Aarushhh/wikipedia-simple-splitted huggingface dataset:
There are different ways of kissing. People might kiss on the cheeks to greet someone, or to bid them farewell. Depending on the culture it usually does not mean that the kisser loves the person he or she kissed. Kissing when female friends meet is usual in many countries, with some interesting variations. Parisian females often do a rapid double 'air kiss' or 'cheek kiss': a kiss on each side twice, but without lips touching flesh.

Sexual kisses 

French kissing is  an erotic gesture. It involves touching tongues while kissing. It is more intimate than other forms of kissing.

Ritual kisses 
A kiss may be a ritual, that is, a symbolic or social gesture showing devotion, respect or greeting. Temples, religious books or icon are sometimes given a ritual kiss. A bride and groom kissing at the end of a wedding ceremony or national leaders kissing each other in greeting, are examples.
Kisses and health 
It is possible to spread diseases through kissing, but it is also possible to exaggerate the danger. Exotic diseases like herpes and mononucleosis can be spread, but that is rare, and spreading HIV this way is almost unknown. Colds and the flu are much more likely to be spread. Mononucleosis is well known for being spread through kissing. Many diseases that can be spread by sharing drinks can also be spread by kissing.

The upside to this is that, usually, kissing makes people happier. That has health benefits.

References 

Basic English 850 words
Non-verbal communication
A brothel is a bar, nightclub or hotel where sex workers are found. People go there to buy sex for money. Different countries have different regulations as to sex work.

Legality
Some countries where prostitution is legal allow it to happen in a brothel, others allow it to happen "on the street", still others allow both forms. Generally, sex work in a brothel is seen as safer for the worker than sex work on the street. 

In some countries operating brothels is legal, in other countries it is illegal. Examples of countries where brothels are illegal are Canada and most of the United States. Brothels are legal in some countries from Europe, for example. A country which has permissive laws regarding sex work is the Netherlands. Laws can be unclear on whether brothels with sexbots are legal or not.
Most of the time, where legal, brothels need to be registered like other businesses. However even if it is legal to run a brothel, there may still be conflicts with the law. Examples of problem cases are:
The sex workers do not have a work permit (the right to work in a country)
The sex workers are too young (underage)
The sex workers are dependent on the people who run the brothel, or on so called pimps

History
History

Brothels have been known for most of recorded history. At first there was temple prostitution in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries. 
In  Ancient Greece and Roman civilizations, brothels were established. Sometimes they were licensed institutions. This was first  recorded in Athens in 594 BC. Public sources of the time said it was good that Solon installed the brothel. People said this would reduce the problems caused by sexually unfulfilled  sailors and workers. It would also fill money into the public purse. This first official brothel was soon followed by many others, and also influenced the creation of special schools in which various classes of prostitutes (from slavegirls to future courtesans) were trained for their profession. In 2017, a brothel was opened with sexbots instead of human workers.

Business models

Brothels use a variety of business models:
In some, sex workers are held like slaves without the option to leave. They only get a small portion (or none) of the money paid by the patron. This is typical where human trafficking procures a large percentage of sex workers. It is common in those countries where sex work is forbidden or repressed. In some cases, sex workers are bought and sold by their keepers, making them slaves. All of this is illegal in most countries.
In others the workers are employees. They receive a small fixed salary and a portion of the money spent by the customer. (Maison close French for "closed house")
In still others, the workers pay a fee for use of the facilities. The brothel owner is not involved in the financial transaction between the sex worker and their client, they simply rent rooms to the workers. (Maison de passe, French for "trick house")
The third option (the brothel owner renting space and facilities to sex workers) gives some way for the brothel owner to say they did not know what was going on. This is especially the case where sex work is forbidden or restricted. Brothel owners often disguise their actions as running a massage parlor, a bar or a similar venue. 

Allowing such places (while forbidding sex work) can also give politicians a way to save face when they do not want to put laws against sex work into practice.

References

Prostitution
Entertainment venues
The latitude of the Earth gives the distance north or south of the equator. It is measured in degrees. Latitude is represented by the Greek letter phi, . It is usually used along with a measurement of longitude in order to pinpoint a location on Earth.

The equator is numbered 0 degrees. Everything north or south of the equator is designated either as north latitude or south latitude. The north pole is 90 degrees north, and the south pole is 90 degrees south. The Antarctic Circle, Tropic of Capricorn, Tropic of Cancer, and Arctic Circle are all circles of latitude.

Related pages 
 Longitude

References 

Lines of latitude

Other websites 
 Latitude Citizendium
Jaleel White (born November 27, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for playing of Steve Urkel in the television series Family Matters and the first English voice of Sonic the Hedgehog.

1976 births
Living people
African-American voice actors
American movie actors
American television actors
American voice actors
American child actors
Actors from Culver City, California
A chemical substance is any material with a known chemical composition. For example, water has the same properties and the same ratio of hydrogen to oxygen whether it came from a river or was made in a laboratory. Typical chemical substances found in the home include water, salt (sodium chloride) and bleach. Generally, substances exist as a solid, a liquid, or a gas, and may change between these phases of matter when there are changes in temperature or pressure.

Gallery

References

Related pages 
Chemical nomenclature

Chemistry
The South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) is an almost extinct subspecies of the tiger. There are now 20-30 of them left in the wild and 60 left in captivity. It is one of the world's ten most endangered animals and the most endangered of the six surviving tiger subspecies. The South Chinae tiger is also known as the Chinese, Amoy, or Xiamen tiger.

Description
It can be distinguished from other tiger subspecies by its narrow face, its longer nose, more intense orange colour, short fur, longer legs, and shorter stripes which are spaced far apart from each other compared to other tiger subspecies. The South China tiger has the least amount of stripes out of all the tiger subspecies, and is the second smallest tiger.
A male South China tiger is around 2.3 to 2.65 m (91 to 104 in) long, and weighs 130 to 175 kg (290 to 390 lb). Females are smaller and are around 2.2 to 2.4 m (87 to 94 in) long, and weigh 110 to 115 kg (240 to 250 lb). The smallest length of the skull in males is 318 to 343 mm (12.5 to 13.5 in), and in females 273 to 301 mm (10.7 to 11.9 in).

Behaviour
The South China tiger is a carnivorous predator, hunting its prey by stalking it until the South China tiger has the opportunity to catch it off guard. South China tigers usually hunt large mammals like deer, wild boar, cattle and goats.

The South China tiger is found on mountains, and in temperate, upland forests of southern-China.
Reproduction
Females are pregnant for around 3 to 4 months before giving birth to around 5 cubs. Newborn South China tiger cubs weigh about 1 kg (2 lb) and are blind and helpless. The mother feeds them milk for about 2 months and then the South China tiger cubs are introduced to meat. South China tiger cubs depend on their mother for the first 18 months and then they start hunting on their own.

References

Tigers
Windows XP is a version of the Microsoft Windows operating system for personal computers. The letters "XP" stand for eXPerience. Microsoft released Windows XP on October 25, 2001. Windows XP replaced Windows 2000 and Windows ME, which helped bring the NT and 9x versions of Windows together. It was replaced by Windows Vista in 2006. Windows XP was the second most used computer operating system in the world as late as April 2012. Following the release of Windows XP, many computer makers including (but not limited to) Dell, Hewlett Packard, Acer, IBM, Compaq, and Toshiba changed their computers (mostly laptops) to Windows XP from Windows 2000. You can tell a laptop from that time was initially sold with Windows 2000 if the Windows (WIN) key on the keyboard has the previous Windows logo.
Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP on April 8, 2014 (except some security updates e.g. in 2019, to address ransomware threats, and to address major malware threats, such as BlueKeep) and Microsoft and authorities warn users against using Windows XP. However, Windows XP remained a popular operating system around the world for a long time. On July 31, 2019, Microsoft Internet Games Services on Windows XP and Windows ME stopped working, and on January 22, 2020 Microsoft Internet Games Services stopped working on Windows 7, for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 – on April 5, 2021. By August 2019, Microsoft (and others) had ended support for games on Windows XP. As of June 2021, 0.6% of Windows PCs run Windows XP. Windows XP became the most popular operating system from 2001 to 2007, the operating system, individually and pre-installed, selling over 500 million copies.

Editions 
Home Edition is an edition that was made for home users.
Professional was made for business users, as well as power users. It had advanced management features like backup recovery, Group Policy and could support two Central processing units.

Media Center Edition was for people who liked to use their computer as a television box. It has in basics the same features as Windows XP Professional but included Windows Media Center, a program which could manage TV shows and play music, and even Netflix.

Tablet PC Edition was for users with pen-based laptops and early tablet PCs.
64-bit Edition was for computers that ran on Intel's 64-bit Itanium platform. This should not be confused with Windows XP x64 Edition, as x64 and Itanium are completely different architectures. Unlike Windows XP x64 Edition, 64-bit Edition has fewer features than Windows XP Professional. Some of these features included NTVDM and Windows on Windows, which means that 16-bit MS-DOS applications will not be able to run. It also was missing Windows Media Player features, but Windows XP 64-bit Edition Version 2003, released in March 2003, added back these media features. Unlike other editions of Windows XP, Windows XP 64-bit edition was discontinued and unsupported on June 30, 2005.

Professional x64 Edition was for users with 64-bit x86-based computers. It has the same features as Windows XP Professional except for NTVDM, and introduced Windows on Windows 64, which lets 32-bit applications run on a 64-bit operating system and processor.
Starter Edition was sold mostly in developing countries. The price was low because Microsoft wanted to fight the high software piracy rate in those countries. It could only be bought with a new computer.

System requirements 
The system requirements for Windows XP Home and Professional editions are:

Related pages 
 List of operating systems

References

Other websites 

 
 Windows XP end of support in April: Three more questions answered

Service Pack 2 
 Windows XP Service Pack 2
 Download - Windows XP Service Pack 2 from Windows Update for Home Users
 Download - Windows XP Service Pack 2 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals
 Order Windows XP Service Pack 2 on CD for the cost of shipping and handling
 Support - Windows XP Service Pack 2 Support Site for Home Users
 Support - Windows XP Service Pack 2 Support Site for IT Professionals
 Changes to Functionality in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
Service Pack 3 
 Download - Windows XP Service Pack 3 from Windows Update for Home Users
 Windows XP Service Pack 3 - The Washington Post

Further reading 
 

Microsoft operating systems
CROTRAM is a group of Croatian companies that make trams.  They make a tram called TMK 2200.

Crotram is a consortium (a group of companies that cooperate) made of three companies: Elektroindustrija Koncar(cro. Končar) and Gredelj, both from city of Zagreb, and Duro Dakovic (cro. Đuro Đaković), from Slavonski Brod.

Crotram sells their trams to ZET, the company that is in charge of all the public transport for the city of Zagreb.  So far Crotram has only sold TMK 2200s to Zagreb, but they are trying to sell them in other cities.

The TMK 2200 is 32 meters long, and it can go as fast as 70km/h.  202 people can ride at one time.

Other websites
 pictures of TMK 2200 
 Gallery with pictures of TMK 2200 and some other Croatian trams 

Rail transport in Europe
Companies of Croatia
Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (initially named Star Wars) is a science fiction movie. It is the first film in the Star Wars saga. The movie was released in 1977 and also incorporates adventure, action and drama.

Plot 
Princess Leia Organa is a prisoner of the evil Empire. She was captured by Darth Vader, who is helping the Empire stop a rebellion, by using the Death Star. Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Han Solo work together to rescue her. They are helped by the droids (or robots) R2-D2 and C-3PO. With the princess, they try to stop the Empire and bring peace and happiness to the galaxy.

Cast 
 Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
 Harrison Ford as Han Solo
 Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa
 Alec Guinness as Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi
 David Prowse as Darth Vader, voiced by James Earl Jones
 Anthony Daniels as See Threepio (C-3PO)
 Kenny Baker as Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2)
 Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca
 Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin
 Denis Lawson as Red Two (Wedge)

Release dates

Special Edition
Special Edition

Related pages
 The Phantom Menace
 Attack of the Clones
 Revenge of the Sith
 The Empire Strikes Back
 Return of the Jedi

Other websites

 Official website
 
 
 Star Wars at the Movie Wiki

1977 science fiction movies
20th Century Fox movies
Movies directed by George Lucas
Screenplays by George Lucas
New Hope
United States National Film Registry movies
The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis (, also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis), is a federal nation made up of two small islands in the Caribbean Sea. It is the smallest independent country in the Western Hemisphere.

The capital city is Basseterre. It is on the main island of St Kitts, also called Saint Christopher. The island of Nevis has some rights of self-government and two seats in the federal parliament.

St Kitts and Nevis is about one-third of the way from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago.

The headquarters of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank is in St Kitts. That bank controls the East Caribbean dollar.

History and Politics
The two islands were part of the Leeward Islands Colony from 1871 to 1956, and of the West Indies Federation from 1958 to 1962.
The Islands, plus Anguilla, got limited self-government in 1967.  Anguilla objected and the Metropolitan Police were sent there in 1968 to stop rioting. Until 19 December 1980 the official name of St Kitts and Nevis was Saint Christopher, Nevis and Anguilla.

St Kitts and Nevis became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1983, Anguilla has stayed a British overseas territory.

In 1970, a movement to make Nevis separate from St Kitts started.

In 1983, the constitution set up a 15-member National Assembly.  The Assembly is unicameral, that is, it only has one chamber.  3 members of the Assembly are appointed by the Governor General, on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.  The other members are elected.  If the Speaker decides to stand for re-election he is automatically elected, without a contest.

In 2023 Terrance Drew said that he planned a public consultation on whether St Kitts and Nevis should become a republic.
Nevis 
Nevis is responsible for its own internal affairs.  There is an eight-member Nevis Island Assembly, and an Island administration headed by the premier.

Geography

The country has two main islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis. The highest peak, at 1,156 metres, is Mount Liamuiga. There is also a smaller island named Booby Island.  No one lives on Booby Island.

The islands are of volcanic origin.  There are large central peaks covered in tropical rainforest.  People do not live on the steeper slopes leading to these peaks. Most of the people on both islands live closer to the sea. There are many rivers coming from the mountains of both islands.  These give fresh water to the people.  St. Kitts also has one small lake.

Parishes
The federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis is divided into fourteen parishes.  There are nine divisions on Saint Kitts and five on Nevis.

Cities and Towns
These are some of the more important cities and towns in Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Sports
Cricket is common in Saint Kitts and Nevis. Top players go to the West Indies cricket team. The late Runako Morton was from Nevis. Saint Kitts and Nevis is the smallest country on Earth to ever host a World Cup event. It was one of the host venues of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

The St. Kitts and Nevis national football team, also known as the "Sugar Boyz", has had some international success. They went to the semifinal round of qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in the CONCACAF region. Led by Glence Glasgow they defeated U.S. Virgin Islands and Barbados.  They then lost to Mexico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The St. Kitts and Nevis Billiard Federation, SKNBF, is the governing body for cue sports across the two islands.
Kim Collins is the country's best known track and field athlete. He has won gold medals in the 100 metres at both the World Championships in Athletics and Commonwealth Games. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics he was the country's first athlete to reach an Olympic final. He and three other athletes represented St. Kitts and Nevis at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The four by one hundred metre relay team won a bronze medal in the 2011 world championships.

American writer and former figure skater and triathlete Kathryn Bertine was given dual citizenship.  She tried to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics representing St. Kitts and Nevis in women's cycling. She did not make enough points to go the Olympics.

St. Kitts and Nevis had two athletes ride in the time trial at the 2010 UCI Road World Championships.  Athletes included Reginald Douglas and James Weekes.

Related pages
 List of rivers of Saint Kitts and Nevis
 Saint Kitts and Nevis at the Olympics
 Saint Kitts and Nevis national football team
Other websites 
 
 Official website of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis

References

 
English-speaking countries
Caribbean Community
Commonwealth realms
Danish is the Germanic language spoken in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, and parts of Greenland and Germany (Southern Schleswig). Around 5.5 million people speak Danish.  It is used as a second language in Greenland and the Faroe Islands.  The Danish people, or Danes, call their language dansk.

Here are some simple words in Danish:

References

                                                                            

North Germanic languages
Denmark
Languages of Europe
Niger or the Niger ( or ; ), officially the Republic of the Niger, is a country in western Africa. The capital is Niamey, and the official language is French. It is surrounded by Algeria and Libya to the north, Chad to the east, Nigeria and Benin to the south, and Burkina Faso and Mali to the west. Niger is landlocked, meaning it has no coastline. Niger gets its name from the Niger River, whose name possibly comes from the Berber word "River of Rivers".

The Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire both had land in what is now Niger. Later France controlled the land that is now Niger. Niger has a population, or the number of people living in an area, of 15,306,252 and an area of 1,267,000 square kilometres. Much of Niger is desert.

After a military coup in 2010, Niger is now a democratic, multi-party state. Most of the people live in rural areas, and have little access to advanced education.
Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world with a lack of contraception. 41.4% live in poverty. Hunger plagues the country.

Niger’s main exports are uranium ore, livestock, cowpeas and onions. Millet and sorghum are grown in the south, as well as cassava and sugarcane. Rice is grown in the Niger River valley. Peanuts are the most important cash crop. Other important crops are cotton and pulses.

Niger is home to the critically endangered addax antelope. West African giraffes are the only giraffes in West Africa that exist in Niger.

Geography
Niger is on the border between the Sahara and Sub-Saharan regions. Niger's area is  of which  is water. It is the world's twenty-second largest country. Niger borders seven countries. The longest border is with Nigeria to the south.

The lowest point is the Niger River, with an elevation of . The highest point is Mont Idoukal-n-Taghès in the Aïr Mountains at .
Regions
Northern Niger: Agadez Region
South-Central Niger: Maradi Region, Tahoua Region, Zinder Region
South-Eastern Niger: Diffa Region, Zinder Region
South-Western Niger: Tillabéri Region, Dosso Region, Niamey, Tahoua Region
Zinder Region and Tahoua Region are intermediates between Central Niger.

Cities
This table shows cities with a population over 10,000, according to 2001 census.

Climate
Niger's subtropical climate is mainly very hot and dry. Much of it is covered by desert. In the extreme south there is a tropical climate on the edges of the Niger River basin. The land is mostly desert plains and sand dunes. There is flat to rolling savanna in the south and hills in the north.

Wildlife

Demographics
There are several ethnic groups in Niger:
 Hausa 53.1%
 Zarma/Songhai 21.2%
 Tuareg 11%
 Fulani (Peuhl) 6.5%
 Kanuri 5.9%
 Gurma 0.8%
 Arab 0.4%
 Tubu 0.4%
 other/unavailable 0.9%
Education
The literacy rate (the amount of the adult population who can read or write) of Niger is among the lowest in the world. In 2005 it was estimated to be only 28.7% (42.9% male and 15.1% female). Primary education in Niger is required for six years. The primary school enrollment and attendance rates are low, particularly for girls. Children are often made to work rather than attend school. This is particularly true during planting or harvest periods.

Related pages
 List of rivers of Niger
 Niger at the Olympics
 Niger national football team

Notes

References

Other websites 

 Niger - CIA world factbook 

 
French-speaking countries
Least developed countries
Members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Zealand (Danish: Sjælland) is an island in the eastern part of Denmark. It is just west of Sweden and a strait called the Øresund lies between the two. It has an area of 7,031 km² and is the largest island in the country.

About 2,268,000 people were living in Zealand as of 2016. Most of these people live in and around Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, which is on the eastern shore of Zealand.

A number of bridges and tunnels link Zealand to other parts of Denmark. They include:
 the Great Belt Bridge, which links Zealand to Funen, an island to the west.
 the Storstrøm Bridge, which links Zealand to Lolland, an island to the south.
 the Øresund Bridge, which links Zealand (actually the island of Amager) to Sweden to the east, near Malmö.

Islands of Denmark
Region Zealand
Capital Region of Denmark
Brunei (officially called Brunei Darussalam, or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace) is a country in Southeast Asia. It is north of Malaysia on the island of Borneo. The country is rather landlocked by Malaysia. To the north is the South China Sea and the Philippines to the northeast. The capital of Brunei is Bandar Seri Begawan. The country is small and has a small population.  The leader of the country is the Sultan of Brunei. Due to the sale of his oil, he is one of the richest people in the world. The official religion in Brunei is Islam. There are also minorities of people who follow Buddhism or Animism. Brunei's official language and national language is Malay. Brunei is one of the smallest Muslim countries in the world.

History
History

From the 14th to the 16th centuries Brunei Darussalam was the seat of a powerful sultanate extending over Sabah, Sarawak and the southern Philippines. Thus, the current Sultan represents one of the oldest continuously ruling dynasties in the world. By the 19th century, the Brunei Darussalam Empire had been whittled away by wars, piracy and the colonial expansion of European powers.

In 1847, the sultan ended a treaty with Great Britain and in 1888 Brunei Darussalam officially became a British protectorate. In 1906, the Residential System was established in Brunei Darussalam. A British Resident was nominated as a representative of the British government to advise the sultan in all matters except Malay customs, traditions and Islamic religion.

The 1959 Agreement established a written constitution which gave Brunei Darussalam internal self-government. In 1971, the agreement was amended and revised to assert full internal independence except defence and external affairs.
In spite of the sizable non-Muslim population (about 1/3 of the population) and criticism by the international community, the Sultan still announced Brunei's adoption of Sharia law in 2013 to fully enforce on the Muslim majority and partially enforce on non-Muslims. It was expected to take full effect in 2016 after 3 phases, and had begun partial enforcement in its first phase in 2014. It is the first country in East and Southeast Asia to practice Sharia law.

Divisions
Brunei is divided into four districts (daerahs) and 38 subdistricts (mukims).

The daerah of Temburong is physically separated from the rest of Brunei by the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

Over 90% of Brunei's total population lives in 15 of the 38 mukims.

Cities 

Officially, there are no places in Brunei that have "city" status.  Some of the important places are:
Bandar Seri Begawan (Pop. ~181,500, Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Council)
Kuala Belait (Pop. ~38,000, Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Council)
Seria (Pop. ~35,400, Kuala Belait/Seria Municipal Council)
Jerudong (Pop. ~30,000, Kuala Belait/Seria Municipal Council)
Tutong (Pop. ~27,500, Tutong Municipal Council)
Bangar - administrative centre of the Temburong district
Muara Town - has the only deep sea port of Brunei
Sukang
Panaga

Revenue 
Brunei gets most of its income by selling oil. In 2011 the IMF said that Brunei was one of two countries (the other being Libya) with no public debt.

Currency 
Brunei uses the Brunei Ringgit to trade. However, the Singapore dollar can be used here as both currencies are of the same value.

Related pages
Brunei at the Olympics
Brunei national football team
List of rivers of Brunei

References

Other websites
 
 

 
Commonwealth member states
Current monarchies
Members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
1984 establishments in Asia
The Taka is the currency of Bangladesh. The most commonly used symbol for the Taka is Tk and ৳.  This is used on receipts while purchasing goods and services. One taka is divided into 100 poisha.

In Bengali, the word taka is also used to mean any money, currency, or notes. 

Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country, prints the currency, except for one taka and two taka notes, which are made by the Ministry of Finance.

Other websites 
 Banknotes of Bangladesh

References 

Economy of Bangladesh
Currency of Asia
Bogota is the capital (city) of Colombia. As of 2009, more than 7 million people live in Bogota, which makes it the largest city in Colombia. It is about  above sea level, on a plateau. This makes it the third highest capital in the world. With many universities and libraries, Bogotá has become known as "The Athens of South America".The weather is usually nice during the day and cool at night. It has a series of bike paths (trails that are made for bikes) that wind through the city. It has many recreational and amusement parks open to the public. The current mayor is Claudia López.

History
Originally, Native Americans called Muisca lived in the area. Then, in 1538, Gonzalo Jimenes de Quezada, a Spanish conqueror, founded Bogota. Bogota became a center of trade, art, and education. Some of the oldest universities in the Americas are in Bogota.  After Independence from Spain, Bogota became the capital of Gran Colombia in 1819.
Bogota has had extremely awful moments. In 1948, a presidential candidate, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, was murdered while doing a speech in front of hundreds of persons. This tragic moment brought with it terrible consequences: one of the most remembered one is the "Bogotazo". The "Bogotazo" started as a political party war, the blue party, self named the "conservatives", began to hunt and kill every single member of the red party, the "liberals".  The remaining blue party members decided to create the "Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia" (FARC); however, this group was ironically created to protect the oppressed people from their oppressors. Nowadays, this group is known as terrorists and murderers;nevertheless, Colombia's capital city, Bogota, has not being attacked in the last few years.

References

 
Capitals of Colombian departments
1538 establishments
1530s establishments in the Spanish Empire
The Aymara are members of a tribe of Native Americans that live in Bolivia and Peru.  They are native to the area around Lake Titicaca.  They speak the Aymara language. They call themselves Aymaras.  

The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, is Aymara.

The many-colored flag of the tribe is called the Wiphala.

Ethnic groups in South America
Native Americans
The perihelion is the point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid or comet that is nearest to the sun. It is the opposite of aphelion, which is the point farthest from the sun.

The word perihelion stems from the Greek words "peri," meaning near, and "Helios," meaning the Greek god of the sun. So it is referred to as perihelion. 

All planets, comets and asteroids in our solar system have approximately elliptical (a kind of non-circular) orbits. Thus, they all have a closest and a farthest point from the sun: a perihelion and an aphelion. Orbital eccentricity measures the flatness of the orbit. Any single revolution of a body around the sun is only approximately elliptical, because the precession of the perihelion prevents the orbit from being a simple closed curve such as an ellipse. This causes Milankovich cycles.
When Earth is closest to the sun, it is winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern hemisphere. Thus it is possible to see that Earth's distance from the sun does not noticeably  cause the seasons to change; the relatively minor effects of differences in distance is somewhat masked by the mainly oceanic southern hemisphere vs the half- continental northern hemisphere. Therefore, the Earth's seasons come and go mainly because Earth does not rotate with its axis exactly upright with respect to the plane of our world’s orbit around the sun. Earth's axial tilt is 23.5 degrees.  This puts the Sun farther south in December and January, so the north has winter and the south has summer. Thus winter falls on that part of the globe where sunlight strikes least directly. Summer falls on that part of the globe where sunlight strikes most directly.

Orbits
Johnston Atoll is an island in the Pacific Ocean. It is a property of the United States. The military used the Island for many things including a re-fueling location for planes going overseas, a chemical weapons ammunition storage facility, and a test launch location for nuclear testing. It was inhabited by all forces of the US military and government contract workers.

The island is named after Captain James Johnston, who discovered it in 1807. The island was mined for guano until 1890. After that, it was used as an army base.

Other websites 

Johnston Island Memories Site, the personal website of an AFRTS serviceman stationed there in 1975-6
Coast Guard Medevac from Johnston Island , photo from December 2007 medevac operation
JACADS - Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System, history of nuclear testing, and JACADS Sarin and VX nerve agent disposal
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Johnston Island National Wildlife Refuge  Contains additional information on wildlife and clean-up efforts
Atolls
United States Minor Outlying Islands
Pacific islands
Islands of Oceania
A Llama (Lama glama) is a mammal of the Camelidae family. It is from South America, the Andes Mountains of Peru and Ecuador.

Sometimes the name llama is used for all four South American camelids.

Llama and humans 
The llama was domesticated about 5000 years ago. It was and is used for carrying things, and for wool. The llama was very important for the Incan people. Even today, llamas are used for similar reasons, but will more commonly be used as domesticated pets.

Related animals 
The llama's close relative is the alpaca, who is a more demure, petite animal in comparison to the llama. Llamas have three related cousins - the alpaca, the guanaco, and the vicuña. The llama is the national symbol of Bolivia.

Llamas spit, and travel together. Llamas also have a high content of hemoglobin which causes their blood cells to be oval and not circular.

References

Other websites

Camelids
Domesticated animals
Animals used for transport
Mammals of South America
The 1840s was the decade that began on January 1, 1840 and ended on December 31, 1849.

Events 
 Treaty of Nanking between China and the United Kingdom(1842)
 Irish Potato Famine(1845–1848)
 Mexican-American War (1846–1848)
 The Communist Manifesto (1848)is published
 European Revolutions of 1848 (1848)
 California Gold Rush (1849)
World leaders 
 Emperor Ferdinand I (Austria)
 Chancellor Klemens Wenzel von Metternich (Austria)
 Emperor Franz Josef (Austria-Hungary)
 King Louis-Philippe (July Monarchy France)
 Frederick William IV of Prussia (Prussia)
 Pope Gregory XVI
 Pope Pius IX
 Emperor Nicholas I (Russia)
 Queen Isabella II (Spain)
 Queen Victoria (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland)
 Prime Minister Lord Melbourne (United Kingdom)
 Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel (United Kingdom)
 Prime Minister Lord John Russell (United Kingdom)
 President Martin Van Buren (United States)
 President William Henry Harrison (United States)
 President John Tyler (United States)
 President James Knox Polk (United States)
 President Zachary Taylor (United States)
 Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid I (Ottoman Empire)
 Shahs of Persia (Qajar dynasty)
 Mohammad Shah Qajar, (b. 1810 – d. 1848) Shah from 1834 to 1848
 Nasser-al-Din Shah, 1848–1896

Births 
 Edvard Grieg (1843)
 Wyatt Earp (1848)

Deaths 
 Edgar Allan Poe (1849)
The Mexican–American War took place between 1846 and 1848 between  United States  and Mexico.

Causes

When Mexico got independence from Spain in 1821, Texas was part of Mexico. Americans and other settlers came into Texas when Mexico allowed non-Spanish settlers to settle there.

After many settlers came to Texas, disputes led to the Texas Revolution in 1836, when Texas became independent. Mexico refused to recognize the Republic of Texas as an independent country. Eventually, Texas asked to join the United States.

The United States moved quickly to annex Texas after the 1844 election of President James K. Polk. In his campaign, Polk had called for the "re-annexation" of Texas and the "re-occupation" of the Oregon Territory. Polk also wanted California and the rest of what is now the Southwestern United States.
In 1845, the United States annexed Texas. However, Mexico still did not recognize its independence or recognize the annexation. The US offered to buy from Mexico the land extending from Texas to the Pacific Ocean, but Mexico wanted to keep the vast area.

In 1846, a dispute over the border between Texas and Mexico resulted in armed conflict, and the Mexican–American War began. After offering to buy the territory, Polk moved US troops into a place that Mexico said was not in Texas but in the Mexican state of Coahuila.  The Mexican army attacked them.

The main cause of the war was the westward expansion of the United States. In the 19th century, Americans believed it was their right to expand westward. They believed they could take over the people already living on the land and have it for the United States. Also, Southerners wanted to have more slave states.
Antonio López de Santa Anna became Mexican president again. Many Mexicans hated him and did not want to follow him into war. Many Americans, including the young Abraham Lincoln, also disliked the war since they thought that it was to expand slavery.

War
In addition to small units sent to California and New Mexico, the US sent two major armies into Mexico under the commands of General Winfield Scott and future US President General Zachary Taylor.

After the US had entered Mexico, Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna took command of the Mexican soldiers in early 1847.  The US forces fought Santa Anna near Monterrey and Buena Vista. After Buena Vista, the Mexican army had many problems, including starvation, disease, and desertion. The Mexican government was unstable.
In March 1847, Scott landed at Veracruz. His force included future Civil War Generals Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Stonewall Jackson and George G. Meade as well as Commodore Perry. Scott took Puebla in May and took Mexico City in September after the Battle of Chapultepec.

When American soldiers came to California, the Bear Flag Revolt was happening. Some Californians were trying to leave Mexico and to form their own country, as had happened in Texas. In July and August 1846, American soldiers captured Monterey, Yerba Buena, and Los Angeles.  After a counterattack by the Californios, the Americans had taken much of California by 1847. The Mexican governor of California, Pio Pico, left the state.

Aftermath
Aftermath

The US won the war, and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which gave the US the area that would become the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, southwestern Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming. Mexico received 15 million US dollars and gave up its claims to Texas.

The slavery debate in the United States became more intense with the addition of the new territory and the question of whether slavery would be legal in the new territories. Also, many of the officers who would lead troops in the American Civil War fought in the Mexican-American War would use their experiences.

Nevada and California became part of the US with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Before then, Nevada was part of Alta California, which is now California, Baja California, Utah, about a quarter of Colorado, parts of Arizona, Wyoming and New Mexico.

The Act of Congress establishing California as the 31st state was part of the Compromise of 1850.

References
References

Other websites 
Library of Congress Guide to the Mexican War
The Handbook of Texas Online: Mexican War
Manifest Destiny and the U.S.-Mexican War: Then and Now
The Mexican War
 Mexican-American War Citizendium

1840s in the United States
1840s in Mexico
Wars involving the United States
19th-century conflicts
The European Revolutions of 1848 were a series of revolts in Europe. In some places they are called Spring of Nations or the Year of Revolution.

These revolutions started in January with a Palermo republican uprising. The larger French Revolution of 1848 in February was followed in March by several other revolutions amongst them the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. In Ireland, the rebellions began because of famine conditions in their country.

People in the various countries tried to take over their governments.

References

1848 in Europe
Edvard Grieg (born 15 June 1843 Bergen, Norway; died 4 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist who composed in the Romantic period. He is Norway’s most famous composer. He is best known for his Piano Concerto and for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, which includes movements called Aubade and In the Hall of the Mountain King. He wrote many pieces for piano, including a collection of 66 pieces called Lyric Pieces. He also wrote songs to Norwegian and to German words.

Early Life 
Grieg was born in Bergen on 15 June 1843. His ancestors were Scottish people who had moved to Norway around 1770. The original family name was spelt "Greig".

Grieg came from a musical home. His mother was his first piano teacher. He went to several schools, and started composing when he was young. He used to take his compositions to school, but the teacher did not show much interest in them.
In the summer of 1858 Grieg met the great Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, who was a friend of the family, and whose brother was married to Grieg's aunt. Bull noticed the 15-year-old boy's talent and persuaded his parents to let him go to Leipzig in Germany to study music.

Grieg enrolled in the conservatory, concentrating on the piano, and enjoyed all the concerts and recitals given in Leipzig. He did not like the discipline of the conservatory course of study, but he still got very good grades. The first piano recital he gave was in Sweden. In 1862 he finished his studies in Leipzig and went back to Bergen where he gave another recital.
In 1863 Grieg went to Copenhagen, Denmark, and stayed there for three years. He met the Danish composers J. P. E. Hartman, and Niels Gade. Gade told him to go and write a symphony. Grieg did not feel happy writing a long symphony although he did try. He also met the Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak who had composed the Norwegian national anthem. Nordraak showed Grieg how wonderful Norwegian folk music was. Grieg had hardly heard any Norwegian folk music until then. When Nordraak died, Grieg composed a funeral march in his honour.

Mature years 
On 11 June 1867, Grieg married his first cousin Nina. The next year their only child, Alexandra, was born. The following summer, Grieg wrote his Piano Concerto in A minor while on holiday in Denmark. Edmund Neupert gave the concerto its first performance on 3 April 1869 in the Casino Theater in Copenhagen. Grieg himself was unable to be there because he was conducting in Christiana (now called “Oslo”).
In the summer of 1869, Grieg's daughter Alexandra became ill and died, at the age of 13 months.

In 1870, he met Franz Liszt in Rome. Liszt had made it possible for Grieg to get a travel grant. They played Grieg's Violin Sonata No. 1 together, which Liszt liked very much. On a second visit, in April, Grieg brought with him the manuscript of his Piano Concerto which Liszt played by sight. Liszt gave him some advice about the orchestration.

Grieg spent most of his time conducting and playing the piano in concerts. He often travelled, and in 1876 he went to Bayreuth to hear the first performance of Wagner’s Ring cycle. He wrote a review of the operas for a Norwegian newspaper.

In 1876, Ibsen asked Grieg to write some incidental music for the first performance of the play he had written about the Norwegian hero Peer Gynt. Many of the pieces from this work became very popular. They are played by orchestras as well as in arrangements for piano or for piano duet.
Later life 
In 1883 he and wife parted for a while, although friends managed to persuade the couple to come together again and they spent four months in Rome. They built a house called Troldhaugen in Bergen, with a view of the fjord. They moved into the house in 1885 and Grieg lived there for the rest of his life. They continued to travel and give concerts. Nina had a good voice and sang her husband’s songs. Grieg only performed his own works at concerts. During his last years he received many honours.

In his later life Grieg became famous, although never rich. The Norwegian government gave him a pension. Grieg made some recordings of his piano pieces. These are some of the very first gramophone recordings that were made. The sound is not very good, but they show that Grieg was an excellent pianist. He also recorded music rolls on a pianola.
Edvard Grieg died in the autumn of 1907, aged 64, after a long illness. He had suffered from respiratory problems ever since he was very ill in 1860 as a student in Leipzig. At his funeral thousands of people went out on the streets of his home town to honour him. Following his wish, his own funeral march for Rikard Nordraak was played, as well as the funeral march by Frederic Chopin. His and his wife's ashes are buried in a mountain crypt near his house, Troldhaugen.

Music 
Grieg was often inspired by Norwegian folk music. This can be heard in his songs and some of his instrumental music. His chamber music includes 3 violin sonatas and a cello sonata as well as a piano sonata and many shorter piano pieces. However, he has become very well known all over the world through his Piano Concerto and his music for Peer Gynt. Another popular work is his Holberg Suite which was originally written for the piano but later arranged for string orchestra.
Trivia 
The famous opening of Grieg’s Piano Concerto featured in a comedy sketch by Morecambe and Wise in the 1970s. The conductor André Previn was their special guest in the sketch which has become a classic.

1843 births
1907 deaths
Disease-related deaths in Norway
Norwegian composers
People from Bergen
Romantic composers
Palmyra Atoll is an island in the North Pacific Ocean. No one lives there, but 4 to 20 people use this island, mainly scientists. It is managed as a nature reserve by the United States. It is known as the Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.

In 2005, a team of scientists from around the world started to build a research station on the island. They wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the environment of the island.

History 
Palmyra Atoll was claimed by the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1862, and was taken by the United States in 1898 along with Hawaii. The atoll was not included in the Hawaii Admission Act of 1959, which made Hawaii a state, so it remained a US territory.

References

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/um.html

Other websites
Other websites

Palmyra atoll 
Palmyra Island 
Palmyra Atoll NWR 
The Curse of Palmyra Island – article
The Curse of Palmyra Island – free book 
The Nature Conservancy in Palmyra Atoll 
Palmyra Atoll Research Consortium
United States v. Fullard-Leo (Supreme Court opinion; includes a history of the island's ownership)
WorldStatesmen- U.S.
History of Palmyra Atoll 
The Palmyra Gazette 

Atolls
United States Minor Outlying Islands
Pacific islands
Uninhabited regions
Kingman Reef is a coral reef in the North Pacific Ocean, owned by the United States. 

It is the farthest north of the Northern Line Islands.  It is only sometimes above water.  

Palmyra Atoll is the other U.S. territory in the Northern Line Islands.

Gallery

References

Other websites

 K5K Amateur Radio Expedition to Kingman Reef
 Kennedy Warne: "An Uneasy Eden" — National Geographic Magazine, July 2008

United States Minor Outlying Islands
Pacific islands
Uninhabited regions
Jarvis Island (; formerly known as Bunker Island) is an uninhabited island owned by the United States.  The small island is a part of the United States Minor Outlying Islands, a group of mostly uninhabited islands.

Jarvis Island was officially made part of the United States in 1858. People used to mine guano there, but they then abandoned it. The United States treats it as a nature reserve.