Aarushhh/wikipedia-simple-splitted huggingface dataset:
Big pro-European Union protests called Euromaidan () began in November 2013 and made the President go away in February.

Russian-occupation of Crimea 
In March 2014, Russia occupied Crimea, made a pseudo-referendum which proclaimed Crimea independence and annexed it. Most countries did not recognize the referendum. The EU, OSCE, USA and Ukraine demanded that Crimea be returned. Several countries sought to use economic sanctions to punish Russia's leaders for this.

After some conflicts, the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk declared independence from Ukraine; they are known as the Donetsk People's Republic, and Luhansk People's Republic.  In both areas of Ukraine, there's a majority of Russian speakers.  

In 2016, the New Safe Confinement was built to cover the remains of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and prevent radiation from escaping.

Russian invasion
Russian invasion

On 24 February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the invasion and attack on Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine from the North, East, South, from the Black Sea and from the air (having launched hundred of missiles).

Many people suffered, and people were hiding out in subway systems underground. Poland was allowing refugees into the country, but men of fighting age had to stay and fight in the military.

Presidents of Ukraine
 Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk (1991—1994)
 Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (1994—2005)
 Victor Yushchenko (2005—2010)
 Victor Yanukovych (2010—2014)
 Oleksandr Turchynov (2014)
 Petro Poroshenko (2014–2019)
 Volodymyr Zelensky (since 2019)

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

References

 
1991 establishments in Europe
Liechtenstein, officially the Principality of Liechtenstein, is a country in Western Europe. It is the sixth smallest country in the world and, with Uzbekistan, one of only two doubly landlocked countries. This means that it is landlocked by landlocked countries. Liechtenstein is between Austria and Switzerland.

The official language in Liechtenstein is German.

The capital of Liechtenstein is Vaduz, a very small town of 5,000 people. Liechtenstein is famous for its many private banks.

Liechtenstein is known as a principality. It's head of state is the Prince of Liechtenstein. This makes the country unique as it is one of the only remaining monarchies in the world where the ruler is known as a prince.

History 
The territory that is now Liechtenstein was once split into two different states, the County of Vaduz and the Lordship of Schellenberg, which were both part of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Liechtenstein family wanted more power within the Holy Roman Empire. In the 17th century, the Holy Roman Emperor made Karl Liechtenstein a Prince. Karl's descendant, Hans Adam I purchased the lands of the County of Vaduz and the Lordship of Schellenberg and united them into one principality.

In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire was broken up by Napoleon. With the fall of the Empire, Liechtenstein became a free sovereign country.

Geography 
Liechtenstein is located in the European Alps and is bordered to the east by the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, to the south by the canton of Grisons (Switzerland) and to the west by the canton of St. Gallen (Switzerland). 

The Rhine forms the entire western border of Liechtenstein. Measured south to north the country is about 24 km (15 mi) long. Its highest point, the Grauspitz, is 2,599 m (8,527 ft). 

Despite its Alpine location, prevailing southerly winds make the climate comparatively mild. In winter, the mountain slopes are well suited to winter sports.
Politics 
Liechtenstein is a constitutional monarchy, meaning that the head of state is a monarch (with the title Prince Regnant) but has limited political powers. The Prince can veto legislations, call for a referendum, create new bills and dissolve parliament.

The legislature is the landtag (or diet). There are 25 elected members. The members of government are usually all members of the biggest political party.

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

References

 
Current monarchies
German-speaking countries
1866 establishments in Europe
Portugal is a country in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe and part of the Mediterranean.  It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. Its capital city is Lisbon  It has been a member of the European Union since 1986.  Portugal was under a dictatorship between 1926 and 1974 called Estado Novo. The dictatorship of Estado Novo was ended by a peaceful revolution called Carnation Revolution. The Portuguese economy has since prospered but was hit hard by the 2007-2008 recession.

Portugal has a football team and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 and hosted the event in 2018.

It once had an empire called the Portuguese Empire, and was a powerful maritime nation from 1500s–1800s, the 10th-largest empire with a maximum land area of 10.4 million km² which included Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, East Timore, São Tomé and Príncipe, Portuguese Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and even Macau in China (until 2002).
Portugal is a popular holiday destination but is sometimes overlooked in favour of larger countries like France, Spain and Italy. The Algarve region in the south and capital Lisbon are the most popular.

Geography
Three groups of islands in the Atlantic Ocean are also part of Portugal: the Azores (Açores), Madeira and the Savage Isles (Ilhas Selvagens). The Savage Isles are a small group of uninhabited islands, administered by Madeira. Portugal claims that Olivença is also part of its territory, but it is controlled by Spain.

History

Kingdom of Portugal 

Portugal became its own kingdom in 1139 but was not officially recognized until 1143.  Portugal has had links with England since the 1100s by a treaty.  The border with Spain has been almost the same since the 13th century.  Fishing and trading with other countries were important here.
Portugal was important in the world exploration for two reasons. Henry the Navigator, a prince from Portugal, was very interested in exploration. Inventions in navigation led to a bigger knowledge of geography.

This world exploration began the Portuguese Empire. Portugal was a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries. It tried to colonize Canada in the 16th century. However, it lost a lot of money soon after this. Portugal and Spain were in the Iberian Union from 1580 to 1640. The city of Lisbon was destroyed in an earthquake in 1755.  The country was occupied during the Peninsular War.  It lost its largest colony, Brazil, in 1822.
Portuguese Republic 
In 1910, the Kingdom of Portugal ended and Portugal became a Republic. Eight years after Portugal’s involvement in World War One, a military group took control of the country from the Portuguese First Republic called the 28 May coup d’état. This began a time of rule by authoritarian governments called Ditadura Nacíonal that later became known as Estado Novo. During World War II Portugal remained neutral but friendly to Britain and Spain. In 1974 a peaceful left-wing army coup, called the Carnation Revolution had taken place that overthrown the military dictatorship and ended the Portuguese Colonial War. Political prisoners and oppositions of António de Oliveira Salazar were freed. The coup was an important part of Portugal’s transition to democracy and changed the way the country was ran.

The next year, Portugal allowed its colonies in Africa to be on their own sovereignty: Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe.
East Timor in Asia declared itself independent from Portugal on 28 November 1975, and was invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces nine days later.

Portugal went into the European Union in 1986. Another Asian colony, Macau, became part of China

The main language of Portugal is Portuguese.

Some famous Portuguese people are D. Afonso Henriques, Henry the Navigator, Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Ferdinand Magellan, Luís de Camões, Fernando Pessoa, Amália Rodrigues, Álvaro Siza Vieira, Eduardo Souto de Moura.

Luís de Camões wrote the national poem of Portugal. It is called Os Lusíadas and was written in 1572.

Notes

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

References

 
Portuguese-speaking countries
European Union member states
1974 establishments in Europe
Slovakia (Slovak: Slovensko) (Official name The Slovak Republic, Slovenská republika) is a landlocked country in the eastern region of Central Europe. It is bordered by Austria in the southwest, Hungary in the south, Ukraine in the east, Poland in the north and Czech Republic in the northwest. Its capital city is Bratislava, the only capital of the world that borders with other two countries. Other main cities are Košice, Prešov, Žilina, Banská Bystrica, Trenčín, Nitra and Trnava. Slovakia has been a member of the European Union since 2004 and its official currency is the Euro.
History 
The Celts started to settle since 450 BC. The coins named Biatec represent the first use of writing in Slovakia. After the time of the Julio-Claudian dynasty many different Germanic tribes like Quadi and Marcomanni started to overtake the area. The Roman Empire established many outposts along the Danube river. They  fought Germanic tribes, with the most northern presence being in Trenčín (Laugaritio), during the Marcomannic Wars.

Great Moravia was at first in constant quarrels with East Francia and at the beginning of the 10th century, with the Magyars who arrived from Asia. The Magyars conquered Great Moravia in 906, and established the Hungarian Principality, resulting later in the creation of the Kingdom of Hungary in year 1000.  Slovaks continued to live in the north, while most Hungarians were in the south.
A huge population loss resulted from the Mongol invasions in 1241.  The Hungarian kings started to invite other settlers, for example Germans in the 13th century, and many others started to arrive in the kingdom, Vlachs from Romania in the 14th century and Jews.

In the 16th century the Ottoman Empire occupied the southern part of the kingdom including the two most important towns, Buda (capital) and Székesfehérvár (coronation capital).  Many Hungarian nobles moved to Slovakia and the king moved to Bratislava (Pressburg, Pozsony at that time).  The wars against the Ottomans and an uprising against the Habsburgs caused much destruction.  After the Ottomans started to retreat back from Hungary, Bratislava continued to be capital until 1848, when it was moved back to Budapest.
The territory of today's Slovakia was a part of Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1938 and again from 1945 until 1989. Czechoslovakia was one of the states which came into existence after the breakup of Austria-Hungary at end of World War I in 1918. Czechoslovakia split up in 1939, when Slovakia, under Hitler's influence and pressure, declared independence and became a client state.  The state existed during World War II.  It was a totalitarian one-party state and ally of Nazi Germany.  Under the regime, the state fought in the war on the side of Nazi Germany and deported about 70,000 of its Jewish citizens to Nazi extermination camps as part of the Holocaust.
The territory of Czechoslovakia was liberated by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II in 1945. After the liberation, Czechoslovakia was reunified and briefly existed as a democratic country. The Communist Party successfully performed a state coup in 1948 and ruled Czechoslovakia as a totalitarian one-party state which was a satellite of the Soviet Union. In 1989, the one-party rule of the Communist Party was overthrown during the Velvet Revolution, which was a series of large and peaceful demonstrations by the citizens in the streets.

Czechoslovakia again became a democratic country. However, it split up into two independent countries (Slovakia and Czech Republic) on January 1, 1993 when we became an independent country. Slovakia has been a member of the European Union since May 1, 2004.

Geography
Geography 

Slovakia is landlocked. It is noted primarily for its mountainous nature, with the Carpathian Mountains being in the north and various lowlands mostly in the south. The highest mountain range are the Tatra mountains with the highest peak, the Gerlachov Peak (Slovak: Gerlachovský štít; 2,654 m). Major Slovak rivers besides the Danube are the Váh and Hron.

At low altitudes, Slovakia's climate is humid continental (Dfb in the Koeppen climate classification, with warm summers and cloudy, cold and humid winters. At high altitudes it is subarctic and alpine.

Demographics 

About 5.5 million people live in Slovakia. Most people are Slovak (86%), but in southern regions of Slovakia live Hungarians (10%), with some municipalities even being with the Hungarian majority (for example, Komárno or Dunajská Streda), Ruthenian or Ukrainian are spoken in the northeast. A minority Roma population speak versions of the Romany language and are scattered mainly in the east.
The Slovak constitution guarantees a freedom of religion. The majority of Slovaks are Roman Catholics (69%), the next are the atheists (13%). Other religions include Lutheranism, Greek Orthodox and Calvinism. There are about 5,000 Muslims in Slovakia and 2,000 Jews.

Transport 
 Rail: Slovakia has 3,662 km of rails, of which 3,512 km are in standard gauge. Rail network currently undergoes a modernisation.
 Road: Slovakia has 42,993 km of roads, of which 316 km are motorways (2003). The motorway network is currently under construction.
 Air: Slovakia has 6 international airports, with the most important ones being in Bratislava and Košice, others are near Sliač, Poprad, Žilina and Piešťany.
 Marine: Slovakia has no direct access to the sea. The most important waterway is the Danube, with the ports in Bratislava and Komárno. The Danube and the Rhine-Main-Danube canal connects Slovakia to the North Sea and the Black Sea.

Administrative division 

There are currently 8 regions of Slovakia:
Bratislava Region (Bratislavský kraj) (capital Bratislava)
 Trnava Region (Trnavský kraj) (capital Trnava)
 Trenčín Region (Trenčiansky kraj) (capital Trenčín)
 Nitra Region (Nitriansky kraj) (capital Nitra)
 Žilina Region (Žilinský kraj) (capital Žilina)
 Banská Bystrica Region (Banskobystrický kraj) (capital Banská Bystrica)
 Prešov Region (Prešovský kraj) (capital Prešov)
 Košice Region (Košický kraj) (capital Košice)

These are further divided into many districts. There are currently 79 districts of Slovakia.

Related pages
 List of rivers of Slovakia
 Slovakia at the Olympics
 Slovakia national football team
 Slovakia men's national ice hockey team

References 

1993 establishments in Europe
European Union member states
Landlocked countries
 
States and territories established in the 1990s
Slovenia is a country in the southern region of Central Europe. The capital and largest city of Slovenia is Ljubljana. Its major language is Slovenian. Its current population is about 2.0 million. Slovenia's leading exports are manufactured goods and aluminium. It is a parliamentary republic It is a member of the European Union and NATO. The economy of Slovenia is small, open, and export-oriented.

History
A very long time ago, Illyrian and Celtics tribes lived in Slovenia. In the 1st century BC, Slovenia was ruled by the Romans. In the sixth century AD, Slavs lived there. Slovenia was ruled by Austria from 1335 until 1918. 

In 1918 it became a part of Yugoslavia. During World War II, Italy, Hungary and Germany took parts of the country but in 1945 it became part of Yugoslavia again.

In June 1991, Slovenia voted to become independent. Yugoslavia's army tried to stop this from happening but following a 10-day war, Slovenia became an independent country.
Currently, it is considered the most advanced country in what is called "Ex-Yugoslavia." It is also a member of the European Union.

Notable people
 France Prešeren (1800-1849) is a very famous poet in his country.
 Melania Trump, Former First Lady of the United States

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

References

Notes

Other websites

 Slovenia.si. Your gateway to information on Slovenia.
 Government of the Republic of Slovenia
 Slovenia Official Tourist Guide

 
European Union member states
Oldham Cricket Club are a cricket team which currently plays in the Central Lancashire League.

The ground that the club plays at is called "The Pollards".

Honours
First Division: 1909, 1916, 1957, 1979, 1982
Wood Cup: 1943, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1988
Second Division: 1902, 1930, 1944 (shared), 1983, 1985, 1986
Burton Cup: 1976

Other websites 
Oldham Cricket Club official website 

Cricket clubs in the United Kingdom
Oldham, Greater Manchester
The denarius was a small silver coin used by the Roman Empire and Roman Republic. The denarius weighed about 3 to 4.5 grams. It was the main coin of Ancient Rome. It became the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased in weight and silver content. The coin was then sometimes made of copper and painted silver in color. During the Empire the front side usually had a picture of the emperor on it.

The denarius was introduced in 211 BC, and was last made in 275 AD. By then it was made of bronze.

Roman coins
3rd-century BC establishments
3rd-century disestablishments
A jackknife is a type of knife. It has a blade that folds into the handle. It is also a dive where the body is bent and then straightened before entering the water and when a person backs up in their vehicle with a trailer attached and it accidentally folds.

Blades
A luffa (also spelled loofah or loofa) is a long thin dried inner part of the fruit of a tropical plant related to the cucumber . It is often used as a sponge for washing the body.  Before it gets ripe, it is also a good vegetable. It also comes from dried corn on the cob stems.

Other websites

Tropical fruit
Cucurbitaceae
Kimono  are traditional Japanese style clothes. About a hundred years ago, most people in Japan wore kimono every day. Now, people wear the kimono for special occasions, fun, and fashion. For example, a Japanese couple might wear kimono on their wedding day.

A kimono is a robe. When it lies flat, it is shaped like a letter T. Normal kimono reach to the ankles and have long sleeves. The sleeves of some kimono for women also reach to the ankles, but most kimono sleeves reach to the hips. Kimono come in many different designs and colours. Some colours have meanings.

Name

The word "kimono" means "something you wear".

History

The kimono that people wear today began in the 16th century.  But Japanese people have been wearing clothes that looked like the kimono for hundreds of years, since the Heian period (late 700s to late 1100s).
Chinese visitors brought the kimono to Japan. The Japanese decided to make and wear kimono too. These clothes had long, triangle-shaped sleeves and were wrapped over the body. The kimono had two parts: a jacket and either a skirt or trousers.

These clothes changed to look more like the kimono we see today. The kimono looked less like a triangle and more like a rectangle. The sleeves became square instead of triangle-shaped.

Common people wore a piece of clothing called a kosode, which means "short sleeve". This looked like a modern kimono with a wider body and smaller sleeves. The overlap at the front of the robe was longer, the collar was wider, and the robe was shorter.
Noble people also wore the kosode, but they wore several layers on top of it. Noble women wore clothing called jūni hitoe, which means "twelve layers", though the number of layered robes was not always twelve. These robes were wider, longer, and had larger sleeves than the kosode that the common people wore. They weighed up to 20 kg. Noblemen wore round-necked jackets with wide, long sleeves and hakama trousers. They would wear this with a small cap, which was usually black in colour.
Over time, wearing many layers of clothes became unfashionable. The government created laws to stop people from wearing many robes at once. Starting in the Muromachi period, women and men began to wear the kosode by itself or with two or three layers, with a small, thin belt called an obi, and for women, red hakama trousers. However, ceremonial clothing in the Imperial Court still looked like clothing from earlier times. Even today, the new Emperor and Empress of wear in clothes from the Heian period when they are formally named king or queen.

During the Genroku period, the common people had more money, especially merchants. They wore expensive and beautiful kosode, even if they were not nobles. People began to decorate their clothing in new ways, for example stitched patterns in thread, and new ways of coloring their clothing.
This made them look like noble people, so the government introduced laws against commoners wearing some kinds of clothes. However, people did not want to give up their beautiful clothes. Instead, they found different ways of wearing them; a man, for instance, might wear a haori  jacket made out of wool in a plain, boring colour, but he could line it with beautiful silk fabric.

This way of thinking about clothing and appearances became known as an aesthetic idea called iki, which is still important to the way people wear kimono today.
From the 1600s into the 1800s, Japan's leaders decided the country should not have contact with other countries.  Only a few Dutch ships were allowed to land and trade. The Dutch traders saw the kimono and knew people in Europe would like them. They asked Japanese kimono-makers to make kimono with rounder sleeves and warmer cuts for the Europeans to buy and wear.  Kimono became popular with rich Europeans. When the Japanese kimono-makers could not make enough kimono for the Dutch traders to sell, the Dutch traders told clothiers in India to copy the kimono.

Over time, the obi became wider and longer, especially for women. Because of this, the sleeves of women's kosode were no longer sewn to the body entirely. They were instead only attached at the shoulder.
Sleeves became got longer for young women, as did the length of the kosode. In the Edo period, people began to say kimono instead of kosode. The kimono would trail behind the wearer.  This was not a problem indoors.  Outside, the wearer had to pull up the kimono so it would not become dirty. Women started tucking the extra length of their kimono into a hip fold, which became known as the ohashori. Kimono are still worn by women today with the ohashori.

During the Meiji Period, Japan's government decided the country should be more modern.  They built railroads and improved the army and universities.  But they also changed customs.  Fewer people wore the kimono every day.  Instead, they wore modern, Western clothes.
Over time, very wide obi and very long kimono fell out of fashion. During World War Two, people thought long kimono sleeves were wasteful. Sleeves on kimono were shortened, sometimes a lot. This new sleeve length lasted, and modern kimono for women are still shorter than they were before the war. Older kimono, especially from the Taishō period, still have these long sleeves.

Today, more women wear the kimono than men. Men wear kimono most often at weddings and at Japanese tea ceremonies.

Men's and women's kimono

Kimono come in different sizes for different people. They come in different lengths for men and women. Men and women also wear kimono with different sleeves.

Kimono for women are much longer than kimono for men, and women fold the kimono at the waist to make it the right length. The right length for a woman's kimono is usually the same as her height.
The sleeves on a woman's kimono are not sewn to the body all the way down, and they are open at the back. Part of the body of the kimono is open as well. The sleeves on a woman's kimono are longer than the sleeves on a man's kimono, and sometimes they reach the ankle on kimono for young women. The curve at the edge of the sleeves is very round, especially on kimono for young women and girls.

Kimono for men do not need to be folded at the hip, and so do not have any extra length. The sleeves are shorter, and they are attached almost all the way down to the body. The back of each sleeve is sewn shut, and the body is also sewn shut. The curve at the edge of the sleeve is not as round.
Kimono for men are usually one solid colour, but they might have a very small geometric design. Kimono for women can be one solid colour, have a small design, or be decorated in larger, colourful patterns. More colourful kimono are usually worn by young women. Sometimes, these designs are only worn in certain seasons of the year.

People who are very tall or very heavy can struggle to find a kimono that fits them, and sometimes have kimono made for them instead.

Types of kimono

Kimono come in different types for different occasions, and both men and women have formal and casual kimono. Formal kimono have a number of crests on them, called kamon or mon. These are placed on the front of the shoulders, the back of the sleeves, and the centre of the back. Kimono with crests have either one, three, or five crests on them - the crest on the centre back, the centre back and the sleeves, or the centre back, the sleeves and the shoulders.
The most formal kimono have all five of these crests on them. The least-formal formal kimono have just one. These crests can be outlined or coloured in fully in white, with kamon that are just an outline being the least formal.

Kimono are usually made of silk, but there are cotton, polyester, hemp and linen kimono as well. Some kimono are also made of wool, or rayon. Formal kimono are always made out of fine silk, and are usually sewn by hand. However, not all silk kimono are formal kimono, and some types of silk, such as pongee (known as tsumugi) are only ever worn to casual occasions.

The most informal type of kimono is the yukata, worn in summer to festivals and in bath houses and inns by both men and women. They are not lined, are always made of cotton, and are worn with thin, brightly coloured obi.
For formal occasions, men wear fine silk kimono with haori (a kimono jacket) and hakama (loose-fitting trousers). The hakama are usually striped in white and black, and the kimono and the haori will match in colour.

Women have a number of different types of kimono for different formal occasions. The designs on the kimono, how they are put onto the kimono, and where they are placed on the kimono all change how formal the finished outfit is. In order of formality, these are:
Komon - a kimono with patterns on it. 
 Edo komon - a komon with a very, very small pattern repeating all over, usually in white on a coloured background. From a distance, these kimono look like one, solid colour.
 Iromuji - a kimono in one, solid colour. They are worn for Japanese tea ceremony and other semi-formal special events.  
 Tsukesage - a kimono with a design along the hem, the back of the right sleeve, and the front of the left sleeve. The designs generally do not match up along the seams, but sometimes do. The designs are smaller than those on a hōmongi, and are dyed onto the bolt of fabric before being sewn up. They may have up to three crests on them.
Hōmongi - a kimono with a design along the hem, the back of the right sleeve, and the front of the left sleeve. The designs should match up and cross over the seams, as hōmongi are roughly sewn up, and the designs drawn on, before being taken apart and dyed. The designs are usually larger than those on a tsukesage. They may have up to three crests on them.
 Irotomesode - literally, "colourful short sleeve". Irotomesode are colourful kimono with a design along the hem, which is either higher at the left side than the right, or placed on both okumi (the overlapping front panel) instead. An irotomesode can have between one and five crests, but usually has three.
 Kurotomesode - An irotomesode with a black background. These are the most formal kimono for women who cannot wear furisode.
 Furisode - literally, "swinging sleeve". Furisode are formal kimono for young women, and have brightly coloured, large designs all over. They have between one and five crests.
Accessories
People wear a wide belt called an obi with their kimono. Obi are also colorful, and are very long. Some types of obi are not worn anymore, as they are too difficult to wear and put on. The maru obi is an example of a type of obi not worn any more. The fukuro obi replaced it, as it was less wide and easier to wear.

Cost
Some kimono cost a large amount of money to buy. For example, Furisode kimono are very expensive. The obi belts can be very expensive too. Other kimono are less costly. Some people make their own kimono, or they buy kimono that other people have already worn.

Other kimono
People who play some sports, for example kendo, also wear the kimono. These kimono are strong, thick and short. They are different from long women's kimono. They are usually called do-gi.
Wearing the kimono
Most Japanese people do not know how to put on a kimono by themselves as it is very different from other clothing. Formal kimono for women can be very difficult to put on by yourself. Some people work as "kimono dressers". They help people to put on their kimono.

In Japan, people can take classes about wearing the kimono, and to learn about how to choose a kimono and how to tie the obi.

Kimono in Western culture

People wonder and argue about whether Westerners should wear kimono.  Some say it is cultural appropriation.  Cultural appropriation is when someone uses something from another culture because it looks fun or pretty but does not understand or respect it enough.  Some Japanese people think Westerners wearing kimono is cultural appropriation and some do not.  Japanese kimono-makers have been selling kimono to Western people for hundreds of years.
Rich women in the 1600s and 1700s liked kimono because they were different from Western court clothes.  Western clothes were made to push in or puff out the body.  Kimono work the same on every body.

In 1903, Paul Poiret made clothes that women could wear without corsets.  He looked at kimono and decided these clothes should hang from the shoulder like kimono and not from the waist like other clothes.

John Mollo made clothes for Star Wars after looking at kimono.

Photo gallery

Related pages
Geta
Tabi
Yukata
Zori

References

Other websites 

Tokyo National Museum: Kimono Collection 
Kyoto National Museum: Trends in 16th-19th Century Kimono 
The Costume Museum: Costume History in Japan
Modern Kimono in Organic Cotton 
Kimono Encyclopaedia - many photos 
Modern Kimono in Organic Cotton 
Japanese Kimono - a lot of unique photos

Japanese clothing
A sconce is a holder for candles or electric lights that is fixed on a wall. Most of the time, sconces are also meant to make the place look more beautiful.

Construction
Culture is a word for the 'way of life' of groups of people, meaning the way they do things. Different groups may have different cultures. A culture is passed on to the next generation by learning, whereas genetics are passed on by heredity. Culture is seen in people's writing, religion, music, clothes, cooking and in what they do. 

The concept of culture is very complicated, and the word has some meanings. The word 'culture' is most commonly used in three ways.
 Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture.
 An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior.
 The outlook, attitudes, values, morals, goals, and customs  shared by a society.

Most broadly, 'culture' includes all human phenomena which are not purely results of human genetics. The discipline which investigates cultures is called anthropology, though many other disciplines play a part.

National cultures
National cultures 

Cultures are what make a country unique and interesting. Each country has different cultural activities and cultural rituals. Culture includes material goods, the things the people use and produce.  Culture is also the beliefs and values of the people and the ways they think about and understand the world and their own lives.

Different countries have different cultures. For example, some older Japanese people wear kimonos, arrange flowers in vases, and have tea ceremonies.  Some countries oppose some things in their culture, like discrimination or religion.

Regional or non-regional cultures 

Culture can also vary within a region, society or sub group.  A workplace may have a specific culture that sets it apart from similar workplaces.  A region of a country may have a different culture than the rest of the country. For example, in a large country like China or Canada a region may have a distinctive way of talking, different types of music, and different types of dances.
A group who acts or speaks differently may be said to be, or have, a subculture.

Ethnic groups such as the Romani people in Europe have a distinct culture.

Company cultures 
Companies or other organizations (groups of people) can have a separate culture. Japanese manufacturing companies often have a different culture to Western companies; the workday starts with exercise, and the workers are very loyal to the company. 

Companies in the high-technology sector often have a different culture than other companies. Software and computer companies sometimes allow employees to play games during the workday, or take time off work to relax, because these companies believe that this will help the workers to think better.

Anthropology 
Anthropology is studying human beings and how they relate to each other. An anthropologist is a person who studies anthropology. Anthropologists study how culture shapes people and their lives. Cultures constantly change as people move and communicate with new groups of people.
For example, immigrants (people who move from one country to another) may keep some of their customs and traditions from their old country. By keeping their culture in this way, they bring pieces of their culture to a new place where others begin to experience it.

Related pages 
 Tradition
 Roerich Pact
 Lifestyle

References

Website 
 Culture_(social) -Citizendium
A houseplant is any kind of decorative plant. People grow them indoors, sometimes in a house, but very often in an office or a shop.

Houses or public premises have conditions not as favorable for plants as in greenhouses. For example, the direction of light, low light, dry air, dust, drafts, uneven temperature. So, special techniques are used to get a healthy state and proper development of plants. Conditions in public and office premises are usually even less favorable than in homes, so the most hardy indoor plants are grown there.

Benefits of houseplants

Feel and observe 
One obvious advantage of keeping houseplants is the improvement in aesthetic quality that they provide. Some large palm varieties, can serve as a focus point for guests.

Condition of the air 
Houseplant may enhance indoor air quality. That is a key perk. NASA conducted a study to identify which plants are most effective at filtering out harmful chemicals.
Health 
Taking care of plants, like taking care of people or animals, can have a positive effect on one's mental and emotional health.

Therapeutic, preventative, and cosmetic 
Plants and herbs with medical characteristics, such as Aloe Vera, are grown for human consumption.

Well-known houseplants 

African violet
Aloe
Urn plant
Butterfly palm
Cactus
Cyclamen
Elephant leaf plant
Golden pothos
Mother-in-law's tongue
Snake plant
Spider plant
Poinsettia
Prayer plant
Umbrella tree
Weeping fig
Yucca

References 

Plants
Waxed paper (or wax paper) is a type of paper which has been coated on both sides with wax. This gives it a translucent look. It is used for wrapping food because grease, oil, and water cannot pass through it. It is also used to line food containers because many kinds of food which would stick to normal paper will not stick to wax paper. Many kinds of dry foods were once stored in wax paper because of its resistance to water. Wax paper has been replaced by plastic wrap for most purposes.

Uses
Safety razor blades are traditionally wrapped in wax paper to make holding them less dangerous. Wax paper can also be used to make paper boats that can be used for a long time without getting wet because of its high resistance to water.

Wax paper is also used to stick pieces of pattern to fabric while cutting it. 

In photography, wax paper can be used as a light diffuser.

Wax paper is commonly used in cooking and wrapping sticky foods, because the waxy surface is cling-resistant. It is also used in arts and crafts.
References

Kitchenware
The Japanese tea ceremony (called cha-no-yu, chado, or sado) is a special way of making green tea (matcha 抹茶).  It is called the Way of Tea. It is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered tea. People who study the tea ceremony have to learn about different kinds of tea.  They also have to learn about kimono (Japanese clothes), flowers, and many other things. It takes much practice to learn the tea ceremony.

History
Tea came to Japan from China in about 900 CE. Tea became very popular in Japan, and Japanese people started to grow tea in Japan.

In the 12th century, matcha (green tea powder), became popular. This tea comes from the same plant as black tea.
By the 16th century, all people in Japan, rich people and poor people, liked drinking tea.  A man called Sen no Rikyu started teaching the ceremony.  Many years have passed, but people still make tea the same way that Sen no Rikyu taught. Many schools of Japanese tea ceremony exist now (omote-senke,  ura-senke, etc.), and each school teaches in a slightly different way.

Materials needed
People need many different things for a tea ceremony:

Tea bowl (called chawan ).  In a tea ceremony, people drink tea out of bowls instead of cups.  Some bowls that people use are over 400 years old. 

Tea scoop (called chashaku ).  A scoop is a kind of spoon.  Tea scoops are made from bamboo.  They are used to put tea into the tea bowl.  Large scoops are used to put tea into the tea caddy (see below).

Whisk (called chasen ).  A whisk is like a brush made from wire.  People use it to mix tea.  Tea whisks are made from bamboo.
Tea caddy (called natsume or cha-ire ).  A tea caddy is a special container that people put green tea powder in.  There are two kinds of tea caddies: natsume and cha-ire.  Natsume are short and have a flat lid and a round bottom.  They are made of wood. Sometimes natsume is called cha-ki. Cha-ire are tall and thin, and are made of ceramic.  Natsume and cha-ire are used in different ceremonies. Making weak tea (called usu-cha) needs natsume, and making strong tea (called koi-cha) needs cha-ire. 

Napkin (called fukusa ).  A fukusa is a special square cloth made out of silk.  It is used to symbolically purify the tea scoop and tea caddy.  

Ladle (called hishaku ).  The kind of ladle used is made of bamboo. There is a cup-like part attached to a long handle. 

Water jar (called mizusashi ).  Hot water in an iron pot is not fully after making tea, so a person who made tea must add water. A mizusashi holds water for it.
Waste-water container (called kensui ).  When a tea bowl and a whisk are washed before and after making tea, the water used for washing is put in a kensui.

Iron pot (called kama ).  A kama holds hot water. During tea ceremony, water is kept on boiling with charcoal. 

Tea (called matcha ). The tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony is pulverized green tea, which is made into a drink during the ceremony by putting some in the tea bowl, adding hot water, and mixing this with the whisk.

Tea ceremony
People do the tea ceremony in a special tea room or a special building called a cha-shitsu. Most people wear kimonos.

When people go into the tea room they take off their shoes and sit on special floor mat called a tatami.

Cha-shitsu often are very small. The guests (the people who go to the tea ceremony) sometimes eat food and drink special Japanese wine called sake.  Before they drink the matcha (green tea) they eat something sweet.
The host (the person who does the tea ceremony) symbolically purifies the tea bowl and the other tea things. Then he or she puts some green tea powder into the tea bowl. The host mixes the tea with hot water. He or she mixes it with a whisk. The guests drink tea from the bowl.

When everyone has finished drinking tea, the host cleans everything and puts them away. Then the guests leave.

A tea ceremony can take from about twenty minutes to about four hours.

References

Related pages

Other websites
Homepage of "Introduction: The Art of Tea" in Urasenke Seattle

English books about the ceremony
Okakura Kakuzo.  The Book of Tea.  Tokyo, Japan: Tuttle, 1977.
Tanaka, S. The Tea Ceremony. New York: Harmony Books, 1977.
Morgan Pitelka, ed. Japanese Tea Culture: Art, History, and Practice. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003.
Sadler, A.L. Cha-No-Yu: The Japanese Tea Ceremony. Tokyo: Tuttle, 1962.
Freeman, Michael. New Zen: the tea-ceremony room in modern Japanese architecture. London, 8 Books, 2007
A sideboard is a piece of furniture. It is often placed in a dining room with a long table and cupboard below to hold dishes, glassware, and other things.

Furniture
A movie or film is a type of visual art that uses images and sounds to tell stories or teach people something. Most people watch movies to entertain themselves or to have fun. Some movies can make people laugh, but other movies can make them cry, or make them feel afraid.

Overview 

Most movies are made so they can be watched at home or on a movie screen at movie theaters. Movies are shown in movie theaters a few weeks or months after or before the movie is released. Movies can be marketed using media. Movies are shown on pay television or cable television, or are sold or rented on DVD disks or videocassette tapes, so that people can watch the movies at home. Movies can also be downloaded or streamed. Some movies are shown on television broadcasting stations.
Making movies 
Most movies start to be made when a screenwriter writes a script, which is the story of the movie with dialogue and words and things that the actors will say and do. A producer hires people to work on the movie and gets the money that will be used to pay for the actors and the equipment. Producers usually get the money by borrowing it from a bank or by asking investors to give money to them. Some producers work for a movie studio, but other producers work by themselves.

Actors and directors read scripts to learn what to say and what to do. The actors learn the words from the script that they will say in the movie, and learn the things that the script tells them to do. Then, the director tells the actors what to do and a cameraman takes the film of them saying the words with a film camera.
Types of movies 
A genre means a type of movie. Movies can be fictional, or non-fictional. Even though hundreds of movies are made every year, there are not like another movie. Some movies can be two or more genres.
 Action movies are movies where the main character is in a dangerous situation, and the movies usually have a lot of violent things, like explosions, blood, and fight scenes. In Die Hard, terrorists take control of a skyscraper and ask for a big ransom. If they are given the ransom, they won't killing the people who work in the skyscraper, who are called hostages.
 Adventure movies usually have a hero who go on long journeys to fight big things, like dragons.
 Animated movies use drawn images like cartoons to tell a story. These movies used to be drawn by hand, one frame at a time, but they are usually now made on computers. They can be 2D animated or 3D animated.
 Buddy movies involve two friends. Buddy movies usually have comedy. Buddy cop movies are a common theme.
Comedies are movies about funny scenarios that characters might be in.
 Comedy horror movies blend horror and comic motifs in its plots. Movies in this genre sometimes use black comedy as the main form of humor.
 Documentaries are non-fiction movies that are (or claim to be) about real people and real events. They are nearly always serious and may involve strongly emotional subjects, for example cruelty.
 Dramas are serious, and often about people falling in love or needing to make a big decision in their life. They tell stories about relationships between people. They usually follow a basic plot where one or two main characters (each actor plays a character) have to 'overcome' (get past) an obstacle (the thing stopping them) to get what they want.
 Family movies are made to be okay for children to watch. Disney is famous for their family movies.
 Fantasy movies include magical and impossible things that any real human being cannot do.
Film noir movies are 1940s-era detective dramas about crime and violence.
 Horror movies use fear to excite the audience. Music, lighting and sets (man-made places in movie studios where the movie is made) are all designed to add to the feeling.
 Romantic Comedies, also called "Rom-Com"s are usually stories about 2 people who fall in love, and do funny things or have funny things happen to them.
 Science fiction movies are fiction and also have a lot of science, and have machines that can not be built in real life yet.
 Sports movies tells stories that involve sports. They are often a form of drama where athletes must overcome some issue.
 Suspense movies makes the audience stressed. They usually have multiple twists that confuse the people watching the movie
 Thrillers are usually about a mystery, strange event, or crime that needs to be solved. The audience is kept guessing until the final minutes, when there are usually 'twists' in the plot (surprises).
Tragedies are a type of dramas. They are about people in trouble. For example, a husband and wife who are divorcing must each try to prove to a court of law that they are the best person to take care of their child. Emotion (feelings) are a big part of the movie and the audience (people watching the movie) may get upset and even cry.
 War is a movie genre concerned with warfare. They are normally about naval, air or land battles. They have combat scenes central to the story. These stories are most commonly set in the 20th century.
 Western movies tell stories about cowboys in the western United States in the 1870s and 1880s. They are usually action movies, but with historical costumes. Some involve Native Americans. Not all movies that are set in the American West are made there. For example, Western films made in Italy are called Spaghetti Westerns. Some films can also use Western plots even if they are set in other places.
Business of making movies
Most movies lose money but some make up to hundreds of millions. In India movies have become an enormous part of the economy. The industry has always been led by a few major movie studios like MGM/UA, Warner Bros., Columbia, Paramount, or Disney.

Elements 
There are many large companies that provide all of the services needed to make movies, such as special effects, lighting, set building. Many of these employees belong to trade unions who say how much their members must be paid. A large number of smaller companies also offer services, such as music studios (which record the music for original movie sound tracks) and CGI computer animation.

Distribution 
Finally there are movie distribution companies (Which send movies around the world or around a country), and advertising companies (Showing people who may watch the movie so they do it.)
Movies with famous stars (actors who are well known) and large budgets (lots of money), are designed to have a large appeal (something a person would like about the, so that hopefully millions of people will pay to see them. These most expensive movies are called blockbusters.

Special effects can add a huge amount to the cost of a movie, especially the newest CGI effects, but people have come to expect them and every blockbuster movie tries to outdo the last. Even in 2008, some movies cost up to $200 million to make.

Very successful movies can make many times that amount in profit, and that's why the studios keep producing them. This kind of movie will have a lot of promotion (getting the movie into the public.) through television advertising, billboards and internet sites.