AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on 5 September 1946 in Stone Town in the British protectorate of the Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania). His parents were Jer and Bomi Bulsara. They were both Parsi. His father worked as a cashier in the British Colonial Office, a branch of the government. Mercury had a younger sister named Kashmira. His friends at school gave him the name "Freddie." His family then began calling him Freddie, too.
At age eight, Mercury was sent to a boarding school in India. The school, St. Peters English Boarding school in Panchgani, was about 50 miles outside the city of Bombay (now called Mumbai). He began to show talent as an artist and a sportsman. At age ten, he was named the school champion of Table Tennis. When he was twelve, he received a trophy called the Junior All-rounder.
While in school he joined a choir and began to learn to play the piano. He had a four-octave vocal range.
In 1964, Mercury moved to London with his family. He studied art at Ealing Art College. While in London, he became fond of Mary Austin, a woman he met through his guitarist, Brian May. They lived together for several years before and after the band became famous. They moved into a house in London nicknamed "The Court of King Freddie". Mary still lived in that house after she and Mercury broke up.
Mercury was in love with a local barber when he died. He had been with him in a relationship for six years when it was learned by the media that Mercury had AIDS, which he was tested positive for in 1987. One day after the news was broadcast, Mercury died of Bronchopneumonia caused by AIDS on 24 November 1991 at the age of 45.
Sun Tzu (544 BC – 496 BC) also called Sun Wu, was an ancient Chinese general, military expert and philosopher. He is widely believed to have been the author of the most important work of military strategy and theory, "The Art of War". His name means 'Master Sun'. His family name is Sun, Tzu is an honorific (title of respect) meaning 'master'.
Most of what we know about Sun Tzu comes from Ssu-ma Ch'ien's "Shih chi", also called the Records of the Grand Historian. According to the Grand Historian, Sun Tzu lived during the period called 'The Spring and Autumn Period of China'. This era dates from 770 BC to 476 BC.
Sun Tzu was born in the State of Qi (modern Shandong province). This is according to the Records of the Grand Historian. However, the "Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yueh" claim he was born in Wu. Sun Tzu lived during the turbulent period of the late Chou dynasty. His grew up in a military family and he studied military science. Not much is known about his childhood or early life. It is known that at some point in his life he became known as a great general and a military strategist. He became a general for King Helü of Wu.
Sun Tzu won battles by not actually fighting his enemy when it wasn't necessary. He recommended spies, deception and a commander having complete control of his soldiers. When he did fight, he understood warfare better than most of his opponents. Sun Tzu learned to win battles with the least loss of his own men.
Many historians believe he was the victor at the Battle of Boju in 506 BC. The great historian Sima Qian (145/135–86 BC), author of "Shiji" (Historical Record), called Sun Tzu an exceptional strategic battlefield commander. He also said Sun Tzu was both flexible and had unlimited surprises for his enemies. Sima Qian wrote that in his nearly 40-years as a general, Sun Tzu never lost a battle, a campaign or a war.
The Art of War was one of the earliest books on Chinese warfare. It remains one of the best known and most influential books ever written. The book was widely copied in the ancient world. An early copy was discovered in 1972. It was written on bamboo slats that were sewn together. It became known in the western world during the late 18th century. It wasn't translated into English until the 20th century.
At that time the rules for warfare were based on chivalry. War was the sport of rich noblemen. Sun Tzu refused to see war as a sport. He used Taoist principles and applied them to warfare. In doing this he changed the rules of war. Unlike generals who enjoyed long campaigns, he understood war was serious. Sun Tzu believed that once a war started, the goal was to defeat the enemy. Sun Tzu was unconventional in that he didn't follow the prevailing wisdom of his time. Other generals were simply unprepared for Sun Tzu's tactics.
For at least the last two thousand years, Sun Tzu has had a tremendous influence on military thinking. The Art of War is credited by Mao Zedong as having helped him defeat Chiang Kai-Shek in the Chinese Civil War. Ho Chi Minh was a fan of Sun Tzu. He led the Communist Vietnamese in their fight against American-backed South Vietnam. American generals Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. and Colin Powell followed principals in the Art of War in the Gulf War.
Western world
Western world has meant various things at various times. In the earliest history of europe it referred to Ancient Greece and the Aegean. During the Roman Empire, it meant the Western Roman Empire (covering the area from Croatia to Britain). At other times, it has meant Western Europe or Europe or Christendom. During the Cold War, it sometimes meant the democratic countries or those allied with the various NATO powers.
In this day and age, it often refers to the places that have a European heritage culture. This european heritage itself is a combination of, Judeo-Christian ethic, Classical Greco-Roman thinking and the cultural practices of the "barbarian" peoples of Northern Europe. Under the strictest definition, it would include North America, Australia and Western/Central Europe: with the identities of Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Philippines, Singapore, Israel and South Africa being disputed due to the mix of both western and non western culture.
A mouse (plural "mice") is a small rodent, which is a kind of mammal.
It has a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail and a high breeding rate. Most belong to the mus genus. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse ("Mus musculus"). Usually, house mice are brownish-gray. It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. They are known to invade homes for food and occasionally shelter.
These small animals are often used in science experiments, or sometimes kept as pets. Some mice carry diseases. In some places they damage crops. This causes some people to think of mice as vermin or pests. Many other people think mice are cute and fun animals.
Mice are rodents, therefore they are related to squirrels, rats, and beavers. Mice eat weeds, seeds, berries, and more. They are eaten by owls, foxes, and cats, amongst others.
The word "mouse" should only be used for small murines, but does get used for other distantly-related small rodents. The murines are the largest subfamily of mammals. In fact, it is larger than almost all mammal orders.
The common house mouse is thought of as a pest. They are found in the homes of humans.
Voles are "not" mice, they are in a different family of rodents.
These are not mice either, or only distantly related. These mice live in forests. They can run and jump better than mice, and they get their common name from this.
The aggressive "grasshopper mouse" rarely eats other mice, but it does like grasshoppers and insects. It is also only a distant relative.
Anthropomorphism makes cartoon mice look and act more like people than like real mice. For example, the Disney characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse walk, talk, and act like people. Jerry, the mouse star of Tom and Jerry cartoons, is similarly humanized.
Advance Wars is a video game for the Game Boy Advance. It is based on earlier games for Nintendo systems such as the Famicom and Game Boy. It is a strategy game: players must think of ways to win.
The game can be played with two, three, or four players at a time. Each player takes turns controlling their military-style playing pieces, called "units." Every unit can move along the playing field, which is split up into squares. The amount of squares a unit can move in one turn is different for each unit.
Most units can attack other units. Each unit has its own strength and defense. Strength is how much damage the unit can do to another unit. Defense is how much damage it can avoid taking whenever it is attacked. For example, the tank unit has more defense than the soldier, so even though the helicopter always has the same amount of attacking power, it can do more damage to the soldier than the tank.
The Solomon Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific that make up a country. They are known for their beauty and for the many languages spoken there. The capital of the Solomon Islands is Honiara.
In the 1890s the islands became a protectorate of the British Empire.
Empire of Japan forces arrived in early 1942 and the United States Marine Corps attacked them, starting the Guadalcanal Campaign.
There was civil untrest between 1998 and 2003, commonly called "the tensions" or "the ethnic tension"; it included fighting between the Isatabu Freedom Movement (also known as the Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army) and the Malaita Eagle Force (as well as the Marau Eagle Force). (Although much of the conflict was between Guales and Malaitans, two research papers say that the 'ethnic conflict' label is an oversimplification.
In 2006, riots broke out following the election of Snyder Rini as Prime Minister, destroying part of the capital's Chinatown and displacing more than 1,000 Chinese residents; The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), the 16-country Pacific Islands Forum initiative set up in 2003 with assistance from Australia, intervened, sending in additional police and army officers to bring the situation under control. A motion of no confidence was passed against the Prime Minister. Following his resignation, a five-party Grand Coalition for Change Government was formed in May 2006, with Manasseh Sogavare as Prime Minister, quelling the riots and running the government. The army part of RAMSI was removed and rebuilding took shape.
On 13 December 2007, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare was toppled by a vote of no confidence in Parliament, following the defection of five ministers to the opposition. It was the first time a prime minister had lost office in this way in Solomon Islands. On 20 December, Parliament elected the opposition's candidate (and former Minister for Education) Derek Sikua as Prime Minister, in a vote of 32 to 15.
On 2 April 2007 at 07:39:56 local time (UTC+11) an earthquake with magnitude 8.1 occurred at hypocenter S8.453 E156.957, 349 kilometres (217 miles) northwest of the island's capital, Honiara and south-east of the capital of Western Province, Gizo, at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). More than 44 aftershocks with magnitude 5.0 or greater occurred up until 22:00:00 UTC, Wednesday, 4 April 2007. A tsunami followed killing at least 52 people, destroying more than 900 homes and leaving thousands of people homeless. Land upthrust extended the shoreline of one island, Ranongga, by up to 70 metres (230 ft) exposing many once pristine coral reefs.
On February 6, 2013, an earthquake with magnitude of 8.0 occurred at epicentre S10.80 E165.11 in the Santa Cruz Islands followed by a tsunami up to 1.5 metres. At least nine people were killed and many houses demolished. The main quake was preceded by a sequence of earthquakes with a magnitude of up to 6.0.
The country is divided into nine provinces and the town of Honiara.
Intestine
The intestines, divided into the small intestine and the large intestine, of an animal are like a tube through which food and bile from the stomach move.
The first part of the small intestine is called the duodenum, where most food is broken down by enzymes. Later, the small intestine absorbs useful compounds from the digested food, which is done using small villi or tiny microvilli - hair-like structures in the walls of the intestine.
The large intestine, also called the bowel, absorbs water and any other nutrients, as well as vitamins made by the gut flora in the colon. Finally, waste is expelled through the anus.
Chemical equation
A chemical equation is a way to predict the way that two or more chemicals will work together. Using what chemists know about the way chemicals act, we add the letter symbols together just like a math problem. In this way we can correctly guess if we will get a new chemical when we mix two or more chemicals together, and what that chemical will be.
Chemical equations are either worded or written using the elements' symbols, how much of the element and in what state (solid[s], liquid[l], gas[g]) it is in.
For example: An aqueous solution of sodium chloride (NaCl[aq]) and another aqueous solution of silver nitrate (AgNO[aq]). These mixed together form sodium nitrate (NaNO[aq]) and silver chloride (AgCl[s])
Which in symbols is:
NaCl(aq) + AgNO(aq) → NaNO(aq) + AgCl(s)
The solutions formed the solid AgCl. This formation can be called a precipitate and the reaction between the two solutions a precipitation reaction, because the solid produced is not dissolved, whereas all the other products are dissolved.
Chemical equations need to be balanced to satisfy the law of conservation of matter. Chemical equations tell that in a closed system matter is neither created nor destroyed. The chemical equation needs to be balanced so that it follows the law of conservation of mass. A balanced chemical equation happens when the number of the different atoms of elements on the reactants side is equal to that of the products side.
Balancing chemical equations is a process of trial and error. To balance the equation, the amounts of the reactants and products must be changed. As necessary, by adding coefficients in front of the appropriate formulas. When balancing an equation, never change the subscripts, because that changes the substance. To determine the number of atoms of each element, the coefficient is multiplied times the subscripts in each formula.
A chemical equation is a written symbolic representation of a chemical reaction. The reactant chemicals are given on the left-hand side and the product chemical on the right-hand side. The law of conservation of mass says that no atoms can be made in a chemical reaction. Also, it cannot be destroyed. So the number of atoms that are present in the reactants has to balance the number of atoms that are present in the reaction.
There are two practices of balancing a chemical equation. The first one is balancing by Inspection. Balancing by inspection is the most basic method used. It works best for simple problems. More complicated ones require experience. The second one is Balancing by Numerical Method. The most important parts of the numerical methotrexate, contrary to the inspection method, it gives the answer. If the reaction can be balanced, coefficients can be seen. If the reaction can't be balanced, it means that there are more unidentified than independent statements, or that statements are opposite. With inspection method, it won't prove that the equation can't be balanced.
why do we need to balance a chemical equation?
"we need to balance a chemical equation because "law of conservation of mass"" state that mass can neither be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.
So number of elements involved in a chemical reaction should remain same at reactant and product side.
Lucifer is another name for "Satan". This is because people interpret a passage in the Book of Isaiah of the Bible in a certain way. Lucifer is Latin. It is made of two parts, "lux-lucis" (light) and "ferre" (to bring).
There are two mentions of "Lucifer" in the Latin Vulgate. is used to refer to the morning star, the planet Venus that appears at dawn: once in to translate the Greek word "Φωσφόρος" (Phosphoros), which has exactly the same literal meaning of "Light-Bringer" that "Lucifer" has in Latin; and once in to translate "הילל" (Hêlēl), which also means "Morning Star".
"Lucifer" is the Latin name for the "Morning Star", both in prose and poetry, as seen in works by Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BC), Cicero (106-43 BC) and other early Latin writers
Cicero wrote:
And Pliny the Elder:
Poets also used the word "Lucifer". Ovid has at least eleven mentions of the Morning Star in his poetry. Virgil wrote:
And Statius:
Lucifer is the epitome of evil in the Christian religion. Lucifer is believed by some to be Satan's name when he was still an angel, but it is Latin for 'light bringer' and not originally in the Bible.
The word "Lucifer" was also used in Latin to mean the "morningstar", the planet Venus, and this word was used in the Latin version of Isaiah 14, where the Hebrew version was speaking to a king of Babylonia.
Astrobiology is the study of life in outer space. The field of astrobiology looks for conditions necessary for life, like liquid water, a good temperature, or the presence of oxygen.
Some possible places to find life in the solar system are Europa, Ganymede, moons of Jupiter, or Titan, and Enceladus, moons of Saturn. These places may have liquid water. They may be too cold to support life on their surfaces, but if they have liquid water, the water must be warm enough to support life. Astrobiologists suggest that there may be a liquid water ocean under their surfaces.
Castles are medieval buildings which were defensive homes for powerful people. They could be made from wood, stone, or brick, and some were used for hundreds of years. Thousands of castles were built across Europe, the Middle East, and Japan with different designs. Today, most castles are ruins and many are popular tourist attractions.
In England and Wales castles were first used by the invading Normans led by Duke William in 1066. They provided a base for lord of the castle to control the surrounding area and govern their land. Castles were designed to be imposing: their massive defenses deterred attackers and showed the owner's strength.
A few troops in a castle could defend themselves against a much larger army. The most common method for taking a castle would be to besiege or storm it. Each had problems. Storming a castle would kill many of the attackers, but a siege would take a long time. Both methods sometimes failed.
Castles were first built in the 9th century and the practice continued up to the 16th century. A castle was both a home for someone important like a king or noble, and a fort. Castles were designed to keep people out and show how powerful the people inside were. They were sometimes used in war, with many famous sieges like the siege of Kenilworth in 1266 which lasted for six months, or Stirling Castle which was besieged eight times.
Castles could look very strong, but sometimes the defences were mostly for show. The moat around Bodiam Castle is not very deep and could be drained by an attacking army, so was not very practical as a defence. But it made the castle look very impressive, and look bigger than it really is. If the owner of a castle rebelled against their ruler they might be punished by having their castle demolished, known as slighting.
Castles were built in Europe and the Middle East, with similar buildings developing separately in Japan in the 15th century. Castles were usually built from either wood or stone, and sometimes brick. Some castles started off as wooden and were then rebuilt in stone, which was more expensive and a stronger so that the castles could be bigger. They could be built on hills or low areas like the edge of towns or at river crossings. There is the widely held idea that castles were always built on high hills; while there are some castles which make dramatic use of the landscape and are highly visible, there were a lot of factors in choosing where to build castles and only a minority were on hills. For example, many castles were built along the Rhine River so they could stop people using the river without permission.
Depending on the exact definition, the number of castles varies and more castles are still being discovered. The numbers below are rough, and it is difficult to find estimates for some countries like Italy and Spain though they have many castles. Imitation castles have been built in the 19th and 20th century, like Neuschwanstein or some places in the United States but these are not considered genuine castles as they were not meant to be defensive.
The powerful people who built castles also lived in them with their families. They would have servants and a group of people to make sure the castle worked: people fetching water, cooking, clearing the stables, looking after animals, cooking, lighting fires, and checking who was coming into the castle. In peacetime, most castles only had a few soldiers who would guard the place.
Today, most castles have bare stone walls inside but in the Middle Ages they looked very different. Important rooms had colourful tapestries hanging on the walls, and paintings on the ceiling. Other rooms like kitchens or cupboards had plain white walls. Fireplaces kept rooms warm, and candles were used for light at night or in dark rooms. Glass was used later in the Middle Ages, but windows had shutters to keep out the cold and the weather. Religion was an important of the Middle Ages, and castles usually had chapels so that the people who lived there could pray.
Later in the Middle Ages, important people wanted more privacy and larger homes. It was easier to build new homes instead of trying to make the castles bigger, so some people moved out of castles into new homes. The use of gunpowder weapons also changed warfare and made castles less effective. Guns were introduced in the 14th century, and by the 15th and 16th centuries they were powerful enough to break castle walls. New types of fortification were invested, with shorter thicker walls, and using earth to absorb hits from cannonballs.
Though cannons were powerful, castles were still used in war. In the 17th century, lots of castles were used in the English Civil War, though many of them had not been lived in for decades and needed repairs.
As castles were built hundreds of years ago, most of them are ruins. Some are still lived in by wealthy families, or are still used by governments or armies. Because of this they might have changed and look different to old castles which were abandoned. Many castles have been turned into museums so the public can visit and learn about the past. Some castles are owned by the state, and others are owned by private people. Castles are expensive to run, so many are falling down. Every so often lightning strikes, flooding, or earthquakes damage castles.
People have been interested in castle for centuries. Historians and archaeologists have searched old documents and dug into castles to find out more about them. Because of this, for some castles we know who owned them, when they were used, when bits were built, what people ate, and what kind of things happened at castles. But there are lots of places where we know very little, not even when they were built. This is because a lot of medieval documents do not survive.
Some castle ruins have been rebuilt to look like they did originally.
Some terms you might find people using when they talk about castles:
Books used
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons is a website owned by the Wikimedia Foundation, based on a wiki. Anybody can upload images, sounds, videos, and other multimedia files to the website. The files uploaded to Wikimedia Commons can be used by any other Wikimedia Foundation project, like Wikipedia or Wiktionary. For example, Wikipedia uses images on Wikimedia Commons to include pictures in their encyclopedia articles. The files can also be freely used by anyone else because they have free licenses.
Wikimedia Commons has categories, which are groups of files that have something in common or similar. For example, there is a category for pictures of cats. Wikimedia Commons is a multilingual website, meaning that it can be used in every language. However, some parts of Wikimedia Commons are only in English, like names of categories.
Wikimedia Commons also has sound files. Not all of these are music. For example, there are recordings that read words out loud. These files are used in Wiktionary, a free dictionary, to teach people how to say words.
For every file on Wikimedia Commons, the person who made it has to let everybody use it and change it as much as they want, including companies (see Creative Commons).
Wikimedia Commons reached 10 million files on April 15, 2011.
The Wikimedia Foundation was given money to make it easier for people to use their websites. They used some of this money to make the UploadWizard, a new system for uploading files on Wikimedia Commons. People started using the UploadWizard in December 2010.
The UploadWizard also teaches new uploaders about copyright law. It has a tutorial for users to read so that they can check if the file they are uploading is violating copyright. Most uploads are by the UploadWizard.
Before, Wikimedia Commons only let people upload one file at a time. The UploadWizard lets people upload multiple files at the same time and include all the required information about each one.
The logo of Wikimedia Commons has a red circle inside a blue circle. There are many small blue arrows pointing from the blue circle to the red circle in the middle, and one big blue arrow pointing upwards. The small blue arrows represent the different projects of the Wikimedia Foundation. The large arrow is to show that Wikimedia Commons is constantly improving.
This logo was chosen in a vote in 2004.
Bulgaria (officially called the Republic of Bulgaria) is a country in south-eastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bulgaria is the south of the River Danube and west of the Black Sea. To the south of Bulgaria is European Turkey, Greece, and North Macedonia. To the north of the Danube is Romania, while to the west of Bulgaria is Serbia.
The capital and the biggest city is Sofia. Their money is called the lev. The Bulgarian government is a member of the European Union and NATO. Rumen Radev became President in 2017. The population of Bulgaria is a little more than 7 million people.
Bulgaria has its own language, called Bulgarian. It is a type of Slavic language. It is related to languages like Serbian and Russian. Bulgaria borders Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, and the Black Sea. One of the national heroes of Bulgaria is Vasil Levski who led the fight for independence in the late 1800s.
In what is now Bulgaria, many different people and different cultures lived over time. This includes Neolithic, Hamangia culture, Vinča culture, eneolithic, Varna culture (5th millennium BC) and the Bronze Age Ezero culture.
The Thracians lived in the area of modern Bulgaria (in Thrace or ). King Tere united the people in Odrysian Kingdom around 500 BC.
Alexander the Great had influence over the people in the 4th century BC.
The last Hellenistic Thracian kingdom became part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD. The lands of Bulgaria were then part of the Roman Empire.
Eurasian Avars, South Slavs and Huns settled all over the territory of modern Bulgaria during the 6th century.
The Bulgars arrived in Thracia in the 7th century. The Bulgars established the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 AD, after a war with the Romans in which the Bulgarians had success. In 1018, the Romans overcame the Bulgarians in war, the Bulgarian state ended, and Bulgaria became part of the Roman Empire again.
The Second Bulgarian Empire started in a rebellion about 1185 AD. The state had Tarnovo as the capital.
The Ottoman Empire took over in 1396 and ruled Bulgaria for about 500 years. The Ottomans had very strict rules and the Bulgarians suffered. The Bulgarians rebelled several times against the Turkish rulers.
In 1876, there was the April Uprising, a Bulgarian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire. In the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), the Russian Empire overcame the Ottomans. In 1878, Bulgaria became, in part, independent, although the Ottomans controlled its foreign policy.
Bulgaria pulled away from Ottoman Empire's influence with the help of the Russian Empire who were already fighting the Ottomans. But it was not until 1908 that the whole country of Bulgaria was united as modern Bulgaria.
Bulgaria joined the side of Germany in World War I and lost. Bulgaria had hoped to get part of the lands Bulgaria lost in the Balkan Wars.
During the first year of World War II Bulgaria said it was neutral and refused to join sides with Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. Bulgaria's military and economy were had a close connection with Germany. Bulgaria's leaders signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany in March 1941. This let German forces go through Bulgaria to reach Greece.
Bulgaria's troops invaded Greece and Yugoslavia just after the governments of those countries surrendered. Bulgaria occupied the lands of modern North Macedonia and parts of Greece. (Both areas had been part of Bulgaria before the Balkan Wars.) The Bulgarian government also sent Jews to concentration camps and ghettoes in the Holocaust. The king of Bulgaria, Tsar Boris III, died after talking to Hitler in August 1943. Before the Tsar died, the Kingdom of Bulgaria had sent at least 11,343 Jews to the extermination camps.
In 1944 when it became clear that the Allied Powers would win the war, Bulgaria had to find another solution. Their leaders declared that they withdrew from the Axis forces and helped the German army leave the Balkans through Bulgaria. The Soviet Union didn't respect Bulgaria's claim to be neutral. The Red Army invaded Bulgaria in September 1944. At the same time, a new pro-Soviet government took power in Sofia. At this point, the Jews were released from the ghettoes and concentration camps in Bulgaria. The new government joined the Allies, and the military started to attack the German army, which the Bulgarian government had helped to leave Bulgarian lands.
The Soviets replaced the royal monarchy with Communism in 1947 before they withdrew from Bulgaria in 1949. For 40 years, under their leader Todor Zhivkov, Bulgaria was very close to the Soviet Union and followed their instructions. Bulgaria invaded Czechoslovakia to stop the Prague Spring in 1968.
Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, on 10 November 1989, the Bulgarian Communist Party gave up their rule and allowed the country to elect leaders of their own choice. But in a few years, Bulgaria had serious money problems under the new socialist government. Since that time Bulgaria has recovered in many ways and is much more stable. It is still one of the poorest countries in Europe. Problems in the administration, a weak court system, and organized crime are the biggest issues for Bulgaria.
Bulgaria's economy was dependent on the COMECON market. This was a group of communist countries (Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania) that agreed to work together. This group fell apart in 1989 with the fall of communism in Europe. While this was good for personal freedom, it was too much of a change for the businesses and jobs. Also, Yugoslavia, their neighbor, fell into a civil war as their country broke apart, and that did not help Bulgaria. Living standards fell by 40 percent as people lost their jobs and their savings were not worth much, and even some newborn babies were sent to orphanages when their parents could not take care of them.
In 1994 Bulgaria had a short economic boom. But that slowed down in 1996 from bad finance deals and other banking problems. In 1997 there was high inflation (the money could not buy as much as it did before). Retired people had little income (their pension did not go up as fast as inflation did) and their savings were not worth very much. Many retired people were begging in the streets for food. But since then the economy has grown steadily. People from outside the country started putting money into businesses and houses, and Bulgarians learned how to make their own businesses.
Today Bulgaria has Europe's lowest income and corporate tax, 10 percent for both individuals and businesses. This makes Bulgaria a very good place for business. Bulgaria also has skilled and educated workers. The average monthly salary in Bulgaria is still cheap at 400 euro or $541 USD.
The state no longer has free health care. This system has been replaced by an insurance plan that people pay for, and drug costs are based on income. Private health care is encouraged nowadays. Help for people who lose their jobs is no longer automatic, but some help is available, based on family status and length of unemployment.
The retirement age for men is 64 years and for women 61 years. It will be 63 years and 9 months for woman and 65 years and 3 months for man in 2032.
Since 1999, Bulgaria has been divided into 28 provinces or regions. Each province is named after its local capital. The provinces are divided into municipalities, there are 264 in total.
There are 6 Bulgarian development regions of 27 smaller provinces. See List of settlements in Bulgaria for a list of all large locations.
In Bulgaria there are 5,664,624 citizens of Bulgarians, 1,200,000 citizens of Turks and 800,000 Citizens of Roma/Gypsies.
Bulgaria is classified as a developing country by the EU.
The Alps (Italian: "Alpi", French: "Alpes", German: "Alpen", Bavarian: "Oipn", Romansh: "Alps", Slovene: "Alpe", Occitan: "Aups" or "Alps") is the greatest mountain range of Europe. It reaches from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west. The original meaning of the word was 'white'.
The highest mountain in the Alps is Mont Blanc, at , on the Italian–French border.
The Alps stretch from Austria and Slovenia in the east, through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west.
The mountains are divided into the Western Alps and the Eastern Alps. The division is along the line between Lake Constance and Lake Como, following the Rhine. The Western Alps are higher, but their central chain is shorter and curved; they are located in Italy, France and Switzerland.
The Eastern Alps (main ridge system elongated and broad) belong to Austria, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovenia and Switzerland. The highest peaks of the Western Alps are Mont Blanc, 4,808 metres (15,774 ft), Mont Blanc de Courmayeur 4,748 metres (15,577 ft), the Dufourspitze 4,634 metres (15,203 ft) and the other summits of the Monte Rosa group, and the Dom, 4,545 metres (14,911 ft). The highest peak in the Eastern Alps is Piz Bernina, 4,049 metres (13,284 ft). Perhaps the most famous location for tourist to the Alps are the Swiss Alps.
The main chain of the Alps follows the watershed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Wienerwald, defining the northern border of Italy. It then passes over many of the highest and most famous peaks in the Alps. From the Colle di Cadibona to Col de Tende it runs to the west before turning to the northwest and then, to the north, near the Colle della Maddalena. Upon reaching the Swiss border, the line of the main chain goes about northeast, a heading it follows until its end near Vienna.
The Alps do not make an impassable block; they have been traveled by for war and commerce, and later by pilgrims, students and tourists. Mountain passes give paths between mountains, for road, train or foot traffic. Some are famous, being used for thousands of years.
The Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA) has defined a list of 82 "official" Alpine 4,000-meter (13,123 ft) peaks. The list has many sub-peaks with little prominence, but good for mountaineering. Here are the twelve four-thousanders with at least 1 km prominence.
Karl Blodig was the first person to climb all the main four-thousand meter peaks, round 1900.
The reason mountains form is usually the moving together of continental plates of the Earth's crust. The Alps rose as a result of the slow but gigantic pressure of the African plate as it moved north against the stable Eurasian landmass. In particular, Italy (which had been a separate island) got pushed into Europe.
This all took place in the Tertiary period, mostly in the Miocene and Pliocene. That's about 35 to 5 million years ago.
The Alps are just a part of a larger orogenic belt of mountain chains, called the Alpide belt. It reaches through southern Europe and Asia from the Atlantic Ocean most of the way to the Himalayas.
A gap in these mountain chains in central Europe separates the Alps from the Carpathians off to the east. Subsidence is the cause of the gaps in between.
A great and ancient ocean was once between Africa and Europe, the Tethys Ocean. Now sediments of the Tethys Ocean basin and its Mesozoic and early Cenozoic strata sit high above sea level. Even metamorphic basement rocks are found high on Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and other high peaks in the Pennine Alps and Hohe Tauern.
The formation of the Mediterranean Sea is a more recent development.
The Alps are popular both in summer and in winter. The Alps as a place for sightseeing and sports. Winter sports (Alpine and Nordic skiing, snowboarding, tobogganing, snowshoeing, ski tours) can be learned in most regions from December to April. In summer, the Alps are popular with hikers, mountain bikers, paragliders, and mountaineers. There are also alpine lakes which attract swimmers, sailors and surfers. The lower places and bigger towns of the Alps are well served by motorways and main roads, but higher passes and by-roads can be bad even in the summer. Many passes are closed in winter. Many airports around the Alps (and some within), as well as long-distance rail links from all bordering countries, afford large numbers of travelers easy access from abroad. The Alps normally has more than 100 million visitors a year.
The Alps is split into five climate zones, each with a different kind of environment. The climate, plant life and animal life vary on different sections or zones of the mountain.
The Alps is a classic example of what happens when a temperate area at lower altitude gives way to higher land. A rise from sea level into the upper regions causes the temperature to decrease. The effect of mountain chains on winds is to carry warm air belonging to the lower region into an upper zone, where it expands and loses heat, and drops snow or rain.
The typical trees—oak, beech, ash and sycamore maple have a natural height limit: the 'tree line'. Their upper limit matches the change in climate which comes with increasing height. The change from a temperate to a colder climate is also shown true by a change in the wild flowering plant life. This limit normally lies about above the sea on the north side of the Alps. On the southern slopes, it often reaches to , sometimes even to .
The Alps do not always have the typical trees. People have felled them in many places. Except for the beech forests of the Austrian Alps, forests of the typical deciduous trees are hardly found. Where such woods were, Scots pine and Norway spruce now grow. These trees are less sensitive to the attacks of goats who eat the saplings of deciduous trees.
Above the tree line, there is often a band of dwarf pine trees ("Pinus mugo"), which is taking place of dwarf shrubs. These shrubs are "Rhododendron ferrugineum" (on acid soils) or "Rhododendron hirsutum" (on non-acid soils).
Above this is the alpine meadow. Above the alpine meadow is where plant life becomes less and less common. At these great heights, the plants are likely to make separate groups. In the Alps, many species of flowering plants have been recorded above . These are like "Ranunculus glacialis", "Androsace alpina" and "Saxifraga biflora".
Species common to the Alps.
Rwanda is a country in Africa. It is near Burundi, Congo-Kinshasa, Uganda, and Tanzania. In the Rwandan genocide of 1994, over one million (1,000,000) people were killed.
During the Scramble for Africa, Belgium conquered Rwanda. The Belgians then began to divide Rwandans into groups: Hutu, and Tutsi. The Belgians picked people that they thought looked more European to be Tutsi. The rest became Hutu. The Belgians told Rwandans that Tutsi were superior to Hutu. They helped Tutsi rule over Hutu using their army.
On July 1, 1962, Rwanda became independent and Hutu were given power. Thus, anti-Tutsi purges occurred frequently. Many Tutsi fled to Uganda, where they formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front, or RPF, which tried to invade Rwanda in 1990.
On the night of April 6, 1994, dictator Juvénal Habyarimana's plane was shot down, but it is still not clear who did it. Within half an hour, roadblocks manned by the Interahamwe militia were seen all over the capital, Kigali. The genocide against Tutsi had begun. It lasted for about 100 days, and it left over one million (1,000,000), Tutsi and moderate Hutu dead. The main weapon used was the machete, or "umupanga". Other countries paid little attention to the killing. On July 2, 1994, the RPF captured Kigali.
There are five provinces in Rwanda. These are Northern Province, Southern Province, Eastern Province, Western Province, and the Kigali City in the centre.
This is a list of districts in Rwanda.
At , Rwanda is the world's 149th-largest country. The entire country is at a high altitude. The lowest point is the Rusizi River at above sea level. Rwanda is in Central/Eastern Africa. It is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the east, and Burundi to the south. It is a few degrees south of the equator and is landlocked. The capital, Kigali, is near the centre of Rwanda.
The country's longest river is the Nyabarongo. The Nyabarongo-Kagera eventually drains into Lake Victoria. Rwanda has many lakes, the largest being Lake Kivu. It is one of the twenty deepest lakes in the world. Other sizeable lakes include Burera, Ruhondo, Muhazi, Rweru, and Ihema. Ihema is the largest of a string of lakes in the eastern plains of Akagera National Park.
There are many mountains in central and western Rwanda. The highest peaks are found in the Virunga volcano chain in the northwest. This includes Mount Karisimbi, Rwanda's highest point, at . The centre of the country is mostly rolling hills. The eastern border area has savanna, plains and swamps.
Rwanda has a temperate tropical highland climate. It has lower temperatures than are typical for equatorial countries. This is because of its high elevation. Kigali, in the centre of the country, has a typical daily temperature range between and . There is little change through the year. There are two rainy seasons in the year. The first runs from February to June and the second from September to December. These are separated by two dry seasons. The major one is from June to September, during which there is often no rain at all. There is a shorter and less severe one from December to February.
In prehistoric times montane forest covered one third of the land of present-day Rwanda. Naturally occurring vegetation is now mostly in the three National parks, with terraced agriculture in the rest of the country. Nyungwe, the largest remaining forest, has 200 species of tree as well as orchids and begonias. Vegetation in the Volcanoes National Park is mostly bamboo and moorland, with small areas of forest. Akagera has a savanna ecosystem. Here there are mostly acacia. There are several rare or endangered plant species in Akagera, including "Markhamia lutea" and "Eulophia guineensis".
The greatest diversity of large mammals is found in the three National Parks. Akagera has typical savanna animals such as giraffes and elephants, while Volcanoes is home to about one third of the worldwide mountain gorilla population. Nyungwe Forest has thirteen primate species including chimpanzees and "Colobus" monkeys. The Ruwenzori colobus move in groups of up to 400, the largest troop size of any primate in Africa.
There are 670 bird species in Rwanda. There is a difference between the east and the west. Nyungwe Forest, in the west, has 280 recorded species. Species include the Ruwenzori Turaco and Handsome Francolin. Eastern Rwanda, by contrast, has savanna birds such as the Black-headed Gonolek and those who live near swamps and lakes, including storks and cranes.
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is the smallest of the Great Lakes in North America, but its maximum death (802ft; 244m) is deeper than lake Erie's (210ft) and Lake Huron's (750ft).
It forms most of the border between Ontario in Canada and New York in the United States of America. Its inlet is the Niagara River (from Niagara Falls), and its outlet is the Saint Lawrence River. Nearly 9 million Canadians live near Lake Ontario. It is the only Great Lake that does not touch the U.S. state of Michigan, the "Great Lakes State".
Lake Superior is a lake in Canada and the United States.
The Ojibwe Native Americans call it Gitchigume. Lake Superior is in between Ontario and Minnesota to the north and Wisconsin and Michigan in the south, and is the largest of North America's Great Lakes. It is the world's third largest lake, and the world's largest freshwater lake (by area). Its outlet is the St. Marys River to Lake Huron. The Soo Locks allow carrying large amounts of iron ore and other cargo to the other Great Lakes.
Over 80 species of fish live in Lake Superior.
SS "Edmund Fitzgerald" was an ore carrier on Lake Superior, carrying iron ore, which sank on November 10, 1975 at around 7:30 PM. The ship was known for being the biggest of its time weighing in at around 13, 600 tons, Edmund Fitzgerald was one of the largest “iron boats” working the Great Lakes. Nobody knows how the boat sunk, however it is very possible that the dangerously high weight of its cargo, and the violent winds and waves caused the ship to sink. All 29 men aboard the boat died and to this day no body's have been recovered. To remember the men on the S.S Fitzgerald a song was written by the Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot the song was titled "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". The song describes what the ship itself and touches on some theory's on how it may have sunk, interestingly enough the original song contained the passage:
This passage was proven to be false as a dive team sent in to recover the bodies found the main hatch way to be in perfect condition. When informed of this Gordon Lightfoot rewrote the verse to:
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. CC , born November 17, 1938, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He is famous around the world for his folk, country, and pop music songs. He was first heard in the 1960s and had hit radio songs in the 1970s such as: ""If You Could Read My Mind"", ""Sundown"", ""Carefree Highway"', ""Rainy Day People"" and ""The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".
Some of his songs have been recorded by other famous singers including: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Barbra Streisand and Tony Rice.
Robbie Robertson of the Canadian music group called the Band said Gordon Lightfoot was his "favourite Canadian songwriters."
Gordon Lightfoot's music career has lasted almost fifty years and he has recorded more than 200 songs. His folk music of the 1960s and 1970s influenced many famous singers including Bob Dylan and Jim Croce. Like Robertson, Bob Dylan called Lightfoot one of his favourite songwriters.
In his career Gordon Lightfoot has received sixteen Juno Awards. He won Junos as ""top folk singer"" in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977. He won a Juno as ""top male vocalist"" in 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973 And he won in 1972 and 1976 for being ""composer of the year."" He received ASCAP awards for songwriting in 1971, 1974, 1976 and 1977. And he has been nominated for five Grammy Awards. In 1980 Gordon Lightfoot was named ""Canadian Male Recording Artist of the Decade"" for his music of the 1970s.
Gordon Lightfoot was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986 and he was added to Canada's Walk of Fame in 1998. He was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2001.
In May 2003 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada which is one of Canada's highest awards.
Cornish might mean:
Chameleons are a family of lizards. Most can change the colour of their skins for camouflage, or to signal mood to other chameleons.
They are a distinct clade of lizards. They have parrot-like zygodactylous feet, separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, very long tongues they can flick out, a swaying gait, their prehensile tail, crests or horns on their strange-shaped heads, and many can change colour.