Rikunarita-ORG/Wikinium huggingface dataset:
# Suez Canal

Satellite view of the Suez Canal
The **Suez Canal** (Arabic: قناة السويس, *Qanā al-Suways*, French: *Le Canal de Suez*) is a canal in Egypt. It lies west of the Sinai Peninsula. The canal is 163 km long (101 miles) and, at its narrowest point, 200 m wide (656 ft). It runs between Port Said (*Būr Sa'īd*) on the Mediterranean Sea, and Suez (*al-Suways*) on the Red Sea. It was built by a French company. The canal was started in 1859 and finished in 1869.

The canal allows ships to travel between Europe and Asia without having to go the way around Africa. This saves time and fuel. It was built for Europeans to go to and from the Indian Ocean.

## History

In 1859, Egyptian workers and European engineers, working for Ferdinand de Lesseps of the Universal Suez Ship Canal Company, began digging under a contract with the Khedive of Ottoman Egypt. It took ten years to build. The first ship passed through the canal 17 November, 1869; Giuseppe Verdi wrote the famous opera Aida for this ceremony.

The canal made it possible to easily transport goods across the world. The canal also allowed Europeans to travel to East Africa, and soon to take control of it. The British tried to stop the canal, fearing that it would increase French power in the Indian Ocean. Later, they bought shares in the company.

The success of the Suez Canal encouraged the French to try to build the Panama Canal. But they did not finish it. The Panama Canal was finished later.

The canal was a central point during the Six Day War in 1967. A UN peacekeeping force has been stationed in the Sinai Peninsula since 1974, to avoid more wars. The canal reopened in 1975.

About 15,000 ships pass through the canal each year, which is about 14% of world shipping. Each ship takes up to 16 hours to cross the canal. In 2015 a central part of the canal was expanded so more ships can go through and go faster.

The canal was blocked for part of late March 2021 by the *Ever Given*, a container ship, which became stuck diagonally.
# Tropic of Cancer

The Tropic of Cancer and other circles of latitude of the Earth
Another view
The **Tropic of Cancer** is one of the five major circles of latitude (imaginary lines around the Earth) that are often marked on maps of the Earth. This is the parallel of latitude that is 23° 26' 22" north of the Equator. At every June Solstice the Sun passes straight overhead on the tropic. This never happens anywhere north of the Tropic of Cancer.

## Related pages

* Northern Hemisphere
* Eastern Hemisphere
* Western Hemisphere
* Seasons
* Solstice and equinox
* Equator
* Tropics
* Tropic of Capricorn
* Southern Hemisphere
* Arctic Circle
* Antarctic Circle
# Arabian Peninsula

The Arabian Peninsula
The **Arabian Peninsula** is a peninsula in Southwesterm Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia. It is east of Ethiopia and northern Somalia, south of Iraq and Jordan, and southwest of Iran. The waters around it are, to its southwest, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba; to its southeast, the Arabian Sea; and to its northeast, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf. The Arabian Peninsula is usually cited as the largest peninsula in the world and has an area of 3,237,500 square kilometers.

It includes these countries:

* Kuwait
* Oman
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia, which covers most of the peninsula
* United Arab Emirates
* Yemen

Most of the population of the peninsula live in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Northern Arabia has oil wells. Climate change and water scarcity are said to have affected the area.

A prominent feature of the Arabian Peninsula is desert. In Hejaz and its southwest, there are mountain ranges, which get more rain than the rest of the Arabian Peninsula.

## Related pages

* History of Arabia

## Other websites

* Arabia British Foreign Office, 1920
# Red Sea

Red Sea between Africa and Arabia
Coral reef near Marsa Alam, Egypt
The **Red Sea** is a sea between the Arabian Peninsula of Asia in the northeast and Africa in the southwest. It is a part of the Indian Ocean. The Red Sea is about 2200 km long and less than 330 km wide.

Many ships go through the Red Sea because the Suez Channel at the north end connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. Bab-el-Mandeb in the south is a gate to the Indian Ocean. Ports include Suez, Port Sudan, Massawa, Yanbu al-Bahr, Jeddah, Aqaba and Eilat.

The Red Sea has that name because it sometimes looks red from the red algae. The water has more salt and is clearer than water of most other seas because almost no rivers run into it.

The climate is dry and warm the whole year. Many people, including those from Europe, like to vacation there during the winter. Some of them are divers and want to see the beautiful coral reefs and fish. Seaside resorts include Sharm el-Sheikh, Eilat or Hurghada.

## Geography

The countries next to the Red Sea are Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel.
# Hawaiian Islands

From west to east, Hawaii is made up of the following **Hawaiian Islands**:

Map of the Hawaiian Islands
The chain of islands stretches 2,400 km (1500 miles) in a southeasterly direction to the southern tip of the Island of Hawaii The hot-spot which formed them moved South-East in the Pacific Ocean. The hot-spot in the Earth's crust moved to where it is now, near the island of Hawaii, or, rather, the hot spot stayed where it was, and the plates of the Earth's crust moved, so creating the islands.

* Niʻihau
* Kauaʻi
* Oʻahu
* Molokaʻi
* Lānaʻi
* Kahoʻolawe
* Maui
* Hawaiʻi

Hawaii has been a U.S. state since 1959.

The Hawaiian islands, plus former islands now below sea level (guyots), make up the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain.
# Malay Archipelago

Malay Archipelago (Nusantara Archipelago)| World map highlighting Malay Archipelago. New Guinea—not part of the Malay Archipelago by some definitions—is also included. |
|  |
| Geography |
| Location | Southeast Asia, Oceania |
| Total islands | 25,000 - 30,000 |
| Major islands | Borneo, Java, Luzon, Mindanao, New Guinea, Sulawesi, Sumatra |
| Area | 2,000,000 km2 (770,000 sq mi) |
| Highest point |  |
| Administration |
| **Brunei** |
| East Timor |
| Indonesia |
| Malaysia |
| Papua New Guinea |
| Philippines |
| Singapore |
| Demographics |
| Population | 350 million. |
| Ethnic groups | Austronesian peoples, Malay, Overseas Chinese |

The **Malay Archipelago** or **Nusantara Archipelago** refers to the archipelago between mainland Southeastern Asia and Australia.

It has also been called the **East Indies**, the Indo-Australian Archipelago, Indonesian Archipelago and other names over time.

The archipelago is between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The group has over 25,000 islands. It is the largest archipelago by area, and third by number of islands in the world. It includes Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, East Malaysia and East Timor.

The island of New Guinea or islands of Papua New Guinea are not always included in definitions of the Malay Archipelago. The Indonesian Moluccas are included in the archipelago.

## Natural history

The Malay Archipelago is the place where two large tectonic plates meet, and is an area where orogeny (mountains) and volcanoes are common.

The Wallace Line is a key term in biogeography. It passes between Bali and Lombok, which are separated by a passage of water which is both deep and fast. On the one side are Australasian species, and on the other side Asian species. The natural history of the area was investigated by Alfred Russel Wallace, who spent eight years in the Spice Islands.

"In this archipelago there are two distinct faunas rigidly circumscribed, which differ as much as do those of Africa and South America... yet there is nothing on the map or on the face of the islands to mark their limits. The boundary line passes between islands closer together than others belonging to the same group. I believe the western part to be a separated portion of continental Asia, while the eastern is a fragmentary prolongation of a former west Pacific continent".
# Strait of Malacca

The **Strait of Malacca** is a marine strait. It links the Andaman Sea and the Java Sea, and separates Malaya and Sumatra. It is about 800 km long. Most parts are between 50 kilometres (31 mi) and 300 kilometres (190 mi) wide. At its narrowest point, it is only 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km; 1.7 mi) wide. At its shallowest point it is about 25 metres (82 ft) deep. The strait has been historically important, linking India to Southeast Asia and China, and has been an important hub for religion, primarily Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam.
# Amazon basin

Amazon River basin
The **Amazon Basin** is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its branches. It is low-lying in relation to sea level.

The river has its origins high up in the Andes of Peru and Ecuador. More than half of this drainage basin (54%) is in Brazil, including the lower part. Other portions are tributaries from Colombia, Venezuela and Bolivia.

The Amazon rainforest is the largest in the world, covering about 8,235,430 km2 (3,179,720 sq mi) with dense tropical rain forest. It is also known as Amazonia. This is one of the world's most important ecosystems.
# Tropic of Capricorn

The Tropic of Capricorn and other circles of latitude of the Earth
World map showing the Tropic of Capricorn
The **Tropic of Capricorn**, or **Southern tropic**, is one of the five major circles of latitude of a map of the Earth. It is 23° 26′ 22″ south of the Equator.

It marks the most southerly latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead. This happens at the December solstice, when the southern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun to its maximum extent.

## Countries

The Tropic of Capricorn goes through these countries, starting at the prime meridian and going west:

* Brazil
* Paraguay
* Argentina
* Chile
* French Polynesia - passing just south of Tubuai
* Tonga - passing just north of the Minerva Reefs
* Coral Sea Islands Territory (Australia) - passing just south of Cato Reef
* Australia
* Madagascar
* Mozambique
* South Africa
* Botswana
* Namibia

## History

The Tropic of Capricorn is named because about 2000 years ago the sun was entering the constellation Capricornus on the December solstice. Now the sun appears in the constellation Sagittarius during the December solstice. The change is due to precession of the equinoxes. The word "tropic" comes from the Greek tropos, meaning *turn*. This refers to the fact that the sun appears to "turn back" at the solstices.

## Related pages

* Southern Hemisphere
* Eastern Hemisphere
* Western Hemisphere
* Seasons
* Solstice and equinox
* Equator
* Tropics
* Tropic of Cancer
* Northern Hemisphere
* Arctic Circle
* Antarctic Circle