Aarushhh/wikipedia-simple-splitted huggingface dataset:
His works 
Several publishers realized how good Kafka’s writings were and asked him whether they could publish his works. Kafka reluctantly let a few things be published. One of these works was a story called  Metamorphosis (German: Die Verwandlung). It is about a man called Gregor Samsa (the name “Samsa” means "loner" or "lonely"). Gregor wakes up one morning to find he has changed into a giant cockroach. His family becomes ashamed of him and they stop looking after him so that he slowly dies. Stories like these are a kind of fable. They are full of strange and frightening situations.

His novel Amerika (published in 1927) is about a man who arrives in America looking for a father figure to protect him. He is quiet and timid and other people use him. In the end he dies.
In The Trial (German: Der Prozess, published in 1925), a man who works in a bank is arrested and taken to court. He is never told what he has done wrong. Even the priest tells him that if he asks what he has done wrong it proves that he is guilty. Finally he is executed.

In The Castle (German: Das Schloss) a man who is simply called “K” (the first letter of “Kafka”) arrives at a castle saying that he has been given a job there, but the people there say they have not been told about his appointment. Kafka never finished the novel, but Max Brod says that Kafka was going to end it with K receiving permission to stay at the castle just as he was dying. The German word “Schloss” has two meanings: “castle” and “lock”. K becomes locked (trapped) in this strange situation.
At the time of his death only a few people understood Kafka’s writings. Max Brod saved all the unpublished books which would otherwise have been lost. Kafka is now thought of as one of the most important writers of the 20th century. His works had a lot of influence on German literature.

Other websites 
 Franz Kafka 
 Oxford Kafka Research Centre

1883 births
1924 deaths
Austrian Jews
Austrian writers
Czech Jews
Czechoslovak writers
Deaths from tuberculosis
Disease-related deaths in Austria
Jewish atheists
Jewish writers
Czech novelists
Writers from Prague
Eva Anna Paula Braun (6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was the longtime girlfriend of Adolf Hitler. She met him in Munich when she was 17 years old. They married the day before they committed suicide (killed themselves). Braun killed herself by using cyanide. Hitler used cyanide and at the same time shot himself. When she was married, she was known as Eva Anna Paula Hitler. She was born in Munich, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany at the age of 33. Her body was burned as well as Adolf Hitler.

References

1912 births
1945 deaths
German Roman Catholics
Hitler family
People from Munich
Suicides by poison
Suicides in Germany
Secure Recycling 
Sometimes people are worried that the information inside a computer will be stolen when the computer is thrown away. For example, if you have a product design on an old computer, somebody might copy your design. Big companies have a lot of computers, with a lot of private information on them. They will often pay other companies to remove all the information from a computer before it is thrown away. This usually involves physically destroying the drive. It is possible to non-destructively erase the data on a hard drive by overwriting the entire drive with random numbers. With this method, only the data is destroyed, not the drive itself. This allows the drive to be reused.

Computers
Electronics
Recycling
is the capital city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan.

Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the late 16th century.

It has been recognized as a core city since 1997.

History

Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the late 16th century. During the Edo period, Nagasaki was the only port in which trade with other countries was permitted because of the national isolation policy (sakoku).

In the 1870s, Nagasaki became the capital city of the prefecture which evolved from the former province.

On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki was the second of two Japanese cities which were destroyed with an atomic bomb near the end of the Second World War.

Related pages
 Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
 Hashima

References

Other websites 

 Nagasaki official website; 長崎市
 VISIT NAGASAKI Official Tourism Website for Nagasaki City
Ayyavazhi (, "path of the master"), is a Hindu denomination with one god that started in South India in the middle of the 19th century. The 'zhi' () in the word, 'Ayyavazhi', is a retroflex, ri.

Ayyavazhi is considered as a branch of Hinduism, officially. It is widespread in Tamil Nadu's southern districts of Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, and Thoothukudi district and some parts of Kerala. As one of the fastest growing faiths of southern India, its growth had been noted in the Christian missionary reports of the mid-19th century.

The ideas and philosophy of the religion are based on the teachings of Ayya Vaikundar and the religious texts Akilattirattu Ammanai and Arul Nool. Most followers of Ayyavazhi do not regard themselves as different from Hinduism.

History
History 

Ayyavazhi began to be seen firstly by the large number of people gathering to worship Ayya Vaikundar at Swamithoppe, which is at that time poovandanthoppe. The majority of the followers of Ayyavazhi were from the poor group of the society. For the Christian missionaries it gives a big challenge in their converting mission from its beginning. Although the majority of these followers were from the Chanar cast, apart from Ayyavazhi sources, some outer sources too says that a large number of people from other castes also followed this religion.
By the middle of nineteenth century, Ayyavazhi had come to be recognised as a separate religion, grown well in the region of South Travancore and South Tirunelveli. The growth in its number of followers had increased speedly from 1840s. After the death of Vaikundar, the religion was spread on the basis of his teachings and the religious books Akilattirattu Ammanai and Arul Nool. The five Citars, who were the deciples of Ayya Vaikundar, and their descendants travelled to several parts of the country and carried the mission of Ayyavazhi. At that time the Payyan dynasty started ruling of Swamithoppe pathi, while other Pathis came under the control of the followers of Ayya. Hundreds of Nizhal Thangals (places of worship) were built across the country. Currently Bala Prajapathi Adikalar, one of descendant of Payyan dynasty is said to be as the leader of Ayyavazhi. He has laid foundations for a large number of Nizhal Thangals all over South India
. And now seeing the growth of the religion the day of birth of Vaikundar, Ayya Vaikunda Avataram was announced as a holiday by the government for the districts of Tirunelveli and Tuticorin from this year while the district of Kanyakumari was announced as a holiday earlier.
Scriptures and holy places 

The holy books of Ayyavazhi are the Akilattirattu Ammanai and the Arul Nool, and they are the source of the religion's mythology. The holy book states that the Akilattirattu Ammanai was written down by Hari Gopalan Citar by hearing the contents of Akilam told by Narayana to his wife Lakshmi. There was no definite history about the beginning of Arul Nool; but the followers believe that it was written by Citars and by those who get possessed by divine power. It contains the prayers, hymns and ways for the worship in Ayyavazhi, religious practices, prophesies and also many rules.
To the Ayyavazhi devotees, there are five holy places, called Pathis, with "Panchappathis" as the most important. The temple of Swamithoppepathi is the head of the Ayyavazhi religion. The Vakaippathi, where 700 families were sent to Thuvayal Thavasu by Vaikundar was approved as a Pathi in Akilam although this place has no direct association with the activities of Vaikundar. There is a big disagreement within the followers of Ayyavazhi as to the holiness of some of the places of worship. The Avatharappathi in Thiruchendur was accepted by the book Akilam as a Pathi, but as some of the followers believe that the place at which the present temple is located is not the exact place where Ayya Vaikundar incarnated from the sea, they disagree with the other devotees. There are also some followers which strongly quarrel Thiruchendur as a Pathi though they accept it as a secondary holy site.

Ayyavazhi
Akilathirattu Ammanai (; from akilam (world) + thirattu (collection) + ammanai (ballad)), also called Thiru Edu (venerable book), is the main religious book of the Southern Indian Ayyavazhi, officially a branch of Hinduism. The title is shortened as Akilam. This is the largest Ammanai work.

History
According to the book, Hari Gopalan Citar wrote this book on the twenty-seventh day of the Tamil month of Karthikai (November/December) in the year 1016 ME (1841 CE). The author says that God woke him up during his sleep and ordered him to take the first words from what he said. Akilathirattu was recorded on palm leaves. Then in 1939 it was given printed form.
According to the author, the book is the story of God coming in this age, the Kali Yukam or Iron Age, to rule the world by transforming it into that of Dharma Yukam. This story of faith has woven together the historical facts about Ayya Vaikundar and his activities, with mixing of episodes from the Hindu Puranas (mythologies) and Itihasas (epics). It is presented as if Vishnu is telling the whole story to his consort Lakshmi.

Though the Citar Hari Gopalan wrote the book Akilam, as per him, he did not know any thing about the contents of the book. He woke up in the morning as usual and he did not know what he had written the day before.

As soon as Ayya Vaikundar attained Vaikundam, the tied-up palm leaf text, which was until then not opened. It was there the regulations of Ayyavazhi contains. As per the instructions found there in Akilam, Ayyavazhi was preached by the Citars far and wide.

Ayyavazhi
Hindu texts
1840s books
Ayya Vaikundar () is a Manu (father, sovereign) avatar (the incarnation of a deity) of the Lord Narayana according to Akilattirattu Ammanai the holy book of the Ayyavazhi religion, officially a Tamil Hindu branch.

The physical human body of Ayya Vaikundar was born with the name Muthukutty. However, Muthukutty is referred to as Sampooranathevan, a deva (a deity), in the religious book Akilam. Ayya Vikundar is a combination of the spirit of Narayana, the soul of the Supreme God, Ekam (God beyond conciouseness) and the body of an ordinary human being (Muthukutty).

The Ekam as soul incarnated with the spirit of Narayana in the body of Muthukutty.

Ayyavazhi
1810 births
1851 deaths
Hindu saints
The worship centers of Ayyavazhi are called Pathis. The activities of Vaikundar is historically jointed with this Pathis. There are five Pathis:

Swamithoppepathi
Ambalappathi
Muttappathi
Thamaraikulampathi
Pooppathi

Ayyavazhi
The Planck mass is a small unit of mass used in physics. It is derived using an equation involving Planck's constant, the speed of light in a vacuum, and the gravitational constant. It is approximately 21.76 μg, which is about the mass of a grain of rice.

The idea was to have a definition based only on fundamental universal constants.

Physical quantity
Units of mass
Human sexuality is the ability of people to have sexual experiences and feelings. This involves biological, erotic, physical, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. The most common form of human sexuality is heterosexuality, but homosexuality, bisexuality and asexuality exist too. An abnormal form of sexuality is called a paraphilia, while a normal one is called a normophilia.

Related pages
Human sexual activity
LGBT
Pornography

References
War and Peace () is a famous novel written by Leo Tolstoy, a Russian writer. It is about four families of noblemen in Russia during the wars with Napoleon, and how they deal with the war and with one another.

Tolstoy described War and Peace as "not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less an historical chronicle."

The book describes Russian life in the 19th century, and also tells about Tolstoy's own idea about free will, history, and how events unfold.

Main characters 

There are 580 characters in War and Peace, but these are the main characters:
Pierre Bezukhov: a thoughtful man. Even though he is quite clever, he does not think cleverness is the most important thing, like his friend Andrei. He can be very emotional, and this can get him into trouble. His final marriage with Natasha makes him happy in the end. Some people think he is like Tolstoy.
Natasha Rostova: she is a very happy, energetic, lively girl. She is the opposite of Helene (Elena) Kuragina, her husband's first wife. Almost everybody she meets likes her. Even though she is very charming, she is not proud or silly. She is very emotional. By the end of the book she has married Pierre. Throughout the book her character goes through many changes.
Andrei Bolkonski: he is a good man, like Pierre, but in a very different way. He is much less emotional than his friend, even though he loves his country and is honest.
Maria (Marya) Bolkonskaya: Andrei's sister. She is a very gentle, patient girl, who never complains even when her father is unkind to her. She is lonely and plain, but the book says she has beautiful eyes, and her heart is loving and Christian. She marries Nikolai and is happy.
Nikolai Rostov: like his sister Natasha, Nikolai is very impetuous. He gets angry easily, but loves his family. Although his gambling habits cause his family to go into debt.
Napoleon: the small, plump, and very proud emperor of France. He is also the leader in battle. He is selfish and loves power: Tolstoy wrote about him mostly in a negative way.
General Kutuzov: An old, fat general with only one eye who leads Russia in battle. He is very different from proud Napoleon, because he is humble and fears God. He is also more careful and thoughtful.
Elena Kuragina (Helene Kuragina): Pierre's first wife. She is cold, selfish, stupid, and proud, but very beautiful. She marries Pierre, but cheats on him and has a relationship with Dolokhov.
Dolokhov: A handsome Russian army soldier. He is a friend of Nikolai. He likes Helene and has a love affair with her at first, but after he fights with Pierre because of it, he starts liking Sonya. He even asks her to marry him. However, Sonya says no, and he angrily goes away. He makes Nikolai gamble and lose a lot of money. Later, he tries to help Anatoly Kuragin run away with Natasha.
Sonya Rostova: The pretty, shy, and humble cousin of Nikolai and Natasha. She lives with them and used to love Nikolai, but generously lets him marry rich Princess Marya to help the family and make him happy.
Anatoly Kuragin: Helene's brother. He spends too much money and does wrong. At first he was going to marry rich Princess Marya just for her money, but she said no. He fell in love with Natasha at an opera and tried to run away with her. Because of this, Natasha and Prince Andrei fought, and could not marry.
References 

1869 books
Books by Leo Tolstoy
Russian novels
The American city of Bay City is a small city in the state of Michigan, United States. In the 2000 census it had more than 35,000 people living in it.

Although small, Bay City is one of the largest port cities on Lake Huron, one of the North American Great Lakes. It is part of a triangle of small cities in Central Michigan. The other two cities are Saginaw, Michigan, and Midland, Michigan.

Bay City was the birthplace in 1958 of Madonna Ciccone, a well-known American singer. The Scottish Pop group Bay City Rollers are said to have gotten their name from the city as well.

Other websites 

 City of Bay City, Michigan

Cities in Michigan
County seats in Michigan
Zirconium is a chemical elemental metal. It is a greyish-white in color. It is atomic number 40 on the periodic table. Its symbol is Zr. And it is in the family of four (4). Zirconium alloys are used as cladding for nuclear fuel rods.

Related pages
Zircon

Transition metals
Yttrium is a chemical elemental metal with an atomic number of 39, a chemical symbol of Y, and an atomic weight of 88.905(abridged). It is classified as a transition metal. It is atomic number 39 which means it has 39 protons in an atom. It is silvery-white, solid at room temperature, and tends to form crystals. In chunk form, it is unreactive in air, but powdered yttrium may burn at 400 degrees Celsius. It has several uses, which include lasers, TV's, and metallurgy. It is a transition metal, and along with terbium, erbium, and ytterbium, is one of the four elements to be named after the town of Ytterby in Sweden, all of which are rare earth elements.

Transition metals
Windows 98 is an operating system for computers. Released on June 25, 1998 by Microsoft, it is the successor of Windows 95. It came before Windows Me. Support for Windows 98 ended on July 11, 2006.

Windows 98 was seen by many as a small upgrade to Windows 95, rather than a rebuilt version of Windows. The biggest changes were:
 Internet Explorer (a web browser) was made part of the GUI (what the user sees) and the file manager. This had already happened in the last versions of Windows 95 that were released. This is called 'web integration'.
Larger disk partitions (separations) were allowed.
New tools were added to help make the computer run the way a user wants it to. System Configuration Utility is a tool that lets users turn off programs they do not need to use the computer. Disk Cleanup let users delete old files the computer made.
Some add-ons that were made for Windows 95 were included with Windows 98, such as the changes to the shell from Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95.
Because Microsoft made Internet Explorer such an important part of Windows 98, the company was taken to court by the United States government. This was because they felt it was unfair to other companies who made web browsers.

It is not supported anymore, but many people still use it on older computers that will not run Windows XP or later versions of Windows.

Press demonstration
Before the release of Windows 98, there was a press demonstration at Comdex in April 1998. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was highlighting the operating system's ease of use and enhanced support for Plug and Play (PnP). When presentation assistant Chris Capossela plugged a scanner in and attempted to install it, Windows 98 displayed a Blue Screen of Death. Gates remarked after applause and cheering from the audience, "That must be why we're not shipping Windows 98 yet." Video footage of this event became a popular Internet phenomenon.
Second Edition 
Windows 98 Second Edition (SE)  was released in 1999. This was an official upgrade to Windows 98 which allowed people to use more types of computer hardware, like monitors and printers, and also let more than one machine on a network use the same Internet connection.

References

Other websites
Windows 98 Homepage. Microsoft. Retrieved on April 22, 2006.
HPC:Factor Windows 98 / 98SE Patches & Updates Guide
A discussion board at MSFN  containing links to unofficial upgrades and patches for this system.
Windows 98 System Requirements
GUIdebook: Windows 98 Gallery  - A website dedicated to preserving and showcasing Graphical User Interfaces
Windows 98/98SE UpgradePack - Accumulative patch for recent Windows 98 updates 
BBC News: BBC News: Microsoft shuts down Windows 98
PC World: The shut down of Windows 98 is a cause for concern 
Daylight Saving Time (DST) Fix  
Windows 98 Generic USB Mass Storage Device Drivers - enables Windows98 to support most modern USB flash drives.
Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance that is discarded after primary use or is worthless, defective, and of no use.

It may be no longer useful as it has served its purpose, and at the end of the process have no further use, and is generally discarded.  It is unwanted material that people have thrown away.  It is often also called trash, garbage, rubbish, or junk. It can be solid, liquid, or gas, or it can be waste heat. There are many different kinds of waste. Garbage is the waste we produce daily in our homes, including old or unwanted food, chemical substances, paper, broken furniture, used containers, and other things.

When waste is a liquid or gas, it can be called an emission. This is usually pollution. Sanitation is the proper handling of human waste.
Waste can also be something abstract (something that you cannot touch), for example, "a waste of time" or "wasted opportunities". When people use the words waste or wasted in this way, they are saying (directly or indirectly) that something has been used badly (using too much of it or using it incorrectly).

Waste management 
Waste management or waste disposal is the process and actions that we take to manage waste from it start point to when we finally throw or dispose them away. This process includes collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitoring of the waste management process and waste related laws, technologies and economic mechanisms.
Waste management deals with all types of waste, which include industrial, biological, household, municipal, organic, biomedical, radioactive wastes. Waste poses threats to human health. Health issues are linked with the entire process of waste management. Health issues can also arise indirectly or directly: directly through the handling of solid and liquid wastes, and indirectly through the consumption of water, soil, breathing, and food.

The purpose of waste management is to reduce the dangerous effects of such waste on the environment and human health. A big part of waste management deals with municipal solid wasted, which is created by industrial, commercial, and household activity. Waste management are not the same across every country (developed and developing nations); regions (urban and rural areas) and residential and industrial sectors can all take different methods.
People have thrown away waste in heaps for thousands of years. In modern homes and businesses, garbage is normally placed in waste containers of some sort.  It is then moved to the streets, where it can be collected and taken to a place designed to hold, destroy, or recycle garbage. Some waste materials, such as paper, wood, glass, metals, and plastic containers, can be recycled (reused).  Materials that cannot be recycled are either burned (incinerated) or heaped into landfills.

Plant matter, such as fruit and vegetable scraps, is biodegradable. It can usually be heaped into a compost, where it will decompose relatively quickly. This kind of waste is often called "wet" or "green" waste.

Very often, waste is not collected in containers. It may instead be thrown onto the ground or dumped somewhere. This is called littering.
Effective 'Waste Management' involves the practice of '7R' - 'R'efuse, 'R'educe', 'R'euse, 'R'epair, 'R'epurpose, 'R'ecycle and 'R'ecover. Amongst these '7R's, the first two ('Refuse' and 'Reduce') relates to the non-creation of waste - by refusing to buy non-essential products and by reducing consumption. The next two ('Reuse' and 'Repair') refers to increasing the usage of the existing product, with or without the substitution of certain parts of the product. 'Repurpose' and 'Recycle' involves maximum usage of the materials used in the product. And 'Recover' is the least preferred and least efficient waste management practice involving the recovery of embedded energy in the waste material. For example, burning the waste to produce heat (and electricity from heat). Certain non-bio-degradable products are also dumped away as 'Disposal', and this is not a "waste-'management'" practice.

Related pages
 Toxic waste

References

Other websites
Other websites

A description about the different sources of waste including classification of waste.

 
Basic English 850 words
Year 1096 (MXCVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events 
 Bernhard becomes Bishop of Brandenburg
 First documented teaching at the University of Oxford
 Beginning of the People's Crusade, the German Crusade, and the First Crusade
 Vital I Michele is Doge of Venice
 Peter I, King of Aragon, conquers Huesca
 Phayao, now a province of Thailand, is founded as a kingdom
Year 1098 (MXCVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.

Events 
 December 12 – massacre of Ma'arrat al-Numan where Crusaders resort to cannibalism.
 First Crusade: end of the siege of Antioch.
 Cîteaux Abbey founded.

Births 
 September 16 – Hildegard of Bingen, German mystic writer, and composer (d. 1179)

Deaths 
 January 3 – Walkelin, first Norman bishop of Winchester
 August 1 – Adhemar of Le Puy, papal legate
 December 1 – Domnall Ua hÉnna, Pre-Reformation Bishop of Killaloe
 Baldwin II, Count of Hainaut
 Hugh of Montgomery, 2. Earl of Shrewsbury
The Republic of the Congo is a country in Africa. Its capital city is Brazzaville. The country was a former colony of France; it became independent on 15 August 1960.
The north of the country has very large areas of rainforest, but in the south are many farms which grow cashcrops like bananas, peanuts.

Geography
Congo is in the central-western part of sub-Saharan Africa.  It is along the Equator.  To the south and east of it is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also bordered by Gabon to the west, Cameroon and the Central African Republic to the north, and Cabinda (Angola) to the southwest. It has a short Atlantic coast.
 
The capital, Brazzaville, is on the Congo River, directly across from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Departments

The Republic of the Congo is divided into 12 Departments. Departments are divided into communes and/or districts.

The districts are:

Related pages
Congo at the Olympics
List of rivers of the Republic of the Congo
Books about the Republic of the Congo 
 Maria Petringa, Brazza, A Life for Africa (2006)

References

 
Congo, Republic of
1960 establishments in Africa
The Gabonese Republic,  or Gabon, is a country in Africa. It is located on the equator. It has borders with Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, and the Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Libreville, which is also the largest city in the country. Gabon has an area of almost . 1.5 million people live in Gabon.

Gabon was a colony of France. It became a new country on August 17, 1960. Since 1960, the country has had only 3 presidents. At first it had one-party rule. In the early 1990s, the country switched to a multi-party government.

Gabon is one of the richest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has 4th highest HDI and third highest GDP per capita (PPP) in the region. Gabon has high levels of income inequality, and there are significant amounts of poverty in the country.
History
Not much is known about the history of Gabon before European contact. The first people who lived in the country were pygmies. Later, Bantu people took over the area after moving down from the North. Not much is known of the local culture, other than tribal art that exists. 

In the 15th century, the Portuguese were first Europeans to visit the area. At that time, the coast of Gabon was ruled by the Kingdom of Loango. That was a state that included parts of what is today Angola and Republic of Congo. The Portuguese first settled on the islands of São Tomé, Príncipe, and Fernando Pó. But they visited the coast of Gabon regularly. The Portuguese named Gabon region after their word gabão which means a coat with sleeve and hood. Starting from the 16th century, the coast was used for slave trade.
In the 19th century, the French made Gabon part of their Colonial empire. At this time much exploration was done of Gabon's dense jungles. The explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza was one of the most famous to do so. In 1849, freed slaves founded Libreville, which later became the capital.  

In 1910 Gabon was one of the French colonies which formed French Equatorial Africa (together with Congo, Central African Republic and Chad). French Equatorial Africa lasted to 1959. On 17 August 1960, Gabon became a new country.

Since 1960, Gabon has only had 3 presidents. In 1961 Léon M'ba became the first president. In 1967 after his death Omar Bongo became the president and ruled the country to 2009. In 2009, Omar Bongo died and his son Ali Bongo Ondimba took over as president. In June 2022, Gabon joined the Commonwealth of Nations.

Geography
Geography

Gabon is on the Atlantic coast of central Africa. It is on the equator. Gabon generally has an equatorial climate. Rainforests cover 85% of the country. There are three distinct regions: the coastal plains (ranging between 20 and 300 km from the ocean's shore), the mountains (the Cristal Mountains to the northeast of Libreville, the Chaillu Massif in the centre, culminating at 1575 m with Mont Iboundji), and the savanna in the east. The coastal plains form a large section of the World Wildlife Fund's Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests ecoregion and contain patches of Central African mangroves especially on the Muni River estuary on the border with Equatorial Guinea.
Gabon's largest river is the Ogooué which is 1200 km long. Gabon has three karst areas where there are hundreds of caves in the dolomite and limestone rocks. Some of the caves include Grotte du Lastoursville, Grotte du Lebamba, Grotte du Bongolo, and Grotte du Kessipougou. Many caves have not been explored yet. A National Geographic Expedition visited the caves in the summer of 2008 to document them (Expedition Website ).

Politics
The first Gabonese president was Leon Mba. His successor was Omar Bongo, from 1967 until his death in 2009. Under his governance Gabon had just one political party between 1968 and 1990. It was called PDG.

Provinces and departments
Gabon is divided into nine provinces. The provinces are divided into departments.

The provinces are:

 Estuaire
 Haut-Ogooué
 Moyen-Ogooué
 Ngounié
 Nyanga
 Ogooué-Ivindo
 Ogooué-Lolo
 Ogooué-Maritime
 Woleu-Ntem
Economics
Gabon has nine states. The soil of Gabon is rich in the metals uranium, manganese, and petrolium. Therefore, these three elements, such as metal exploited in Port-Gentil, uranium in Munana, and the manganese in Franceville.

Culture
Gabon has a wide culture. Before colonialism, Gabon's people believed their ancestral spirit as religion, like bwiti, mvett, djobi.

After colonialism, others religions such as Christianity and Islam came to be added to the first animist believers.

The Gabon national football team has represented the nation since 1962. Gabon were joint hosts, along with Equatorial Guinea, of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. They were the only hosts of the competition's 2017 tournament.

Gabon has excellent recreational fishing. It is considered one of the best places in the world to catch Atlantic tarpon.

Books about Gabon 
 Maria Petringa, Brazza, A Life for Africa (2006)

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

References
References

 
Members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
1960 establishments in Africa
Commonwealth member states
Tamil Nadu () is a state in the South of Indian Union. The capital of this state is Madras. Other large cities in Tamil Nadu include Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Salem, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Thanjavur and Thoothukudi. Tamil is the language spoken in Tamil Nadu. It is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Indian Ocean to the south. A small part of Tamil Nadu borders the Arabian Sea to the west. It borders the Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. The Tamilians are very proud of their language and heritage. In traditional Indian geography, it is part of the South Indian zone.

The current chief minister of the state is M. K. Stalin. He is the leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), a political party. The leader of the opposition is Edappadi K. Palaniswami. He belongs to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIDMK), another political party. These two Dravidian parties have been in power alternately in Tamil Nadu since 1967.
The eastern and western tips of the state are defined by the Point Calimere and Mudumalai wildlife sanctuaries while the southernmost tip is Kanyakumari (also called Cape Comorin) at the tip of the Indian peninsula. Tamil Nadu is the 11th largest state in India, with an area of 129,996 km2 and over 62 million people. The major river is Kaveri, which meets the needs of agriculture. Other important rivers include south Pennar, Palar, Vaigai, Tamira bharani, Manimuthar, Noyyal and Bhavani. Tamil Nadu, a South Indian state, is famed for its Dravidian-style Hindu temples. The three ancient Tamil empires of Chera, Chola, and Pandya were of ancient origins. In Tamil Nadu, the Neolithic period had its advent around 2500 BCE.

Districts of Tamil Nadu

Provincial symbols of Tamil Nadu

Other websites
Ducks are birds in the family Anatidae. Ducks are closely related to swans and geese, which are in the same family. 

Ducks are not a monophyletic group. They are a 'form taxon'. Swans and geese are in the same family but are not called ducks. The main difference is that ducks have shorter necks, and are smaller. 

Other swimming and diving birds, like grebes and loons, are not ducks. A baby duck is called a duckling, and a male duck is called a drake. Most ducks are aquatic birds. They can be found in both saltwater and fresh water. 

The subfamily Anatinae ("dabbling ducks") feed on the surface of water or on land, or as deep as they can reach by up-ending without completely submerging.
Ducks lay eggs once a year and are omnivorous, eating aquatic plants and tiny animals.  Along the edge of the beak there is a comb-like structure called a pecten. This strains the water squirting from the side of the beak and traps any food. The pecten is also used to preen feathers. Diving ducks dive deep to get their food.

Many ducks are migratory. This means that they spend the summer months in a different place than the winter months. Ducks show a cosmopolitan distribution, meaning they can be found all over the world, except for Antarctica. Some duck species live on the South Georgia and Auckland Islands, which are subantarctic. Many species have established themselves on remote islands, such as Kerguelen or Hawaii.
Ducks are sometimes kept as pets. They are often kept by groups of people on public ponds for their beauty and calming nature. People commonly feed ducks in ponds stale bread, thinking that the ducks will like to have something to eat. However, bread is not healthy for ducks and can kill them. In nature, ducks eat grasses, aquatic plants, fish, insects, small amphibians, worms, and small molluscs.

In poultry 

Some ducks are bred and kept by humans. They are not wild ducks. They are kept to provide food (meat and eggs), or to use their feathers for pillows and other items in the house. Especially in Asia, many people like to eat duck.

Duck meat is high in fat, which helps the bird float in the water.

The eggs from ducks are thought to have a richer taste than chicken eggs.

Related pages
 Waterfowl
The Ugly Duckling

References

Other websites
North by Northwest is a 1959 spy thriller movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Ernest Lehman wrote the script, and Cary Grant stars in the lead role. The movie also stars Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. The story is about the innocent Roger Thornhill getting caught up in the spy world. Bernard Hermann composed the music for the movie. Saul Bass created the famous opening sequence. It was one of the first uses of moving text on screen. The movie is often considered an Alfred Hitchcock classic and one of the best movies of all time.

Plot 
Two men kidnap Roger Thornhill at a hotel. They believe Thornhill is George Kaplan. They drive him to the mansion of Lester Townsend. Phillip Vandamm, who is an enemy spy, questions Roger. Vandamm's men make Thornhill drunk and put him in a car to kill him. Thornhill does not die. Instead, the police catch him. Thornhill cannot make the police or his mother believe his story. They visit the house of Townsend. A woman pretends she knows Thornhill and makes up stories.
Thornhill visits Kaplan's hotel room with his mother. Vandamm's men enter the hotel. Kaplan runs away from them. He goes to the United Nations to meet Lester Townsend. Thornhill talks with Townsend and learns that Townsend does not live in his mansion. One of Vandamm's men throws a knife that kills Townsend. Everyone thinks Thornhill killed Townsend. A government intelligence agency reads about Thornhill. They decide not to help him to protect an agent.

Thornhill goes into a 20th Century Limited train. He meets Eve Kendall. She is an American spy and wants to win the trust of Vandamm. She helps Thornhill escape, and they start a relationship. She sets up a meeting with Kaplan at a rural bus stop. Thornhill goes there and a crop duster pane attacks him. The plane blows up when it flies into a tank truck.
Thornhill goes to Kaplan's hotel in Chicago and sees Kendall. He goes to her hotel room. She asks him to leave him alone and leaves. He follows her to an art auction. He sees her with Vandaam and Vandaam's men. Vandaam buys a Mexican Purépecha sculpture. Thornhill draws attention to himself so he can escape Vandaam's men. The police take Thornhill, but they give him to "The Professor." The Professor is an agent and tells Thornhill that Kaplan does not exist and is just a way to distract Vandaam from Kendall. Thornhill agrees to play the role of Kaplan.
At Mount Rushmore, Thornhill talks with Vandamm to have Kendall arrested. Kendall shoots Thornhill with blanks and runs away. The Professor has Kendall and Thornhill meet. Thornhill learns she must go on an airplane with Vandamm. The Professor locks Thornhill in a hospital room. Thornhill escapes and goes to Vandamm's house. Vandamm discovers that Kendall is a spy, used blanks and that the sculpture has microfilmss. Vandamm says he will throw Kendall off the plane. Thornhill warns Kendall with a note. The two escape and end up at the monuments of Mount Rushmore. Vandamm's men fall from the monuments. The Professor arrests Vandamm.

Cast
Cast 

 Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill
 Eva Marie Saint as Eve Kendall
 James Mason as Phillip Vandamm
 Jessie Royce Landis as Clara Thornhill
 Leo G. Carroll as The Professor
 Josephine Hutchinson as "Mrs. Townsend"
 Philip Ober as Lester Townsend
 Martin Landau as Leonard
 Adam Williams as Valerian
 Edward Platt as Victor Larrabee
 Robert Ellenstein as Licht
 Les Tremayne as Auctioneer
 Philip Coolidge as Dr. Cross
 Patrick McVey as Sergeant Flamm
 Edward Binns as Captain Junket
 Ken Lynch as Charlie

Reception
Reception

Critical response 
The movie had very positive reviews. It has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised the movie as a great thriller with much suspense. They said the movie has many iconic images. Some said the movie is an excellent parody of Hitchcock's work and a classic example of his techniques. Critics found the movie very entertaining. Critics noted how the famous locations created more shocking scenes and added suspense. They also said the movie was both suspenseful and cherry. The movie has a rating of 98/100 on Metacritic with "universal acclaim".

Awards 
North by Northwest got three nominations at the Academy Awards. They were the awards for Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction – Set Decoration, Color, and Best Original Screenplay. The movie won an Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. The movie won Top Action Drama at the Laurel Awards.
Legacy 
North by Northwest has made several polls and lists for the greatest movies ever made. In a 1998 Time Out poll, the movie ranked the 12th greatest movie. In a 2022 Time Out poll, the movie was considered the best thriller ever. The poll from the British Film Institute ranked North by Northwest the 53rd greatest movie. The movie is on several of the American Film Institute's lists. The AFI ranked it the 40th-greatest American movie. The movie is ranked 7th on AFI's 10 Top 10 for mystery. It is also No. 40 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies, No. 4 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills, and No. 55 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition). The Library of Congress choose the movie to be part of the National Film Registry in 1995.

References

Other websites 

 
 Classic Movies: North By Northwest
1959 movies
1950s spy movies
1959 adventure movies
1950s thriller movies
American thriller movies
American adventure movies
Movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock
MGM movies
Movies composed by Bernard Herrmann
Movies set in South Dakota
Movies set in New York City
Nightwish is a symphonic metal band from Finland. They formed in July 1996 and played acoustic mood music. The band's keyboardist and composer Tuomas Holopainen had the idea of forming a band. He asked Tarja Turunen to sing and Emppu Vuorinen to play guitar.

At the beginning of 1997, the band started playing stronger music. Jukka Nevalainen joined the band to play the drums. Vuorinen used an electric guitar instead of an acoustic guitar. In May 1997, Nightwish signed a contract (binding agreement) with Spinefarm Records and they released their first album 'Angels Fall First'.

In 1998, Sami Vänskä joined the band to play bass guitar. The same year Nightwish released 'Oceanborn', which was quite different to
'Angels Fall First'.

In May 2000 they released 'Wishmaster', which was similar to 'Oceanborn'. They also entered the contest to be Finland's representatives for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song 'Sleepwalker'. They won the phone vote but the judges disagreed so they came second.
The other band members asked Tarja to leave the group in 2005 after their "End of an Era" tour. Tuomas wrote an open letter to her, stating the reasons why she had to leave. He then put the letter on the official website. In 2007, Swedish singer Anette Olzon became the new singer, and Nightwish released a single, 'Amaranth'. A few months later, they released the album 'Dark Passion Play'.

Discography

Albums
Angels Fall First (1997)
Oceanborn (1998)
Wishmaster (2000)
Over the Hills and Far Away EP (2001)
Century Child (2002)
Once (2004)
Dark Passion Play (2007)
Imaginaerum (2011) 
Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015)
Human. :II: Nature. (2020)
Singles
The Carpenter (1997)
Sacrament of Wilderness (1998)
Walking in the Air (1999)
Sleeping Sun (Four Ballads of the Eclipse) (1999)
Deep Silent Complete (2000)
Ever Dream (2002)
Bless the Child (2002)
Nemo (2004)
Wish I Had an Angel (2004)
Kuolema tekee taiteilijan (2004)
The Siren (2005)
Eva (2007)
Amaranth (2007)
Erämaan Viimeinen (2007)
Bye Bye Beautiful (2008)
The Islander (2008)
Storytime (2011)
The Crow, the Owl and the Dove (2012)
Élan (2015)
Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015)
Alpenglow (2015) (promo)
My Walden (2016) (12)
Noise (2020)
Harvest (2020)

References

Finnish heavy metal bands
Symphonic metal bands
Power metal bands
Alternative metal bands
Gothic metal bands
Roadrunner Records
Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa. Its capital is Freetown. The official language is English.

The country was first made as a place where freed slaves could live. From 1991 until 2000, there was a civil war in Sierra Leone between rebels and the government. The war is now over. Sierra Leone is known for its blood diamonds. These were mined and sold during the civil war. This was in order to buy the weapons for the civil war.

There are 71,740 square kilometres of land in Sierra; In terms of land area it is similar in size to Ireland.

Sierra Leone has relied on mining, especially diamonds, for its economic base. The country is among the largest producers of titanium and bauxite, and a major producer of gold. The country has one of the world's largest deposits of rutile. Sierra Leone is also home to the third large {{st natural harbour in the world. Shipping from all over the globe goes to Freetown's famous Queen Elizabeth II Quay. Despite this natural wealth, 70% of its people live in poverty.
Sierra Leone is a mostly Muslim country.

The country has 2,090 known species of higher plants, 147 mammals, 626 birds, 67 reptiles, 35 amphibians, and 99 fish species.

History 
In 1672, The Royal African Company built forts on some islands close to Sierra Leone for trading. Slave trading was becoming more popular, so the forts mostly traded humans. In fact, Bunce Island became a popular place to transport slaves to Europe and Americas.

Geography and climate
The country is bordered by Guinea to the north and northeast, Liberia to the south and southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.

Mount Bintumani reaches . It is the highest point in the country.

The climate is hot, tropical and humid all year round, with two seasons. The rainy season is from May to November, and the dry season is from December to May.
March & April are the hottest months and daytime temperatures are around 38 °C (100 °F) - 41 °C (106 °F) with a solid 82% humidity. Nighttime temperatures do not vary a lot and may fluctuate by 2 °C - 4 °C.

December and January are preferably the best times to visit Sierra Leone as temperatures and humidity are much lower and reasonable due to the hammattan breeze from the Sahara desert, although afternoon temperatures can still climb up to 40 °C and above, the hammattan breeze stops it from getting too humid, even though it will still be hot, humidity would be can be lowered down to 39%, meaning you'll sweat less during this time than you would when the climate goes back to its original state, so therefore the heat would be more endurable especially around coastal areas.
When the hammattan breeze has lowered the heat and the humidity to its base, the highest average daily temperature in December and January will only reach a maximum of 31 °C (88 °F) and nighttime temperatures will be 24 °C (75 °F), although it can sometimes drop to 21 °C (70 °F) at night, and sometimes in the morning which is the lowest the temperature can get. During this time, humidity is 70% & it is pleasantly warm and enjoyable.

The rainy season from May-November, average temperatures are 27 °C (81 °F) - 29 °C (84 °F) with humidity 95% - 100%. Some days when it doesn't rain, temperatures can climb up to 32 °C (90 °F) and humidity can be moderate around 75%.
Rainfall can be torrential, so if you're travelling to Sierra Leone around this time of the year, it is advisable to bring waterproof clothing as it can rain for a whole week without interruption from sunlight.
Largest cities
The largest cities in Sierra Leone are:
 Freetown 1,070,200
 Bo 269,000  
 Kenema 158,496 
 Koidu Town 111,800  
 Makeni 105,900

Education

Education in Sierra Leone is legally required for all children for six years. A shortage of schools and teachers has made this impossible. Two thirds of the adult population of the country are not able to read. The Sierra Leone Civil War caused the destruction of 1,270 primary schools. In 2001, 67% of all school-age children were out of school. This has been better since the end of the civil war.

The country has three universities: Fourah Bay College, University of Makeni and Njala University. Teacher training colleges and religious seminaries are found in many parts of the country.

Provinces and districts
The Republic of Sierra Leone has five regions the Northern Province, North West Province, Southern Province, the Eastern Province and the Western Area. The first four provinces are divided into 14 districts. The districts are further divided into 149 chiefdoms.

Food and customs
Rice is the staple food of Sierra Leone. It is eaten at nearly every meal daily. The rice is prepared in many ways, and topped with different sauces made from some of Sierra Leone's favorite toppings. These include potato leaves, cassava leaves, crain crain, okra soup, fried fish and groundnut stew.

Along the street of towns and cities one can find snacks such as fresh mangoes, oranges, pineapple, fried plantains, ginger beer, fried potato, fried cassava with pepper sauce; small bags of popcorn or peanuts, bread, roasted corn, or skewers of grilled meat or shrimp.