<p>Sipadan  is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising 600 m from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea off the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia. It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop. Sipadan is located at the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin, the centre of one of the richest marine habitats in the world. More than 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in this ecosystem.</p><br>
<p>Sipadan Island was at the top of Rodales Scuba Diving Magazine Gold List for The Top Dive Destination in the World&#39;. In fact it shared its top spot with 2 other destinations known for the diversity of their marine life — the Galápagos Islands and Truk in Micronesia.</p><br>
<p>Frequently seen in the waters around Sipadan: green and hawksbill turtles (which mate and nest there), enormous schools of barracuda in tornado-like formations as well as large schools of big-eye trevally, and bumphead parrotfish. Pelagic species such as manta rays, eagle rays, scalloped hammerhead sharks and whale sharks also visit Sipadan.</p><br>
<p>A turtle tomb lies underneath the column of the island, formed by an underwater limestone cave with a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers that contain many skeletal remains of turtles that become lost and drown before finding the surface.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In the past, the island was at the centre of a territorial dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia. The matter was brought for adjudication before the International Court of Justice and, at the end of 2002, the Court awarded the island along with the island of Ligitan to Malaysia, on the basis of the "effective occupation" displayed by the latters predecessor (Malaysias former colonial power, the United Kingdom) and the absence of any other superior title. The Philippines had applied to intervene in the proceedings on the basis of their claim to Northern Borneo, but their request was turned down by the Court early in 2001.</p><br>
<p>The island was declared a bird sanctuary in 1933 by the colonial government of North Borneo and re-gazetted in 1963 by the Malaysian government.</p><br>
<p>In his film Borneo: The Ghost of the Sea Turtle (1989) Jacques Cousteau said: "I have seen other places like Sipadan, 45 years ago, but now no more. Now we have found an untouched piece of art."</p><br>
<h3>Filipino militant attacks</h3><br>
<p>On 23 April 2000, 21 people were kidnapped by the Filipino Moro pirate group Abu Sayyaf. The armed terrorists arrived by boat, forcing 10 tourists and 11 resort workers to board the vessels at gunpoint, after which they brought the victims to Jolo. All of the victims were eventually released.</p><br>
<p>Tewksbury Hospital is a National Register of Historic Places-listed site located on an 800+ acre campus in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. The centerpiece of the hospital campus is the 1894 Richard Morris Building .</p><br>
<p>The Massachusetts Department of Public Health currently operates a Joint Commission accredited, 350-bed facility at Tewksbury Hospital, providing both medical and psychiatric services to challenging adult patients with chronic conditions. The Public Health Museum in Massachusetts now occupies the Richard Morris Building. In addition to the hospital and museum, the Tewksbury Hospital campus also hosts eight residential substance abuse programs, serving up to 275 patients. Five Massachusetts state agencies also have regional offices at Tewksbury, including the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety. the Lowell Houses Sheehan Womens Program, the Lowell House Recovery Home, the Middlesex Human Service Agency, and the Strongwater Farm Therapeutic Equestrian Center.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Almshouse</h3><br>
<p>Authorized by an act of Massachusetts General Court in 1852, Tewksbury Hospital was originally established as an Tewksbury Almshouse (along with similar facilities in Monson and Bridgewater), opening in May 1854, under its first superintendent, Isaac H. Meserve. The original Tewksbury campus consisted of "large wooden buildings were badly designed, poorly constructed firetraps". Upon opening, paupers from across the state were sent to Tewksbury and its two companion facilities, rapidly overwhelming the facilities. Within three weeks, Tewksbury had a population of over 800, well over its intended capacity of 500. By the end of 1854, a total of 2,193 people had been admitted.</p><br>
<p>By the mid-1860s formal record-keeping had begun at Tewksbury, a series of intake records known as "inmate biographies". Based on these documents, historian and sociologist David Wagner estimates that one-third of the original population were children, and of the remaining adult population, 64% were male. The overwhelming majority of inmates were immigrants, mostly from Ireland. Tewksbury&#39;s demographics changed over time, with the number of children declining to only 10% by 1890.</p><br>
<h3>Almshouse to hospital</h3><br>
<p>In 1866, a hospital was added to supplement the existing almshouse. In that same year, Tewksbury first began accepting what were known as the "pauper insane".</p><br>
<h4>Anne Sullivan</h4><br>
<p>From February 1876 to October 1880, Tewksbury housed its most famous inmate, Anne Sullivan, best known as the teacher and companion of Helen Keller. Her mother dead, and abandoned by her father, Sullivan was admitted to Tewksbury at the age of ten, along with her younger brother Jimmie. Sullivan was afflicted with trachoma, which was beginning to blind her; her brother was suffering from tuberculosis, which was to cause his death four months later. Sullivan later recalled her time at Tewksbury:</p><br>
<p>In October 1880, Sullivan left Tewksbury, allowed by the intervention of a state official to transfer to the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. A building at Tewksbury (the old Male Asylum building) is now named for her.</p><br>
<h4>The Butler committee</h4><br>
<p>In 1883, Massachusetts Governor Benjamin F. Butler made headlines when he accused Tewksbury management and staff of variety of abuses ranging from the venal, "financial malfeasance, nepotism, patient abuse, and theft of inmate clothing and monies", and political factions (and newspapers aligned with them) seized upon the story, either highlighting the most lurid parts of the testimony, or denouncing Butler as a liar using false allegations for political gain.</p><br>
<p>Ultimately, the General Court rejected most of Butler&#39;s charges, but the publicity of the investigation led to new management and major changes at Tewksbury nonetheless, Marsh was succeeded by C. Irving Fisher in June 1883.</p><br>
<p>Butler later wrote in his memoirs that the "investigation was productive of great good because it called the attention of the whole people of the country in the several States to the condition of things in institutions, and investigations of like character into their affairs in the succeeding year were quite general and caused great reforms."</p><br>
<h4>Construction and expansion</h4><br>
<p>From 1894 to 1905, the Tewksbury campus saw extensive new construction, including several buildings designed by Boston architect John A. Fox—the Old Administration Building (1894), the Male Asylum (1901), the Womens Asylum (1903). During that period, the Old Superintendents House (1894), the Chapel (1896), the Main Gate (1900), the Southgate Men&#39;s Building (1905), and Male Officers Dormitory (1905) were also added to Tewksbury, along with several farm and support buildings. Two other hospital buildings at Tewksbury were designed by the Boston firm of Hartwell and Richardson.</p><br>
<p>The architectural history and quality of the Tewksbury campus was a key criterion for its inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The Massachusetts Historical Commission describes the Tewksbury&#39;s historic buildings as "designed in a variety of popular period styles such as Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, and Classical Revival" and "generally unified by two-to-four story height, similar moderate scale, fieldstone foundations and redbrick walls, and overhanging slate hip or gable roofs with exposed rafters".</p><br>
<h3>Hospital</h3><br>
<p>Reflecting its changing mission, the Massachusetts General Court renamed Tewksbury Almshouse to Tewksbury State Hospital in 1900. In the first part of the 20th century, Tewksbury combined two roles, first, as a "last resort" facility for the elderly and the mentally ill, and secondly, as an isolation and care center for patients with infectious diseases, such as Smallpox, Typhoid Fever, and Tuberculosis.</p><br>
<h4>Nursing School</h4><br>
<p>A Home Training School for Nurses opened at Tewksbury in 1894, under the direction of Clara B. Stevens, the first Superintendent of Nurses and Principal of the Training School. Four years later it was expanded to a complete three-year training program. Because of the variety of physical and mental conditions treated at Tewksbury, it was considered an ideal place for education of nurses. Author and reformer, Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, observed at the 1902 National Conference of Charities and Corrections:</p><br>
<p>In 1921, a School of Practical Nursing was added at Tewksbury, for financial reasons. Tewksbury Hospital&#39;s then-CEO, Raymond Sanzone said of the closure, "None of us is happy with this closing, but the school is no longer financially viable. The main mission of this institution is to treat patients, not to train nurses"</p><br>
<h4>WPA expansion</h4><br>
<p>Tewksbury saw a second major expansion of its facilities during the 1930s under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) program. WPA-constructed buildings added during that decade included: the Married Couples Building (ca. 1930), Special Building (ca. 1930) (a dormitory building), the Dining Room/Kitchen (1934), Stonecroft (1935) (an agricultural building in the Craftsman style), and the Nichols Building (1939).</p><br>
<h4>Modernization</h4><br>
<p>Tewksburys pre-Civil War "Long Asylum" and several other older buildings were demolished in 1971 to make way for new construction. Buildings demolished included the remaining buildings from Tewksburys time as an almshouse, along with two Hartwell & Richardson designed hospital wards.</p><br>
<p>Prior Park is a Palladian house, designed by John Wood, the Elder, and built in the 1730s and 1740s for Ralph Allen on a hill overlooking Bath, Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.</p><br>
<p>The house was built to demonstrate the properties of Bath stone as a building material. The design followed work by Andrea Palladio and was influenced by drawings originally made by Colen Campbell for Wanstead House in Essex. The main block had 15 bays and each of the wings 17 bays each. The surrounding parkland had been laid out in 1100 but following the purchase of the land by Allen 11.3 hectare were established as a landscape garden. Features in the garden include a bridge covered by Palladian arches, which is also Grade I listed.</p><br>
<p>Following Allen&#39;s death the estate passed down through his family. In 1828, Bishop Baines bought it for use as a Roman Catholic College. The house was then extended and a chapel and gymnasium built by Henry Goodridge. The house is now used by Prior Park College and the surrounding parkland owned by the National Trust.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Construction</h3><br>
<p>Ralph Allen, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, was notable for his reforms to the British postal system. He moved in 1710 to Bath, where he became a post office clerk, and at the age of 19, in 1712, became the Postmaster. In 1742 he was elected Mayor of Bath, and was the Member of Parliament for Bath between 1757 and 1764. The building in Lilliput Alley, now North Parade Passage in Bath, which he used as a post office, became his Town House.</p><br>
<p>Allen acquired the stone quarries at Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines. He used the unique honey-coloured Bath stone, used to build the Georgian city, and as a result made a second fortune. Allen built a railway line from his mine on Combe Down which carried the stone down the hill, now known as Ralph Allen Drive, which runs beside Prior Park, to a wharf he constructed at Bath Locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal to transport stone to London. Following a failed bid to supply stone to buildings in London, Allen wanted a building which would show off the properties of Bath stone as a building material.</p><br>
<p>Hitherto, the quarry masons had always hewn stone roughly providing blocks of varying size. Wood required stone blocks to be cut with crisp clean edges for his distinctive classical façades. The Stone was extracted by the "room and pillar" method, by which chambers were mined, leaving pillars of stone to support the roof. Bath stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate laid down during the Jurassic (195 to 135 million years ago). An important feature of Bath stone is that it is a freestone, that is one that can be sawn or squared up in any direction, unlike other rocks such as slate, which forms distinct layers. It was extensively used in the Roman and Medieval periods on domestic, ecclesiastical and civil engineering projects such as bridges.</p><br>
<p>John Wood, the Elder was commissioned by Ralph Allen to build on the hill overlooking Bath: "To see all Bath, and for all Bath to see". Wood was born in Bath and is known for designing many of the streets and buildings of the city, such as The Circus (1754–68), St John&#39;s Hospital, (1727–28), Queen Square (1728–36), the North (1740) and South Parades (1743–48), The Royal Mineral Water Hospital (1738–42) and other notable houses, many of which are Grade I listed buildings. Queen Square was his first speculative development. Wood lived in a house on the square, which was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "one of the finest Palladian compositions in England before 1730".</p><br>
<p>The plan for Prior Park was to construct five buildings along three sides of a dodecagon matching the sweep of the head of the valley, with the main building being flanked by elongated wings based on designs by Andrea Palladio. The plans were influenced by drawings in Vitruvius Britannicus originally made by Colen Campbell for Wanstead House in Essex, which was yet to be built. The main block had 15 bays and each of the wings 17 bays each. Between each wing and the main block was a Porte-cochère for coaches to stop under. In addition to the stone from the local quarries, material, including the grand staircase and plasterwork, from the demolished Hunstrete House were used in the construction.</p><br>
<p>Construction work began in 1734 to Woods plan but disagreements between Wood and Allen led to his dismissal and Woods Clerk of Works, Richard Jones, replaced him and made some changes to the plans particularly for the east wing. Jones also added the Palladian Bridge. The building was finished in 1743 and was occupied by Allen as his primary residence until his death in 1764.</p><br>
<h3>Later use</h3><br>
<p>After Allens death in 1764, William Warburton, Allens relative, lived in the house for some time and it was passed down to other family members and then purchased, in 1809, by John Thomas, a Bristol Quaker. After William Beckford sold Fonthill Abbey, in 1822, he was looking about for a suitable new seat, Prior Park was his first choice: ""They wanted too much for it," he recalled later; "I should have liked it very much; it possesses such great capability of being made a very beautiful spot." Prior Park was offered for sale after Thomas&#39;s death in 1827 but the asking price of £25,000 was not obtained and the offer of sale withdrawn.</p><br>
<p>Augustine Baines, a Benedictine, Titular Bishop of Siga and Vicar Apostolic of the Western District of England, was appointed to Bath in 1817. He purchased the mansion in 1828 for £22,000 and set to work to establish two colleges in either wing of the house, which he dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul respectively, the former being intended as a lay college, the latter as a seminary. The new college never became prosperous, however. Renovations were made according to designs by Henry Goodridge in 1834 including the addition of the staircase in front of the main building. A gymnasium was also built in the 1830s including a courtyard for Fives, and three barrel vaulted rooms on the first floor and a terrace roof.</p><br>
<p>The seminary was closed in 1856 after a fire which, in 1836, had resulted in extensive damage and renovation and brought about financial insolvency. It was bought in 1867 by Bishop Clifford who founded a Roman Catholic Grammar School in the mansion. Prior Park operated as a grammar school until 1904. During World War I the site was occupied by the army. Following the war several tenants occupied the site. In 1921, the Christian Brothers acquired the building. They opened a boarding school for boys in 1924.</p><br>
<p>The main building (the Mansion) has been badly burnt twice. The 1836 fire left visible damage to some stonework. The 1991 fire gutted the interior, except for parts of the basement. Unusually, the blaze started on the top floor, and spread downwards. Rebuilding took approximately three years.</p><br>
<p>The site continues on in use as a School, Prior Park College, one of four schools owned by The Prior Foundation (the other three are Prior Park Preparatory School, in Cricklade, Wiltshire, The Paragon School in Bath, located just down the hill from the main College in the vale of Lyncombe, and Prior Park School, in Gibraltar).</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The house described by Pevsner as "the most ambitious and most complete re-creation of Palladio&#39;s villas on English soil" was designed by John Wood the Elder, however, Wood and his patron, Allen, quarrelled and completion of the project was overseen by Richard Jones, the clerk-of-works.</p><br>
<p>The plan consists of a corps de logis flanked by two pavilions connected to the corps de logis by segmented single storey arcades. The northern façade (or garden façade) of the corps de logis is of 15 bays, the central 5 bays carry a prostyle portico of six Corinthian columns. The southern façade is more sombre in its embellishment, but has at its centre, six ionic columns surmounted by a pediment. The terminating pavilions have been much altered from their original design by Wood; he originally envisaged two pavilions at each end of the range; an unusual composition which was ignored by Jones who terminated the range with a single pavilion as is the more conventional Palladian concept. The East Wing was altered around 1830 when it was converted into a school, having included a brewhouse previously when a pedimented three-bay second floor was added by John Pensiston. Around 1834 Goodridge altered the West Wing to include a theatre, which was damaged by bombs during the Bath Blitz of 1942. The central flight of steps and urns, in Baroque style, which front the north portico were added by Goodridge in 1836.</p><br>
<p>In the 1830s Goodridge put forward plans for a large cathedral to be built in the grounds. However this was never proceeded with and instead was replaced by a plan for a small chapel to be incorporated in the west wing of the mansion. In 1844 Joseph John Scoles created the Church of St Paul which, along with the remainder of the west wing, is Grade I listed.</p><br>
<p>The total length of the principal elevation is between 1,200 ft and 1,300 ft in length. Of that, the corps de logis occupies 150 ft. The two storey building with attics and a basement is topped with a Westmorland slate roof.</p><br>
<h2>Gardens</h2><br>
<p>The first park on the site was set out by John of Tours the Bishop of Bath and Wells around 1100, as part of a deer park, and subsequently sold to Humphrey Colles and then Matthew Colhurst. It is set in a small valley with steep sides, from which there are views of the city of Bath. Prior Park&#39;s 11.3 hectare landscape garden was laid out by the poet Alexander Pope between the construction of the house and 1764. During 1737, at least 55,200 trees, mostly elm and Scots pine, were planted, along the sides and top of the valley. No trees were planted on the valley floor. Water was channeled into fish ponds at the bottom of the valley.</p><br>
<p>Later work, during the 1750s and 1760s, was undertaken by the landscape gardener Capability Brown. This included extending the gardens to the north and removing the central cascade making the combe into a single sweep.</p><br>
<p>The features in the gardens include a Palladian bridge (one of only 4 left in the world), Gothic temple, gravel cabinet, Mrs Allen&#39;s Grotto, ice house, lodge and three pools with curtain walls plus a serpentine lake. The Palladian bridge, which is a copy of the one at Wilton House, was built by Richard Jones, and has been designated as a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument. It was repaired in 1936.</p><br>
<p>The rusticated stone piers on either side of the main entrance gates are surmounted by entablatures and large ornamental vases, while those at the drive entrance have ornamental carved finials. The porter&#39;s lodge was built along with the main house to designs by John Wood the Elder.</p><br>
<p>In 1993, the National Trust obtained the park and pleasure grounds. In November 2006, the large-scale restoration project began on the cascade, serpentine lake and Gothic temple in the Wilderness area, this is now complete. Extensive planting also took place in 2007. The Palladian Bridge is also featured on the cover of the album Morningrise by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth released in 1996.</p><br>
<p>Murray Mouth is the point at which the River Murray meets the Southern Ocean. The Murray Mouth&#39;s location is changeable. Historical records show that the channel out to sea moves along the sand dunes over time. At times of greater river flow and rough seas, the two bodies of water would erode the sand dunes to create a new channel leaving the old one to silt and disappear.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The mouth of the Murray River is located about 10 km south east of Goolwa and about 75 km south south-east of the Adelaide city centre in the gazetted localities of Coorong and Goolwa South. The mouth is an opening in the coastal dune system which separates the river system from the ocean and which extends from near Goolwa in a south-easterly direction along the continental coastline for about 145 km. The mouth divides the dune system into two peninsulas. The peninsula on the west side is Sir Richard Peninsula which terminates at the mouth with a point named Pullen Spit. The peninsula on the east side is Younghusband Peninsula which terminates at the mouth with a point known in some sources as Sleepy Hollow.</p><br>
<p>Water flows throughout the mouth from two directions. Firstly, the flow from the west passes along a passage known as the Goolwa Channel which is bounded by Hindmarsh Island to its north side. Secondly, the flow from the east passes along a passage known as the Coorong Channel. The Coorong Channel itself is fed by the Mundoo Channel which passes between Hindmarsh Island and Mundoo Island to the north, and by the Tauwitchere Channel to the east.</p><br>
<h2>Natural history</h2><br>
<p>From the Pleistocene about 2.5 million years ago, the Murray River terminated in a freshwater lake called Lake Bungunnia which included the area now occupied by the South Australia/New South Wales border. The lake drained less than a million years ago, creating the current course. It was suggested that the Murray may have taken a different course to the ocean, via Burra, South Australia and emptied into the Spencer Gulf, before being defeated by the rise of the Mt Lofty Ranges however this has been studied, through analysing the uplift date of the Mt Lofty Ranges and other geological data and found that this was not likely to be the case.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>European discovery and use</h3><br>
<p>During 19th century with the discovery of gold, and the development of sheep and wheat farming along the Murray and its tributaries, the river became a major thoroughfare for the carriage of goods and produce. During the peak period of Murray River commerce (roughly 1855 to 1920) and before the development of rail and road transport, the Murray Mouth with its complex and unpredictable interaction between shallow, shifting and variable currents and the open sea, presented a major impediment to traffic between Adelaide and the Murray settlements, and many vessels foundered or were wrecked there.</p><br>
<h2>Water flow</h2><br>
<p>River Murray water is used by farmers for irrigation in four of Australia&#39;s states, as well as supplying water to most towns along the river, and many further away through various pipelines. It has been widely accepted that too much water is being extracted; however business and political concerns make it difficult to remedy the problem. A visible symptom of the over-extraction of river water is the closing of the Murray Mouth.</p><br>
<p>From October 2002 until 2010 dredging machines operated at the Murray Mouth.</p><br>
<p>Between 2002 and 2006, two machines operated moving sand from the channel to maintain a minimal flow from the sea and into the Coorong&#39;s lagoon system. Without the 24-hour dredging, the mouth was at risk of becoming silted and closing, cutting the supply of fresh seawater into the Coorong, which would then warm up, stagnate and die.</p><br>
<p>In mid-2006 the dredging was scaled back as a result of the improved conditions at the mouth. Now only one dredging machine operates, and permission was granted to one commercial operator to navigate the channel between Goolwa and the Coorong, passing the mouth. This operation finished in 2010.</p><br>
<p>Dredging was scheduled to resume in January 2015.</p><br>
<h2>Protected area status and other arrangements</h2><br>
<h3>Australian government</h3><br>
<p>The Murray mouth is immediately adjoined on its northern and eastern sides by the boundary of the Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland Ramsar site.</p><br>
<h3>South Australian government</h3><br>
<p>The Murray mouth is located within a special purpose area within the Encounter Marine Park and is immediately adjoined on its northern and eastern sides by the boundary of the Coorong National Park.</p><br>
<h3>Non-statutory arrangements</h3><br>
<p>The Murray mouth is adjoined on its northern and eastern sides by the boundary of the Coorong Important Bird Area which is an area considered by Birdlife International to be a place of ‘international significance for the conservation of birds and other biodiversity.’</p><br>
<h2>Citations and references</h2><br>
<h3>Citations</h3><br>
<p>Koryaksky or Koryakskaya Sopka  is an active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East. It lies within sight of Kamchatka Krai&#39;s administrative center, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Together with neighbouring Avachinsky, it has been designated a Decade Volcano, worthy of particular study in light of its history of explosive eruptions and proximity to populated areas.</p><br>
<h2>Geological history</h2><br>
<p>Koryaksky lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, at a point where the Pacific Plate is sliding underneath the Eurasian Plate at about 80 mm/year. A wedge of mantle material lying between the subducting Pacific Plate and the overlying Eurasian Plate is the source of dynamic volcanism over the whole Kamchatka Peninsula.</p><br>
<p>The volcano has probably been active for tens of thousands of years. Geological records indicate that there have been three major eruptions in the last 10,000 years, at 5500 BC, 1950 BC and 1550 BC. These three eruptions seem to have been mainly effusive, generating extensive lava flows.</p><br>
<h2>Recent activity</h2><br>
<p>Koryaksky erupted for the first time in recorded history in 1890. The eruption was characterised by lava emissions from fissures that opened up on the volcano&#39;s southwestern flank, and by phreatic explosions. It was thought to have erupted again five years later, but it was later shown that no eruption had occurred; what was thought to be an eruption column was simply steam generated by strong fumarolic activity.</p><br>
<p>Another brief, moderately explosive eruption occurred in 1926, after which the volcano lay dormant until 1956. The 1956 eruption was more explosive than the previous known eruptions, with VEI=3, and generated pyroclastic flows and lahars. The eruption continued until June 1957.</p><br>
<p>On December 29, 2008, Koryaksky erupted with a 6,000 m plume of ash, the first major eruption in 3,500 years.</p><br>
<p>In light of its proximity to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Koryaksky was designated a Decade Volcano in 1996 as part of the United Nations&#39; International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, together with the nearby Avachinsky volcano.</p><br>
<p>Lake Togo &#39; is the largest part of a lagoon in Togo, separated from the head by a narrow coastal strip. It is shallow and a popular location for water sports. Towns on the lake&#39;s shore include Agbodrafo and Togoville. Transport on the lake is generally by pirogue.</p><br>
<h2>Lake Togo Origin</h2><br>
<p>Lake Togo is about 15 km long, 6 km wide and 64km² in area. It receives water from the Sio River in the southwest and various other smaller streams to the west and east and the Haho River enters from the north. The lake is separated from the sea by a sandbar a kilometre or so wide. Water exits to the east through a canal-like extension where it receives water from the nearby, smaller Lake Vogan, and continues into the lagoonal system along the coast.</p><br>
<p>A main road traverses the coast to the south of the lake and local roads circle the lake, connecting the small villages. The area is not heavily populated and there is little tourism. The economy depends on extensive agriculture and fishing, with seine nets being used and fish sold in local towns. Coconuts are grown between the lake and the coast, and there are plantations of coconut and oil palms on the flood plains to the north of the lake.</p><br>
<h2>Wildlife</h2><br>
<p>Lake Togo, together with the nearby smaller Lake Vogan and various coastal lagoons, make up an important area for birds. They are surrounded by floodplains which are covered with typical floodplain grasses, and Phragmites and Typha occur in wetter depressions. There are no mangroves because these lagoons are not tidal. At times when flood water is present in the lagoons, the fast-growing water cabbage (Pistia stratiotes) appears.</p><br>
<p>The lake, wetlands, lagoons and coastal sands of this area provide resting places for migrant water birds and terns on their routes down the west side of Africa. Fish in the lake are of both marine and riverine origins, and the most common species are Tilapia and the carfish Chrysichthys. Invertebrates include the gastropod molluscs Pachymelania spp. and Tympanotonos fuscatus, and the crustaceans Farfantepenaeus duorarum and Callinectes latimanus.</p><br>
<p>Lake Faguibine is a lake in Mali on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert situated 80 km west of Timbuktu and 75 km north of the Niger River to which it is connected by a system of smaller lakes and channels. In years when the height of the annual flood of the river is sufficient, water flows from the river into the lake. Since the Sahel drought of the 1970s and 1980s the lake has been mostly dry. Water has only rarely reached the lake and even when it has done so, the lake has been only partially filled with water. This has caused a partial collapse of the local ecosystem.</p><br>
<h2>Lake Faguibine system</h2><br>
<p>The lake forms part of a system of five interconnected low-lying depressions that fill to variable depths depending on the extent of the annual flood of the Niger River. Lake Faguibine is by far the largest of these depressions with an area of 590 km. The low annual rainfall in the area (less than 200 mm) only has a marginal effect on the water levels in the depressions.</p><br>
<p>The depressions are connected to the Niger River by two channels. The more southerly Kondi channel (64 km in length) branches from the Niger a few kilometers downstream of Diré and then meanders across the Killi floodplain. The larger and more northerly Tassakane channel (104 km in length) branches from the Niger further downstream near Korioumé and then meanders across the Kessou floodplain. The two channels unite to form a single channel to the east of Goundam which after another 20 km flows into the southern end of Lake Télé. Lake Télé is connected at its northern end to Lake Takara. Water flows out of the northern end of Lake Takara, across a rocky sill at Kamaïna and then turns west passing the village of Bintagoungou to reach Lake Faguibine.</p><br>
<p>Both Lake Télé and Lake Takara need to be completely filled before the water can flow over the sill at Kamaïna and begin to supply Lake Faguibine. In a similar manner two depressions to the east of Lake Faguibine (Lake Kamango and Lake Gouber) only start to fill once Lake Faguibine is full. To completely fill the 590 km of Lake Faguibine requires about 4 km of water. This represents around 17 percent of the average discharge of the Niger (1970-1998) at Diré.</p><br>
<p>The lake bed is very fertile and the ideal situation for the sedentary farmers is when the lake is only partially filled. This allows crops to be cultivated around the border of the lake and the growth of Echinochloa stagnina ("bourgou") in low-lying areas to provide dry season pasture. This regime requires much less water – only around 0.5 km.</p><br>
<h2>River Niger and the annual flood</h2><br>
<p>&gt;Documentation at Data from Draw bars Documentation at http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:EasyTimeline/syntax</p><br>
<p>Data from - unable to download numbers - height estimated from curves.</p><br>
<p>Maximum in Dec - early Jan for higher floods</p><br>
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<p>Florina  is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, Where Greece begins.</p><br>
<p>The town of Florina is the capital of the Florina regional unit and also the seat of the eponymous municipality. It belongs to the administrative region of West Macedonia. The town&#39;s population is 17,686 people (2011 census). It is in a wooded valley about 13 km south of the international border of Greece with the Republic of Macedonia.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Florina is the gateway to the Prespa Lakes and, until the modernisation of the road system, of the old town of Kastoria. It is located west of Edessa, northwest of Kozani, and northeast of Ioannina and Kastoria cities. Outside the Greek borders it is in proximity to Korçë in Albania and Bitola in the Republic of Macedonia. The nearest airports are situated to the east and the south (in Kozani). The mountains of Verno lie to the southwest and Varnous to the northwest.</p><br>
<p>Winters bring heavy snow and long periods of temperature below freezing point. Furthermore, the town and the surrounding valley is usually covered in thick fog during the winter months that may last even for weeks under specific conditions. During the summer months it becomes a busy market town with an economy boosted by summer and, mostly, winter tourism due to the heavy snowfalls and the nearby ski resorts.</p><br>
<p>Even though Florina was the site of the first rail line built in the southern Ottoman provinces in the late 19th century, its rail system remains undeveloped. Today, Florina is linked by a single track standard gauge line to Thessaloniki and Bitola, and to Kozani (meter gauge) where it was intended to continue south and link up with the terminal in Kalambaka, in Thessaly but this did not proceed due to the 1930s financial crisis.</p><br>
<p>Florina is passed by GR-2 (Lake Prespa - Edessa) and GR-3/E65 (Kozani - Florina - Niki - Bitola). The new Motorway 27 (A27) will run east of Florina with its Florina-Niki segment already operational since 2015. The historic Via Egnatia is situated to the east.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Florina is one of the coldest towns in Greece, because of its elevation and geographic position. Heavy snowfalls, thick fog and below-freezing temperatures are common during the winter months, while the summers are mild. Under the Köppen climate classification, Florina has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with strong hot-summer continental climate (Dfa) influences.</p><br>
<p>On 18 January 2012, a temperature of -25.1 °C was recorded by the HNMSs station with several reports, however, in the local press for temperatures in villages of the municipality that reached -32 ° C, but there was no official record of such temperature. The National Observatory of Athenss station reported a temperature of -22.2 °C a day earlier in Florina, while the same station continuously recorded minimum temperatures below -20 °C from 16/1/12 until 19/1/12, with the average maximum temperature for January just -0.6 °C, and the prevalence for 13 consecutive days of temperatures below 0 °C 24 hours a day. The above situation resulted in the Greek General Secretariat of Civil Protection to declare the municipality of Florina in a state of emergency on 16/1/12, at the request of the mayor of Florina, due to the polar temperatures and the intense snowfall that prevailed for days.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The city&#39;s original Byzantine name, Χλέρινον (Chlérinon, "full of green vegetation"), derives from the Greek word χλωρός (chlōrós, "fresh" or "green vegetation"). The name was sometimes Latinized as Florinon (from the Latin flora, "vegetation") in the later Byzantine period, and in early Ottoman documents the forms Chlerina and Florina are both used, with the latter becoming standard after the 17th century. The form with (φλωρός) is a local dialect form of χλωρός in Greek. The Slavic name for the city is Lerin (Лерин), which is a borrowing of the Byzantine Greek name, but with the loss of the initial characteristic of the local dialect. The Albanian name for the city is Follorinë.</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The current municipality of Florina was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that since 2011 became municipal units:</p><br>
<p>Florina</p><br>
<p>Kato Kleines</p><br>
<p>Meliti</p><br>
<p>Perasma</p><br>
<p>The municipality has an area of 819.698 km, and the municipal unit 150.634 km.</p><br>
<h3>Municipal Unit subdivisions</h3><br>
<p>The municipal unit of Florina is further divided into the following communities:</p><br>
<p>Alona</p><br>
<p>Armenochori</p><br>
<p>Florina</p><br>
<p>Koryfi</p><br>
<p>Mesonisi</p><br>
<p>Proti</p><br>
<p>Skopia</p><br>
<p>Trivouno</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Within the boundaries of the present-day city lie the remains of a Hellenistic settlement on the hill of Agios Panteleimon. Archaeologists excavated on the site in 1930-1934, but a hotel was later built over the ruins. Excavations began again in the 1980s and the total excavated area is now around 8000 metres square. The buildings uncovered are mostly residential blocks, and the range of finds suggests that the site was continuously inhabited from the 4th century BC until its destruction by fire in the 1st century BC. Many of these finds are now on display in the Archaeological Museum of Florina.</p><br>
<p>The town is first mentioned in 1334, when the Serbian king Stefan Dušan established a certain Sphrantzes Palaeologus as commander of the fortress of Chlerenon. By 1385, the place had fallen to the Ottomans. An Ottoman defter (cadastral tax census) for the year 1481 records a settlement of 243 households.</p><br>
<p>Florina and its inhabitants greatly contributed to the Macedonian Struggle. Prominent leaders included Nikolaos Pyrzas, and Petros Chatzitasis. Former President Christos Sartzetakis originates from Florina through his mother.</p><br>
<p>During the Macedonian Struggle the Greek makedonomahoi gained significant advantage towards the Bulgarian Exarhists within 10 months in 1905 and extended their zone of control in various regions of western Macedonia including the plains north and south of Florina. In 1912 came under the control of the Greek forces as a result of the Ottoman defeat in the First Balkan War. Muslim Albanians from Florina and the wider region during the population exchange (1923) based on religious criteria were sent to Turkey, and mainly resettled in Bursa. The town was again in the firing line during World War I, during which it was occupied by Bulgaria, and during the Axis Occupation in World War II, when the town became a centre of Slavic separatism.</p><br>
<p>For part of the Greek Civil War (1946–1949) the mountains of the Florina area were under communist control. The Slavic-Macedonian National Liberation Front, later simply the National Liberation Front or NOF, had a significant presence in the area: by 1946, seven Slav Macedonian partisan units were operating in the Florina area, and NOF had a regional committee based in Florina. When the NOF merged with the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), many Slav Macedonians in the region enlisted as volunteers in the DSE. When the Communists were defeated on February 12, 1949 by the Greek army thousands of communists and Slav Macedonians were evacuated or fled to Yugoslavia and the Eastern Bloc.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Florina is a market town with an economy dominated by agriculture, forestry, summer and winter tourism, cross-border trading and the sale of local produce such as grain, grapes, and vegetables including Florina peppers. It also has textile mills and is known for locally manufactured leather handicrafts.</p><br>
<p>The most notable industrial activity is the very large Ptolemaia-Florina lignite mine.</p><br>
<p>Its university changed in 2002 from being a branch of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, to a part of the University of Western Macedonia. After 2004, four departments that previously belonged to the Aristotle University, reinforced its potential.</p><br>
<p>Florina has 8 radio stations, 2 daily political newspapers, 4 weekly ones, one women&#39;s press and two newspapers on sports.</p><br>
<p>During the 1950s and 1960s, the area lost much of its population to emigration, both to Athens and Thessaloniki as well as US, Canada, Australia and Germany. Following Greece&#39;s EU membership and the economic upturn, many from Germany returned.</p><br>
<h2>Landmarks</h2><br>
<p>Archaeological Museum of Florina</p><br>
<p>Florina Museum of Modern Art</p><br>
<p>The Florina Art Gallery</p><br>
<p>Folklore Museum of the Aristotle Association</p><br>
<p>Folklore Museum of the Culture Club</p><br>
<p>Ptolemaida-Florina coal mine</p><br>
<h2>Historical demographics</h2><br>
<p>In 1821 the Greeks were about 80 families. Austrian diplomat Johann Georg von Hahn visited the city in 1861 and wrote about it in his travel log From Belgrade to Salonica. In it he writes that "bout the houses in Florina, we should indicate that there are at most 3000, with half of the population Albanian and Turkish Muslims and the other half Christian Bulgarians." According to a 1878 French ethnographic book Florina was a town of 1500 households, inhabited by 2800 Muslims and 1800 Bulgarians. In 1896 French diplomat and traveller Victor Bérard visited Florina. Greeks from Florina participated in the Greek Revolution of 1821 with the most important fighter being Aggelinas who also fought in Crete while others also fought in Mesologgi. Members of Filiki Eteria were the brothers Loukas Nedelkos and Nikolaos Nedelkos, who were born in the Florina region.</p><br>
<p>The demographic composition of the area the 19th and early 20th centuries is unclear as many factors contributed to the ethnic orientation of the people; out of these religion was particularly important thus giving rise to a proselytism struggle between the Greek Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Bulgarian Exarchate (established in 1870). The actual Greek-speaking element in this area was concentrated in urban centres where it participated in the religious, administrative, social, and educational sectors of life.</p><br>
<h2>Cinema</h2><br>
<p>Movies of the Greek cinema filmed in the area, mostly by Theodoros Angelopoulos include:</p><br>
<p>The Beekeeper (film)</p><br>
<p>The Suspended Step of the Stork</p><br>
<p>Ulysses&#39; Gaze</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Dimitrios Makris, Member of Parliament and Minister</p><br>
<p>Necati Cumalı - Turkish novelist, short-story writer and poet</p><br>
<p>Pavlos Voskopoulos - politician and leader of the Rainbow party</p><br>
<p>Alexis Alexoudis, footballer</p><br>
<p>Nikolaos Pyrzas, leader during the Macedonian Struggle</p><br>
<p>Mary Coustas, actress</p><br>
<p>Nadia Tass, director and actress</p><br>
<p>Vassy, singer</p><br>
<p>The Nab is a fell in the English Lake District. It has a moderate height of 576 metres , and lies in the quieter eastern high ground between Ullswater and Haweswater Reservoir. The Nab is included in Alfred Wainwrights list of Lakeland fells and many walkers feel compelled to climb it to complete their list of Wainwrights&#39; even though it is not a significant fell and is awkward to reach.</p><br>
<h2>Topography</h2><br>
<p>The Nab is a top on the northern ridge of Rest Dodd, one of the horseshoe of fells surrounding the Martindale catchment. It divides the valleys of Bannerdale and Rampsgill, which meet below the nose of the ridge to form How Grain. The sides of the ridge are steep and rough, but the top is broad and level. It is scarred by peat hags, some deeper than a man.</p><br>
<h2>Access and history</h2><br>
<p>When Alfred Wainwright wrote his pictorial guide to the Far Eastern Fells in the 1950s The Nab, as part of the Martindale Deer Forest was strictly out of bounds. He wrote in the chapter on The Nab:</p><br>
<p>The Nab is now open access under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 so things seem to have changed these days; there are still Private notices posted, but the barbed wire and barricades have gone and walkers seem to be tolerated except during the stalking season. It is probably still a good idea to check with the Dalemain Estate (who administer the property) at their offices in Pooley Bridge to see if walking is allowed on a specific date.</p><br>
<p>Anybody approaching from the north will see The Bungalow in Martindale which was formerly a shooting lodge built in 1910 by the Earl of Lonsdale for the visiting Kaiser Wilhelm and is now a holiday cottage available to rent.</p><br>
<p>A report from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs found that Martindale deer may be the only pure blooded Red Deer left in England as many herds become cross bred with genes from the Sika Deer.</p><br>
<h2>Summit</h2><br>
<p>The grassy dome of the summit is marked by a small cairn. Although the view is obstructed by higher ground southward there is an end to end view of the Helvellyn range above Angletarn Pikes.</p><br>
<h2>Ascents</h2><br>
<p>The route from Martindale to the summit follows a well engineered stalkers path which zig-zags up the fell and avoids any difficulties by-passing the crags of Nab End just below the summit.</p><br>
<p>Most walkers who reach the summit of The Nab do not risk the wrath of the Dalemain Estate and avoid Martindale altogether, attaining the highest point by approaching and leaving along the boggy ridge which links with the neighbouring fell of Rest Dodd. This route has the added attraction of seeing the herds of Red deer on the open fell. The best starting point for this uncontroversial ascent of The Nab is Hartsop village in Patterdale, just off the A592 main road, where there is a large car park; this circular walk also takes in the Wainwright fells of Brock Crags, Rest Dodd and Angletarn Pikes before descending back to Hartsop.</p><br>
<p>Didymóteicho  is a town located on the eastern edge of the Evros regional unit of East Macedonia and Thrace, in northeastern Greece. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name. The town  sits on a plain and located south east of Svilengrad, south of Edirne, Turkey and Orestiada, west of Uzunköprü, Turkey, about 20 km north of Soufli and about 90 km north of Alexandroupoli. The municipality of Didymóteicho has a land area of 565.4 km² and a population of 19,493 inhabitants.</p><br>
<p>Didymoteicho is just 2 kilometers away from the Greek-Turkish border, and as a result it is home to many Greek military units and Hellenic Army training centers. Hundreds of thousands of Greek men had to either receive military training or spend part of their military service here (see conscription in Greece). The famous 1991 George Dalaras and Lavrentis Machairitsas song Didymoteicho Blues (Διδυμότειχο Μπλουζ) pays homage to the personal stories and experiences of these soldiers while offering a more general commentary about life in the Army.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The city was formerly known in Katharevousa as Διδυμότειχον, Didymóteichon, from δίδυμος, dídymos, "twin" and τεῖχος, teîchos, "wall". It was called Dimetoka in Turkish, during the rule of the Ottoman Empire and Dimotika by the Pomaks of the region.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Forests dominate the banks and parts of the plain. Much of the area is used for farming. The main produce is cattle, fruits and vegetables and some flowers. The hills dominate further west. Near the area lies the great forest of Dadia. Didymoteicho is located around 12 km from Turkey and the western banks of the Evros. It is the easternmost municipality on the mainland of Greece (in its town of Pythio). In the west, much of the land is mountainous and forested, while farmlands are located in the central and the northern part. It is on the railway line Thessaloniki–Istanbul and the Greek road 51 (Alexandroupoli–Orestiada–Edirne in Turkey and Svilengrad in Bulgaria).</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The municipality Didymoteicho was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 2 former municipalities, that became municipal units:</p><br>
<p>Didymoteicho</p><br>
<p>Metaxades</p><br>
<p>The municipality has an area of 565.372 km, the municipal unit 354.134 km.</p><br>
<h3>Communities</h3><br>
<p>The municipal unit Didymoteicho is subdivided into the following communities (constituent settlements in brackets):</p><br>
<p>Didymoteicho (Didymoteicho, Zoodochos Pigi, Neoi Psathades)</p><br>
<p>Asvestades</p><br>
<p>Asimenio</p><br>
<p>Ellinochori (Ellinochori, Thyrea, Lagos)</p><br>
<p>Isaakio</p><br>
<p>Karoti</p><br>
<p>Koufovouno</p><br>
<p>Kyani</p><br>
<p>Mani (Mani, Evgeniko, Sitaria)</p><br>
<p>Petrades</p><br>
<p>Poimeniko</p><br>
<p>Prangio</p><br>
<p>Pythio (Pythio, Rigio, Stathmos)</p><br>
<p>Sitochori</p><br>
<p>Sofiko</p><br>
<p>The largest settlements, other than Didymoteicho itself, are Sofikó (pop. 795), Metaxades (687), Koufóvouno (629), Lagós (620) and Ellinochóri (593).</p><br>
<h2>Province</h2><br>
<p>The province of Didymoteicho (Επαρχία Διδυμοτείχου) was one of the provinces of the Evros Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipality Didymoteicho and the municipal unit Orfeas. It was abolished in 2006.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Antiquity</h3><br>
<p>The area around the town was inhabited in Neolithic times. It was later an important Thracian and Hellenistic town, sacked by the Romans in 204 BC. In the early 2nd century, the Roman emperor Trajan created a new city on the banks of the Maritsa River, between two surrounding hills, near modern Turkish Uzunköprü, and named it Plotinopolis after his wife Pompeia Plotina. The city would later be one of the most important towns in Thrace, having its own assembly, and an episcopal see (suffragan of Adrianople). The ruins of the ancient city are now known as the Kale, after the Turkish for "castle". A solid gold bust of Emperor Septimius Severus found on the site of Plotinopolis in 1965 is now in the museum at Komotini.</p><br>
<p>The city had been built in a very strategic position, because it had for exploitation a very fertile plain and also controlled a passage of Erythropotamos, through which passed a branch of the via Egnatia leading in the middle and upper valley of Evros river and on the shores of the Black Sea.</p><br>
<h3>Medieval era</h3><br>
<p>According to F. A. Giannopoulos, Didymoteicho was probably built in the 6th century by Justinian I to replace Plotinopolis, whose exposed lowland location made it hard to defend. It seems that already in the 7th century, Plotinopolis had been abandoned in favour of the new site. The fortress was captured by Krum of Bulgaria in 813, but in 879 it was a bishopric whose incumbent, Nikephoros, participated in the Ninth Council of Constantinople. A century later, it served as a place of exile for the general and rebel Bardas Skleros, who unsuccessfully tried to oust Byzantine Emperor Basil II.</p><br>
<p>Didymoteicho briefly became the seat of a short-lived lordship within the Latin Empire after the Fourth Crusade. In the early 13th century, the town was fought over by Latin crusaders, members of the Angelos family, the Bulgarians, circa 1204 by the Despotate of Epirus. Finally the Empire of Nicaea returned Didymoteicho to Byzantine Greek control by capturing it around 1243 during the reign of John III Doukas Vatatzes. After the Byzantine reconquest of Constantinople in 1261, Didymoteicho became the most important city in Thrace.</p><br>
<p>During the Byzantine civil war of 1341–47, it served as the base of John VI Kantakouzenos. The lower city was destroyed during the war and rebuilt in 1342. After the war, the city became the centre of the Thracian appanage of Matthew Kantakouzenos,</p><br>
<p>The city was the birthplace of emperors John III Doukas Vatatzes (born c. 1193) and John V Palaiologos (b. 18 June 1332).</p><br>
<h3>Ottoman era</h3><br>
<p>Didymoteicho was captured by the Ottoman Turks in 1359 and again, this time permanently, in 1361. The Battle of Demotika, the Ottomans&#39; first victory in Europe, was fought before the city in 1352 during yet another Byzantine civil war.</p><br>
<p>The city—known as Dimetoka or Demotika under Ottoman rule—was probably captured by the Ottoman commander Hadji Ilbeg. It soon became the seat of the Ottoman court under Murad I, until the conquest of nearby Adrianople a few years later. It nevertheless remained a "favourite resort of early Ottoman rulers" due to its rich hunting grounds even after the capital moved to Adrianople and Constantinople. As such the city was rebuilt, with the Byzantine walls repaired and a royal palace constructed, and beautified, an effect still evident in 1443, when the French traveler Bertrandon de la Broquiere visited it. Bayezid II was born there and was on his way there to retire after abdicating in favour of his son, Selim I, when he died (probably of poison).</p><br>
<p>The Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi visited the town in 1670. The town was the seat of a kadi and administrative centre of the local district (nahiye). Evliya also provides a description of the fortress. The upper fortress, where the disused royal palace was located, measured some 2,500 paces in circumference, with double stone walls and "a hundred" towers; the sole Muslim living there was the commander, the rest of it, some 100 households, being inhabited solely by non-Muslims. The citadel within it (Iç Kale) was arranged on two levels, one of which was known as the "Maidens Castle" (Kız Kalesı). The outer town (Varoş) counted 600 multi-storeyed houses and was divided into 12 wards (mahalle). There were several mosques and mesjits, of which the Bayezid Mosque was the most important, as well as four madrasahs, one of which was established by Sultan Bayezid I. From Evliyas references, the area of Didymoteicho appears to have been a major centre of the Bektashi dervishes. Of the local hamams, the most notable was the so-called "Whisper Bath" (fısıltı hamamı), with its "Ear of Dionysus&quot it survived at least until the 1890s. The town had a marketplace but no bezesten; its chief produce were grapes and quinces, but also local pottery and glassware, which had a great reputation.</p><br>
<p>Swedish king Charles XII stayed in the town from February 1713 to October 1714 after his flight from the Battle of Poltava, but otherwise the town became an unimportant provincial backwater in early modern times.</p><br>
<h3>Modern era</h3><br>
<p>In 1912 the town was briefly occupied by the Bulgarians during the First Balkan War, only to return to the Ottomans a year later. The Ottoman Government offered the city to Bulgaria in 1915, as a reward for entering World War I on the side of the Central Powers. Under the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Neuilly, Didymoteicho, along with the rest of Western Thrace, came under the temporary management of a multinational Entente military force led by the French General Charles Antoine Charpy. In the second half of April 1920, as a result of the San Remo conference of the leaders of the main allies of the Entente powers (except the United States), the region of Western Thrace was annexed by Greece. The Second World War devastated Didymoteicho. Today Didymoteicho is home to many descendants of Greek refugees from Eastern Thrace, now Turkey, as well as members of Greece&#39;s Turkish-speaking Muslim minority population (see Western Thrace Turks). Like the Pomaks of East Macedonia and Thrace the Turkish population of Didymoteicho dates to the Ottoman period and unlike the Turkish Muslims and Greek Muslims of Greek Macedonia and Epirus was exempted from the 1922–23 Greek-Turkish population exchange following the Treaty of Lausanne.</p><br>
<p>The town was considerably affected by the Evros river flooding of 17 to 22 February 2005. Flood warnings were reported at that time. The flood affected much of the town on Wednesday, 2 March 2005 and continued for several days. On Friday, 4 March, flood waters began to ebb slowly. Over 5,000 mm of rainfall caused the river to overflow its banks. Buildings, properties and stores were flooded, leaving people stranded. It was the worst flood in nearly 50 years. The railway line south of Didymoteicho and near the station was also flooded and was closed. Serious flooding was also experienced in March 2006 throughout the city and the general Evros river area.</p><br>
<h2>Landmarks</h2><br>
<p>Castle, situated in the northwestern part of town</p><br>
<p>The Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Mosque or Beyazid Mosque, completed in 1420.</p><br>
<p>Didymoteicho Folklore Museum</p><br>
<p>The Silent Baths, the oldest hamam in Europe. Today there are only ruins of the baths (figure 13) but a European union project has been initiated to restore them.</p><br>
<p>International Centre of Young Artists of Eastern Europe,</p><br>
<p>Central Square, next to the town hall</p><br>
<p>Military Museum, ,</p><br>
<p>Municipal Theatre, on Georgios Street</p><br>
<p>The ruins of the ancient city of Plotinopolis.</p><br>
<p>The Byzantine town wall and its fortifications, situated around the town.</p><br>
<h2>Historical population</h2><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>John III Doukas Vatatzes (c. 1192–1254), emperor of Nicaea</p><br>
<p>John V Palaiologos (1332–1391), Byzantine Emperor</p><br>
<p>Bayezid II (1481–1512) Sultan of the Ottoman Empire</p><br>
<p>Eugenios Eugenidis (1882–1954), shipping magnate</p><br>
<p>Sürmeli Ali Pasha Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire</p><br>
<p>Avachinsky   is an active stratovolcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far east of Russia. It lies within sight of the capital of Kamchatka Krai, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Together with neighboring Koryaksky volcano, it has been designated a Decade Volcano, worthy of particular study in light of its history of explosive eruptions and proximity to populated areas.</p><br>
<p>Avachinskys last eruption occurred in 2008. This eruption was tiny compared to the volcanos major Volcanic Explosivity Index 4 eruption in 1945.</p><br>
<h2>Geological history</h2><br>
<p>Avachinsky lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, at a point where the Pacific Plate is sliding underneath the Eurasian Plate at a rate of about 80 mm/year. A wedge of mantle material lying between the subducting Pacific Plate and the overlying Eurasian Plate is the source of dynamic volcanism over the whole Kamchatka Peninsula.</p><br>
<p>The volcano is one of the most active volcanoes on the Kamchatka Peninsula, and began erupting in the middle to late Pleistocene era. It has a horseshoe-shaped caldera, which formed 30-40,000 years ago in a major landslide which covered an area of 500 km² south of the volcano, underlying the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Reconstruction of a new cone inside the caldera occurred in two major eruption phases, 18,000 and 7,000 years ago.</p><br>
<h2>Recorded history</h2><br>
<p>In his Journal of Captain Cook&#39;s Last Voyage, John Ledyard records the eruption of Avachinsky on June 15, 1779. He refers to Koryaksky and Avachinsky as Peter and Paul.</p><br>
<h2>Recent activity</h2><br>
<p>Avachinsky has erupted at least 16 times in recorded history. Eruptions have generally been explosive, and pyroclastic flows and lahars have tended to be directed to the south west by the breached caldera. The most recent large eruption (VEI=4) occurred in 1945, when about 0.25 km³ of magma was ejected. The volcano has since had small eruptions in 1991 and 2001.</p><br>
<p>The volcano continues to experience frequent earthquakes, and many fumaroles exist near the summit. The temperature of gases emitted at these fumaroles has been measured at over 400 °C. In light of its proximity to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Avachinsky was designated a Decade Volcano in 1996 as part of the United Nations&#39; International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, together with the nearby Koryaksky volcano.</p><br>
<p>Historic Locust Grove is a 55-acre 18th-century farm site and National Historic Landmark situated in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky. The site is owned by the Louisville Metro government, and operated as a historic interpretive site by Historic Locust Grove, Inc.</p><br>
<p>The main feature on the property is the ca. 1790 Georgian mansion that was the home of the Croghan family and gathering place for George Rogers Clark, Lewis and Clark, and USA Presidents. In addition to the mansion there is the Visitors Center that houses a gift shop, museum and meeting space.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The site was founded in 1790 by William Croghan and his wife Lucy Clark Croghan. Lucy was the sister of the younger William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the older George Rogers Clark, former surveying partner of William Croghan.</p><br>
<p>On November 8, 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, tracing their way back from the Pacific Ocean, arrived at Locust Grove to a homecoming where Lucy Clark Croghan and her family welcomed them back from their journey. Locust Grove became the only residence still in existence west of the Appalachian Mountains to have sheltered Lewis and Clark. In the Fall of 2006, Locust Grove commemorated the 200th anniversary of Lewis and Clark&#39;s return.</p><br>
<p>George Rogers Clark lived at the site in the final years of his life, from 1809 to 1818.</p><br>
<p>The property was adjacent to Springfield, the home of Colonel Richard Taylor and his son, future USA President Zachary Taylor.</p><br>
<p>Following the death of William Croghan, the estate passed to John C. Croghan, notable for his purchase of Mammoth Cave in 1838.</p><br>
<p>In the winter of 1844, the farm was the site of the efforts of African-American slave Stephen Bishop to produce a map of Mammoth Cave. The resulting map was published in 1845, and remained the most complete and accurate map of the period until modern survey techniques were applied in 1908. A significant epilogue to Bishops story occurred in 1972, when a long-sought route connecting the caves of Flint Ridge and Mammoth Cave Ridge was discovered in an area which Bishop had mapped, but which had in the interim been almost completely flooded by the construction of a dam on the surface nearby: the area of the 20th Century connection route is shown on Bishops 19th century map.</p><br>
<p>It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986.</p><br>
<p>File:Locust Grove closeup.JPGCloseup of main house</p><br>
<p>File:Locust Grove NE.JPGNortheast view of main house</p><br>
<p>File:Locust Grove SE.JPGSoutheast view of main house</p><br>
<p>File:Locust Grove SW.JPGSouthwest view of main house</p><br>
<p>File:Locust Grove 1815 Log Cabin.JPGLog Cabin built around 1815 at the site</p><br>
<p>File:Locust Grove Smokehouse.JPGThe smokehouse is the only other original building at Locust Grove</p><br>
<p>File:Locust Grove Springhouse.JPGSpringhouse</p><br>
<p>File:Locust Grove Springhouse 2.JPGSpringhouse</p><br>
<p>File:Locust Grove Woodworking.JPGWoodworking shed</p><br>
<p>File:Locust Grove Visitor Center.JPGVisitor Center</p><br>
<p>Edge Hill is a historic plantation house located near Woodford in Caroline County, Virginia, United States. It was built in two sections. The earliest dates from 1820–21 and enlarged about 1840 by adding the western half, giving it a formal, symmetrical five-bay facade. It is a two-story brick dwelling with a gable roof and Federal exterior and interior detailing.</p><br>
<p>Also on the property is a large wooden building sheathed in board-and-batten siding and covered by a shallow hipped roof. It was built in 1857, as the Edge Hill Academy, a boys&#39; school operated by the owner of Edge Hill.</p><br>
<p>It was owned by Captain Henry Tapscott. The Tapscott family owned the property from 1738 to the 1870s.</p><br>
<p>It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<p>The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is an arboretum located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale sections of Boston, Massachusetts. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and is the second largest "link" in the Emerald Necklace.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Arboretum was founded in 1872 when the President and Fellows of Harvard College became trustees of a portion of the estate of James Arnold (1781–1868), a whaling merchant from New Bedford, Massachusetts.</p><br>
<p>In 1842, Benjamin Bussey (1757–1842), a prosperous Boston merchant and scientific farmer, donated his country estate Woodland Hill and a part of his fortune to Harvard University "for instruction in agriculture, horticulture, and related subjects". Bussey had inherited land from fellow patriot Eleazer Weld in 1800 and further enlarged his large estate between 1806 and 1837 by acquiring and consolidating various farms that had been established as early as the seventeenth century. Harvard used this land for the creation of the Bussey Institute, which was dedicated to agricultural experimentation. The first Bussey Institute building was completed in 1871 and served as headquarters for an undergraduate school of agriculture.</p><br>
<p>Sixteen years after Bussey&#39;s death, James Arnold specified that a portion of his estate was to be used for "...the promotion of Agricultural, or Horticultural improvements". In 1872, when the trustees of the will of James Arnold transferred his estate to Harvard University, Arnold’s gift was combined with 120 acre of the former Bussey estate to create the Arnold Arboretum. In the deed of trust between the Arnold trustees and the College, income from Arnold’s legacy was to be used for establishing, developing and maintaining an arboretum to be known as the Arnold Arboretum, which "shall contain, as far as practicable, all the trees shrubs... either indigenous or exotic, which can be raised in the open air of West Roxbury". The historical mission of the Arnold Arboretum is to increase knowledge of woody plants through research and to disseminate this knowledge through education.</p><br>
<p>In 1872 Charles Sprague Sargent was appointed director and Arnold Professor of Botany shortly after the establishment of the institution. Together with the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, he developed the road and pathway system and delineated the collection areas by family and genus, following the then-current and widely accepted classification system of Bentham and Hooker. The Hunnewell building was designed by architect Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow, Jr. in 1892 and constructed with funds donated by H. H. Hunnewell in 1903.</p><br>
<p>From 1946 to 1950 the landscape architect Beatrix Farrand was the landscape design consultant for the Arboretum. Her early training in the 1890s included time with Charles Sprague Sargent and Jackson Thornton Johnson, the chief propagator and superintendent. Today the Arboretum occupies 281 acre of land divided between four parcels, viz. the main Arboretum and the Peters Hill, Weld-Walter and South Street tracts. The collections are located primarily in the main Arboretum and on the Peters Hill tract. The Arboretum remains one of the finest examples of a landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. It is known as the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site and has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.</p><br>
<p>Dr. Ned Friedman is the eighth and current Director of the Arnold Arboretum. He is also the Arnold Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.</p><br>
<h2>Status</h2><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>The main Arborway gate is located on Route 203 a few hundred yards south of its junction with the Jamaicaway. Public transportation to the Arboretum is available on the MBTA Orange Line to its terminus at Forest Hills Station and by bus (#39) to the Monument in Jamaica Plain. The Arboretum is within easy walking distance from either of these points. The Arboretum&#39;s southwest gate is very close to the turn between Weld and Walter Streets on the #51 bus line between Cleveland Circle/Reservoir and Forest Hills. The Centre Street entrance, across from Whitcomb Ave and Westchester Road, is served by the #38 bus.</p><br>
<h2>Hours</h2><br>
<p>The grounds are open free of charge to the public from sunrise to sunset 365 days of the year.</p><br>
<p>The Visitor&#39;s Center in the Hunnewell Building, 125 Arborway, is open November through March, noon-4:00pm; April through October, 11:00am–6:00pm; closed Wednesdays. The Visitor’s Center is closed on holidays.</p><br>
<p>The Library, located in the Hunnewell Building, is open Monday through Friday, 10:00am–3:45pm. The Library is closed on Sundays and holidays.</p><br>
<h2>Area</h2><br>
<p>Two hundred and eighty one acres in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale sections of Boston, Massachusetts, located at 42&deg;19&prime;N latitude, 71&deg;5&prime;W longitude, with altitudes ranging from 46 feet (15 m) in the meadow across the drive from the Hunnewell Building to 240 feet (79 m) at the top of Peters Hill. In 1938, the total area was given as 265 acres, a figure that was reported for decades until being corrected. The correct area is 281 acres.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Average yearly rainfall is 43.63 inches (1,102 mm); average snowfall, 40.2 inches (102 centimeters). Monthly mean temperature is 51.5 °F (10.8 °C); Julys mean temperature is 73.5 °F (23 °C); Januarys is 29.6 °F (-1.3 °C). The Arboretum is located in USDA hardiness zone 6b (0 to &minus;5 °F, &minus;18 to &minus;21 °C).</p><br>
<h2>Collections (as of February 2011)</h2><br>
<p>At present, the living collections include 14,980 individual plants (including nursery holdings) belonging to 10,117 accessions representing 3,924 taxa; with particular emphasis on the ligneous species of North America and eastern Asia. Historic collections include the plant introductions from eastern Asia made by Charles Sprague Sargent, Ernest Henry Wilson, William Purdom, Joseph Hers, and Joseph Rock. Recent introductions from Asia have resulted from the 1977 Arnold Arboretum Expedition to Japan and Korea, the 1980 Sino-American Botanical Expedition to western Hubei Province, and more recent expeditions to China and Taiwan.</p><br>
<p>Comprehensive collections are maintained and augmented for most genera, and genera that have received particular emphasis include: Acer, Fagus, Carya, Forsythia, Taxodium, Pinus, Metasequoia, Lonicera, Magnolia, Malus, Quercus, Rhododendron, Syringa, Paulownia, Albizia, Ilex, Gleditsia and Tsuga. Other comprehensive collections include the Bradley Collection of Rosaceous Plants, the collection of conifers and dwarf conifers, and the Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection. Approximately 500 accessions are processed annually.</p><br>
<h2>Collections policy</h2><br>
<p>The mission of the Arnold Arboretum is to increase knowledge of the evolution and biology of woody plants. Historically, this research has investigated the global distribution and evolutionary history of trees, shrubs and vines, with particular emphasis on the disjunct species of East Asia and North America. Today this work continues through molecular studies of the evolution and bio-geography of the floras of temperate Asia, North America and Europe.</p><br>
<p>Research activities include molecular studies of gene evolution, investigations of plant-water relations, and the monitoring of plant phenology, vegetation succession, nutrient cycling and other factors that inform studies of environmental change. Applied work in horticulture uses the collections for studies in plant propagation, plant introduction, and environmental management. This diversity of scientific investigation is founded in a continuing commitment to acquire, grow, and document the recognized species and infraspecific taxa of ligneous plants of the Northern Hemisphere that are able to withstand the climate of the Arboretum’s 281 acre Jamaica Plain/Roslindale site.</p><br>
<p>As a primary resource for research in plant biology, the Arboretum’s living collections are developed, curated, and managed to support scientific investigation and study. To this end, acquisition policies place priority on obtaining plants that are genetically representative of documented wild populations. For each taxon, the Arnold Arboretum aspires to grow multiple accessions of known wild provenance in order to represent significant variation that may occur across the geographic range of the species. Accessions of garden or cultivated provenance are also acquired as governed by the collections policies herein.</p><br>
<p>For all specimens, full documentation of both provenance and history within the collection is a critical priority. Curatorial procedures provide for complete and accurate records for each accession, and document original provenance, locations in the collections, and changes in botanical identity. Herbarium specimens, DNA materials, and digital images are gathered for the collection and maintained in Arboretum data systems and the herbarium at the Roslindale site.</p><br>
<h2>Research</h2><br>
<p>Research on plant pathology and integrated pest management for maintenance of the living collections is constantly ongoing. Herbarium-based research focuses on the systematics and biodiversity of both temperate and tropical Asian forests, as well as the ecology and potential for sustainable use of their resources. The Arboretum&#39;s education programs offer school groups and the general public a wide range of lectures, courses, and walks focusing on the ecology and cultivation of plants. Its quarterly magazine, provides in-depth information on horticulture, botany, and garden history.</p><br>
<h2>Plant records</h2><br>
<p>Plant records are maintained on a computerized database, BG-BASE 6.8 (), which was initiated in 1985 at the request of the Arnold Arboretum and the Threatened Plants Unit (TPU) of the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (). Currently the Arboretum utilizes a suite of Desktop and Mobile software applications to manage, analyze, query, capture, manipulate, and display geographic information. A computer-driven embosser generates records labels. All accessioned plants in the collections are labeled with accession number, botanical name, and cultivar name (when appropriate), source information, common name, and map location. Trunk and/or display labels are also hung on many accessions and include botanical and common names and nativity. Stake labels are used to identify plants located in the Leventritt Garden and Chinese Path.</p><br>
<h2>Grounds maintenance</h2><br>
<p>The grounds staff consists of the manager of horticulture, three arborists, ten horticultural technologists, a foreman, and a gardener. During the summer months ten horticultural interns supplement the grounds staff. A wide array of vehicles and modern equipment, including an aerial lift truck and a John Deere backhoe and front loader, are used in grounds maintenance. Permanent grounds staff, excluding the manager, are members of AFL/CIO Local 615, Service Employees International Union ().</p><br>
<h2>Nursery and greenhouse facilities</h2><br>
<p>The, located at 1050 Centre Street (with a mailing address of 125 Arborway), were completed in 1962. They comprise four service greenhouses totaling 3,744 square feet (348 m²), the headhouse with offices, cold rooms, storage areas, and a classroom. Staffing at the greenhouse includes the manager of greenhouses and nurseries, the plant propagator, two assistants, and, during the summer months, two horticultural interns. Adjacent to the greenhouse is a shade house of 3,150 square feet (293 m²), a 12,600 cubic foot (357 m³) cold storage facility, and three irrigated, inground nurseries totaling approximately one and one-half acres (6,000 m²). Also located in the greenhouse complex is the bonsai pavilion, where the Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection is displayed from the middle of April to the end of October. During the winter months the bonsai are held in the cold storage unit at temperatures slightly above freezing.</p><br>
<h2>Isabella Welles Hunnewell Internship Program</h2><br>
<p>The Program supports the educational and horticultural missions of the Arnold Arboretum by providing students in the plant sciences with on-the-job training during the summer months. Interns work directly with the Arboretums historic landscape and world-renowned scientific collection, gaining practical experience in public horticulture, collections and landscape management, and the arboreal sciences. Working alongside Arboretum staff, interns receive valuable mentoring opportunities and engage in a formal program of instruction, both in the classroom and in the field. A series of field trips scheduled throughout their summer experience offers participants valuable networking opportunities and exposure to the operations of many other botanical institutions. Fundamentally, the program provides essential support to horticulture staff in caring for the Arboretums 281-acre landscape and living collection of more than 15,000 woody plants. The program helps identify exceptional talent, and many interns extend their terms through apprenticeships, fellowships, and full-time positions.</p><br>
<p>As part of the Program, interns participate in mandatory instructional sessions and field trips in order to develop a broader sense of the Arboretum’s horticultural practices as well as those of other institutions. Sessions and field trips are led by Arnold staff members and embrace an open question and answer format encouraging all to participate. Interns often bring experience and knowledge that everyone, including staff, benefits from. It is a competitive-free learning environment.</p><br>
<p>The Hunnewell Internship Program was endowed in 2003 by the descendants of H. H. Hunnewell and his wife, Isabella Pratt Welles Hunnewell, for whom the Program is named. The Program honors the longtime commitment of the Hunnewell family to both the Arnold Arboretum and to the advancement of botanical science and horticulture. H. H. Hunnewell was a distant cousin and friend of Charles Sprague Sargent, and Hunnewell and Sargent advised and helped each other on the creation of the Arnold Arboretum and Hunnewell&#39;s estate in Wellesley, respectively.</p><br>
<h2>Horticultural Apprenticeship</h2><br>
<p>The Arboretum created the horticultural apprenticeship program in 1997 to provide hands-on experience in all aspects of the development, curation, and maintenance of the Arboretum&#39;s living collections to individuals interested in pursuing a career in an arboretum or botanical garden.</p><br>
<h2>Lilac Sunday</h2><br>
<p>The second Sunday in May every year is "Lilac Sunday". This is the only day of the year that picnicking is allowed. In 2008, on the 100th anniversary of, the Arboretum website touted:</p><br>
<p>Of the thousands of flowering plants in the Arboretum, only one, the lilac, is singled out each year for a daylong celebration. On Lilac Sunday, garden enthusiasts from all over New England gather at the Arboretum to picnic and tour the lilac collection. On the day of the event, which takes place rain or shine, the Arboretum is open as usual from dawn to dusk.</p><br>
<h2>Associated collections</h2><br>
<p>The Arboretum&#39;s herbarium in Jamaica Plain holds specimens of cultivated plants that relate to the living collections (ca. 160,000). The Jamaica Plain herbarium, horticultural library, archives, and photographs are maintained in the Hunnewell building at 125 Arborway; however, the main portions of the herbarium and library collections are housed in Cambridge on the campus of Harvard University, at 22 Divinity Avenue.</p><br>
<h2>Publications</h2><br>
<p>The inventory of living collections is updated periodically and made available to sister botanical gardens and arboreta on request; it is also available on the Arboretum’s website ()., the quarterly magazine of the Arnold Arboretum, frequently publishes articles relating to the living collections. Publication of a journal targeting more scientific audience, Journal of the Arnold Arboretum, established in 1919, was suspended in 1990, when it was incorporated into Harvard Papers in Botany (HPB). The 71 volumes are available online at the Biodiversity Heritage Library.</p><br>
<p>by Stephen A. Spongberg (curator emeritus) recounts the history of the introduction of many of the exotic species included in the Arobretum’s collections. New England Natives</p><br>
<p>written by horticultural research archivist describes many of the trees and shrubs of the New England flora and the ways New Englanders have used them since prehistoric times.</p><br>
<p>by Ida Hay (former curatorial associate) constitutes an institutional biography of the Arboretum.</p><br>
<h2>Institutional collaborations</h2><br>
<p>The Arboretum maintains an institutional membership in the American Public Garden Association (), Botanic Gardens Conservation International (), and the International Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta. Additionally, members of the staff are associated with many national and international botanical and horticultural organizations. The Arboretum is also a cooperating institution with the Center for Plant Conservation (), and as an active member of the North American Plant Collections Consortium (), it is committed to broadening and maintaining its holdings of: Acer, Carya, Fagus, Stewartia, Syringa, and Tsuga for the purposes of plant conservation, evaluation, and research. The Arboretum is also a member of the North American China Plant Exploration Consortium (NACPEC).</p><br>
<p>The Siachen Glacier  is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas at about 35.421226&deg;N latitude, 77.109540&deg;E longitude, just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends. At 76 km long, it is the longest glacier in the Karakoram and second-longest in the world&#39;s non-polar areas. It falls from an altitude of 5,753 m  above sea level at its head at Indira Col on the China border down to 3,620 m  at its terminus. The entire Siachen Glacier, with all major passes, is currently under the administration of India since 1984. Pakistan controls the region west of Saltoro Ridge with Pakistani posts located 3,000 ft below 100 Indian posts on Saltoro Ridge.</p><br>
<p>The Siachen Glacier lies immediately south of the great drainage divide that separates the Eurasian Plate from the Indian subcontinent in the extensively glaciated portion of the Karakoram sometimes called the "Third Pole". The glacier lies between the Saltoro Ridge immediately to the west and the main Karakoram range to the east. The Saltoro Ridge originates in the north from the Sia Kangri peak on the China border in the Karakoram range. The crest of the Saltoro Ridge&#39;s altitudes range from 5,450 to 7,720 m (17,880 to 25,330 feet). The major passes on this ridge are, from north to south, Sia La at 5,589 m (18,336 ft), Bilafond La at 5,450 m (17,880 ft), and Gyong La at 5,689 m (18,665 ft). The average winter snowfall is more than 1000 cm (35 ft) and temperatures can dip to -50 &deg;C. Including all tributary glaciers, the Siachen Glacier system covers about 700 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>"Sia" in the Balti language refers to the rose family plant widely dispersed in the region. "Chun" refers to any object found in abundance. Thus the name Siachen refers to a land with an abundance of roses. The naming of the glacier itself, or at least its currency, is attributed to Tom Longstaff.</p><br>
<h2>Dispute</h2><br>
<p>Both India and Pakistan claim sovereignty over the entire Siachen region. US and Pakistani maps in the 1970s and 1980s consistently showed a dotted line from NJ9842 (the northernmost demarcated point of the India-Pakistan cease-fire line, also known as the Line of Control) to the Karakoram Pass, which India believed to be a cartographic error and in violation of the Shimla Agreement. In 1984, India launched Operation Meghdoot, a military operation that gave India control over all of the Siachen Glacier, including its tributaries. Between 1984 and 1999, frequent skirmishes took place between India and Pakistan. Indian troops under Operation Meghdoot pre-empted Pakistan&#39;s Operation Ababeel by just one day to occupy most of the dominating heights on Saltoro Ridge to the west of Siachen Glacier. However, more soldiers have died from the harsh weather conditions in the region than from combat. Pakistan lost 353 soldiers in various operations recorded between 2003 and 2010 near Siachen, including 140 Pakistani personnel killed in 2012 Gayari Sector avalanche. Between January 2012 and July 2015, 33 Indian soldiers lost their lives due to adverse weather. In December 2015, Indian Union Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that a total of 869 Army personnel have lost their lives on the Siachen glacier due to climatic conditions and environmental and other factors till date since the Army launched Operation Meghdoot in 1984. Both India and Pakistan continue to deploy thousands of troops in the vicinity of Siachen and attempts to demilitarise the region have been so far unsuccessful. Prior to 1984, neither country had any military forces in this area.</p><br>
<p>Aside from the Indian and Pakistani military presence, the glacier region is unpopulated. The nearest civilian settlement is the village of Warshi, 10 miles downstream from the Indian base camp. The region is also extremely remote, with limited road connectivity. On the Indian side, roads go only as far as the military base camp at Dzingrulma at 35.1663&deg;N latitude, 77.2162&deg;E longitude, 72 km from the head of the glacier. The Indian Army has developed various means to reach the Siachen region, including the Manali-Leh-Khardung La-Siachen route. In 2012, Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army General Bikram Singh said that the Indian Army should stay in the region for strategic advantages, and because a "lot of blood has been shed" by Indian armed personnel for Siachen. According to the present ground positions, relatively stable for over a decade, India maintains control over all of the 76 km long Siachen Glacier and all of its tributary glaciers, as well as the five main passes of the Saltoro Ridge immediately west of the glacier—Sia La, Bilafond La, Gyong La, Yarma La (6,100m), and Chulung La (5,800m). Pakistan controls the glacial valleys immediately west of the Saltoro Ridge. According to TIME magazine, India gained over 1,000 square miles in territory because of its 1980s military operations in Siachen. In February 2016, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar stated in Parliament that India will not vacate Siachen as there is trust deficit with Pakistan and also said that 915 people have lost their lives in Siachen since Operation Meghdoot in 1984. As per official records, only 220 Indian soldiers have been killed by enemy bullets since 1984 in Siachen area. India has categorically stated that India will not pull its army from Siachen until the 110-km long AGPL is first authenticated, delineated and then demarcated.</p><br>
<p>The 1949 Karachi agreement only carefully delineated the line of separation to point NJ9842, after which, the agreement states that the line of separation would continue “thence north to the glaciers.” According to the Indian stance, the line of separation should continue roughly northwards along the Saltoro Range, to the west of the Siachen glacier beyond NJ9842; international boundary lines that follow mountain ranges often do so by following the watershed drainage divide such as that of the Saltoro Range. The 1972 Simla Agreement made no change to the 1949 Line of Control in this northernmost sector.</p><br>
<h2>Drainage</h2><br>
<p>The glacier&#39;s melting waters are the main source of the Nubra River in the Indian region of Ladakh, which drains into the Shyok River. The Shyok in turn joins the 3000 kilometre-long Indus River which flows through Pakistan. Thus, the glacier is a major source of the Indus and feeds the largest irrigation system in the world.</p><br>
<h2>Environmental issues</h2><br>
<p>The glacier was uninhabited before 1984, and the presence of thousands of troops since then has introduced pollution and melting on the glacier. To support the troops, glacial ice has been cut and melted with chemicals.</p><br>
<p>Dumping of non-biodegradable waste in large quantities and the use of arms and ammunition have considerably affected the ecosystem of the region.</p><br>
<h3>Glacial retreat</h3><br>
<p>Preliminary findings of a survey by Pakistan Meteorological Department in 2007 revealed that the Siachen glacier has been retreating for the past 30 years and is melting at an alarming rate. The study of satellite images of the glacier showed that the glacier is retreating at a rate of about 110 meters a year and that the glacier size has decreased by almost 35 percent. In an eleven-year period, the glacier had receded nearly 800 meters, and in seventeen years about 1700 meters. It is predicted that the glaciers of the Siachen region will be reduced to about one-fifth of their 2011 size by 2035. In the twenty-nine-year period 1929–1958, well before the military occupation, the glacial retreat was recorded to be about 914 meters. One of the reasons cited for the recent glacial retreat is chemical blasting, done for constructing camps and posts. In 2001 India laid oil pipelines (about 250 kilometres long) inside the glacier to supply kerosene and aviation fuel to the outposts from base camps. As of 2007, the temperature rise at Siachen was estimated at 0.2 degree Celsius annually, causing melting, avalanches, and crevasses in the glacier.</p><br>
<h3>Waste dumping</h3><br>
<p>The waste produced by the troops stationed there is dumped in the crevasses of the glacier. Mountaineers who visited the area while on climbing expeditions witnessed large amount of garbage, empty ammunition shells, parachutes etc. dumped on the glacier, that neither decomposes nor can be burned because of the extreme climatic conditions. About 1000 kilograms of waste is produced and dumped in glacial crevasses daily by the Indian forces. Almost forty percent (40%) of the waste left at the glacier is of plastic and metal composition, including toxins such as cobalt, cadmium and chromium that eventually affect the water of the Shyok River (which ultimately enters the Indus River near Skardu.) The Indus is used for drinking and irrigation. Research is being done by scientists of The Energy and Resources Institute, to find ways for successfully disposing the garbage generated at the glacier using scientific means.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna and flora</h3><br>
<p>The flora and fauna of the Siachen region are also affected by the huge military presence.</p><br>
<h2>Border conflict</h2><br>
<p>The glacier&#39;s region is the highest battleground on Earth, where Pakistan and India have fought intermittently since April 1984. Both countries maintain a permanent military presence in the region at a height of over 6,000 m.</p><br>
<p>Both India and Pakistan have wished to disengage from the costly military outposts. However, after the Pakistani incursions during the Kargil War in 1999, India abandoned plans to withdraw from Siachen without official recognition of the current line of control by Pakistan, wary of further Pakistani incursions if they vacate the Siachen Glacier posts without such recognition.</p><br>
<p>Prime Minister Manmohan Singh became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the area, during which he called for a peaceful resolution of the problem. After that present Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited this place. President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari also visited the area during 2012 with Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. Both of them showed their commitment to resolve Siachen conflict as early as possible. In the previous year, the President of India, Abdul Kalam became the first head of state to visit the area.</p><br>
<p>Since September 2007, India has opened up limited mountaineering and trekking expeditions to the area. The first group included cadets from Chail Military School, National Defence Academy, National Cadet Corps, Indian Military Academy, Rashtriya Indian Military College and family members of armed forces officers. The expeditions are also meant to show to the international audience that Indian troops hold "almost all dominating heights" on the key Saltoro Ridge and to show that Pakistani troops are not within 15 km of the main trunk of the Siachen Glacier. Ignoring protests from Pakistan, India maintains that it does not need anyones approval to send trekkers to Siachen, in what it says is essentially its own territory. In addition, the Indian Armys Army Mountaineering Institute (AMI) functions out of the region.</p><br>
<p>On 7 April 2012, an avalanche hit a Pakistani military camp situated at Giyari Sector in the Siachen region, 30 km west of the Siachen Glacier terminus, burying 129 Pakistani soldiers and 11 civilians.</p><br>
<h2>Peace Park proposal</h2><br>
<p>The idea of declaring the Siachen region a "Peace Park" was presented by environmentalists and peace activists in part to preserve the ecosystem of the region badly affected by the military presence. In September 2003, the governments of India and Pakistan were urged by the participants of 5th World Parks Congress held at Durban, to establish a peace park in the Siachen region to restore the natural biological system and protect species whose lives are at risk. Italian ecologist Giuliano Tallone terming the ecological life at serious risk, proposed setting up of Siachen Peace Park at the conference. After a proposal of a transboundary Peace Park was floated, the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) organised a conference at Geneva and invited Indian and Pakistani mountaineers (Mandip Singh Soin, Harish Kapadia, Nazir Sabir and Sher Khan). The region was nominated for inclusion in the United Nations&#39; World Heritage List as a part of the Karakoram range, but was deferred by the World Heritage Committee. The area to the east and west of the Siachen region have already been declared national parks: the Karakoram Wildlife Sanctuary in India and the Central Karakoram National Park in Pakistan.</p><br>
<p>Sandia National Laboratories organised conferences where military experts and environmentalists from both India and Pakistan and also from other countries were invited to present joint papers. Kent L. Biringer, a researcher at Cooperative Monitoring Center of Sandia Labs suggested setting up Siachen Science Center, a high-altitude research centre where scientists and researchers from both the countries can carry out research activities</p><br>
<p>The Columbia Bar, also frequently called the Columbia River Bar, is a system of bars and shoals at the mouth of the Columbia River spanning the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. The bar is about 3 mi wide and 6 mi long.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The bar is where the river&#39;s current dissipates into the Pacific Ocean, often as large standing waves. The waves are partially caused by the deposition of sediment as the river slows, as well as mixing with ocean waves. The waves, wind, and current are hazardous for vessels of all sizes. The Columbia current varies from 4 to 7 knots westward, and therefore into the predominantly westerly winds and ocean swells, creating significant surface conditions.</p><br>
<p>Unlike other major rivers, the current is focused "like a fire hose" without the benefit of a river delta.</p><br>
<p>Conditions can change from calm to life-threatening in as little as five minutes due to changes of direction of wind and ocean swell.</p><br>
<p>Since 1792, approximately 2,000 large ships have sunk in and around the Columbia Bar, and because of the danger and the numerous shipwrecks the mouth of the Columbia River acquired a reputation worldwide as the Graveyard of the Pacific.</p><br>
<p>The navigational channel is 2,640 ft wide at the west end and narrows to 600 ft within the jetties (though the jetties themselves are never closer than two miles apart). The channel is dredged to 55 ft in the northern three-quarters and 48 ft for the southern quarter. Inside the bar, the channel remains 600 ft wide and reduces to 43 ft deep.</p><br>
<p>The nearby United States Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment, Washington, is renowned for operating in some of the roughest sea conditions in the world, and is home to the National Motor Lifeboat School. It is the only school for rough weather and surf rescue operation in the US, and is respected internationally as a center of excellence for heavy boat operations.</p><br>
<p>Approximately 16 bar pilots, earning about $180,000 per year, guide ships across the bar, often boarding ships by helicopter.</p><br>
<p>They generally consider "the bar" to be the area between the north and south jetties and Sand Island (see detail of bathymetric map for locations of these).</p><br>
<p>The Columbia Bar is part of a set of major marine coastal hazards along the Pacific Northwest coast, including Cape Flattery at the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula and Cape Scott, which is at the north tip of Vancouver Island. Historically the regions mariners nickname was the Graveyard of the Pacific, and it is studded with thousands of shipwrecks. The "Graveyard" also includes the rocky, rugged shoreline of the west coast of Vancouver Island, the shores of the Olympic Peninsula, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.</p><br>
<p>As a practical tip, small craft are advised to cross the bar during the incoming flood tide, staying toward the outside of the navigational channel to avoid large ships which move at 20 to 30 knots.</p><br>
<h2>Viewing</h2><br>
<p>The most accessible place to watch ships cross the bar is at the South Jetty viewing platform at Fort Stevens State Park located near Hammond, Oregon. This is also the north end of the Oregon Coast Trail. For a more dramatic view, hike the steep 0.75 mile trail to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse at the Cape Disappointment State Park located in Ilwaco, Washington.</p><br>
<p>Iki Island, or the Iki Archipelago is an archipelago in the Tsushima Strait, which is administered as the city of Iki in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The islands have a total area of 138.46 km&sup2; with a total population of 28,008. Only four of the 23 named islands are permanently inhabited. Together with the neighboring islands of Tsushima, they are collectively within the borders of the Iki–Tsushima Quasi-National Park.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Iki Islands are volcanic in origin: they are the exposed and eroded basaltic summit of a massive Quaternary stratovolcano last active over 400,000 years ago. The northwest of the island is still has active onsen.</p><br>
<p>Iki Island is slightly oval in shape, and measures approximately 17 km from north-south and 14 km from east-west. The highest elevation is Takenotsuji, a weakly curved peak with a highest elevation at 212.9 m above sea level. The average height of the land surface is 100 meters above sea level.</p><br>
<p>The archipelago is approximately 20 km north-northeast of the Kyushu coast at its closest point and southeast of the Tsushima Islands.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Iki Islands have been inhabited since the Japanese Paleolithic era, and numerous artifacts from the Jōmon, Yayoi and Kofun periods have been found by archaeologists, indicating continuous human occupation and activity. In the Chinese Wèizhì Wōrén chuán (Japanese 魏志倭人伝, Gishi Wajinden), part of the Records of the Three Kingdoms dating from the third century, mention is made of a country called “Iki”, (一支国, Iki-koku), located on an archipelago east of the Korean Peninsula. Archaeologists have tenatively identified this with the large Yayoi period settlement of Harunotsuji, one of the largest to have been discovered in Japan, where artifacts uncovered indicate a close contact with the Japanese islands and the Asian mainland.</p><br>
<p>The islands were organized as Iki Province under the Ritsuryō reforms in the latter half of the seventh century, and the name Iki-no-kuni appears on wooden markers found in the imperial capital of Nara.</p><br>
<p>During the Heian period, the island was attacked by Jurchen pirates in the Toi invasion of 1019. Afterwards, the islands came under the rule of the Matsura clan, who developed trade and commercial relations between Goryeo in Korea, Tsushima, Iki and Kyushu. However, the islands were again devastated by the Kamakura period Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 during which time many of its inhabitants were slaughtered. Throughout the Muromachi period, the islands were a main base for the Japanese Wokou pirates, who plundered coastal settlements in Korea and China. Following the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period, the islands came under the rule of Hirado Domain.</p><br>
<p>Following the Meiji Restoration, the islands became part of “Hirado Prefecture” from 1871, which then became part of Nagasaki Prefecture.</p><br>
<p>The islands were fortified with numerous coastal artillery batteries during World War II, but did not experience any combat. Remains of these fortifications can be found on the island of Wakamiyajima, north of the main Iki Island. On November 18, 1948, Lt. William Downham, from the USAF 36th Fighter Group stationed at Ashiya Air Field, experienced engine failure in his North American P-51 Mustang while patrolling the Korea Strait between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. He successfully parachuted onto Iki Island.</p><br>
<p>In the 1960s and 1970s, in particularly the town of Iki, the islanders were notorious for overfishing, but blamed declining catches on the local species of whales and dolphins. In 1977, the local fishermen invited television companies to film the mass slaughter of dolphins. In response, activists heavily condemned the fishermen&#39;s acts of killing the dolphins. In view of the already endangered Japanese amberjack, the local town government banned large-scale, commercial fishing of Japanese amberjack after 1982.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>Iki Island has ferry terminals in Ashibe, Ishida and Gōnoura, which connect Iki to mainland Japan. Located on the east coast Iki Airport connects the island to Nagasaki. The Japan National Route 382 connects the hamlets of the island together, and the bus company "Iki-kotsu" provides for public transport.</p><br>
<h2>Islands</h2><br>
<p>The Gotthard Pass or St Gotthard Pass  at 2,106 m is a mountain pass traversing the Saint-Gotthard Massif in the Alps, connecting northern and southern Switzerland. The pass lies between Airolo in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, and Andermatt in the German-speaking canton of Uri, and connects further Bellinzona to Lucerne, Basel, and Zurich. The region of the Gotthard Pass is an important north-south axis in Europe and is crossed by three major traffic tunnels, each being the world&#39;s longest at the time of their construction: the Gotthard Rail Tunnel , the Gotthard Road Tunnel  and the Gotthard Base Tunnel .</p><br>
<p>Though the pass was locally known in antiquity, it was not generally used until the early 13th century because travel involved fording the turbulent Reuss, swollen with snowmelt during the early summer, in the narrow steep-sided Schöllenen Gorge (Schöllenenschlucht), below Andermatt. As early as 1236, Gotthard Pass was dedicated to the Roman Catholic Saint Gotthard of Hildesheim.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Gotthard Pass connects the cantons of Uri (north) and Ticino (south). The pass itself is located within the latter canton, about 2 km south of the border with Uri, between the massifs of Pizzo Lucendro (west) and Pizzo Centrale (east). The pass lies on the most important route between the southern canton of Ticino and central Switzerland as well as most of the northern part of the country. It is the most direct link between Zürich and Lugano and also between some regions of Germany and Italy. The nearest towns are Hospental (7 km north) near Andermatt and Airolo (4 km south), respectively in the valleys of Urseren and Leventina. The region of Andermatt lies at the foot of the Furka and Oberalp passes connecting the Rhone and Rhine valleys thus making the Gotthard area a strategic place for transports and military (the Swiss Réduit for instance).</p><br>
<p>The hospice (Ospizio) is located south of the pass at 2,091 m, near the Lago della Piazza and other small lakes. Lago di Lucendro and Lago Sella are larger reservoir lakes accessible from the pass.</p><br>
<h2>The Devil's Bridge</h2><br>
<p>From the north side the pass can be reached by crossing the Schöllenen, and several bridges have been built across the Reuss to facilitate this. According to the oral histories of the nearby villages, seasonal deaths resulting from drowning reached a peak in April–May of most years and thus a safer crossing was required. The original bridge (the Teufelsbrücke) built under these challenging conditions was one of so many "devil&#39;s bridges" that the legends about them form a category in the Aarne-Thompson classification system for folktales (number 1191).</p><br>
<p>The legend of this particular bridge states that the Reuss was so difficult to ford that a Swiss herdsman wished the devil would make a bridge. The Devil appeared, but required that the soul of the first to cross would be given to him. The mountaineer agreed, but drove a goat across ahead of him, fooling his adversary. Angered by this trickery, the devil fetched a rock with the intention of smashing the bridge, but an old woman drew a cross on the rock so the devil could not lift it anymore. The rock is still there and, in 1977, 300,000 Swiss francs were spent to move the 220 ton rock by 127 m in order to make room for the new Gotthard road tunnel.</p><br>
<p>The bridge permitted traffic to follow the Reuss to its headwaters and over the saddle at the top&mdash;a continental divide between the Rhine, which flows into the North Sea and the river Ticino towards Milan, which after leaving Switzerland flows into the Po and ultimately into the Adriatic Sea. It carried only foot traffic and pack animals until 1775, when the first carriage made the journey on an improved road.</p><br>
<h2>Tunnels</h2><br>
<p>Several tunnels provide access through the pass. The 15 km Gotthard Rail Tunnel was the first and opened in 1882 for railway traffic at a cost of around 200 workers&#39; lives (there is uncertainty as to the exact toll). It bypassed the pass road, connecting Göschenen with Airolo.</p><br>
<p>A 17 km motorway tunnel, the Gotthard Road Tunnel opened in 1980. It was closed for two months in 2001 following a fatal fire.</p><br>
<p>The Gotthard Base Tunnel was opened on 1 June 2016. It is the longest rail tunnel in the world at 57.091 km. This tunnel, combined with two shorter tunnels planned near Zürich and Lugano as part of the NRLA project, will reduce the 3 hour 40 min rail journey from Zürich to Milan by one hour, while increasing the size and number of trains that can operate along the route because the line is nearly level, compared with the spirals of the older tunnel.</p><br>
<h2>Illustrations</h2><br>
<p>A number of international artists have been inspired by the dramatic scenery of the St. Gotthard Pass, the Schöllenen Gorge and the Teufelsbrücke.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>Gotthard Pass is prominent in the historical manga series Wolfsmund by Mitsuhisa Kuji.</p><br>
<p>Hyskeir  or Heyskeir is a low-lying rocky islet  in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. The Hyskeir Lighthouse marks the southern entrance to The Minch.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Hyskeir lies in the southern entrance to The Minch, 10 kilometres southwest of the island of Canna and 14 kilometres west of Rùm. Garbh Sgeir is a rock that lies next to the islet and the landing place for Hyskeir lies in the channel between the two. Both islands are unoccupied.</p><br>
<p>Òigh-sgeir is composed of hexagonal Pitchstone columns.</p><br>
<p>The owner of the island in the 19th and early 20th centuries was Robert Thom. At that time sheep from Canna were brought to make use of the summer grazing.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>Hyskeir is from the Old Norse sker meaning skerry. Òigh-sgeir is Gaelic for maiden or virgin rock, sgeir also meaning skerry. The English name Maiden Rock has also been used.</p><br>
<h2>Lighthouse</h2><br>
<p>Hyskeir Lighthouse was established in 1904. The 39 m metre high building marks the southern end of the Minch, warning of the presence of the Mills Rocks, the island of Canna and Hyskeir itself. It was designed by David and Charles Stevenson and constructed by Oban contractor Messrs D & J MacDougall. The white tower was manned until March 1997, becoming one of the last lighthouses in Scotland to be automated. The keepers were briefly known for their one-hole golf course following their appearance on TV.</p><br>
<p>Hyskeir and its lighthouse feature extensively in Peter Hill&#39;s book Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper.</p><br>
<h2>Wildlife</h2><br>
<p>Gavin Maxwell, who fished for basking sharks nearby in 1947, recorded a mass sighting of basking sharks. “It was a gigantic shoal... at one moment we counted 54 dorsal fins in sight at the same time.”</p><br>
<p>The island has nesting sites for Arctic and common tern, kittiwakes and eider ducks and also has a large seal colony.</p><br>
<h2>Footnotes</h2><br>
<p>Murray, W.H. (1966) The Hebrides. London. Heinemann.</p><br>
<p></revision></p><br>
<p>The Trinity Hills are a range of hills in southeastern Trinidad. According to legend, it is after these hills that Christopher Columbus named the island of Trinidad. Columbus had promised to name the next land he discovered after the Holy Trinity. The lookout, Alonzo Perez reported that he saw three hills. Based on their location, it has been questioned as to whether Perez could have seen the Trinity Hills. This interpretation has been questioned by Hans Boos who stated that three peaks - presumably Morne Derrick, Gros Morne, and Guaya Hill - are visible when approaching Trinidad from the southeast along the route taken by Columbus.</p><br>
<p>The Trinity Hills lie between to Guayaguayare and Moruga, on the south coast of Trinidad.</p><br>
<p>Dumbleyung Lake, also widely known as Lake Dumbleyung, is a salt lake in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. The lake has a length of 13 km and a width of 6.5 km; it covers a total area of 52 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The explorers Henry Landor and Henry Maxwell Lefroy are usually credited with the discovery of Dumbleyung Lake, although it appears to have been shown on a map in 1839 with the name Kondening Lake. Grazing leases around the lake were first granted to George Kersley in 1875.</p><br>
<p>Dumbleyung Lake received world recognition when Donald Campbell broke the world water speed record on it on 31 December 1964, travelling at 444.66 km/h (276.3 mph) in his boat Bluebird K7. A granite memorial to Campbell can be seen at Pussy Cat Hill, a prominent feature and vantage point to view the entire lake area.</p><br>
<p>In recent times, the increased soil salination has made the area unsuitable for grazing. Today the lake is mainly used for aquatic recreation. Despite the extreme salinity of the lake, it provides a habitat for many varieties of water birds, and since 1963 has been protected by the Dumbleyung Lake Nature Reserve.</p><br>
<p>The lake is recognised as a DIWA wetland as it is a drought refuge for waterbirds and a moulting area for the Australian shelduck.</p><br>
<p>Penguin Island is a 12.5 ha island off the coast near Perth, Western Australia, 700 m from Rockingham. It is home to a colony of approximately 1,200 little penguins, the largest population of the birds in Western Australia. The waters surrounding the island make up the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park.</p><br>
<h2>Getting to the Island</h2><br>
<p>Regular ferries carry tourists to and from the island and other marine-park sights, the journey taking 5 minutes from Mersey point. The island can also be reached by private boat, kayaking, swimming, or walking across a tidal sandbar, which is often exposed above sea level at low tide for a large portion of its 700-metre length, however at high tide, most of the sandbar is under varying depths of water. The Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) advises against the sandbar walk as weather conditions can change quickly, making the crossing dangerous, which has resulted in several drownings.</p><br>
<h2>Island Facilities</h2><br>
<p>Visitors should take their own supply of food and drink, since none can be purchased on Penguin Island, though there is a picnic area with seating and water taps, and waterless composting toilets.</p><br>
<p>Litter bins are not provided on the island and all visitors are required to take away their own rubbish. This is to remove potential food sources for destructive animals such as black rats, which have previously led to a reduction in the penguin population. In 2013 a successful baiting program was conducted to eliminate a rat population that had become established on the island.</p><br>
<h2>Island Features</h2><br>
<p>In addition to the colony of little penguins there are many other sights including nesting seabirds and a 500-strong colony of pelicans.</p><br>
<p>Penguin Island has many geographical features, cliffs, small sea caves, headlands, beaches, coves, notches and natural bridges. There are also numerous wave-cut platforms.</p><br>
<p>Significant areas of Penguin Island include North Rock, Pelican Bluff, North Beach, McKenzies Well, South Beach, Abalone Point, and Surfers Beach.</p><br>
<p>There are numerous lookouts, boardwalks and walkways throughout most of the island. Some areas are fenced off to the public to protect wildlife and lessen dune erosion.</p><br>
<h2>Rescue Penguins</h2><br>
<p>A small population of rescued penguins are kept in a dedicated enclosure on the island (known as the Discovery Centre) which was built by the Department of Environment and Conservation in 1987. As well as being a sanctuary to care for injured wild penguins, it is also the home of the 10 resident penguins that have been badly injured, orphaned as chicks or born in captivity, and it is unlikely that they would survive in the wild. It has been designed to reflect the penguins natural sandy, coastal scrub environment and includes a saltwater pond with viewing panels to watch the little penguins swim. Penguin feedings are held three times daily by a Wildlife ranger.</p><br>
<h2>Little Penguin Population</h2><br>
<p>Spotting wild little penguins at the island is unusual as for most of the year, daylight hours are spent at sea chasing fish, and visitors are strictly prohibited from being on the island except during specified daylight hours from mid-September to early June.</p><br>
<p>The little penguin population which breeds on Penguin Island is genetically distinct and in decline. In 2007 there were between 1600 and 2000 little penguins on Penguin Island during breeding months. By 2011, the number had dropped to about 1000. Penguins have been observed taking longer foraging trips leading to chick malnutrition and starvation. Prey depletion and climate change are considered to be major pressures on the breeding population. A proposal to construct a marina at Point Peron is also considered a future threat. A number of rescued penguins are kept in a dedicated enclosure for visitors to the island to observe.</p><br>
<p>Little penguins also breed on nearby Garden Island, 6.5 km to the north. The two colonies are considered as a single meta-population. In 2007, the meta-population was estimated to include a total of 2369 individuals.</p><br>
<p>Historically, the penguins of Penguin Island have been victims of dog attacks and shooting by holiday-makers. An informal assessment of the Penguin Island colony was made by Vincent Serventy in 1946. After several visits, he estimated the colony to number approximately 500 pairs. In the 1940s concern was expressed for the viability of the penguin colony on Penguin Island, due to combined threats of human landing parties with guns and dogs, occasional fires, and an abundance of rabbits which were denuding the island of its former vegetation and accelerating its erosion. Rabbits were believed to have been introduced to the island in the 1920s, and numbered approximately four to five thousand in the late 1940s. By 1950, it had become an illegal act to take a dog to Penguin Island.</p><br>
<p>Penguins were present on Penguin Island in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. Seals were also known to haul out on the island around this time.</p><br>
<h2>Image gallery</h2><br>
<p>Penguin Island  is one of the smaller of the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Penguin Island was sighted in January 1820 by a British expedition under Edward Bransfield, and so named by him because penguins occupied the shores of the island.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The island, which is ice-free and oval shaped, 1.4 km wide by 1.7 km long, lies close off the south coast of the much larger King George Island, and marks the eastern side of the entrance to King George Bay. It has a shoreline of low cliffs, with a beach on the north coast providing access. There is a small lake in the north-east. It is capped by Deacon Peak, a basaltic scoria cone. Deacon Peak was last thought to be active about 300 years ago. Petrel Crater, a maar crater, is located on the east side of the island, and is thought to have last erupted in or around 1905.</p><br>
<h2>Important Bird Area</h2><br>
<p>The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a wide range of seabirds including a breeding colony of over 600 pairs of southern giant petrels. Other birds nesting at the site include Adélie and chinstrap penguins, Antarctic terns and kelp gulls. Weddell and southern elephant seals regularly haul out.</p><br>
<p>The Swartberg mountains  are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east-west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Karoo. To the north of the range lies the other large semi-arid area in South Africa, the Great Karoo. Most of the Swartberg Mountains are above 2000 m high, making them the tallest mountains in the Western Cape. It is also one of the longest, spanning some 230 km from south of Laingsburg in the west to between Willowmore and Uniondale in the east. Geologically, these mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt.</p><br>
<p>Much of the Swartberg is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.</p><br>
<h2>The two ranges</h2><br>
<p>The Swartberg consists of two officially named ranges, the Smaller and the Greater Swartberg Mountains.</p><br>
<h3>Klein Swartberge</h3><br>
<p>The Smaller Swartberg are the westernmost of the two. Ironically, this range is the higher one, including the province&#39;s highest peak, Seweweekspoortpiek (Seven Weeks Gorge Peak) at 2325 m. The famous Towerkop (Bewitch Peak) towers over the Klein Karoo town of Ladismith at a height of 2189 m. The peak is so named for its cleft peak, that, according to legend, was split by a spell and subsequent bolt of lightning.</p><br>
<h3>Groot Swartberge</h3><br>
<p>The Greater Swartberg is located to the east, with the dividing line between the two ranges being the Gouritz River, which cuts a gorge directly through the range. This section, almost of a similar height, is slightly lower in elevation, with the Tierberg (Leopard Mountain) at 2132 m being the highest. These mountains are home to the Cango Caves in the exposed limestone basement rocks exposed by upliftment along a 300 km fault line that runs along the southern flank of the Swartberg ranges (see diagram on the left). These are the most famous subterranean system in South Africa, located just north of Oudtshoorn.</p><br>
<h2>Mountain passes</h2><br>
<p>Several passes cut through the Swartberg Range, and these are famous primarily for the spectacular geology they dissect, as well as for the engineering skill required in completing several of the routes across them.</p><br>
<h3>Meiringspoort (1858)</h3><br>
<p>Until the first pass was cut, these mountains were virtually insurmountable, and cut the Great Karoo off from the Little Karoo and from the coast. John Molteno, Beaufort West businessman (and later Prime Minister) first surveyed the range for a pass with Andrew Bain, Thomas Bain. They rode out from Beaufort West on horseback, in 1854, for a week-long ride to traverse the range and plan the routes.</p><br>
<p>The pass was cut and the route completed in only 223 working days, comprising one of the eras most extraordinary feats of engineering. It was also a huge economic step for the interior of the Cape Colony. For example, by 1870, an eighth of the countrys wool exports passed through the Meiringspoort.</p><br>
<p>The Meiringspoort provides paved road transit through the Swartberg range, using the route largely carved by a river. The poort connects the town of De Rust in the south, with the town of Klaarstroom in the north. It also offers a spectacular drive through incredible rock formations, and is the setting for an annual half marathon that ends in the town of De Rust. Modern additions mean several different passes now cut different routes through the range.</p><br>
<h3>Seweweekspoort (1862)</h3><br>
<p>This pass, to the far west in the Klein Swartberge, connects the modern town of Laingsburg and the "Rooinek pass" in the north, with the Little Karoo to the south.</p><br>
<p>It was built initially purely by a team of convicts without engineers. It was begun in 1859, and the work was finally taken over by Adam de Schmidt. It was completed and opened in 1862.</p><br>
<h3>Swartberg Pass (1888)</h3><br>
<p>Most famous of all is the Swartberg Pass, which runs between Oudtshoorn in the south and Prince Albert in the north.</p><br>
<p>The Swartberg pass was built by Thomas Bain, son of the famous Andrew Geddes Bain who built Bain&#39;s Kloof Pass and many more. It was built using convict labour, and opened on 10 January 1888.</p><br>
<p>The pass is not paved and can be treacherous after rain, but has views over the Little Karoo and the Great Karoo to the north, as well as unusual geology. The Swartberg is regarded as one of the "finest exposed fold mountain chains in the world", and this is apparent at the northern end of the pass. The plant life along the pass is particularly interesting as many hundreds of species are found on the Swartberg. Also notable is the drystone work supporting some of its hairpin bends.</p><br>
<p>Paved road transit through the Swartberg is available further east, through the Meiringspoort.</p><br>
<p>Prince Albert hosts the annual Swartberg Pass Half Marathon. The race route goes out of the town and into the Swartberg Pass, with sheer rock and mountains on both sides. The warped and twisted rock formations are both beautiful and spectacular.</p><br>
<p>This race is held usually on the first Saturday of May, to coincide with the Olive Festival.</p><br>
<h2>Gallery of the Swartberg Pass</h2><br>
<p>The Jeffers Petroglyphs site is an outcrop in southwestern Minnesota with pre-contact Native American petroglyphs. The petroglyphs are pecked into rock of the Red Rock Ridge, a 23 mi-long Sioux quartzite outcrop that extends from Watonwan County, Minnesota to Brown County, Minnesota. The exposed surface is approximately 150 by and surrounded by virgin prairie. Several old wagon trail ruts traverse the site, one of which is believed to be the old stage coach route from New Ulm, Minnesota to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.</p><br>
<p>The exact age of the petroglyphs is not known, but the earliest petroglyphs are estimated to be from 9000 to 7000 years ago (7000 to 5000 BCE). but some atlatl symbols at Jeffers are a close match with similar symbols at Indian Knoll in Kentucky, which have been dated to 3000 BCE during the Late Archaic Period. Another clue to the age comes from the projectile point carvings, which show a projectile point design used by hunters in the Late Archaic Period. Other carvings, such as thunderbirds, dragonflies, turtles, and shamans, are symbolic of later tribes such as the Otoe tribe, Sioux, and Iowa tribe. These are believed to date between 900 CE and 1750 CE. There are over 4000 American Indian images preserved in the bedrock. The bedrock was flattened and smoothed over by glaciers 14000 years ago.</p><br>
<p>Several archaeologists have hypothesized theories about the purpose of the carvings. Some hypotheses include the practice of hunting magic, performance of sacred ceremonies, or recording historical events in the lives of warriors, shamans, and chiefs. The exact age and purpose of the carvings is only speculation, not established fact. Meanwhile, some Native Americans view the Jeffers site as sacred ground and a very spiritual place, not merely a site to be studied and speculated upon. Jerry Flute, a Dakota elder, was quoted as saying, "To the contemporary Native Americans who reside in and around the state, is a very spiritual place. It is a place where Grandmother Earth speaks of the past, present and future."</p><br>
<p>The Minnesota Historical Society purchased the site from W. R. Jeffers, Jr. in 1966 and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. It is maintained by the Minnesota Historical Society and is open to the public between May and September. The site is bracketed by two important tracts of tallgrass prairie: Rock Ridge Prairie Scientific and Natural Area to the northwest and Red Rock Prairie, a preserve of The Nature Conservancy, to the east. Here federally threatened prairie bush clover is found, as well as big bluestem, Indian grass, gray-headed coneflower, Maximilian&#39;s sunflower, cordgrass and coreopsis. The upland sandpiper, regal fritillary and Poweshiek skipper can be found on these prairies.</p><br>
<p>The visitor center is open from May through September and features hands-on exhibits and a multimedia presentation about the site. Daily natural and cultural history programs are offered about such topics as archaeology, how Native Americans made and used the atlatl, a travois and cordage, and prairie wildlife and plants.</p><br>
<h2>Astronomy at Jeffers Petroglyphs</h2><br>
<p>The Starry Night, Prairie Night event is held annually in the park. During this time the park manager allows amateur astronomers to use the park and facilities. Many amateur astronomers attend this event and several members bring their telescopes and allow, and often encourage, others to share their views of the night sky. This site is valued not only because of its historic nature but also because of its dark night skies. The site is much darker than most populated areas in Minnesota and is rated green by the Clear Sky Chart.</p><br>
<p>Iraklio  is a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece, and a municipality of the Attica region.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Iraklio is located about 8 km northeast of Athens city centre. The municipality has an area of 4.638 km. Its built-up area is continuous with those of the neighbouring suburbs Kalogreza, Nea Ionia, Metamorfosi, Lykovrysi and Pefki. Irakleio is subdivided into several quarters, including Palaio Irakleio, Neo Irakleio, Ano Irakleio and Prasinos Lofos. The main thoroughfare is Irakliou Avenue, which connects it with central Athens. The northern beltway of Athens, Motorway 6, passes through Irakleio. Irakleio is served by a subway station (Iraklio station) and by a commuter railway station (Iraklio railway station).</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Iraklio was named after a sanctuary of Heracles that was located in the area in classical antiquity. Before the Greek War of Independence the village was known as Arakli. Iraklio was part of the city of Athens until 1925, when it became a separate community, elevated to municipality in 1948. The earthquake of September 7, 1999, affected the area but caused minor damages.</p><br>
<h2>Historical population</h2><br>
<p>The Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, better known simply as Fort Taylor  is a Florida State Park and National Historic Landmark centered on a Civil War-era fort located near the southern tip of Key West, Florida.</p><br>
<h2>History of Fort Zachary Taylor</h2><br>
<h3>1845–1900</h3><br>
<p>Construction of the fort began in 1845 as part of a mid-19th century plan to defend the southeast coast through a series of forts after the War of 1812. Thompson Island, at the southwest tip of Key West, was selected as the site for the fort in 1822 and plans for the fort, drawn up by Simon Bernard and Joseph G. Totten, were approved in 1836. Two supporting batteries, Martello Towers, provided additional coverage, one of which exists today as the Martello Gallery-Key West Art and Historical Museum. The fort was named for United States President Zachary Taylor in November 1850, a few months after President Taylors sudden death in office. The forts foundation consists of oolitic limestone and New England granite. Its five foot thick walls rose 50 feet above mean low water, and included two tiers of casemates plus a terreplein or barbette at the top. Three seaward curtains 495 feet between bastions, each containing 42 guns on three levels, were augmented by a land facing gorge. Troop barracks were built into this gorge with a capacity for 800 men. At either end of the barracks was a large gunpowder magazine while a Sally port was located in the center, connected to land by a 1200 foot causeway. Rainwater was collected in underground cisterns along the perimeter of the fort. Yellow fever epidemics and material shortages slowed construction of the fort, which continued throughout the 1850s. The Pensacola, Florida firm of Raiford and Abercrombie provided the bricks for Fort Zachary Taylor and Fort Jefferson, which was also under construction at the same time.</p><br>
<p>At the outset of the USA Civil War on 13 Jan. 1861, Union Captain John Milton Brannan, moved his 44 men of the First USA Artillery from Key West Barracks to Fort Taylor. His orders were to prevent the fort from falling into Confederate hands. The fort then became a key outpost to threaten blockade runners. Major William H. French arrived in April with his artillery unit.</p><br>
<p>In 1898, the fort was reduced down to the second floor and Battery Osceola was added to the south casemate. The battery consisted of two 12 inch artillery pieces. The Civil War ere pieces were used as fill, being buried within the new battery to save on materials. Battery Adair was added to the west casemate and included four 3-inch, 15-pounder Rapid Fire rifles.</p><br>
<p>The fort was heavily used again during the 1898 Spanish–American War, World Wars I and II, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.</p><br>
<h3>1900–present</h3><br>
<p>In 1947, the fort, no longer of use to the USA Army, was turned over to the USA Navy for maintenance. In 1968, volunteers led by Howard S. England excavated Civil War guns and ammunition buried in long-abandoned parts of the fort, which was soon discovered to house the nation&#39;s largest collection of Civil War cannons. Fort Taylor was therefore placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973. Due to the filling in of land around the fort, including the creation of an attractive stretch of beach, the park now occupies 87 acres (352,000 m²).</p><br>
<h4>Truman Annex</h4><br>
<p>The fort&#39;s land that is closer to downtown Key West became part of the Truman Annex to Naval Air Station Key West. The annex was originally a separate major installation known as Naval Station Key West and, until its closure in 1974, included a submarine base.</p><br>
<p>President Harry S. Truman used Naval Station Key West for his Winter White House for 175 days in 11 visits. The Secret Service had a private beach built on the land for the president&#39;s security, but he reportedly only visited it once, preferring the public beaches. The beach name is called "Truman Beach." The fort, along with its related support buildings, was later renamed for Truman.</p><br>
<p>Naval Station Key West was decommissioned in 1974 as part of post-Vietnam War force reductions because the USA Navy had decommissioned nearly all of their diesel-electric submarines and contemporary nuclear powered submarines were too large for the station&#39;s existing port. Most of the then-former naval station became an annex (e.g., Truman Annex) to the remaining Naval Air Station Key West and served as the landing point for many during the 1980 Mariel boatlift of Cuban refugees. Those buildings in the Truman Annex and associated real estate not retained by the USA Navy as part of NAS Key West were sold to private developers. There is a museum for the Truman White House and the USA Navy continues to own and maintain the piers and that portion of the former Naval Station Key West property to the south of Fort Taylor, primarily in support of Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATFS) and the Naval Security Group Activity (NAVSECGRUACT Key West).</p><br>
<h2>Current uses</h2><br>
<p>In addition to the role of the fort and its adjacent beach as tourist attractions, Fort Taylor is also the location of a number of annual events, including week-long Civil War reenactments. On the weekend preceding Halloween, it is transformed into a haunted fort, much like a haunted house but on a grand scale and with a distinctive Civil War theme.</p><br>
<p>Taal Lake, formerly known as Bombón Lake, is a freshwater lake in the province of Batangas, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The lake fills Taal Caldera, a large volcanic caldera formed by very large eruptions between 500,000 and 100,000 years ago. It is the countrys third largest lake after Laguna de Bay and Lake Lanao. Volcano Island, the location of Taal Volcanos historical eruptions and responsible for the lake&#39;s sulfuric content, lies near the center of the lake. There is a crater lake on Volcano Island. Known as the Yellow Lake or the Main Crater Lake, it contains its own small island, Vulcan Point. Vulcan Point was thought to be the largest third order island in the world but Treasure Island  is much bigger and is thought to be the world largest, and is also on a freshwater lake.</p><br>
<h2>Protected area and management</h2><br>
<p>The Taal Lake basin was first declared as a national park, the Taal Volcano National Park, by Proclamation No. 235 on July 22, 1967 covering 62,292 hectare.</p><br>
<p>Under Republic Act 7586, otherwise known as the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992, the area was reestablished as the Taal Volcano Protected Landscape by Proc. 906 on October 16, 1996. The protected area is managed by a Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) and has a Chief Operating Officer called a Protected Area Superintendent. A Management Plan was crafted and approved by the PAMB in 2009 and now serves as the blueprint for lake conservation.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Taal Lake was once an inlet of nearby Balayan Bay, and was easily navigable from it. A series of major eruptions in the early 18th century battered the lakeside towns with earthquakes and volcanic debris. The activity culminated in 1754 with Taal Volcanos largest eruption that blocked Pansipit River with tephra, blocking the lakes sole outlet to the sea. This caused the waters to rise, eventually submerging several lakeside towns – the remnants of which are reportedly visible underwater to this day. Since the 1754 eruption, the surface elevation had risen from sea level to 5 m above sea level, with the lake&#39;s once saline waters becoming freshwater after centuries of precipitation.</p><br>
<p>The poblaciones (town centres) of Lipa, Taal, Sala, Bauan, and Tanauan were abandoned and reestablished several kilometers away from the lakeshore after volcanic activity had subsided. Over a century hence, newer settlements along the lakeshore were carved from the larger towns: Talisay (established 1869, from Taal), Cuenca (1877, from San José), Alitagtag (1910, from Bauan), Mataasnakahoy (1932, from Lipa), Agoncillo (1949, from Lemery), San Nicolas (1955, over the ruins of old Taal), Laurel (1961, from Talisay), Santa Teresita (1961, from Taal, San Luis, and San Nicolas) and Balete (1969, from Lipa).</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>As the lake was previously connected to the sea, it is home to many endemic species that have evolved and adapted to the desalination of the lake&#39;s waters. The lake has a freshwater-adapted population of trevally, Caranx ignobilis. This fish, also found in Pansipit River, is locally called maliputo. Its most popular endemic species is the overharvested Sardinella tawilis, a freshwater sardine. The two other endemic fish species in Taal Lake are the gobies Gnatholepis volcanus and Rhinogobius flavoventris.</p><br>
<p>Taal Lake is also home to one of the worlds rarest sea snakes, Hydrophis semperi. This particular species is only one of two "true" sea snake species that are known to live entirely in freshwater (the other is Laticauda crockeri from the Solomon Islands). Bull sharks, Carcharhinus leucas, used to be part of the lakes once-diverse ecosystem but were extirpated by the locals by the 1930s.</p><br>
<h3>Introduction of a non-native fish</h3><br>
<p>Jaguar guapote (Parachromis managuensis), a predatory piscivore, a carnivorous fish that primarily eats other fishes, was found illegally introduced into the lake. The alien fish could proliferate in all areas of lake because of the abundant aquatic vegetation which they use for spawning and feeding, plenty of natural food, and favorable warm environment. Its presence could seriously affect the native fish population.</p><br>
<h3>Fish kill</h3><br>
<p>On January 5, 2008, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources announced that a fish kill at Taal Lake (January 2 to 4) caused the 50 metric tons or ₱3.25-million ($79,268) loss of cultured tilapia in the villages of Leviste and Balakilong in Laurel and in Barangay Aya and Barangay Quiling in Talisay. 6,000 maliputo fishes ($5,609) also died at Quiling. Toxic sulfur and high level of hydrogen sulfide in Ambulong while low dissolved oxygen caused the deaths.</p><br>
<p>On May 30, 2011, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources announced a fish kill of 750 metric tons. According to the scientists, the onset of the rainy season brought a sudden drop on the water temperature, which lowered the oxygen levels on the lake.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>Regular tours of the lake are available to tourists. After crossing the lake, visitors travel to the top of Volcano Island on horseback. During their trip up and down the mountain, visitors are treated to a stunning view of the lake and its surroundings.</p><br>
<p>Tagaytay in Cavite has benefited from Taal Lake and Taal Volcano, which is administered by neighboring province of Batangas. Many tourists has visited Tagaytay for a panoramic view of the lake and volcano.</p><br>
<p>In mid-2007, controversy ensued when the Korean firm Jung Ang Interventure was given clearance to build a health spa on Volcano Island itself along the lakes edge. Over the course of the next few weeks, several government officials expressed their disapproval of the construction project. On June 28, the DENR suspended the Korean firms environmental clearance certificate, rendering them incapable of pursuing further construction on the island until they secure other necessary permits. Because of the unpopular public reaction to the project, the Korean company&#39;s permit was permanently revoked by the DENR in early July 2007.</p><br>
<p>The Red Fort is a historic fort in the city of Delhi in India. It was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal dynasty for nearly 200 years, until 1857. It is located in the center of Delhi and houses a number of museums. In addition to accommodating the emperors and their households, it was the ceremonial and political centre of the Mughal state and the setting for events critically impacting the region.</p><br>
<p>Constructed in 1639 by the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as the palace of his fortified capital Shahjahanabad, the Red Fort is named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone and is adjacent to the older Salimgarh Fort, built by Islam Shah Suri in 1546. The imperial apartments consist of a row of pavilions, connected by a water channel known as the Stream of Paradise (Nahr-i-Bihisht). The fort complex is considered to represent the zenith of Mughal creativity under Shah Jahan, and although the palace was planned according to Islamic prototypes, each pavilion contains architectural elements typical of Mughal buildings that reflect a fusion of Timurid and Persian traditions. The Red Fort’s innovative architectural style, including its garden design, influenced later buildings and gardens in Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Kashmir, Braj, Rohilkhand and elsewhere.</p><br>
<p>The fort was plundered of its artwork and jewels during Nadir Shahs invasion of the Mughal Empire in 1747. Most of the forts precious marble structures were subsequently destroyed by the British following the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The forts&#39;s defensive walls were largely spared, and the fortress was subsequently used as a garrison. The Red Fort was also the site where the British put the last Mughal Emperor on trial before exiling him to Rangoon in 1858.</p><br>
<p>Every year on the Independence day of India (15 August), the Prime Minister hoists the Indian "tricolour flag" at the main gate of the fort and delivers a nationally-broadcast speech from its ramparts.</p><br>
<p>It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007 as part of the Red Fort Complex.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>Its English name, "Red Fort", is a translation of the Hindustani Lāl Qila deriving from its red-sandstone walls. As the residence of the imperial family, the fort was originally known as the "Blessed Fort" (Qila-i-Mubārak). Agra Fort is also called Lāl Qila&#39;.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1639, when he decided to shift his capital from Agra to Delhi. Originally red and white, the Shahs favourite colours, its design is credited to architect Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, who also constructed the Taj Mahal. The fort lies along the Yamuna River, which fed the moats surrounding most of the walls. Construction began in the sacred month of Muharram, on 13 May 1638. Supervised by Shah Jahan, it was completed on 6 April 1648. Unlike other Mughal forts, the Red Forts boundary walls are asymmetrical to contain the older Salimgarh Fort. The fortress-palace was a focal point of the medieval city of Shahjahanabad, which is present-day Old Delhi. Its planning and aesthetics represent the zenith of Mughal creativity prevailing during Shah Jahans reign. His successor Aurangzeb added the Pearl Mosque to the emperors private quarters, constructing barbicans in front of the two main gates to make the entrance to the palace more circuitous.</p><br>
<p>The administrative and fiscal structure of the Mughal dynasty declined after Aurangzeb, and the 18th century saw a degeneration of the palace. When Jahandar Shah took over the Red Fort in 1712, it had been without an emperor for 30 years. Within a year of beginning his rule, Shah was murdered and replaced by Farrukhsiyar. To raise money, the silver ceiling of the Rang Mahal was replaced by copper during this period. Muhammad Shah, known as Rangila (the Colourful) for his interest in art, took over the Red Fort in 1719. In 1739, Persian emperor Nadir Shah easily defeated the Mughal army, plundering the Red Fort including the Peacock Throne. Nadir Shah returned to Persia after three months, leaving a destroyed city and a weakened Mughal empire to Muhammad Shah. In 1761, after the Marathas lost the third battle of Panipat, Delhi was raided by Ahmed Shah Durrani. Ten years later, Shah Alam ascended the throne in Delhi with Maratha support. In 1783 the Sikh Misl Karorisinghia, led by Baghel Singh Dhaliwal, conquered Delhi and the Red Fort briefly. In 1788, a Maratha garrison permanently occupied Red fort and Delhi and ruled on north India for next two decades until they were usurped by the British East India Company following the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803.</p><br>
<p>During the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803, forces of British East India Company defeated Maratha forces in the Battle of Delhi; this ended Maratha rule of the city and their control of the Red Fort. After the battle, the British took over the administration of Mughal territories and installed a Resident at the Red Fort. The last Mughal emperor to occupy the fort, Bahadur Shah II, became a symbol of the 1857 rebellion against the British in which the residents of Shahjahanbad participated.</p><br>
<p>Despite its position as the seat of Mughal power and its defensive capabilities, the Red Fort was not defended during the 1857 uprising against the British. After the rebellion failed, Bahadur Shah II left the fort on 17 September and was apprehended by British forces. He returned to Red Fort as a prisoner of the British, was tried in 1858 and exiled to Rangoon on 7 October of that year. With the end of Mughal reign, the British sanctioned the systematic plunder of valuables from the forts palaces. All furniture was removed or destroyed; the harem apartments, servants quarters and gardens were destroyed, and a line of stone barracks built. Only the marble buildings on the east side at the imperial enclosure escaped complete destruction, but were looted and damaged. While the defensive walls and towers were relatively unharmed, more than two-thirds of the inner structures were destroyed by the British. Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India from 1899–1905, ordered repairs to the fort including reconstruction of the walls and the restoration of the gardens complete with a watering system.</p><br>
<p>Most of the jewels and artworks of the Red Fort were looted and stolen during Nadir Shah&#39;s invasion of 1747 and again after the failed Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British. They were eventually sold to private collectors or the British Museum, British Library and the Victoria and Albert Museum. For example, the Koh-i-Noor diamond, the jade wine cup of Shah Jahan and the crown of Bahadur Shah II are all currently located in London. Various requests for restitution have so far been rejected by the British government.</p><br>
<p>1911 saw the visit of the British king and queen for the Delhi Durbar. In preparation of the visit, some buildings were restored. The Red Fort Archaeological Museum was also moved from the drum house to the Mumtaz Mahal.</p><br>
<p>The INA trials, also known as the Red Fort Trials, refer to the courts-martial of a number of officers of the Indian National Army. The first was held between November and December 1945 at the Red Fort.</p><br>
<p>On 15 August 1947, the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru raised the Indian national flag above the Lahore Gate. On each subsequent Independence Day, the prime minister has raised the flag and given a speech that is broadcast nationally.</p><br>
<p>After Indian Independence, the site experienced few changes, and the Red Fort continued to be used as a military cantonment. A significant part of the fort remained under Indian Army control until 22 December 2003, when it was given to the Archaeological Survey of India for restoration. In 2009 the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), prepared by the Archaeological Survey of India under Supreme Court directions to revitalise the fort, was announced.</p><br>
<h2>Today</h2><br>
<p>Every year on India&#39;s Independence Day (15 August), the Prime Minister of India hoists the national flag at the Red Fort and delivers a nationally-broadcast speech from its ramparts. is one of its most popular tourist destinations and attracts thousands of visitors every year.</p><br>
<p>A sound and light show describing Mughal history is a tourist attraction in the evenings. The major architectural features are in mixed condition; the extensive water features are dry. Some buildings are in fairly-good condition, with their decorative elements undisturbed; in others, the marble inlaid flowers have been removed by looters. The tea house, although not in its historical state, is a working restaurant. The mosque and hamam or public baths are closed to the public, although visitors can peer through their glass windows or marble latticework. Walkways are crumbling, and public toilets are available at the entrance and inside the park.</p><br>
<p>The Lahore Gate entrance leads to a mall with jewellery and craft stores. There is also a museum of "blood paintings", depicting young 20th-century Indian martyrs and their stories, an archaeological museum and an Indian war-memorial museum.</p><br>
<p>The Red fort appears on the back of the 500 note of the Mahatma Gandhi New Series of the Indian rupee.</p><br>
<h2>Security</h2><br>
<p>To prevent terrorist attacks, security is especially strict around the Red Fort on the eve of Indian Independence Day. Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel keep watch on neighbourhoods around the fort, and National Security Guard sharpshooters are deployed on high-rises near the fort. The airspace around the fort is a designated no-fly zone during the celebration to prevent air attacks, and safe houses exist in nearby areas to which the Prime Minister and other Indian leaders may retreat in the event of an attack.</p><br>
<p>The fort was the site of a terrorist attack on 22 December 2000, carried out by six Lashkar-e-Toiba members. Two soldiers and a civilian were killed in what the news media described as an attempt to derail India-Pakistan peace talks.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The Red Fort has an area of 254.67 acre enclosed by 2.41 km of defensive walls, punctuated by turrets and bastions and varying in height from 18 m on the river side to 33 m on the city side. The fort is octagonal, with the north-south axis longer than the east-west axis. The marble, floral decorations and double domes in the fort&#39;s buildings exemplify later Mughal architecture.</p><br>
<p>It showcases a high level of ornamentation, and the Kohinoor diamond was reportedly part of the furnishings. The fort&#39;s artwork synthesises Persian, European and Indian art, resulting in a unique Shahjahani style rich in form, expression and colour. Red Fort is one of the building complexes of India encapsulating a long period of history and its arts. Even before its 1913 commemoration as a monument of national importance, efforts were made to preserve it for posterity.</p><br>
<p>The Lahori and Delhi Gates were used by the public, and the Khizrabad Gate was for the emperor. The Lahore Gate is the main entrance, leading to a domed shopping area known as the Chatta Chowk (covered bazaar).</p><br>
<h2>Major structures</h2><br>
<p>The most important surviving structures are the walls and ramparts, the main gates, the audience halls and the imperial apartments on the eastern riverbank.</p><br>
<h3>Lahori Gate</h3><br>
<p>The Lahori Gate is the main gate to the Red Fort, named for its orientation towards the city of Lahore. During Aurangzeb&#39;s reign, the beauty of the gate was spoiled by the addition of bastions, which Shahjahan described as "a veil drawn across the face of a beautiful woman". Every Indian Independence Day since 1947, the national flag is unfurled and the Prime Minister makes a speech from its ramparts.</p><br>
<h3>Delhi Gate</h3><br>
<p>The Delhi Gate is the southern public entrance and in layout and appearance similar to the Lahori Gate. Two life-size stone elephants on either side of the gate face each other. These were renewed by Lord Curzon in 1903 after their earlier demolition by Aurangzeb.</p><br>
<h3>Chhatta Chowk</h3><br>
<p>Adjacent to the Lahori Gate is the Chhatta Chowk, where silk, jewellery and other items for the imperial household were sold during the Mughal period. The bazaar leads to an open outer court, where it crosses the large north-south street which originally divided the fort&#39;s military functions (to the west) from the palaces (to the east). The southern end of the street is the Delhi Gate.</p><br>
<h3>Naubat Khana</h3><br>
<p>The vaulted arcade of the Chhatta Chowk ends in the centre of the outer court, which measured 540 x. The side arcades and central tank were destroyed after the 1857 rebellion.</p><br>
<p>In the east wall of the court stands the now-isolated Naubat Khana (also known as Nakkar Khana), the drum house. Music was played daily, at scheduled times and everyone, except royalty, was required to dismount.</p><br>
<h3>Diwan-i-Aam</h3><br>
<p>The inner main court to which the Nakkar Khana led was 540 ft wide and 420 ft deep, surrounded by guarded galleries. On the far side is the Diwan-i-Aam, the Public Audience Hall.</p><br>
<p>The hall&#39;s columns and engrailed arches exhibit fine craftsmanship, and the hall was originally decorated with white chunam stucco. In the back in the raised recess the emperor gave his audience in the marble balcony (jharokha).</p><br>
<p>The Diwan-i-Aam was also used for state functions. The courtyard (mardana) behind it leads to the imperial apartments.</p><br>
<h3>Nahr-i-Bihisht</h3><br>
<p>The imperial apartments consist of a row of pavilions on a raised platform along the eastern edge of the fort, overlooking the Yamuna. The pavilions are connected by a canal, known as the Nahr-i-Bihisht ("Stream of Paradise"), running through the centre of each pavilion. Water is drawn from the Yamuna via a tower, the Shahi Burj, at the northeast corner of the fort. The palace is designed to emulate paradise as described in the Quran. In the riverbed below the imperial apartments and connected buildings was a space known as zer-jharokha ("beneath the latticework").</p><br>
<h3>Mumtaz Mahal</h3><br>
<p>The two southernmost pavilions of the palace are zenanas (women&#39;s quarters), consisting of the Mumtaz Mahal and the larger Rang Mahal. The Mumtaz Mahal houses the Red Fort Archaeological Museum.</p><br>
<h3>Rang Mahal</h3><br>
<p>The Rang Mahal housed the emperor&#39;s wives and mistresses. Its name means "Palace of Colours", since it was brightly painted and decorated with a mosaic of mirrors. The central marble pool is fed by the Nahr-i-Bihisht.</p><br>
<h3>Khas Mahal</h3><br>
<p>The Khas Mahal was the emperor&#39;s apartment. Connected to it is the Muthamman Burj, an octagonal tower where he appeared before the people waiting on the riverbank.This was done mostly by all the kings present at that time.</p><br>
<h3>Diwan-i-Khas</h3><br>
<p>A gate on the north side of the Diwan-i-Aam leads to the innermost court of the palace (Jalau Khana) and the Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience). It is constructed of white marble, inlaid with precious stones. The once-silver ceiling has been restored in wood. François Bernier described seeing the jewelled Peacock Throne here during the 17th century. At either end of the hall, over the two outer arches, is an inscription by Persian poet Amir Khusrow:</p><br>
<h3>Hammam</h3><br>
<p>The hammam were the imperial baths, consisting of three domed rooms floored with white marble.</p><br>
<h3>Baoli</h3><br>
<p>The baoli or step-well, believed to pre-date Red Fort, is one of the few monuments that were not demolished by the British after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The chambers within the baoli were converted into a prison. During the Indian National Army Trials (Red Fort Trials) in 1945–46, it housed Indian National Army officers Colonel Shah Nawaz Khan, Colonel Prem Kumar Sahgal, and Colonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon. The Red Fort Baoli is uniquely designed with two sets of staircases leading down to the well.</p><br>
<h3>Moti Masjid</h3><br>
<p>West of the hammam is the Moti Masjid, the Pearl Mosque. A later addition, it was built in 1659 as a private mosque for Aurangzeb. It is a small, three-domed mosque carved in white marble, with a three-arched screen leading down to the courtyard.</p><br>
<h3>Hira Mahal</h3><br>
<p>The Hira Mahal is a pavilion on the southern edge of the fort, built under Bahadur Shah II and at the end of the Hayat Baksh garden. The Moti Mahal on the northern edge, a twin building, was destroyed during (or after) the 1857 rebellion.</p><br>
<p>The Shahi Burj was the emperors main study of the; its name means "Emperors Tower", and it originally had a chhatri on top. Heavily damaged, the tower is undergoing reconstruction. In front of it is a marble pavilion added by Aurangzeb.</p><br>
<h3>Hayat Bakhsh Bagh</h3><br>
<p>The Hayat Bakhsh Bagh is the "Life-Bestowing Garden" in the northeast part of the complex. It features a reservoir, which is now dry, and channels through which the Nahr-i-Bihisht flows. At each end is a white marble pavilion, called the Sawan and Bhadon Pavilions, named after the Hindu months, Sawan and Bhadon. In the centre of the reservoir is the red-sandstone Zafar Mahal, added in around 1842 by Bahadur Shah Zafar, and named after him.</p><br>
<p>Smaller gardens (such as the Mehtab Bagh or Moonlight Garden) existed west of it, but were destroyed when the British barracks were built. There are plans to restore the gardens. Beyond these, the road to the north leads to an arched bridge and the Salimgarh Fort.</p><br>
<h3>Princes' quarter</h3><br>
<p>North of the Hayat Bakhsh Bagh and the Shahi Burj is the quarter of the imperial princes. This was used by member of the Mughal royal family and was largely destroyed by the British forces after the rebellion. One of the palaces was converted into a tea house for the soldiers.</p><br>
<p>&#39;Friendship&#39; was a merchant brig built in Scarborough, England, and launched in 1784. She is most notable for her transport of convicts as part of the Australian First Fleet. Due to problems manning her, her crew scuttled her in 1788.</p><br>
<h2>Origins</h2><br>
<p>The first mention of Friendship in Lloyd&#39;s Register gives her master&#39;s name as Fowler and her trade as St Petersburg to Lieth. She then disappears from Lloyd&#39;s Register before reappearing in the 1787 issue.</p><br>
<h2>Voyage to Australia</h2><br>
<p>Some ten or twelve of the female convicts were particularly unruly, and promiscuous. Walton transferred all the women to other transports at the Cape of Good Hope to make room for livestock purchased there. Friendship arrived at Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia, on 26 January 1788. Two of her female convicts had died on the journey, one before the brig&#39;s arrival in Rio, and one after transfer to Lady Penrhyn.</p><br>
<p>The collection of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich includes a commemorative coin featuring an image of Friendship and the inscription "Success to the Friendship. 1787." and on the reverse, the inscription "F.W.", the initials of Francis Walton master of Friendship.</p><br>
<h2>Fate</h2><br>
<p>Friendship left Port Jackson on 14 July 1788 in company with Alexander. The two vessels were sailing to Canton to pick up a cargo of tea for the British East India Company.</p><br>
<p>On the way scurvy badly affected the crews of both ships. By the time the vessels were off the coast of Borneo there only remained enough healthy sailors to work one ship, and her crew scuttled Friendship in the Straits of Makassar () on 28 October 1788.</p><br>
<h2>Legal action</h2><br>
<p>The owners took legal action against the Government for the loss of the ship, which took many years.</p><br>
<h2>Commemoration</h2><br>
<p>An Urban Transit Authority First Fleet ferry was named after Friendship in 1986.</p><br>
<p>Hopetoun House is a country house near Queensferry, West Lothian, owned by the Hopetoun House Preservation Trust, a charity established in 1974 to preserve the House and Grounds as a national monument and to protect and improve their amenities, and to preserve for the benefit of the nation the furniture, paintings, manuscripts and other articles of historical or artistic interest associated with the House. The south wing of the house is occupied by the family of The 4th Marquess of Linlithgow as their family home.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The house was built 1699-1701 and designed by Sir William Bruce. The house was then hugely extended from 1721 by William Adam until his death in 1748, being one of his most notable projects. The interior was completed by his sons John Adam and Robert Adam. The magnificent entrance hall dates from 1752.</p><br>
<p>The Hope family acquired the land in the 17th century and operated lead mines. Charles Hope, the first occupant, was only 16 years old when his mother, Lady Margaret Hope, signed the contract for building with William Bruce, on 28 September 1698. The master mason is noted as Tobias Bachope of Alloa. The plumber and glazier was John Forster of Berwick.</p><br>
<p>The English garden style landscape park in which it lies were laid out in 1725, also by William Adam. The east front centres on the distant isle of Inchgarvie and North Berwick Law. The walled garden dates from the late 18th century. In the grounds an 18th-century mound was excavated in 1963 to reveal the remains of the earlier manor house, Abercorn Castle, dating from the 15th century.</p><br>
<p>In 1974, Charles William Frederick Hope, 3rd Marquess of Linlithgow created The Hopetoun House Preservation Trust to ensure Hopetoun House and the estate were preserved for future generations.</p><br>
<h2>Access</h2><br>
<p>During the summer months, parts of the castle and gardens are open to visitors. Classical musical recitals are occasionally put on at Hopetoun House. Chilean pianist Alfredo Perl once performed recitals of Chopin at the house. The site can also be let for weddings, conferences, and filming.</p><br>
<p>Lake Orta  is a lake in northern Italy, west of Lake Maggiore.</p><br>
<p>It has been so named since the 16th century, but was previously called the Lago di San Giulio, after Saint Julius (4th century), the patron saint of the region. Its southern end is about 35 km by rail, to the northwest of Novara on the main Turin-Milan line, while its north end is about 6 km by rail south of the Gravellona-Toce railway station, halfway between Ornavasso and Omegna.</p><br>
<p>Its scenery is characteristically Italian, while the San Giulio island has some very picturesque buildings, and takes its name from the local saint, who lived in the 4th century.</p><br>
<p>Located around the lake are Orta San Giulio, built on a peninsula projecting from the east shore of the lake, Omegna at its northern extremity, Pettenasco to the east, and Pella to the west.</p><br>
<p>It is supposed that the lake is the remnant of a much larger sheet of water by which originally the waters of the Toce flowed south towards Novara. As the glaciers retreated the waters flowing from them sank, and were gradually diverted into Lake Maggiore.</p><br>
<p>The Castle of Tarifa , also known as Castle of Guzmán el Bueno  or Castle of the Guzmáns  is a castle in the coastal town of Tarifa in Spain.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>It was built in 960 by the Abd-ar-Rahman III, Caliph of Córdoba. When Tarifa was taken over by the king of Castile, Sancho IV in 1292, the castle was handed over to Alonso Pérez de Guzmán for its defense. Pérez de Guzmán get the nickname of "Good" (el Bueno) by refusing to hand over the castle in 1296 to the besieging forces of the Infante Don Juan, the rebellious brother of the king Sancho, and the Marinids, in exchange for the life of his son.</p><br>
<p>Recently refurbished, the castle is open to visitors. The coast and mountains of Morocco are visible from its towers.</p><br>
<p>Oropos , or  Oropus, is a small town and a municipality in East Attica, Greece.</p><br>
<p>It was an important ancient Greek city and the famous nearby sanctuary of Amphiaraos was a large settlement which is visible today.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The municipality Oropos stretches between the Parnitha mountains and the South Euboean Gulf, opposite Eretria (on the island Euboea). The town Oropos, the seat of the municipality, is situated on the lower course of the river Asopos, 4 km south of the coast. It lies 4 km southwest of Nea Palatia and 36 km north of Athens. The community Oropos consists of the town Oropos and the nearby villages Kampos and Platania. The municipality has an area of 338.183 km, the community 11.967 km.</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The present municipality Oropos was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 9 former municipalities, that became municipal units (constituent communities in brackets):</p><br>
<p>Afidnes</p><br>
<p>Avlonas</p><br>
<p>Kalamos</p><br>
<p>Kapandriti</p><br>
<p>Malakasa</p><br>
<p>Markopoulo Oropou</p><br>
<p>Oropioi (Nea Palatia, Skala Oropou and Oropos)</p><br>
<p>Polydendri</p><br>
<p>Sykamino</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Oropos was founded by colonists from Eretria; it was either located in or identical with Graea. In ancient times, it was a border city between Boeotia and Attica, and its possession was a continual cause of dispute between the two states; but ultimately it came into possession of Athens, and was always an Attic town, even during the Roman Empire. The actual harbour, which was called Delphinium, was at the mouth of the Asopus, about a mile (1.6 km) north of the city.</p><br>
<p>The famous Sanctuary of Amphiaraos was situated in the territory of Oropus, 12 stadia from the city. The site has been excavated by the Greek Archaeological Society; it contained a temple, a sacred spring, into which coins were thrown by worshippers, altars and porticoes, and a small theatre, of which the proskenion is well preserved. Worshippers used to consult the oracle of Amphiaraos by sleeping on the skin of a slaughtered ram within the sacred building.</p><br>
<p>Niuafoou  is the most northerly island in the kingdom of Tonga. It is a volcanic rim island of 15 km² and with a population of 650 in 2006.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The island is located in the southern Pacific Ocean between Fiji and Samoa, 574 km north of Tongatapu island group and 337 kilometers northwest of Vavaʻu. It is still an active volcano.</p><br>
<p>Other names for the island are Good Hope island and Tin Can island. The latter name originated from the fact that, since the island has neither a natural harbor nor a wharf, mail was delivered and picked up by strong swimmers who would retrieve packages, "sealed up in a biscuit tin" and thrown overboard from passing ships. Established in the nineteenth century, Tin Can Mail was developed by a trader named Charles Ramsey and later commercialised by a competitor, Walter George Quensell, who festooned the mail with many colourful cachets that have become a collectors&#39; item. The Tongan government took over this tradition with special Niuafoʻou stamps since 1983.</p><br>
<p>Niuafoou is a volcano located on an underwater ridge 190 km west of the line of all the other volcanoes of Tonga. The island contains a steep-sided caldera; the rim is over 120 m high, rising to a height of 250 m at Mokotu. The coastline is rocky and steep with only a few stony black sand beaches. The only landing place on the island is the end of a lava flow at Futu, in the west. All the villages are in the north and east. Public places—like the post office, telecommunications station and airport (Niuatoputapu Airport)—are in Angahā in the north, while a high school is located in Mua.</p><br>
<p>The island ring encloses two lakes. The larger, Vai Lahi, is a crater lake 23 metres above sea level, 4 kilometres wide, and 84 metres deep. The lake contains three islands and a submerged island that appears when the water level drops. Vai Lahi is separated from the smaller Vai Siʻi (or Vai Mataʻaho) by a desolate landscape of sand hills. The island is covered by forest on the inner walls of the crater lake, and on the island&#39;s eastern and western slopes.</p><br>
<p>Niuafoʻou has been an active volcano for thousands of years. In 1853, the village of ʻAhau was destroyed, killing 25 people. Lava flows from eruptions in 1912 and 1929 destroyed the village of Futu, cut off the harbor, and killed all the vegetation on the western slopes of the island. Other eruptions occurred in 1935, 1936, 1943, and 1946. The 1946 eruption was a particularly violent one and in December 1946 Niuafoʻou&#39;s inhabitants were evacuated and resettled on the island of ʻEua. ʻEua and Niuafoʻou share many place names, (see list of cities in Tonga) showing where the resettlers went to. The first groups of inhabitants were allowed to return to the island in 1958.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>According to the myths, Niuafoou originally had a mountain, rather than a lake in the middle. But the mountain was stolen one night and became Tafahi.</p><br>
<p>Niuafoou was put on the European maps by Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire during their famous circumnavigation of the globe in 1616. After their not so successful encounter with the islanders of Niuatoputapu, they approached this island with some more hope to find refreshments, so it was called Goede Hoop island. They found black cliffs, green on top, plenty of coconut trees, some houses along the seaside and a whole village near a landing place. But the ship the Eendracht (Unity) could not anchor and they had to limit themselves with some trade with the Indians who came along in their swift canoes. That went on fine for a short while. But when the islanders tried to get away with the small sounding boat, the Dutch had to use fire force again. After this they proceeded with their trip to the west, but veering towards the north and so happened to reach Futuna and Alofi.</p><br>
<p>Between 1946 and 1947, the island was completely evacuated by the Tongan government following a volcanic eruption. In 1958 about half of the population returned to Niuafoou, and the rest remained in Eua.</p><br>
<p>In January 2002, the island was devastated by Cyclone Waka which destroyed hundreds of homes and killed one person.</p><br>
<p>Klínovec  is the highest peak of the Ore Mountains, located in the Czech Republic&#39;s part of the mountains at 1,244 m. There is an important TV broadcasting tower on the top of the mountain.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>Klínovec lies in the Karlovy Vary Region, about 3 km to the east of Boží Dar and 5 km north-east of Jáchymov. Another two towns are set in the valley to the north, between Klínovec and Fichtelberg: Loučná pod Klínovcem, the second smallest municipality with town status in the Czech Republic with merely 80 inhabitants, and Oberwiesenthal, a German spa town. Access to the peak is provided by a road from Boží Dar, tourist trails (marked red and yellow), or a chairlift from Jáchymov, running all year round. These days, Klínovec is a popular regional ski resort, featuring more than 10 kilometres of ski pistes, 35 kilometres of trails for cross-country skiing and a snowpark.</p><br>
<p>The average temperature at the peak is 2.7 &deg;C, the average rainfall amounts to 1,050 mm.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Thanks to its elevation, Klínovec offers marvellous panoramic view of Bohemia and Saxony. On a clear day, the Bohemian Forest may be seen to the south, 150 kilometres away, or the Ještěd mountain to the east.</p><br>
<p>The first public observation tower was built on the summit as early as 1817, and instantly became popular among visitors of the famous spa of Carlsbad, now Karlovy Vary. However, the wooden tower burnt down in 1868, and a new stone one was built between the years 1883 and 1884. This tower bore the name Kaiser-Franz-Josephs-Turm ("Emperor Franz Joseph Tower") and has survived until the present.</p><br>
<p>The tower is 24 metres high and was extended with a hotel in 1893, when its popularity grew to such an extent, that accommodation was needed. The complex has been further extended over time, but it is currently in poor condition. Attempts to restore the buildings have been delayed through a lack of funds, although work was due to start in 2012.</p><br>
<p>In addition, a 56-metre-high broadcasting tower was erected on the top of Klínovec in the 1950s, exceeding the height of the observation tower by 32 metres. The Klínovec TV tower covers most of the Karlovy Vary and Ústí nad Labem Regions and broadcasts in digital.</p><br>
<p>Ekali  is an affluent suburb of Athens, Greece. Located to the north of the city centre, it is a green and lush area home to many of the country&#39;s most powerful business and shipping families. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Kifisia, as a municipal unit. It was named after the ancient Greek deme of Hecale.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Ekali is situated at the western end of the forested Penteli mountain range. The municipal unit has an area of 4.332 km. The small river Kifisos forms the western border of the municipal unit. Ekali is situated 4 km northeast of Kifisia, 5 km southwest of Agios Stefanos and 16 km northeast of Athens city centre.</p><br>
<p>The main thoroughfare is Thiseos Avenue (Greek National Road 83), which connects Ekali with Kifisia and central Athens. Motorway 1 (Athens - Thessaloniki) passes west of Ekali. Ekali is a purely residential area, which means that retail, commercial shops and professional businesses are not permitted within the community.</p><br>
<h2>People</h2><br>
<p>Giannis Spyropoulos (one of the most popular Abstract Greek painters) lived in Ekali. In 1990 after the painter&#39;s death the Spyropoulos Foundation was established there.</p><br>
<p>Former Socialist Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou lived in Ekali in his final years and the Greek media often used "Ekali" in the same way the British media use "Downing Street" or the American media use "the White House".</p><br>
<p>Shipping, oil and banking heir and billionaire Spiros Latsis.</p><br>
<p>Vardis Vardinogiannis, prominent billionaire businessman.</p><br>
<p>Andreas Vgenopoulos (businessman), financier, largest shareholder of Marfin Investment Group.</p><br>
<p>Anna Vissi, famous Greek singer and artist.</p><br>
<h2>Sites of interest</h2><br>
<p>Giannis Spyropoulos Museum</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>Ekali is synonymous with great wealth and privilege. Its residents are sometimes frowned upon for being cut off from problems facing ordinary Greek people. Dahlia Hatzialexandrou, a leading character in hit series Sto Para Pente, lived in Ekali. She played the role of a clueless heiress who has no conception of the value of money.</p><br>
<p>Dinosaur Provincial Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located about two-and-a-half hours drive east of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; or 48 km, about a half-hour drive northeast of Brooks.</p><br>
<p>The park is situated in the valley of the Red Deer River, which is noted for its striking badland topography. The park is well known for being one of the richest dinosaur fossil locales in the world. Fifty-eight dinosaur species have been discovered at the park and more than 500 specimens have been removed and exhibited in museums around the globe. The renowned fossil assemblage of nearly 500 species of life, from microscopic fern spores to large carnivorous dinosaurs, justified its becoming a World Heritage Site in 1979.</p><br>
<h2>Dinosaur Provincial Park Visitor Centre</h2><br>
<p>The Dinosaur Provincial Park Visitor Centre features exhibits about dinosaurs, fossils, and the geology and natural history of the park. There is a video theater, fossil prep lab area, and a gift shop. Public programs are offered in the summer.</p><br>
<p>John Wares Cabin is a restored early 20th century cabin that was used by John Ware, an African-American cowboy and important figure in Albertas ranching history. The cabin is located near the visitor center and is open on select days in the summer.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Established on June 27, 1955 as part of Alberta&#39;s 50th Jubilee Year with the goal of protecting the fossil beds, the first warden was Roy Fowler (1902-1975), a farmer and amateur fossil hunter.</p><br>
<p>The park was established as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on October 26, 1979 both for its nationally significant badlands and riverside riparian habitats, and for the international importance of the fossils found there.</p><br>
<p>Until 1985, discoveries made in the park had to be shipped to museums throughout the world for scientific analysis and display, including the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto in Ontario, the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa in Ontario, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, New York State. This changed with the opening of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology 100 kilometres upstream in Midland Provincial Park adjacent to Drumheller.</p><br>
<h2>Nature</h2><br>
<p>The park protects a very complex ecosystem including three communities: prairie grasslands, badlands, and riverside cottonwoods. Its ecosystem is surrounded by prairies but is unique unto itself. Choruses of coyotes are common at dusk, as are the calls of nighthawks. Cottontail rabbits, mule deer, and pronghorn can all be seen in the park; the prairie rattlesnake, bull snake and the red-sided garter snake are present as well. Curlews and Canada geese are among the 165 bird species that can be seen in the spring and summer. Some of the most northern species of cactus, including Opuntia (prickly pear) and Pediocactus (pincushion) can be observed in full bloom during the later half of June.</p><br>
<h3>Geology</h3><br>
<p>The sediments exposed in the badlands at Dinosaur Provincial Park were laid down over a period of about 1.5 million years during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous epoch, and belong to three different geologic formations. The top of the terrestrial Oldman Formation, which outcrops at the base of the sequence, is the oldest. It is overlain by a complete section of the terrestrial Dinosaur Park Formation, which is in turn overlain by the base of the marine Bearpaw Formation. The Dinosaur Park Formation, which contains most of the articulated dinosaur skeletons, was laid down between about 76.5 and 74.8 million years ago. It was deposited in floodplain and coastal plain environments by river systems that flowed eastward and southeastward to the Western Interior Seaway.</p><br>
<h3>Paleontology</h3><br>
<p>Dinosaur Provincial Park preserves an extraordinarily diverse group of freshwater vertebrates. Fish include sharks, rays (such as the durophage Myledaphus), paddlefish, bowfins, gars, and teleosts. Amphibians include frogs, salamanders, and the extinct albanerpetontids. Reptiles include lizards (such as the large monitor Palaeosaniwa), a wide range of turtles, crocodilians, and the fish-eating Champsosaurus. Mammal fossils from the park are relatively rare and consist of isolated teeth, fragmentary jaws with teeth, and tooth fragments from mouse-sized and shrew-sized animals. They include representatives of placental, marsupial, and multituberculate mammals.</p><br>
<p>Plant fossils from the park and surrounding area include fern fronds; foliage and wood of taxodiaceous and cupressaceous conifers; and leaves of Ginkgo, Cercidiphyllum, Platanus, a Pistia-like aquatic plant, and others. A rich assemblage of fossil pollen and spores has also been described.</p><br>
<p>The dinosaurs of the park are astonishingly diverse. They include:</p><br>
<p>Ceratopsia</p><br>
<p>Leptoceratops sp.</p><br>
<p>Centrosaurus apertus</p><br>
<p>Coronosaurus brinkmani</p><br>
<p>Styracosaurus albertensis</p><br>
<p>Pachyrhinosaurus</p><br>
<p>Chasmosaurus belli, C. russelli</p><br>
<p>Vagaceratops irvinensis</p><br>
<p>Hadrosauridae</p><br>
<p>Corythosaurus casuarius</p><br>
<p>Gryposaurus notabilis, G. incurvimanus</p><br>
<p>Lambeosaurus lambei, L. magnicristatus</p><br>
<p>Prosaurolophus maximus</p><br>
<p>Parasaurolophus walkeri</p><br>
<p>Ankylosauria</p><br>
<p>Panoplosaurus</p><br>
<p>Edmontonia</p><br>
<p>Euoplocephalus tutus</p><br>
<p>Hypsilophodontidae</p><br>
<p>Orodromeus</p><br>
<p>Pachycephalosauria</p><br>
<p>Stegoceras</p><br>
<p>Tyrannosauridae</p><br>
<p>Daspletosaurus torosus</p><br>
<p>Gorgosaurus libratus</p><br>
<p>Ornithomimidae</p><br>
<p>Ornithomimus</p><br>
<p>Struthiomimus</p><br>
<p>new ornithomimid species A</p><br>
<p>Caenagnathidae</p><br>
<p>Chirostenotes pergracilis</p><br>
<p>Chirostenotes elegans</p><br>
<p>Chirostenotes collinsi</p><br>
<p>Dromaeosauridae</p><br>
<p>Dromaeosaurus albertensis</p><br>
<p>Saurornitholestes</p><br>
<p>Hesperonychus elizabethae</p><br>
<p>?new dromaeosaur species A</p><br>
<p>?new dromaeosaur species B</p><br>
<p>Troodontidae</p><br>
<p>Troodon</p><br>
<p>new troodontid species A</p><br>
<p>Classification Uncertain</p><br>
<p>Ricardoestesia gilmorei</p><br>
<p>Birds such as Hesperornithiformes were present, as well as giant Pterosauria related to Quetzalcoatlus. Stagodont marsupials, placentals and multituberculate mammals scurried underfoot.</p><br>
<p>Dinosaur Provincial Park 001.jpgDinosaur Provincial Park</p><br>
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<p>Mornington Island is the northernmost of 22 islands that form the Wellesley Islands group. The island is in the Gulf of Carpentaria and is part of the Gulf Country region in the Australian state of Queensland. The Manowar and Rocky Islands Important Bird Area lies about 40 km to the north-west. Mornington Island is the largest of the islands, the largest settlement of which is Gunana on the south-west of the island.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The general topography of the island is flat with the maximum elevation of 500 feet (150 metres). The island is fringed by mangrove forests and contains 10 estuaries, all in near pristine condition.</p><br>
<p>The population was estimated to be 1,007 in 2001 and the majority of the citizens live in the township of Gununa. Mornington Island is included in the Shire of Mornington local government area. The majority of the islanders are Aboriginal.</p><br>
<p>Lardil (or Kunhanaamendaa) are the predominant clan group on Mornington Island and are the traditional owners of the land and surrounding seas. The Kaiadilt clan arrived more recently (1947) from nearby Bentinck Island, when that island&#39;s water supply was contaminated by salt after a cyclone. Recent re-building work on aboriginal housing has been undertaken by the James Fraser Foundation, a non-profit organisation in Queensland.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Macassan trepangers once travelled thousands of kilometres from Sulawesi to Mornington Island and other Australian mainland destinations in search of sea cucumbers. The eastern cape of the island was named Cape Van Diemen after Anthony van Diemen. Commander Matthew Flinders named the island after Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley who was known as The Earl of Mornington.</p><br>
<p>Gununa Post Office opened by 1892.</p><br>
<p>The Mornington Island Airport was a temporary airfield used by the RAAF and allied air forces during World War II.</p><br>
<p>Penile subincision was traditionally performed on the island for those wanting to learn a complex ceremonial language called Damin.</p><br>
<p>The Mornington Island State School opened on 28 January 1975.</p><br>
<p>In 1978, the Queensland government decided to take over control of both the Aurukun and Mornington Island Aboriginal reserves.</p><br>
<p>Cyclones routinely hit the island. In 2000 Cyclone Steve passed directly over the island. Tropical Cyclone May passed in February 1988 and Tropical Cyclone Bernie passed to the west in early 2002. Tropical Cyclone Fritz passed directly over the island on 12 February 2003. Severe Tropical Cyclone Harvey caused damage on the island in February, 2005.</p><br>
<h2>Education</h2><br>
<p>Mornington Island State School offers kindergarten, primary, and limited secondary schooling (K-10) for boys and girls operated by the Queensland Government at 500 Lardil Street. In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 248 students (of which 236 identify as Indigenous) with 29 teachers and 16 non-teaching staff (11 full-time equivalent).</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<h2>In literature</h2><br>
<p>Mornington Island was the site of research over several decades by British anthropologist David McKnight, described in a series of books, People, Countries, and the Rainbow Serpent: Systems of classification among the Lardil of Mornington Island (1999), From Hunting to Drinking: The devastating effects of alcohol on an Australian Aboriginal community (2002), Going the Whiteman’s Way: Kinship and marriage among Australian Aborigines (2004) and Of Marriage, Violence and Sorcery: The quest for power in northern Queensland (2005). McKnight lamented the increasing levels of violence since the 1970s.</p><br>
<p>Indigenous art of Mornington Island is described in The Heart of Everything: The art and artists of Mornington & Bentinck Islands, ed. N. Evans, L. Martin-Chew and P. Memmott (2008).</p><br>
<p>A tribe of indigenous people on the island have been communicating with wild Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins for millennium. It is said that they have"a medicine man who calls the dolphins and “speaks” to them telepathically. By these communications he assures that the tribes’ fortunes and happiness are maintained."</p><br>
<h2>Alcohol Management Plan</h2><br>
<p>In 2003 the Government of Queensland implemented an Alcohol Management Plan to 19 indigenous communities in Queensland where alcohol abuse was rampant. The alcohol bans are aimed at alleviating high levels of domestic violence, child abuse and child neglect. The plan restricts tavern opening hours, limits sales to only light and mid-strength beers, bans takeaway alcohol sales and home brewing. The Mornington Island community has been described as the toughest in Queensland when it comes to resisting alcohol bans.</p><br>
<p>In December 2003 police reinforcements had to be sent to Mornington Island after riots broke out when tough new alcohol laws were introduced. In 2008 more riots were feared after the Lelka Murrin Hotel, one of only two liquor retailers on the island, closed due to the proprietor being ill. Extra police were sent to the island to stop any unauthorised sale of alcohol and to quash any alcohol-fueled violence that may have erupted at a time when violent incidents on the island were common.</p><br>
<h2>Location within the Wellesley Islands</h2><br>
<p>Cameron Pass is a 10,276 ft elevation mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains in north central Colorado in the United States. The pass is a gap between the south end of the Medicine Bow Mountains and the north end of the Never Summer Mountains. It sits on the border between Jackson County and Larimer County, approximately 3 mi  north of the boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park. The pass provides the most convenient route between Fort Collins and Walden in North Park, using State Highway 14.</p><br>
<p>The pass was named for Robert Cameron, the founder of the Fort Collins Agricultural Colony in the 1870s. The pass was surveyed several times for railroads, including once by the Union Pacific Railroad as a possible route for a line through the Rockies. No railroad was ever built over the pass however. The pass is located the boundary of the Roosevelt National Forest and the Colorado State Forest State Park. Parking lots on the east and west sides of the pass, as well as at the summit allow access to nearby trails that are popular both for hiking in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter. The pass receives much snow during the winter months and is prone to avalanches, but it usually remains open all-year round. The pass has a mild approach from the East, and is steep from the West.</p><br>
<p>The pass is drained on the north side by a tributary of the Cache la Poudre River in the basin of the South Platte River. It is drained on the south side by the Michigan River, a tributary of the North Platte River in North Park.</p><br>
<p>Shuswap Lake  is a lake located in south-central British Columbia, Canada that drains via the Little River into Little Shuswap Lake. Little Shuswap Lake is the source of the South Thompson River, a branch of the Thompson River, a tributary of the Fraser River. It is at the heart of a region known as the Shuswap Country or "the Shuswap", noted for its recreational lakeshore communities including the city of Salmon Arm. The name "Shuswap" is derived from the Shuswap or Secwepemc First Nations people, the most northern of the Interior Salish peoples, whose territory includes the Shuswap. The Shuswap call themselves /ʃǝxwépmǝx/ in their own language, which is called /ʃǝxwepmǝxtʃín/, but the ethnonym’s original meaning is now lost.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Shuswap Lake consists of four arms, forming a shape reminiscent of the letter H. The four arms are called Salmon Arm (southwest), Shuswap Arm (west), Anstey Arm (northeast), and Seymour Arm (north). Shuswap Lake connects to Little Shuswap Lake via the Little River, which flows from the end of Shuswap Lake.</p><br>
<p>To the north-west it is fed by the Adams River, which drains Adams Lake. The Salmon Arm of Shuswap Lake connects to Mara Lake at the Sicamous Channel. The Shuswap River connects via Mara Lake. In the south-west the Salmon River flows into the lake at Salmon Arm. The Eagle River runs down from the Eagle Pass in the Monashees to enter the lake at Sicamous, in the east. The Seymour River empties into the northern end of the Seymour Arm. In addition to these rivers, numerous creeks feed the lake, including Scotch Creek, which runs south to the north shore of the main arm, near the community of the same name.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<h3>Fish</h3><br>
<p>Shuswap Lake is home to at least fourteen species of fish. Of these species, the Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, Sockeye salmon, Rainbow trout, Lake trout, and Burbot are of importance regarding recreational fishing.</p><br>
<h3>Invasive Species</h3><br>
<p>Eurasian water milfoil has spread across much of the lake, but is most prevalent in Salmon Arm Bay. Carp may also be present.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The central interior plateau of British Columbia drained by the Fraser and Okanagan rivers is part of the Shuswap terrane in British Columbia and northern Washington state. It is dissected by numerous elongated, glacially-overdeepened lake basins which are formed by the same mechanisms as coastal fjords.</p><br>
<h2>Monster</h2><br>
<p>Like many other lakes, Shuswap Lake has a local lake monster legend attached to it. A 25-foot long serpentine creature, known as the Shuswap Lake Monster or "Shuswaggi", is reported to live in the lake.</p><br>
<h2>Provincial parks around Shuswap Lake</h2><br>
<p>Several parks are located on the shores of Shuswap Lake, including:</p><br>
<p>Shuswap Lake Provincial Park</p><br>
<p>Shuswap Lake Marine Provincial Park</p><br>
<p>Silver Beach Provincial Park</p><br>
<p>Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park (home of the Adams River Sockeye Run)</p><br>
<p>Cinnemousun Narrows Provincial Park (located at the center of the H)</p><br>
<h2>Communities</h2><br>
<p>Communities bordering the Shuswap Lakes include:</p><br>
<p>Salmon Arm</p><br>
<p>Celista</p><br>
<p>Lee Creek</p><br>
<p>Squilax</p><br>
<p>Eagle Bay</p><br>
<p>Scotch Creek</p><br>
<p>Sorrento</p><br>
<p>Blind Bay</p><br>
<p>Tappen</p><br>
<p>Anglemont</p><br>
<p>Magna Bay</p><br>
<p>Chase</p><br>
<p>St. Ives</p><br>
<p>SunnyBrae</p><br>
<p>Canoe</p><br>
<p>Sicamous</p><br>
<p>Seymour Arm</p><br>
<p>Pentire Head  is a headland and peninsula on the Atlantic coast in North Cornwall, England, UK and is about one mile square. The headland projects north-west with Pentire Point at its north-west corner and The Rumps promontory at its north-east corner.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The origin of the name is from Cornish penn (head) and tir (land): another headland with the name Pentire is further west near Crantock.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Pentire Point and Stepper Point stand at either side of the mouth of the River Camel estuary (Pentire to the north-east, Stepper to the south-west). To the south of Pentire Point is the small seaside resort of Polzeath. The coastline around the headland is owned by the National Trust, although the bulk of the headland itself is let to Pentire Farm.</p><br>
<p>The Rumps promontory is the site of Iron Age clifftop fortifications - the series of mound and ditch earthworks remain clearly visible today.</p><br>
<p>The entire headland forms the Pentire Peninsula Site of Special Scientific Interest, designated for its geology and flora and fauna including nationally rare plants. Important examples noted include slates from the Upper Devonian period, several invertebrate species, predatory birds and grey seals.</p><br>
<p>A small island named Puffin island lies about one mile (1,600 metres) to the north-west of Pentire Point. Another small island named The Mouls lies 300 yards to the north-east of The Rumps and supports colonies of seabirds. Beyond The Rumps, the coastline veers southeast into Port Quin Bay.</p><br>
<p>The South West Coast Path closely follows the coastline of the headland, and sightseeing boat tours regularly travel along the coast from the nearby port of Padstow.</p><br>
<h2>For The Fallen</h2><br>
<p>The poet Laurence Binyon wrote For The Fallen (first published in The Times in September, 1914) while sitting by the cliffs between Pentire Point and The Rumps. A stone plaque was erected in 2001 to commemorate the fact and bears the inscription</p><br>
<p>The plaque also bears the fourth stanza of the poem:</p><br>
<h2>Gallery of images</h2><br>
<p>Christ Church Cathedral, Houston is the cathedral church for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. The congregation was established in 1839, when Texas was still an independent republic. It is the oldest extant congregation in Houston and one of the oldest non-Roman Catholic churches in Texas. Many Episcopal churches in Houston and the surrounding area were founded as missions of Christ Church, such as Trinity Church, Houston, founded in 1893.</p><br>
<p>Located at 1117 Texas Avenue in Downtown Houston, the current building dates from 1893. In 1938 the building suffered a major fire. A firefighter sprayed down the ornately carved rood screen to prevent its destruction, and it survived with only minor damage.</p><br>
<p>Christ Church became the cathedral of the diocese in 1949. Presently, Christ Church has a baptized membership of more than 3000 communicants.</p><br>
<h2>Clergy</h2><br>
<p>Christ Church’s first rector was the Rev’d Charles Gillett of Connecticut. He led the congregation to build its first church building in 1845.</p><br>
<h2>Cathedral House Episcopal School</h2><br>
<p>The school opened in 1986 on the campus of Christ Church Cathedral with a philosophy grounded in the teachings of Maria Montessori. Classrooms include nursery, movement, toddler, primary and kindergarten.</p><br>
<p>Vail Pass is a 10,662 ft mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado. The pass was named for Charles Vail, a highway engineer and director of the Colorado State Highway Department from 1930 to 1945.</p><br>
<p>Vail Pass lies on the boundary between Eagle and Summit counties, between Vail on the west and Copper Mountain on the east. It provides the route of Interstate 70 (and earlier USA Highway 6) between the upper basins of the Eagle River and the Blue River, both tributaries of the Colorado River. Black Gore Creek, a tributary of Gore Creek, in the watershed of the Eagle, descends from the north side of the pass towards the town of Vail. West Tenmile Creek, in the watershed of the Blue, descends from the south side. The pass is significantly steep on either side (7 to 8%), and two runaway truck ramps are available on the west bound side for trucks.</p><br>
<p>The pass was not a traditional historical route of the Rockies. Prior to 1940, the most common route westward was over nearby Shrine Pass, just to the south, which leads to the town of the Red Cliff in the upper Eagle Valley. In 1940, the construction of USA Highway 6 bypassed Shrine Pass in favor of the current route to the valley of Gore Creek.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>A bike path parallels I-70 from Vail Colorado to the Copper Mountain Ski Area and is the only pass in Colorado with a paved bike path on both sides for the entire distance. This 8.7 mile climb from East Vail with an 1,831 foot (558m) vertical gain and descent to Copper is a popular activity for cyclists during the summer and fall. This route leads to several other bike paths in Summit County. During the winter months the area hosts backcountry skiing and snowmobile activities.</p><br>
<p>Lake D’Arbonne is a reservoir located near and around the town of Farmerville in Union Parish in north Louisiana. Isolated in a rural area, it is a popular man-made fishing area that has a combined estimated area of 15,250 acre. The lake was first conceived in 1957 and was formed in 1963. Lake D’Arbonne State Park, a state maintained camping and recreation area, lies on the lake.</p><br>
<p>State Senator B. R. Patton, State Representative T. T. Fields, landowner Alvin Green (born 1924) of Bernice, and Fred Preaus, a Farmerville automobile and timber businessman who served as state highway director in the administration of Governor Robert F. Kennon, worked to make the lake a reality.</p><br>
<p>The Louisiana State Highway 33 bridge atop Lake D&#39;Arbonne in Farmerville is named for James Peyton Smith, the state representative from Union and Morehouse parishes from 1964 to 1972.</p><br>
<p>Korinos  is a town and a former municipality in Pieria regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Katerini, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 70.909 km, the community 30.726 km. Korinos has approximately 5000 residents and it is located 5 km northeast of the city of Katerini , the capital of Pieria. Motorway 1  is situated to the west. Korinos is famous for its beaches -lying to its east- and hotels in the area, which make the village an ideal place for tourism.</p><br>
<p>Additionally, Korinos has a public library since 2006.</p><br>
<p>Korinos became famous in Greece, after an economic scandal (during 2000) concerning the distribution of building grounds from Korinos&#39; municipality to the villagers.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>Although the word "Korinos" does not have any meaning in the Greek language and its origin is unknown, there are several different explanations for this name. According to one of them, Korinos was named after the many Korinia (Κορίνεια) trees existed in the area during its foundation (aprx.1900). The second explanation is that Korinos was named after a General. Finally, some people believe that the name originates from the word "καρίνα" (keel), because Korinos Beach was a constructing place for keels.</p><br>
<h2>Subdivisions</h2><br>
<p>The municipal unit Korinos is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):</p><br>
<p>Kato Agios Ioannis</p><br>
<p>Korinos (Korinos, Paralia Korinou)</p><br>
<p>Koukkos</p><br>
<p>Nea Trapezounta</p><br>
<p>Sevasti</p><br>
<h2>Historical population</h2><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Korinos was liberated by the Greek Army and after the end of the Balkan Wars, it finally became a part of Greece after nearly five centuries of Ottoman Rule.</p><br>
<h2>Twinning cities</h2><br>
<p>none</p><br>
<p>The Minch , also called North Minch, is a strait in north-west Scotland, separating the north-west Highlands and the northern Inner Hebrides from Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. It was known as Skotlandsfjörð  in Old Norse.</p><br>
<p>The Lower Minch (an Cuan Canach), also known as the Little Minch, is the Minch&#39;s southern extension, separating Skye from the lower Outer Hebrides: North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Barra etc. It opens into the Sea of the Hebrides. The Little Minch is the northern limit of the Sea of the Hebrides.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Minch and Lower Minch form part of the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland, as defined by the International Hydrographic Organization.</p><br>
<p>The Minch ranges from 14 to 45 mi wide and is approximately 70 mi long. It is believed to be the site of the biggest meteorite ever to hit the British Isles. The Lower Minch is about 15 mi wide. In June 2010 Eilidh Macdonald became the first person to swim across it from Waternish Point on Skye to Rodel on Harris, in a time of 9.5 hours.</p><br>
<h2>Navigation</h2><br>
<p>A Traffic Separation Scheme operates in the Little Minch, with northbound traffic proceeding close to Skye, and southbound close to Harris. Commercial ferry services across the Minch are operated by Caledonian MacBrayne.</p><br>
<h3>Lighthouses</h3><br>
<p>In the south, its entrance is marked by lighthouses at Barra Head, Ushenish and Hyskeir. On Skye, there are lights at Neist Point, Vaternish and An t-Iasgair. The Outer Hebrides are marked by Weavers Point, Eilean Glas, Tiumpan Head and Butt of Lewis. To the east are Rubh Re, Stoer Head and Cape Wrath lighthouses.</p><br>
<h3>Other navigational aids</h3><br>
<p>A buoy marks Eugenie Rock (named after the vessel that grounded there in May 1859) and the nearby Sgeir Graidach. Previously, these hazards were marked by a red-painted beacon on Sgeir Graidach, the foundations of which can still be seen at low tide.</p><br>
<h2>Mythology</h2><br>
<p>The mythological Blue men of the Minch live in the area.</p><br>
<h2>Conservation</h2><br>
<p>The Minch Project is a collaboration of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the Highland Council and Scottish Natural Heritage that aims to reduce pollution, minimise erosion, minimise litter and promote tourism in the Minch, particularly wildlife tourism such as dolphin watching. Pollution is a particular concern as the Minch is a busy shipping lane; 2.5 million tonnes (2.5M long tons; 2.8M long tons) of shipping pass through the channel each month.</p><br>
<p>Kunming Lake  is the central lake on the grounds of the Summer Palace in Beijing, China. Together with the Longevity Hill, Kunming Lake forms the key landscape features of the Summer Palace gardens.</p><br>
<p>With an area of 2.2 km&sup2, Kunming Lake covers approximately three quarters of the Summer Palace grounds. It is quite shallow, with an average depth of only 1.5 m.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Kunming Lake is a man-made lake. Its predecessors were called Wengshan (Jar Hill) Pond and Xihu Lake. They were reservoirs which had been used as sources of water both for the city and irrigation of fields over a period of 3,500 years. Guo Shoujing, a famous astronomer and engineer in his time, developed it into a reservoir for the capital of the Yuan Dynasty in 1291. The conversion of the area into an imperial garden was commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor with the work being carried out between 1750 and 1764. In the course of creating the gardens, the lake area was extended by a workforce of almost 10,000 laborers.</p><br>
<p>In the year 1990 and 1991, the Beijing Municipal Government undertook the first dredging of the lake in 240 years. A total of 652,600 m&sup3; of sludge were removed in the work. 205 Japanese bombs dropped during the Sino-Japanese War were also found.</p><br>
<h2>Garden design</h2><br>
<p>Kunming Lake is designed to represent the traditional Chinese gardening practice of "one pond, three hills". Like the islands in Hangzhous West Lake and the Forbidden Citys Taiye Lake, they were intended to represent three islands of the immortals mentioned in the Classic of Mountains and Seas: Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang. Kunming&#39;s three are named "South Lake Island" ( 南湖島, 南湖岛, Nánhúdǎo), "Round Fort Island" ( 團城島, 团城岛, Tuánchéngdǎo), and "Algæ-view Hall Island" ( 藻鑒堂島, 藻鉴堂岛, Zǎojiàntángdǎo)</p><br>
<p>Many features of Kunming Lake are inspired by natural scenery from the region south of the Yangtze River. In particular, the West Dike is a recreation of the famous Sudi Dike on West Lake in Hangzhou. It cuts diagonally through the southern part of the lake. Like the Sudi Dike, the West Dike is connected through six bridges, each with its own distinctive style: Jiehu, Binfeng, Yudai, Jing, Lian, and Liu.</p><br>
<p>The largest bridge on Kunming Lake is the 17-Arch Bridge that connects the eastern shore with South Lake Island, representing Penglai. Close to the bridge on the eastern shore stands a bronze ox sculpture. According to Chinese legend, Yu the Great used an iron ox to prevent flooding. Since the bronze ox is located on the eastern dike of Kunming Lake in the direction of the Forbidden City, it was probably erected in order to protect the Forbidden City from flooding.</p><br>
<p>The Harry P. Leu Gardens are semi-tropical and tropical gardens in Orlando, Florida, United States. The gardens contain nearly 50 acre of landscaped grounds and lakes, with meandering trails shaded by 200-year-old oaks and forests of camellias. They are open to the public. The address is 1920 North Forest Avenue Orlando, FL 32803.</p><br>
<p>A 15 acre section of the park is a USA historic district. As such, it is known as the Mizell-Leu House Historic District (or Leu Botanical Gardens and Leu House Museum). It received that designation on December 29, 1994. According to the National Register of Historic Places, it contains 3 historic buildings.</p><br>
<h2>Site</h2><br>
<p>The land on which the Gardens were developed consists mostly of excessively drained, rapidly to very rapidly permeable sand which in its natural state has several inches of dark gray topsoil over about 5 feet of yellow subsoil (Candler soil series). Human alteration of the soil has resulted in 40% of the Gardens being classified as Urban Land, not assigned to an official soil series. Naturally moist soils are occasionally found.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Leu Gardens were started by Mr. and Mrs. Harry P. Leu, who in 1936 purchased Leu House and 40 acre of land. The Leus traveled all over the world and brought back many exotic plants and many varieties (240) of camellias for their gardens. In 1961, the Leus deeded the house and the gardens to the city of Orlando.</p><br>
<h2>Leu House Museum</h2><br>
<p>At the heart of the Gardens is Harry and Mary Jane Leu’s home, known as the Leu House Museum, which has been meticulously restored and is on the National Historical Register. Guided tours of the Leu House, illustrating turn-of-the century Florida living, are available on the hour and the half-hour (times subject to change).</p><br>
<h2>Flora</h2><br>
<p>Leu Gardens is located in USDA climate zone 9b. The mild subtropical climate allows for an interesting mix of temperate and tropical plants to be grown. The gardens are known for their extensive collections of aroids, azaleas, bamboo, bananas, bromeliads, camellias, citrus, conifers, crepe myrtles, cycads, ferns, flowering shrubs, flowering trees, gingers, heliconias, hibiscus and mallows, magnolias, ornamental grasses, palms, perennials, roses, trees, and vines.</p><br>
<h2>Areas of the gardens</h2><br>
<p>Annual Garden: This is one of the most colorful areas in Leu Gardens. This area displays more than 7,000 annuals, perennials, and shrubs suited to the Central Florida growing season. Plants in this area are often changed every 4 months.</p><br>
<p>Archive Building: This building, built in 2000, holds archive storage for the Leu House Museum, has a bride’s room, a groom’s room, public restrooms and storage closets.</p><br>
<p>Arid Garden: This area displays a wide variety of plants that are drought tolerant. Many come from desert regions or areas that are seasonally dry. Some types of plants found here include acacias, agaves, aloes, bromeliads, cacti, flowering trees, palms, succulents and yuccas.</p><br>
<p>Aroid Collection: Aroids are a large group of plants that belong to the Araceae Family. This diverse family shares a similar distinctive inflorescence (flowering structure), a spadix surrounded by a spathe. A vast majority of aroids are tropical or subtropical, but a few are from temperate regions. Most aroids at Leu Gardens can be found in the Tropical Stream Garden. Some of the plants include Aglaonema, Amorphophallus, Anthurium, Alocasia, Caladium, Colocasia, Dieffenbachia, Monstera, Philodendron, Spathiphyllum, Syngonium and Xanthosoma.</p><br>
<p>Azalea Collection: Approximately 50 different cultivars and species of azaleas are found mainly in the North and South Woods. These are evergreen shrubs that belong to the genus Rhododendron. Azaleas begin flowering in late winter (Jan./Feb.) and are at their peak usually towards the end of February into early March.</p><br>
<p>Bamboo Collection: Nearly 50 different species and varieties of this woody-stemmed grass are displayed. The plants range in species that grow only a few inches tall to giant timber bamboos that reach over 70 ft tall and have canes over 5 in in diameter.</p><br>
<p>Banana Collection: Bananas belong to the Musaceae Family. There are many cultivars and varieties that bear the familiar edible fruit, but there are other species that are grown for the colorful flowers or striking foliage.</p><br>
<p>Bromeliad Collection: Bromeliads are a large diverse group of plants that belong to the Bromeliaceae Family. Many have brilliant colored inflorescences while others have strikingly colored foliage. Some bromeliads are terrestrial (grow in the ground) while many others are epiphytic (grow on trees). Bromeliads can be found throughout the Garden.</p><br>
<p>Butterfly Garden: This garden contains a wide variety of annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees that are attractive to butterflies and moths. Some of the plants are nectar plants; others are larval plants that larvae feed on. In addition, some of these plants also attract hummingbirds.</p><br>
<p>Camellia Collection: This is the most important collection of plants at Leu Gardens. The foundation of this collection are the cultivars of Camellia japonica and Camellia sasanqua originally planted by Mr. Leu and his workers. Today, over 2,000 plants and 230+ cultivars are displayed throughout the gardens, including displays of Camellia sinensis, which is the Tea Camellia, and other Camellia species. This collection ranks among the largest in the United States and is one of the largest documented collections in the southeast.</p><br>
<p>Cemetery: The Mizell Cemetery contains 36 marked and unmarked graves of family members including David and Angeline Mizell, the original owners of the land that is now Harry P. Leu Gardens. There are tombstones that are dated to the 1860s.</p><br>
<p>Citrus Grove: Citrus is an important part of the history of Central Florida and to the former residents who lived on the property now occupied by Leu Gardens. The Grove contains over 50 different species, cultivars, and hybrids of citrus trees.</p><br>
<p>Citrus Statue: This statue is an honorarium to all citrus workers, a dying breed of laborer in this area. It was approved for purchase by the Public Art Advisory Board in June 1990, and Mr. William Ludwig of Albany, Louisiana was commissioned to cast the figures of silicon bronze, a medium which lends itself to great detail. The statue was originally installed and dedicated in 1992, and can be found in the center of the Garden among the citrus trees in that area.</p><br>
<p>Conifer Collection: Conifers are a group of shrubs or trees that are gymnosperms that bear cones, although there are a few conifers that bear a fleshy, fruit-like structure. Conifers can be found throughout the Gardens and include the dawn redwood and many different kinds of pine, cypress, junipers, podocarpus, araucarias and yew.</p><br>
<p>Cottage: This building was originally a three-car garage built by Mr. Woodward and is currently used for meetings and classes.</p><br>
<p>Crepe Myrtle Collection: Crepe myrtles are among the most commonly seen flowering shrubs and trees in Central Florida and belong to the genus Lagerstroemia. Crepe Myrtles can be found throughout the Garden and include several dozen cultivars, hybrids, and species.</p><br>
<p>Curator’s Office: This building was originally the home of one of the resident servants, and is now the office of the Leu House Curator.</p><br>
<p>Cycad Collection: The Cycad collection displays over 50 species for Central Florida. Cycads are primitive plants that have existed for nearly 200 million years. They were the dominant plant life in the Cretaceous Period when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. They are palm-like in appearance, but have no relation to palms. They are instead cone-bearing gymnosperms that are most closely related to ferns, conifers and ginkgo.</p><br>
<p>Daylily Collection: Over 200 different cultivars of Hemerocallis can be found in the daylily collection. The daylilies bloom from late spring into mid summer with a wide variety of colors and forms.</p><br>
<p>“Doves of Peace” Statue: This garden art statue by Bob Winship is located near the entrance to the White Garden.</p><br>
<p>Fern Collection: Ferns are ancient plants that reproduce by spores. Most are low growing, although some are tree-like and can grow over 10 ft tall. Most ferns prefer a shaded location. Ferns can be found throughout the Gardens.</p><br>
<p>Floral Clock: Donated by the Kiwanis Club of Orlando, this 50-foot clock, located at the far west side of the Gardens, was imported from Scotland in 1966.</p><br>
<p>Flowering Tree Collection: Many different flowering trees can be found throughout Leu Gardens with specimens in bloom every month of the year. With our Central Florida climate, both temperate and tropical species grow here.</p><br>
<p>Garden House: This 22,000 ft&sup2; building, which opened in 1995, is the entrance to the Gardens. It contains classrooms, event and exhibition spaces, a botanical library, and the Garden Gift Shop. It is home to the Garden House Gallery where permanent art collections are on display including the eight paintings by Mulford B. Foster.</p><br>
<p>Ginger and Heliconia Collections: These two collections are found mainly in the Tropical Stream Garden. The Ginger Collection contains plants in the Zingiberaceae Family. It is a diverse group with plants having colorful flowers or foliage. Heliconias are members of the Heliconiaceae Family. They have banana-like foliage and bear spectacular inflorescences that are brilliantly colored and tropical.</p><br>
<p>Herb Garden: Displays of culinary, medicinal, ornamental, educational, historic, and aromatic herbs, some of which are also butterfly attractants, make up this garden. Reminiscent of kitchen gardens from the turn of the century, herbs appropriate for the Central Florida landscape are demonstrated near the Cottage. It, along with the Vegetable Garden, makes up the Kitchen Garden and may change with the seasons.</p><br>
<p>Hibiscus and Mallow Collection: This is a collection of a wide variety of commercial, edible and ornamental members of the Malvaceae Family. This large and important family includes the tropical Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, rose-of sharon, abutilon, mallow, okra, cotton, cocoa tree, floss silk tree, baobab tree, kapok tree, pink ball tree, shaving brush tree and other showy plants. These are found throughout the Garden.</p><br>
<p>Home Demonstration Garden: Since its opening in 2003 this 3 acre space has been devoted to educational displays including noteworthy plants and architectural techniques and materials suitable for Central Florida gardeners. It is divided into 10 residentially scaled “idea gardens” showcasing different plant groups that include the following gardens: Bird, Bog, Enabling, Evening, Fragrance, Ornamental Grass, Shade, Subtropical Fruit, Urban Patio and Wildflower.</p><br>
<p>• The Bird Garden displays plants that attract and sustain birds in Central Florida. Some of the plants produce fruit and berries for birds to eat while other plants have dense growth habits that allow birds cover or nesting sites. There are also flowering plants that hummingbirds feed from and find attractive.</p><br>
<p>• The Bog Garden demonstrates plants that can tolerate growing in a wet location in the landscape. This is an area in which water can stand for several hours to a couple of days at a time following a heavy rainfall but is not permanent. The soil is very heavy and poorly drained. A “dry” streambed runs through the center of the Bog Garden but does not have a permanent flow of water.</p><br>
<p>• The Enabling Garden was specifically designed to support Leu Garden’s extensive horticultural therapy program. The beds are raised for gardening for several purposes; to provide accessibility for someone in a wheelchair, for someone who needs to remain seated most of the time or for people with visual impairments, because the plants are in closer range than on the ground. The plantings in these beds may change throughout the year. In addition there is a small Texture Garden that contains plants with unusual textures to the touch or brightly colored foliage and flowers and a small Scented Garden with plants that have fragrant flowers or leaves or flowers. • The Evening Garden displays a wide variety of plants that have foliage or flowers that are easily seen in the evening or bear flowers that are fragrant at night. Many of these plants have white flowers or variegated foliage</p><br>
<p>• The Fragrance Garden contains plants that bear fragrant flowers or have leaves or even fruit that is fragrant.</p><br>
<p>• The Ornamental Grass Garden contains grasses or grass-like plants in a variety of heights short and tall. Most are grown for the ornamental foliage while others bear striking inflorescences.</p><br>
<p>• The Shade Garden demonstrates different plant specimens that can grow in shady and low light locations of a landscape.</p><br>
<p>• The Subtropical Fruit Garden contains different subtropical and tropical fruit trees and plants that can be grown in Central Florida</p><br>
<p>• The Urban Patio Garden is ideally suited to smaller urban spaces. It can help gardeners learn how to bring shape, form and color to a small area.</p><br>
<p>• The Wildflower Garden demonstrates wildflower specimens that are excellent choices for the low maintenance home landscape. Many are drought tolerant and pest resistant. They offer color almost year round and are good for attracting butterflies, beneficial insects like bees, and sometimes hummingbirds. Most of the wildflowers displayed here are native to Central Florida, with some being annuals and some perennials. There are also native grasses, shrubs, and trees planted in this area.</p><br>
<p>Kitchen Garden: The Kitchen Garden can be found beside and around the Cottage and Curator’s Office and includes both the Herb Garden and Vegetable Garden.</p><br>
<p>Magnolia Collection: The Magnolia collection contains members of the Magnoliaceae Family. These include many cultivars of the Southern Magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora, Liriodendron, and other temperate and tropical species of Magnolia. Many of these formerly belonged to such genera as Manglietia, Michelia, Parakmeria, and Talauma. Many of the trees in this collection bear very fragrant flowers.</p><br>
<p>Native Wetland Garden: This garden was created to invite wading birds and other wildlife into the area. The plants here are almost all entirely native. They help filter pollutants from the water and protect the shoreline from erosion. They also provide food, habitat, and shelter for birds, fish, and other wildlife.</p><br>
<p>Ornamental Grass Collection: Grasses are one of the largest families of monocots. Many types make handsome ornamentals for the landscape. Ornamental grasses can be found throughout the Garden.</p><br>
<p>Overstory Canopy: This canopy of mature trees is one of the most important aspects of Leu Gardens. Without the shade from these trees, the camellias, azaleas, and other shade-loving plants would not be able to survive.</p><br>
<p>Palm Garden: This garden displays nearly 400 species of cold hardy and semi-tender palms suited for the central Florida climate. This collection ranks among the most extensive collections in the United States. Besides the palms, this garden contains the cycad collection, bamboo collection, and pandan collection. Planted amongst the cycads are other prehistoric plants such as conifers, ferns, horsetails, and tree ferns.</p><br>
<p>Perennial Garden: Many temperate and tropical perennials are grown and evaluated. Many bear show flowers, others have attractive foliage.</p><br>
<p>Rose Garden: Mary Jane&#39;s Rose Garden is named after Mrs. Leu, whose favorite flower was the rose. She planted her first roses by the lake, and in 1944 a small rose garden was developed on the site where the current garden is located. Over 215 varieties and 650 roses are displayed in this garden. All are suited for Central Florida growing conditions.</p><br>
<p>Subtropical and Tropical Fruit Collection: Different subtropical and tropical fruit trees are found within this collection, including such specimens as acerola, avocado, guava, jaboticaba, jackfruit, loquat, lychee, macadamia mango, pineapple, and starfruit.</p><br>
<p>Tropical Stream Garden: This garden creates the atmosphere of a tropical rainforest with a gurgling stream that winds its way through the plantings and into Lake Rowena. Many tropical and subtropical plants suitable for Central Florida are displayed here including aroids, bananas, bird-of-paradise, traveler&#39;s tree, bromeliads, calatheas, tropical conifers, crotons, gingers, heliconias, palms, ti plants, ferns, tree ferns, flowering trees, banyan tree, vines, and others.</p><br>
<p>Vegetable Garden: This is a new area of the Garden which will contain both vegetables that were grown in the 1800s and varieties suitable for today’s gardener.</p><br>
<p>Vine Displays: Nearly every plant family has members with a vining or climbing habit. There are vining herbs, orchids, aroids, and even vining palms. A majority of the vines grown throughout the world are found in tropical or subtropical climates. The vine displays are grown on the chain link fence that borders the overflow parking lot, and can also be found along the fences in the Home Demonstration Garden and along the Tropical Stream Garden. The total display contains over 150 different vines, many with showy flowers, suitable for Central Florida.</p><br>
<p>White Garden: A small tranquil garden developed to give an alternative site for small weddings. The plants in this area have flowers that are white or have green and variegated foliage.</p><br>
<p>Wyckoff Overlook: The boardwalk and gazebo on Lake Rowena are named for John Wyckoff, one of the Garden’s original board members. The lakeshore area now contains an aquatic wetland garden, with the plants being almost entirely native. Watch for birds and wildlife-but do not feed the alligators!!</p><br>
<p>Falls Lake is a 12,410 acre  reservoir located in Durham, Wake, and Granville counties in North Carolina, United States. Falls Lake extends 28 mi up the Neuse River to its source at the confluence of the Eno, Little, and Flat rivers.</p><br>
<p>The lake is named for the Falls of the Neuse, a once whitewater section of the river that fell from the Piedmont into the lower Coastal Plain submerged during construction of the lake.</p><br>
<p>The lake provides drinking water for several of the surrounding communities, including the city of Raleigh, aids with flood control and serves as a recreation area and wildlife habitat.</p><br>
<p>Work on the dam that holds the lake began in 1978 and was completed in 1981. Prior to its construction flooding of the Neuse River caused extensive damage to public and private properties including roadways, railroads, industrial sites and farmlands. The USA Army Corps of Engineers constructed and manages the dam. Falls Dam (35&deg;56&prime;30&Prime;N latitude, 78&deg;34&prime;57&Prime;W longitude) is an earthen structure having a top elevation of 291.5 ft and an overall length of 1,915 ft. The height above the streambed is 92.5 ft.</p><br>
