AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Wind is the flow of gases. On Earth, wind is mostly the movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or particles from the sun through space. The strongest winds seen on a planet in our solar system are on Neptune and Saturn.
Short bursts of fast winds are called "gusts". Strong winds that go on for about one minute are called "squalls". Winds that go on for a long time are called many different things, such as "breeze", "gale", "hurricane", and "typhoon".
Wind can move land, especially in deserts. Cold wind can sometimes have a bad effect on livestock. Wind also affects animals' food stores, their hunting and the way they protect themselves.
Sunlight drives the Earth's atmospheric circulation. The resulting winds blow over land and sea, producing weather.
A High pressure area (that makes an anticyclone) near a low pressure system (that makes a cyclone), makes air move from the high pressure to the low pressure to try to even out the pressures. The Coriolis effect causes the winds to spiral around. A big difference in pressure can make high winds. In some storms, such as hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, or tornadoes, it can cause winds faster than 200 mph (320 kilometres per hour ). This can damage houses and other buildings, and can kill people.
Wind can also be caused by the rising of hot air, or the falling of cool air. When hot air rises, it creates a low pressure underneath it, and air moves in to equalize the pressure. When cold air drops (because it is denser or heavier than warm air), it creates a high pressure, and flows out to even out the pressure with the low pressure around it.
The wind is usually invisible, but rain, dust, or snow can show how it is blowing. A weathervane can also show you where the wind is coming from. The Beaufort scale is a way to tell how strong the wind is. It is used at sea, when no land can be seen.
The increase in wind causes an increase in the rate of evaporation.
High winds can cause damage depending on how strong they are. Sometimes gusts of wind can make poorly made bridges move or be destroyed, like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940. Electric power distribution can fail because of wind, even if its speed is as low as . This happens when tree branches damage power lines. No kind of tree can resist hurricane-force winds, but trees with roots that are not very deep can be blown over more easily. Trees such as eucalyptus, sea hibiscus, and avocado are brittle (easy to break) and are damaged more easily.
The trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere. They occur in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator. The trade winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere. They blow from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere. They are stronger during the winter and when the Arctic oscillation is in its warm phase. Trade winds have been used by captains of sailing ships to cross the world's oceans for centuries. They enabled European empire expansion into the Americas. They also allowed trade routes to become established across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The "doldrums" are in the equatorial region. It is a wind belt where air is warm, with little pressure variations. Winds are light there. Another name for doldrums is "Intertropical Convergence Zone" (ITCZ)
Wind in outer space, called "solar wind", is very different from a wind on earth. This wind is caused by the sun, or other stars, and it is made up of particles that came out of the star's atmosphere. Like solar wind, the planetary wind is made up of light gases that have come out of planets' atmospheres.
Vertebrate
A vertebrate is an animal with a spinal cord surrounded by cartilage or bone. The word comes from vertebrae, the bones that make up the spine. Animals that are not vertebrates are called invertebrates. Vertebrates include birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. The parts of the vertebrate skeleton are:
Examples of vertebrates are mammals, birds, and fish. A few tens of thousands of species have been identified. The term "fish" is used to describe at least four different kinds of vertebrates.
Vertebrates dominate amongst the animals in virtually all environments. They include the largest animals in each main ecosystem, though not the largest living things (because that would include trees). They are the only animals which have an adaptive immune system. These two facts may be connected.
Alpha male
An alpha male is the top-ranking male in a mammalian social group.
Some animals live in a social structure where the most powerful male in the group is decided by either fights or very aggressive battles that sometimes end in death (in the wild). The current alpha male must defend his position from younger members. When he is too old or not strong enough to win, he loses his position in the group. Sometimes, he will die or be forced to leave the group.
The result of this is that the alpha male usually has more opportunity to mate with the available females. This system developed because strong males will produce young which have a better chance for survival.
Some animal groups which may have alpha males:
Alpha male can also refer to a high-ranked human in a group. This may be in a business setting or sometimes in other competitive areas, like sports. However, this is an extension by metaphor: humans do not have the same mating system as other social mammals. One reason is that the oestrous cycle in humans is different. This has the result that females may be sexually receptive at almost any time. Also, humans generally pair off, and alpha males do not have exclusive rights over all females in a group, except in rare circumstances.
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign country as well as a city-state. It is at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula in Asia, between the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. Singapore is about one degree of latitude () north of the equator. About 5.70 million people live in Singapore. About 3.31 million are citizens. Most of them are ethnically Chinese, Malay, or Indian, as well as a smaller number of other Asians.
Present-day Singapore was founded in 1819 by Stamford Raffles as a trading post of the British Empire. During the Second World War, Singapore was taken over by Japan in 1942, but returned to British control after Japan surrendered in 1945. Singapore started to govern itself in 1959, and in 1963 became part of the new federation of Malaysia, together with Malaya, North Borneo, and Sarawak. Political and social differences led to Singapore being removed from the federation two years later, becoming an independent country on its own.
The symbolic national language of Singapore is Malay. Other official languages of Singapore are English, Mandarin and Tamil. English is the language of choice because it is the language that everyone in Singapore knows and uses. It is the first language taught in schools and the language used by the government and in court. Students are also usually taught the language of their ethnicity. This means that the Chinese will learn Mandarin, Malays will learn Malay, and so on. Students can also choose to learn a third language in secondary school. As a result, most Singaporeans are bilingual.
Singapore is also known as a "Garden City" or a "City in a Garden". It is because there are plants everywhere, making it look like a garden. Singapore has one of the highest standards of living in the world, with very good education, healthcare, housing, and very low corruption. It is also known for having many strict rules and punishments, including fines. This is why it is also sometimes jokingly called a "fine" city. The government says this has helped Singapore in being a very safe country. Singapore is one of the founding members of ASEAN.
Singapore's name comes from 'Singa Pura', which means Lion City in Sanskrit. Many people around the world understand "Lion City" to refer to Singapore. There is some debate about who founded Singapore. According to the Malay Annals, a Sumatran prince called Sang Nila Utama landed on Temasek (Singapore's old name) and saw a Lion which is called 'Singa' in Malay. Thus he gave the island a new name, 'Singapura'. However, Sang Nila Utama was likely mistaken, as lions never existed in Singapore. It is believed that the "lion" was actually a Malayan Tiger, which also exists in neighbouring Malaysia. While now extinct in Singapore it used to be present back then.
There were also many pieces of old items, such as Chinese coins, that showed that Temasek was an important Asian trading port even before the British rule.
Few people lived in Singapore at the beginning of the 19th century. British governor Stamford Raffles arrived in Singapore on 28 January 1819 and wanted to set up a British trading town. At the time, the island was then ruled by Tengku Abdul Rahman, the Sultan of Johor, who the Dutch and the Bugis from Sulawesi had controlled. However, the Sultanate was weakened by infighting: the Temenggong (Chief Minister) of Tengku Abdul Rahman, as well as his officials, supported the Sultan's elder brother Tengku Long, who was living in exile in Riau.
With the Temenggong's help, Raffles managed to secretly bring Tengku Long back into Singapore. Raffles offered to recognize Tengku Long as the true Sultan of Johor, under the title of Sultan Hussein, as well as giving him $5000 per year and another $3000 to the Temenggong; in return, Sultan Hussein would give the British the right to establish a trading post on Singapore. An official treaty was signed on 6 February 1819.
In 1824, another treaty with the Sultan led to the entire island becoming under the British. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements. Singapore became the regional capital in 1836. Before Raffles arrived, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860, the population had grown to over 80,000, more than half being Chinese. The country was given colony status in 1867. Later, in the 1890s, when the rubber industry became established in Malaya and Singapore, the island became a global center for sorting rubber and exporting them.
Singapore was not really affected by the First World War (1914–18), as the conflict did not spread to Southeast Asia. The only significant event during the war was the 1915 Singapore Mutiny by Muslim soldiers from British India, who were garrisoned in Singapore. After hearing news that they were to be sent to fight the Ottoman Empire in Europe, a Muslim state, the soldiers killed their officers and several British civilians before the mutiny was stopped by non-Muslim troops arriving from Johore and Burma.
After World War I, the British built the large Singapore Naval Base as part of the defensive Singapore strategy. First announced in 1921, the construction of the base went at a slow pace until the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Costing $60 million and not fully completed in 1938, it was the largest dry dock in the world, the third-largest floating dock, and had enough fuel tanks to support the entire British navy for six months. The base was defended by heavy naval guns stationed at Fort Siloso, Fort Canning and Labrador Park, as well as a Royal Air Force airfield at Tengah Air Base. Winston Churchill called Singapore the "Gibraltar of the East", and military discussions often referred to the base as just "East of Suez".
However, the main fleet was in Europe, and the British did not have enough money to build a second fleet to protect their Asian colonies. The plan was for the Home Fleet to sail quickly to Singapore in the event of an emergency. As a result, after World War II broke out in 1939, the fleet was busy defending Britain from Germany, leaving Singapore open for a Japanese invasion.
Due to the weak defenses of the country, the Japanese attacked Singapore and easily took control of the colony on 15 February 1942. Up to 60,000 British soldiers surrendered on that day, and Churchill called it "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history". There were a lot of losses by both the British and the rest of the Empire, with a total of nearly 85,000 people captured. About 5,000 were killed or injured, many from Australia and India.
People of Singapore went through hard times during the Japanese rule, until the surrender of the Japanese in September of 1945. Many people were tortured or killed by the Japanese as they did not follow the rules properly or because they were suspected of going against the Japanese. The Japanese also targeted the Chinese the most; between 5,000 and 25,000 Chinese were killed, now known as the Sook Ching massacre. The most notable anti-Japanese force was Force 136, headed by Lim Bo Seng. Its purpose was to encourage and supply resistance movements in the enemy-occupied territory and occasionally mount sabotage operations.
The hard times during World War II made the people think that the British were not as strong as before. Therefore, many people were supportive of independence once the British had returned.
A few years after the war, In 1963, Singapore joined with Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak to form the new nation of Malaysia. Malaysia is a country with many races. In Malaya, only the Malays have special benefits. For example, the Malays could get university education more easily than other races.
As most people in Singapore are Chinese, Singapore wanted equality for all the people of Malaysia. Singapore also wanted a common market to be set up so that goods to Malaysia would not be taxed. However, this was not done and caused arguments between the state government of Singapore and the federal government of Malaysia.
Singapore separated from Malaysia and became independent on its own on 9 August 1965.
After Independence, the president of Singapore was Yusof Ishak and its prime minister was Lee Kuan Yew.
At first, many people thought Singapore's independence would not last. In 1967, Singapore helped to start the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and in 1970 it joined the Non-Aligned Movement. Lee Kuan Yew was in charge of the country as Prime Minister of Singapore and saw it become very developed.
In 1990, Goh Chok Tong replaced Lee Kuan Yew as prime minister, while Lee Kuan Yew became Senior Minister. When Goh Chok Tong was Prime Minister, Singapore went through the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2003 SARS outbreak and terrorist threats by Jemaah Islamiyah. In 2004, Lee Hsien Loong, the son of Lee Kuan Yew, took over as Prime Minister. Goh Chok Tong became the Senior Minister, and Lee Kuan Yew became the Minister Mentor of Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew died in 2015.
Singapore is a parliamentary republic with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government representing constituencies. Its constitution states representative democracy as its political system. Singapore is ranked regularly as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, according to Transparency International.
The Cabinet has executive power, and is led by the Prime Minister, and the President. The president is elected through popular vote, and has some veto powers for a few big decisions such as the use of the national reserves and the appointment of judges, but otherwise occupies a post with little power.
The Parliament serves as the legislative branch of government. Members of Parliament (MPs) are made up of elected, non-constituency and nominated members. Elected MPs are voted into parliament on a "first-past-the-post" (plurality) system and represent either single-member or group-representation constituencies. Elections are free, and the People's Action Party has won control of Parliament with large majorities in every election since self-governance in 1959. In the most recent parliamentary elections in 2020, the largest opposition, led by the Workers' Party, increased its representation in the House to 10 elected MPs out of 93.
The legal system of Singapore is based on English common law, however with large and important local differences. Trial by jury was removed in 1970 leaving judicial judgement done completely and only by judgeship. Singapore has laws that include corporal punishment in the form of caning for rape, rioting, vandalism, and some immigration crimes. There is a mandatory death penalty for murder, and for certain drug-trafficking and firearms offences. In a 2008 survey, international business executives believed Singapore had the best judicial system in Asia.
Buddhism is the most common religion in Singapore. Other common religions include: Christianity, Islam, Taoism, and Hinduism.
Students in Singapore go through six years of compulsory primary school, which ends with all students taking a Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). Then, depending on their results in the PSLE, students are streamed into "Special", "Express", "Normal (Academic)", and "Normal (Technical)" groups. The amount of time a student spends studying in Secondary school (4–5 years) depends on their group.
Students are taught in English and their mother tongue, which can be Chinese, Malay or Tamil. Secondary school students may also choose to study a third language such as:
Students can take a third language as it increases their chances in getting an overseas scholarship and can improve their examination grades, especially in the GCE Ordinary Level ("O" Levels), which are Secondary students take after their five or four years of education. However, only some students can qualify to take a third language.
After their "O" Levels, students can choose to go to a polytechnic, which is a place where students can study for 3 years for a diploma or to a junior college where students study for 2 years to receive an "A" Level. Students can also go to Institutes of Technical Education (ITE), where students study for two years to receive a "National ITE Certificate" (NITEC). This certificate is only recognized in Singapore. Students who go to ITE usually continue their education at a polytechnic.
With either a diploma, or an "A" Level certificate, students can apply to go to universities in Singapore or overseas.
The Singapore government has chosen four official languages: English, Malay, Chinese (Mandarin), and Tamil. English is the primary language. Singapore English is the main language in Singapore.
English is the first language of the nation, but it is not the most common. English is the second most commonly spoken language among Singaporeans. The most commonly spoken language amongst Singaporeans in their homes is Chinese (51%), followed by English (32%), Malay (13%) and Tamil (7%). This means that 32% of Singaporeans are native English speakers. Most of the rest of the people speak it as a second language. However, English has the largest total number of speakers including native and second language speakers. Mandarin Chinese is the second most common.
Almost 40% of people in Singapore are foreign. Most foreigners come from Asia. The country where most foreigners come from are Malaysia, its closest neighbor. In 2009, there may have been 350,000 Malaysians working in Singapore. Many Chinese-speaking foreigners and Chinese-speaking Singaporeans work in services. Thus, Chinese is the main language of many workers such as hawkers, retail assistants, hairdressers, etc. in Singapore today.
Singaporean English mainly comes from British English. The forms of English spoken in Singapore range from Standard English to a pidgin called Singlish. The Singapore government and many Singaporeans are against using Singlish. There is a "Speak Good English" campaign each year. Public schools and in the media also have rules against Singlish. There are many Singapore accents in English because of the many languages and identities of people in the city. Languages can even change over the generations and children may speak different languages and have different accents from their mother. For example, in a Singaporean Chinese family, the grandmother might speak Hokkien as her first language. Differently, the mother might speak Mandarin as her first language and Hokkien/English as her second languages, while the grandson might speak English as his first language and Mandarin as his second language.
Before independence in 1965, Hokkien, a Chinese dialect, was the common language among the Chinese laborers. Malay and English were used to communicate between the different ethnic groups. After independence in 1965, English became the first language of the nation and replaced Hokkien and Malay as the one shared language. Today, most younger Singaporeans have English as their first language or are fluent in English.
Malay is a national language of Singapore because of the history of the city. However, less than 20% of Singaporeans can read and write in Malay. Malay is still used at home by most Malay Singaporeans. The Malay used in Singapore (Bahasa Melayu) is closer to the language in Malaysia than the language in Indonesia. However, there are differences between the Malay in Singapore and in Malaysia. The national anthem "Majulah Singapura" is sung in Malay.
Many people speak Chinese – Mandarin and other Chinese dialects – in Singapore. Just over 50% of Singaporeans speak it at home, so it is the most common language in homes. Singaporean Mandarin is based on simplified Chinese and it is similar to the system used in mainland China. The forms of Mandarin spoken in Singapore range from Standard Mandarin to a pidgin known as Singdarin. Besides Mandarin, many southern Chinese dialects are also spoken in Singapore.
Hokkien used to be a lingua franca among the Singaporean Chinese so many older Singaporeans still understand Hokkien. The most common Chinese dialects spoken by Singaporeans are the Hokkien, Hainan, Teochew and Cantonese. However, Chinese dialects other than Mandarin are not allowed in the media, so these dialects are quickly dying out. Most younger Singaporeans do not speak them anymore.
Tamil, a South Indian language, is spoken by about half of Indians in Singapore. That is about 5% of all Singaporeans. However, North Indian languages such as Hindi and Punjabi are also spoken by a small group of Singaporean Indians in Singapore.
Singapore has many kinds of people and immigrants from many places. Therefore, Singaporean culture has often been described as a mix of cultures – European, Malay, Chinese, Indian and Peranakan. Also, foreigners are 42% of the population in Singapore and they are part of changing Singaporean culture.
Dining is an important part of life in Singapore. Singaporean food is an example of the many different cultures in the country. It is also an example of mixing among cultures. British, Chinese, Indian, Malay, Tamil, and Indonesian styles of cooking all mix together. It is especially known for its sea food. Typical Singaporean food includes: Satay, Nasi lemak, Chilli crab, Kaya toast, and Hainanese chicken rice.
MediaCorp, the state-owned media corporation, operates all seven local broadcast television channels in Singapore. It also runs 13 radio stations of the total 18 radio stations in Singapore. Radio and television stations are all owned by government controlled companies. However, one radio transmitter in Singapore is not controlled by the government. That is the Far Eastern Relay Station of the BBC World Service.
Print media of Singapore includes 16 newspapers and several magazines. Daily newspapers are published in English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.
The national flower of Singapore is Vanda Miss Joaquim. It is a type of orchid and it is a hybrid orchid. This makes Singapore the only nation in the world to have a hybrid as a national flower. It was chosen because it was part of the effort to create national pride and identity.
Singapore has a strong and free economy that supports a large middle class. The city state is a global shipping and logistics hub and many multinational firms have their offices in Singapore. The national airline, Singapore Airlines, has a large global network which brings tourists and business travelers alike, to the city. The airline has often been ranked as the world's best airline.
Singapore also has a port located at the south of Singapore, called Keppel Harbour. It is one of the busiest ports around the world with many ships coming in to trade in a single day. Singapore also has another port on Jurong Island.
Singapore's currency is the Singapore dollar. The short name for the Singapore dollar is SGD. Brunei dollar can be used in Singapore, because they have the same value.
Singapore is made up of 63 islands, including the main island, which is known as Singapore Island to most people, but is also known as Pulau Ujong. There are two man-made connections to Johor, Malaysia: the Johor–Singapore Causeway in the north, and the Tuas Second Link in the west. Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest of Singapore's smaller islands. The highest natural point is Bukit Timah Hill at .
About 23% of Singapore's land area are forest and nature reserves. Urbanisation has removed most primary rainforest, with Bukit Timah Nature Reserve the only significant remaining forest. Even though there is very little primary rainforest left, there are more than 300 parks and four nature reserves in Singapore. There are also many trees planted all over Singapore and almost fifty per cent of the country is covered by trees and plants. Because of this, Singapore is also commonly known as the 'Garden City'.
Singapore, being a small country, has been reclaiming land from the sea around the island. The first time Singapore started to reclaim land was in the 1960s. The total land area of Singapore at that time was 581.5 km and it has increased to 730 km in the 2010s, which is an increase of about 20% in total land area. It may grow by another by 2030. Some land reclamation projects involve joining together smaller islands to make larger islands with more uses, like Jurong Island. Singapore uses the landfill method to reclaim the sea at the south of the country, but polders have been recently used too. The country's rapid reclamation projects has made disputes with its neighbouring countries, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Singapore is hot and wet all year round. It has a tropical rainforest climate ("Af" in the Köppen climate classification), which means there are no seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) in Singapore. There is the most rain at the end of the year, and the temperature is usually around 20 °C to 35 °C.
Although Singapore does not experience the four seasons, the period from May to June is usually warmer, while the period from November to January is cooler because of the more frequent rains and monsoonal winds in Singapore during the year-end.
Singapore has diplomatic relations with 175 other Sovereign states. Singapore's foreign policy is to maintain a secure environment in Southeast Asia as well as the countries near Southeast Asia. A basic rule is the political and economic stability in Southeast Asia.
Singapore is part of the ASEAN (Association of the South East Asian nations) network, which is an organisation that unites all Southeast Asian countries. Member countries of ASEAN work with and help other countries in ASEAN. Singapore is one of the countries that founded ASEAN, and is the most developed country among them all.
Singapore is also part of the Commonwealth of Nations, which is for countries that used to be under the British.
Public holidays in Singapore:
There are also school holidays, lasting one week in March and September, about one month in June, and about one and a half months in December.
Even though it is a small country, Singapore holds many world records with its buildings and people. Some are:
Singapore has one of the best infrastructure qualities in the world. Buses, trains, and taxis are easily found.
Most of Singapore are well-connected by a railway system known as the Mass Rapid Transit, or MRT in short. There are also taxi companies like Comfort Cabs, Silver Cab, SMRT Taxis, CityCab and Premier Taxi. There is one telephone number to call a taxi, of which the closest taxi from any company will respond. Apps such as Grab and Gojek as an alternative to taxi companies are also available.
The Mass Rapid Transit of Singapore is the most commonly used form of transportation in Singapore.
The Singaporean land transport system is controlled by the LTA (Land Transport Authority) of Singapore.
The Singapore Changi Airport is the main airport of Singapore. It is in the east of Singapore, with a total of four terminals with airlines flying to many different parts of the world. It has also received many awards for being the best airport in the world. A Skytrain service is also available at the airport.
The airport is in Changi. It is on a 13 square kilometres (5.0 sq mi) site which was reclaimed from the sea.
Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa. It is the capital of the Gauteng Province. It was founded on October 4, 1886 and has the JSE Securities Exchange, which is the largest stock exchange in Africa.
Johannesburg houses the tallest office block in Africa, the Carlton Centre (50 stories) and the tallest tower, the Hillbrow Tower (270 metres, or 90 stories). The city is nicknamed Egoli or Jozi, which means ""place of gold"", for the large gold deposit at Witwatersrand.
Johannesburg has a subtropical highland climate (Cwb in the Köppen climate classification).
Nelson Mandela died there on 5 December 2013, aged 95. He was also given the "Freedom of the City" award.
Breakfast is the first meal of the day. It is usually eaten in the morning. The word comes from two other words; "break" ("end") and fast ("not eating for a long time").
Definition: [1463] from break (v.) + fast (n.). Cf. Fr. déjeuner "to breakfast," from L. dis-jejunare "to break the fast."
People around the world eat different things for breakfast:
Fast can mean different things:
A town is usually a place with a lot of houses, but not a city. As with cities, there is more than one way to say what a town is in different countries. In some places, it is a kind of local government. When they say "town" people are normally thinking of a big, important place. It may even be a city.
Generally, the difference between towns and villages or hamlets is the sort of economy they have. People in towns usually get money from industry (factories etc.), commerce (shops etc.) and public service (working for the town), not agriculture (growing food).
The number of people who live in a place does not tell us if it is a town or a village. In many areas of the world, like India, a big village can have many more people than a small town. It is also difficult to say if a place is a town because today, some towns are becoming bigger.
Sometimes a place is a city because it got the name "city" by law. However, people often call a place a "town" if it is small.
In the Middle Ages, a place became a town by means of a charter, which gave it town privileges.
In the United States of America, the meaning of the term "town" is different in each state. In some states, a town is a town if the state says it is. In other states, like Wisconsin, a town is a subdivision of a county. In other states, like Michigan, the name "town" has no official meaning. People use it to describe any place where many people live.
In the six New England states, a town is a smaller part of the county. In all six, towns do things that, in most other states, the counties do. In many of these towns, town meetings are the main form of government, so citizens can say what happens where they live by direct democracy. In these states, the towns are really more important than the county. In Connecticut and Rhode Island, counties are only on the map and have no power. In the other four states, courts are the main work of counties. The counties with other functions are mostly in New Hampshire and Vermont.
In Alabama, whether or not a place is a "town" or a "city" is based on how many people live there. A place with 2,000 people or more is a city. A place with less than 2,000 people is a town (Code of Alabama 1975, Section 11-40-6). For legislative purposes, places are put into eight categories based on the number of people. Class 8 includes all towns, and it includes all cities with that have less than 6,000 people (Code of Alabama 1975, Section 11-40-12).
All incorporated places in Kansas are called cities. Once a city is incorporated in Kansas, it will continue to be a city no matter what. There are three categories for cities:
In Louisiana, a "town" is a place that has a city government, and it has 1,0014,999 people living there.
In New York, a town is also a smaller part of the county, but it is less important than in New England. Towns provide almost all municipal services to places, called "hamlets", that are not in villages, and some services to places that are in "villages". In New York, a town usually has some hamlets and villages. But, because villages have power without towns (they are "independent") they can be in two towns or even two counties. Everyone in New York State who does not live in an Indian reservation (a special place for American Indians) or a city lives in a town, and perhaps in one of the town's hamlets or villages. A city may be part of a county, but even if it is surrounded by a town that has more people than the city, it is not part of the town.
In Utah, the terms "town" and "city" is based on the number of people living there. A place with 1,000 or more people is a city. A place with fewer than 1,000 people is a town. Cities are divided into five different categories based on the number of people.
In Virginia, a town is similar to a city, but it can have a smaller number of people in it. By Virginia law cities are independent of counties (they have power without counties), towns are part of a county.
Wyoming law says towns are incorporated places that have less than 4,000 people living there. Places with 4,000 or more people are "first-class cities".
In England and Wales, the name "city" is only for places that have a Royal Charter (a special document) saying they can have that name.
In the past, cities usually had a cathedral. Some English people think that a place with a cathedral must be a city, but it is not true today. For example, Northampton, Blackburn and Middlesbrough (where is the cathedral??) are all towns with a cathedral.
In the past, a place was usually a town, not a village, when it had a regular market or fair (a market, but not so often). There are some English villages (for example Ipswich, Oxfordshire) larger than some small towns (e.g. Middleham, North Yorkshire).
In Japan, The population of a town (町) is less than 50,000 people.
Condensed matter physics
Gaius Julius Caesar (July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a military commander, politician and author at the end of the Roman Republic.
Caesar became a member of the First Triumvirate, and when that broke up, he fought a civil war against Pompey the Great. Winning the war, Caesar became Roman dictator for life. He was killed by his enemies in Rome.
Later rulers of Rome called themselves “Caesar” and this title was later copied as “Kaiser” and “Tsar”.
Julius Caesar was born in Italy around July 100 BC. The exact date is not known.
At sixteen he was the head of his family, and soon came under threat as Lucius Cornelius Sulla became Roman dictator.
Sulla set about purging Rome of his enemies. Hundreds were killed or exiled, and Caesar was on the list. His mother's family pleaded for his life; Sulla reluctantly gave in, but stripped Caesar of his inheritance. From then on, lack of money was one of the main problems in his life. Caesar joined the army, and left Rome.
On the way across the Aegean Sea, Caesar was kidnapped by pirates and held prisoner. He maintained an attitude of superiority throughout his captivity. When the pirates thought to demand a ransom of twenty talents of silver, he insisted they ask for fifty. After the ransom was paid, Caesar raised a fleet, pursued and captured the pirates, and imprisoned them. He had them crucified on his own authority, as he had promised while in captivity—a promise the pirates had taken as a joke. As a sign of leniency, he first had their throats cut. He was soon called back into military action.
On his return to Rome, he was elected as military tribune, a first step in a political career. He was elected quaestor for 69 BC. His wife Cornelia died that year. After her funeral, Caesar went to serve his quaestorship in Spain. On his return in 67 BC, he married Pompeia (a granddaughter of Sulla), whom he later divorced. In 63 BC he ran for election to the post of Pontifex Maximus, as high priest of the Roman state religion. He ran against two powerful senators; there were accusations of bribery by all sides. Caesar won comfortably, despite his opponents' greater experience and standing.
After his praetorship, Caesar was appointed to govern Roman Spain, but he was still in considerable debt and needed to pay his creditors. He turned to Marcus Licinius Crassus, one of Rome's richest men. In return for political support, Crassus paid some of Caesar's debts and acted as guarantor for others. Caesar left for his province before his praetorship had ended. In Spain he conquered two local tribes, was hailed as "imperator" by his troops, and completed his governorship in high esteem. Though he was due a 'triumph' in Rome, he also wanted to stand for Consul, the most senior magistracy in the Republic. Faced with the choice between a triumph and the consulship, Caesar chose the consulship. After election, he was a consul in 59 BC.
Caesar took power with Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) and Marcus Licinius Crassus. These three men ruled Rome and were called the "Triumvirate".
Caesar was the go-between for Crassus and Pompey. They had been at odds for years, but Caesar tried to reconcile them. Between the three of them, they had enough money and political influence to control public business. This informal alliance, known as the First Triumvirate (rule of three men), was cemented by the marriage of Pompey to Caesar's daughter Julia. Caesar also married again, this time to Calpurnia, who was the daughter of another powerful senator.
Caesar proposed a law for the redistribution of public lands to the poor, a proposal supported by Pompey, by force of arms if need be, and by Crassus, making the triumvirate public. Pompey filled the city with soldiers, and the triumvirate's opponents were frightened.
With the agreement of his partners, Caesar became the governor of Gallia (Gaul). Gaul is the area which is today's Northern Italy, Switzerland, and France.
Caesar was the commander of the Roman legions during the Gallic War. The war was fought on the side of Rome's Gallic clients against the Germans, who wanted to invade Gaul. It was also to extend Rome's control of Gaul. Caesar's conquest of Gaul extended Rome's territory to the North Sea. In 55 BC he conducted the first Roman invasion of Britain. Caesar wrote about this eight-year war in his book "De Bello Gallico" ('About the Gallic Wars'). This book, written in Latin, is an important historical account.
These achievements got him great military power, and threatened to eclipse Pompey. The balance of power was further upset by the death of Crassus in 53 BC.
In 50 BC, the Senate, led by Pompey, ordered Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome because his term as governor had finished. Caesar thought he would be prosecuted if he entered Rome without the immunity enjoyed by a magistrate. Pompey accused Caesar of insubordination and treason.
Caesar and his army approached Rome and "crossed the Rubicon", a shallow river in north-east Italy, in 49 BC. It was the point beyond which no army was supposed to go. The river marked the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul to the north, and Italy proper to the south. Crossing the Rubicon caused a civil war. Pompey, the lawful Consul, and his friends, fled from Rome as Caesar's army approached.
Pompey managed to escape before Caesar could capture him. Caesar decided to head for Spain, while leaving Italy under the control of Mark Antony. Caesar made an astonishing 27-day route-march to Spain, where he defeated Pompey's lieutenants. He then returned east, to challenge Pompey in Greece. There, in July 48 BC, at Dyrrhachium Caesar barely avoided a catastrophic defeat. He then decisively defeated Pompey, at the Battle of Pharsalus later that year.
In Rome, Caesar was appointed Dictator, with Mark Antony as his Master of the Horse (second in command). Caesar presided over his own election to a second consulship and then, after eleven days, resigned this dictatorship.
Late in 48 BC, he was appointed dictator again, with a term of one year. Caesar then pursued Pompey to Egypt, where Pompey was soon murdered. Caesar then became involved in an Egyptian civil war between the child pharaoh and his sister, wife, and co-regent queen, Cleopatra. Perhaps as a result of the pharaoh's role in Pompey's murder, Caesar sided with Cleopatra. He is reported to have wept at the sight of Pompey's head, which was offered to him by the pharaoh as a gift. In any event, Caesar defeated the pharaoh's forces in 47 BC and installed Cleopatra as ruler.
Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated their victory with a triumphant procession on the Nile in the spring of 47 B.C. The royal barge was accompanied by 400 additional ships, introducing Caesar to the luxurious lifestyle of the Egyptian pharaohs. Caesar and Cleopatra never married; Roman Law only recognized marriages between two Roman citizens. Caesar continued his relationship with Cleopatra throughout his last marriage, which lasted 14 years – in Roman eyes, this did not constitute adultery – and may have fathered a son called Caesarion. Cleopatra visited Rome on more than one occasion, staying in Caesar's villa, outside Rome across the River Tiber.
In 46 BC, Caesar defeated Cato and the remnants of Pompey's supporters in Africa. He was then appointed dictator for ten years. In two years he made numerous changes in Roman administration to improve the Republic. Many of these changes were meant to improve the lives of ordinary people. One example, which has lasted, was his reform of the calendar into the present format, with a leap day every four years. In February of 44 BC, one month before his assassination, he was appointed Dictator for life.
On the Ides of March (15 March; see Roman calendar) of 44 BC, Caesar was due to appear at a session of the Senate. Mark Antony, fearing the worst, went to head Caesar off. The plotters expected this, and arranged for someone to intercept him.
According to Eutropius, around sixty or more men participated in the assassination. He was stabbed 23 times. According to Suetonius, a physician later established that only one wound, the second one to his chest, had been lethal.
The dictator's last words are not known with certainty, and are a contested subject among scholars and historians alike. The version best known in the English-speaking world is the Latin phrase "Et tu, Brute?" ('You too, Brutus?'). In Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", this is the first half of the line: ""Et tu, Brute?" Then fall, Caesar".
According to Plutarch, after the assassination, Brutus stepped forward as if to say something to his fellow senators; they, however, fled the building. Brutus and his companions then marched to the Capitol while crying out to their beloved city: "People of Rome, we are once again free!". They were met with silence, as the citizens of Rome had locked themselves inside their houses as soon as the rumour of what had taken place had begun to spread.
A wax statue of Caesar was erected in the forum displaying the 23 stab wounds. A crowd who had gathered there started a fire, which badly damaged the forum and the neighbouring buildings. In the ensuing chaos, Mark Antony, Octavian (later Augustus Caesar), and others fought a series of five civil wars, which would end in the formation of the Roman Empire.
The Roman empire and its emperors were so important in history that the word "Caesar" was used as a title in some European countries to mean emperor, even long after the Roman empire was gone. For example, Germany's emperor was called a " Kaiser" up to the year 1919 AD and Russia's emperor was called a Tsar until 1917 AD.
Caesar was a significant author.
Other works historically attributed to Caesar, but whose authorship is doubted, are:
These narratives were written and published on a yearly basis during or just after the actual campaigns, as a sort of "dispatches from the front". Apparently simple and direct in style—to the point that Caesar's "Commentarii" are commonly studied by first and second year Latin students—they are in fact quite sophisticated, aimed at the middle-brow readership of minor aristocrats in Rome, Italy, and the provinces.
Based on remarks by Plutarch, Caesar is sometimes thought to have suffered from epilepsy. Modern scholarship is divided on the subject. It is more certain that he was plagued by malaria, particularly during the Sullan proscriptions of the 80s.
Caesar had four documented episodes of what may have been complex partial seizures. He may additionally have had "absence seizures" ("petit mal") in his youth. The earliest accounts of these seizures were made by the biographer Suetonius who was born after Caesar died. The claim of epilepsy is countered among some medical historians by a claim of hypoglycemia. This can cause seizures which are a bit like epilepsy.
In 2003, psychiatrist Harbour F. Hodder published what he termed as the "Caesar Complex" theory, arguing that Caesar was a sufferer of temporal lobe epilepsy, and that the symptoms were a factor in Caesar's decision to forgo personal safety in the days leading up to his assassination.
The city has a famous snow festival in winter, it has a growing population of about 1,800,000 people. Its area is . There are a lot of fish markets in Sapporo. A beer brand named "Sapporo" was named after this city. Ramen is a very popular food in Sapporo. The city has a subway system. Some famous landmarks are the Sapporo TV Tower, and the clock tower that is in the center of the city. There are several universities here, including Hokkaido University. The nearby airport is called New Chitose Airport.
Hokkaidō Prefecture
Sapporo is the capital city of Hokkiado.
Until the Meiji Restoration, the island was called Ezo, Watari-shima, Yeddo, and Yezo. Since 1869, it has been called Hokkaidō.
The population expanded in the late 19th century.
Hokkaidō is the 2nd largest island of Japan The island is between the Sea of Japan to the west, the Sea of Okhotsk to the northeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southeast, and the Tsugaru Strait to the south.
Hokkaidō is separated from Honshu by the Tsugaru Strait; however, it is connected by the underwater Seikan tunnel.
Some of the Chishima Islands are occupied by Russia, but Japan still considers the islands to be Japanese.
Natural Parks are established in about 10% of the total land area of the prefecture.
"Hokkaidō jingū" was the chief Shinto shrine ("ichinomiya") of Ezo, which was an ancient name for the Hokkaidō region.
Hinduism is not only a religion but also a way of life. Hinduism is known to have more than one god and is widely practiced in South Asia mainly in India and Nepal. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world, and Hindus refer to it as "", "the eternal tradition," or the "eternal way," beyond human history. Scholars regard Hinduism as a combination of different Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots. Hinduism has no founder and origins of Hinduism is unknown.. Hinduism has roots in Indus Valley civilization. There was no concept of religion in India and Hinduism was not a religion. Hinduism as a religion started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE, after the Vedic period (1500 BCE to 500 BCE).
Hinduism contains a wide range of philosophies, and is linked by the concepts, like rituals, cosmology, Texts, and pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are divided into Śruti ("heard") and Smṛti ("remembered"). These texts discuss philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, and many more. Major scriptures in Hinduism include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Agamas.