime;N latitude, 9&deg;43&prime;28.91&Prime;E longitude</p><br>
<p>The both masts on the eastern mountain are 114 m tall, the two others are smaller.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>Tavolara is the name given to a fictional island in the Philippines ruled by a cannibal king, in the 1902 Harvard comic opera "Queen Philippine."</p><br>
<p>The Tavolara military base appears in The Lovers by Morris West, a suspense novel set during the Cold War.</p><br>
<p>Ur  was an important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar  in south Iraq&#39;s Dhi Qar Governorate. Although Ur was once a coastal city near the mouth of the Euphrates on the Persian Gulf, the coastline has shifted and the city is now well inland, on the south bank of the Euphrates, 16 kilometres  from Nasiriyah in modern-day Iraq.</p><br>
<p>The city dates from the Ubaid period circa 3800 BC, and is recorded in written history as a city-state from the 26th century BC, its first recorded king being Mesannepada.</p><br>
<p>The citys patron deity was Nanna (in Akkadian, Sin), the Sumerian and Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) moon god, and the name of the city is in origin derived from the gods name, URIM2 being the classical Sumerian spelling of LAK-32.UNUG, literally "the abode (UNUG) of Nanna (LAK-32)".</p><br>
<p>The site is marked by the partially restored ruins of the Ziggurat of Ur, which contained the shrine of Nanna, excavated in the 1930s. The temple was built in the 21st century BC (short chronology), during the reign of Ur-Nammu and was reconstructed in the 6th century BC by Nabonidus, the Assyrian born last king of Babylon. The ruins cover an area of 1,200 m northwest to southeast by 800 m northeast to southwest and rise up to about 20 m above the present plain level.</p><br>
<h2>Physical layout</h2><br>
<p>The city, said to have been planned by Ur-Nammu, was apparently divided into neighborhoods, with merchants living in one quarter, artisans in another. There were streets both wide and narrow, and open spaces for gatherings. Many structures for water resource management and flood control are in evidence.</p><br>
<p>Houses were constructed from mudbricks and mud plaster. In major buildings, the masonry was strengthened with and reeds. For the most part, foundations are all that remain today. People were often buried (separately and alone; sometimes with jewelery, pots, and weapons) in chambers or shafts beneath the house floors.</p><br>
<p>Ur was surrounded by sloping ramparts 8 metres high and 25–25 metres wide, bordered in some places by a brick wall. Elsewhere, buildings were integrated into the ramparts. The Euphrates river complimented these fortifications on the city&#39;s western side.</p><br>
<h2>Society and culture</h2><br>
<p>Archaeological discoveries have shown unequivocally that Ur was a major urban center on the Mesopotamian plain. Especially the discovery of the Royal Tombs have confirmed its splendour. These tombs, which date to the Early Dynastic IIIa period (approximately in the 25th or 24th century BC), contained immense amounts of luxury items made out of precious metals, and semi-precious stones, all of which would have required importation from long distances (Iran, Afghanistan, India, Asia Minor, the Persian Gulf). This wealth, unparalleled up to then, is a testimony of Ur&#39;s economic importance during the Early Bronze Age.</p><br>
<p>Archaeological research of the region has also contributed greatly to our understanding of the landscape and long-distance interactions that took place during these ancient times.</p><br>
<p>Ur was a major port on the Persian Gulf, which extended much further inland than it does today, and controlled much of the trade into Mesopotamia. Imports to Ur came from many parts of the world. The imported objects include precious metals such as gold and silver, and semi-precious stones, namely lapis lazuli and carnelian.</p><br>
<p>It is thought that Ur had a stratified social system including slaves (captured foreigners), farmers, artisans, doctors, scribes, priests. High-ranking priests apparently enjoyed great luxury and lived in mansions.</p><br>
<p>Tens of thousands of texts, including contracts, business records, and court documents, record the city&#39;s complex economic and legal systems. These texts have been recovered from temples, the palace, and individual houses.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Prehistory</h3><br>
<p>When Ur was founded, the Persian Gulf&#39;s water level was 2.5 meters higher than it is today. Ur is therefore thought to have had marshy surroundings, and used canals only for transportation, not for irrigation. Fish, birds, tubers, and reeds might have supported Ur economically without the need for an agricultural revolution sometimes hypostatized as a prerequisite to urbanization.</p><br>
<p>Archaeologists have discovered the evidence of an early occupation at Ur during the Ubaid period (ca. 6500 to 3800 BC). These early levels were sealed off with a sterile deposit of soil that was interpreted by excavators of the 1920s as evidence for the Great Flood of the Book of Genesis and Epic of Gilgamesh. It is now understood that the South Mesopotamian plain was exposed to regular floods from the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers, with heavy erosion from water and wind, which may have given rise to the Mesopotamian and derivative Biblical Great Flood stories. The further occupation of Ur only becomes clear during its emergence in the third millennium BC (although it must already have been a growing urban center during the fourth millennium). The third millennium BC is generally described as the Early Bronze Age of Mesopotamia, which ends approximately after the demise of the Third Dynasty of Ur in the 21st century BC.</p><br>
<h3>Third millennium BC (Early Bronze Age)</h3><br>
<p>There are two main sources which inform scholars about the importance of Ur during the Early Bronze Age. The first is a large body of cuneiform documents, mostly from the empire of the so-called Third Dynasty of Ur, at the very end of the third millennium. This was the most centralized bureaucratic state the world had yet known. Concerning the earlier centuries, the Sumerian King List provides a tentative political history of ancient Sumer.</p><br>
<p>So far evidence for the earliest periods of the Early Bronze Age in Mesopotamia is very limited. Mesannepada is the first king mentioned in the Sumerian King List, and appears to have lived in the 26th century BC. That Ur was an important urban centre already then seems to be indicated by a type of cylinder seal called the City Seals. These seals contain a set of proto-cuneiform signs which appear to be writings or symbols of the name of city-states in ancient Sumer. Many of these seals have been found in Ur, and the name of Ur is prominent on them.</p><br>
<p>Ur came under the control of the Akkadian Empire founded by Sargon the Great between the 24th and 22nd centuries BC. This was a period when the Semitic-speaking Akkadians of Mesopotamia gained ascendancy over the Sumerians, and indeed much of the ancient Near East.</p><br>
<p>After the fall of the Akkadian Empire in the mid-22nd century BC, southern Mesopotamia came to be ruled for a few decades by the Gutians, a barbarian people originating in the Zagros Mountains to the northeast of Mesopotamia, while the Assyrian branch reasserted their independence in the north of Mesopotamia.</p><br>
<h3>Ur III</h3><br>
<p>The third dynasty was established when the king Ur-Nammu came to power, ruling between ca. 2047 BC and 2030 BC. During his rule, temples, including the ziggurat, were built, and agriculture was improved through irrigation. His code of laws, the Code of Ur-Nammu (a fragment was identified in Istanbul in 1952) is one of the oldest such documents known, preceding the Code of Hammurabi by 300 years. He and his successor Shulgi were both deified during their reigns, and after his death he continued as a hero-figure: one of the surviving works of Sumerian literature describes the death of Ur-Nammu and his journey to the underworld. About that time, the houses in the city were two-storied villas with 13 or 14 rooms, with plastered interior walls.</p><br>
<p>Ur-Nammu was succeeded by Shulgi, the greatest king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, who solidified the hegemony of Ur and reformed the empire into a highly centralized bureaucratic state. Shulgi ruled for a long time (at least 42 years) and deified himself halfway through his rule.</p><br>
<p>The Ur empire continued through the reigns of three more kings with Semitic Akkadian names, Amar-Sin, Shu-Sin, and Ibbi-Sin. It fell around 1940 BC to the Elamites in the 24th regnal year of Ibbi-Sin, an event commemorated by the Lament for Ur.</p><br>
<p>According to one estimate, Ur was the largest city in the world from c. 2030 to 1980 BC. Its population was approximately 65,000 (or 0.1 per cent share of global population then).</p><br>
<h3>Later Bronze Age</h3><br>
<p>The city of Ur lost its political power after the demise of the Third Dynasty of Ur. Nevertheless, its important position which kept on providing access to the Persian Gulf ensured the ongoing economic importance of the city during the second millennium BC. The splendour of the city, the might of the empire, the greatness of king Shulgi, and undoubtedly the efficient propaganda of the state endured throughout Mesopotamian history. Shulgi was a well known historical figure for at least another two thousand years, while historical narratives of the Mesopotamian societies of Assyria and Babylonia kept names, events, and mythologies in remembrance.</p><br>
<p>The city came to be ruled by the first dynasty (Amorite) of Babylonia which rose to prominence in southern Mesopotamia in the 18th century BC. After the fall of Hammurabi&#39;s short lived Babylonian Empire, it later became a part of the native Akkadian ruled Sealand Dynasty for over 270 years, and was reconquered into Babylonia by the successors of the Amorites, the Kassites in the 16th century BC. During the Kassite Dynastic period Ur, along with the rest of Babylonia, came under sporadic control of the Elamites and Middle Assyrian Empire.</p><br>
<h3>Iron Age</h3><br>
<p>The city, along with the rest of southern Mesopotamia and much of the Near East, Asia Minor, North Africa and southern Caucasus, fell to the north Mesopotamian Assyrian Empire from the 10th to late 7th centuries BC.</p><br>
<p>From the end of the 7th century BC Ur was ruled by the so-called Chaldean Dynasty of Babylon. In the 6th century BC there was new construction in Ur under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. The last Babylonian king, Nabonidus (who was Assyrian born, and not a Chaldean), improved the ziggurat. However the city started to decline from around 550 BC and was no longer inhabited after about 500 BC by which time Babylonia had fallen to the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The demise of Ur was perhaps owing to drought, changing river patterns, and the silting of the outlet to the Persian Gulf.</p><br>
<h2>Identification with Biblical Ur</h2><br>
<p>Ur may be the city of Ur Kasdim mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the birthplace of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim patriarch, Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic), traditionally believed to be some time in the 2nd millennium BC. There are however conflicting traditions and scholarly opinions identifying Ur Kasdim with the sites of Sanliurfa, Urkesh, Urartu or Kutha.</p><br>
<p>Ur is mentioned four times in the Torah or Old Testament, with the distinction "of the Kasdim/Kasdin"—traditionally rendered in English as "Ur of the Chaldees". The Chaldeans were already settled in the vicinity by around 850 BC, but were not the rulers of Ur until the late 7th century BC, around 550 BC. The name is found in, and. In Nehemiah 9:7, a single passage mentioning Ur is a paraphrase of Genesis.</p><br>
<p>The Book of Jubilees states that Ur was founded in 1688 Anno Mundi (year of the world) by &#39;Ur son of Kesed, presumably the offspring of Arphaxad, adding that in this same year wars began on Earth.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>In 1625, the site was visited by Pietro Della Valle, who recorded the presence of ancient bricks stamped with strange symbols, cemented together with bitumen, as well as inscribed pieces of black marble that appeared to be seals.</p><br>
<p>European archaeologists did not identify Tell el-Muqayyar as the site of Ur until Henry Rawlinson successfully deciphered some bricks from that location, brought to England by William Loftus in 1849.</p><br>
<p>The site was first excavated in 1853 and 1854, on behalf of the British Museum and with instructions from the Foreign Office, by John George Taylor, British vice consul at Basra from 1851 to 1859. Taylor uncovered the Ziggurat of Ur and a structure with an arch later identified as part of the "Gate of Judgment".</p><br>
<p>In the four corners of the ziggurat&#39;s top stage, Taylor found clay cylinders bearing an inscription of Nabonidus (Nabuna`id), the last king of Babylon (539 BC), closing with a prayer for his son Belshar-uzur (Bel-ŝarra-Uzur), the Belshazzar of the Book of Daniel. Evidence was found of prior restorations of the ziggurat by Ishme-Dagan of Isin and Shu-Sin of Ur, and by Kurigalzu, a Kassite king of Babylon in the 14th century BC. Nebuchadnezzar also claims to have rebuilt the temple.</p><br>
<p>Taylor further excavated an interesting Babylonian building, not far from the temple, part of an ancient Babylonian necropolis. All about the city he found abundant remains of burials of later periods. Apparently, in later times, owing to its sanctity, Ur became a favorite place of sepulchres, so that even after it had ceased to be inhabited, it continued to be used as a necropolis.</p><br>
<p>Typical of the era, his excavations destroyed information and exposed the tell. Natives used the now loosened, 4000-year-old bricks and tile for construction for the next 75 years, while the site lay unexplored, the British Museum having decided to prioritize archaeology in Assyria.</p><br>
<p>After Taylor&#39;s time, the site was visited by numerous travelers, almost all of whom have found ancient Babylonian remains, inscribed stones and the like, lying upon the surface. The site was considered rich in remains, and relatively easy to explore. After some soundings were made in 1918 by Reginald Campbell Thompson, H. R. Hall worked the site for one season for the British Museum in 1919, laying the groundwork for more extensive efforts to follow.</p><br>
<p>Excavations from 1922 to 1934 were funded by the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania and led by the archaeologist Sir Charles Leonard Woolley. A total of about 1,850 burials were uncovered, including 16 that were described as "royal tombs" containing many valuable artifacts, including the Standard of Ur. Most of the royal tombs were dated to about 2600 BC. The finds included the unlooted tomb of a queen thought to be Queen Puabi—the name is known from a cylinder seal found in the tomb, although there were two other different and unnamed seals found in the tomb. Many other people had been buried with her, in a form of human sacrifice. Near the ziggurat were uncovered the temple E-nun-mah and buildings E-dub-lal-mah (built for a king), E-gi-par (residence of the high priestess) and E-hur-sag (a temple building). Outside the temple area, many houses used in everyday life were found. Excavations were also made below the royal tombs layer: a 3.5 m layer of alluvial clay covered the remains of earlier habitation, including pottery from the Ubaid period, the first stage of settlement in southern Mesopotamia. Woolley later wrote many articles and books about the discoveries. One of Woolley&#39;s assistants on the site was the archaeologist Max Mallowan. The discoveries at the site reached the headlines in mainstream media in the world with the discoveries of the Royal Tombs. As a result, the ruins of the ancient city attracted many visitors. One of these visitors was the already famous Agatha Christie, who as a result of this visit ended up marrying Max Mallowan.</p><br>
<p>During this time the site was accessible from the Baghdad–Basra railway, from a stop called "Ur Junction".</p><br>
<p>When the Royal Tombs at Ur, was first discovered, they had no idea how big it actually was. They started by digging two trenches in the middle of the desert to see if they could find anything that would allow them to keep digging. They originally split into two teams. Team A and team B. Both teams spent the first few months digging a trench and had found evidence of burial grounds by collecting small pieces of golden jewelry and pottery. This was called at the time the At this time, the first season of digging had come to a close, and Woolley returned to England. In Autumn, Woolley returned and continued to dig into the second season. By the end of the second season, he had uncovered a surrounded by many rooms. In their third season of digging they had uncovered their biggest find yet, a building that was believed to have been built by the orders of the king, and the second building to be where the high priestess lived. As the fourth and fifth season came to a close, they had discovered so many items, that most of their time was now spent recording the objects they found instead of actually digging objects. They had found many items from gold jewelry to clay pots and stones. There were a few Lyres that were inside of the tombs as well. One of the most significant objects that was discovered was the Standard of Ur. At the end of their sixth season they had excavated 1850 burials and deemed 17 of them to be ""Woolley had finished his work excavating the Royal Tombs of UR in 1934. Inside princess Puabis tomb, there was a chest in the middle of the room. Underneath that chest was a hole in the ground that led to what was called the "Kings grave" PG-789. It was believed to be the kings grave because it was buried next to the queen. In the "King&#39;s Grave" were 63 attendants who were all equipped with copper helmets and swords. It is thought to be his army buried with him. Another large room was uncovered, PG-1237, called the "". This large room had 74 bodies, 68 of which were women. There were only two artifacts in the tomb, both of which were Lyres.</p><br>
<p>Most of the treasures excavated at Ur are in the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. At the Penn Museum the exhibition "Iraq&#39;s Ancient Past", which includes many of the most famous pieces from the Royal Tombs, opened to visitors in late Spring 2011. Previously, the Penn Museum had sent many of its best pieces from Ur on tour in an exhibition called "Treasures From the Royal Tombs of Ur." It traveled to eight American museums, including those in Cleveland, Washington and Dallas, ending the tour at the Detroit Institute of Art in May 2011.</p><br>
<p>In 2009, an agreement was reached for a joint University of Pennsylvania and Iraqi team to resume archaeological work at the site of Ur.</p><br>
<h3>Archaeological remains</h3><br>
<p>Though some of the areas that were cleared during modern excavations have sanded over again, the Great Ziggurat is fully cleared and stands as the best-preserved and most visible landmark at the site. The famous Royal tombs, also called the Neo-Sumerian Mausolea, located about 250 m south-east of the Great Ziggurat in the corner of the wall that surrounds the city, are nearly totally cleared. Parts of the tomb area appear to be in need of structural consolidation or stabilization.</p><br>
<p>There are cuneiform (Sumerian writing) on many walls, some entirely covered in script stamped into the mud-bricks. The text is sometimes difficult to read, but it covers most surfaces. Modern graffiti has also found its way to the graves, usually in the form of names made with coloured pens (sometimes they are carved). The Great Ziggurat itself has far more graffiti, mostly lightly carved into the bricks. The graves are completely empty. A small number of the tombs are accessible. Most of them have been cordoned off. The whole site is covered with pottery debris, to the extent that it is virtually impossible to set foot anywhere without stepping on some. Some have colours and paintings on them. Some of the "mountains" of broken pottery are debris that has been removed from excavations. Pottery debris and human remains form many of the walls of the royal tombs area. It can only be speculated whether this is of ancient making or modern restoration, but it is a fact that they are, literally, filled up with pottery debris.</p><br>
<p>In May 2009, the United States Army returned the Ur site to the Iraqi authorities, who hope to develop it as a tourist destination.</p><br>
<h3>Preservation</h3><br>
<p>Since 2009, the non-profit organization Global Heritage Fund (GHF) has been working to protect and preserve Ur against the problems of erosion, neglect, inappropriate restoration, war and conflict. GHF&#39;s stated goal for the project is to create an informed and scientifically grounded Master Plan to guide the long-term conservation and management of the site, and to serve as a model for the stewardship of other sites.</p><br>
<p>Since 2013, the institution for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the SBAH, the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage of the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, have started a cooperation project for "The Conservation and Maintenance of Archaeological site of UR". In the framework of this cooperation agreement, the executive plan, with detailed drawings, is in progress for the maintenance of the Dublamah Temple (design concluded, works starting), the Royal Tombs -Mausolea 3rd Dynasty- (in progress) and the Ziqqurat (in progress). The first updated survey in 2013 has produced a new aerial map derived by the flight of a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) operated in March 2014. This is the first high resolution map, derived from more than 100 aerial photograms, with an accuracy of 20 cm or less. A preview of the ORTHO-PHOTOMAP of Archaeological Site of UR is available.</p><br>
