cahya/wikipedia-simple-en huggingface dataset:
Anvil

An anvil is a hard piece of metal which is used as a workbench when making things out of iron or steel. An anvil is used by a blacksmith when he needs to hammer hot iron to bend it into the shape he wants. A blacksmith can make new shoes for horses.

Anvils were known in the Bronze Age and possibly earlier. They were used in Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt. They are still in use today, although not nearly as much as 100 years ago when there were many more horses. 

Anvils are extremely heavy. They are made in different sizes. The 17th century writer John Bunyan was a tinker (someone who mends pots and pans). He walked around the villages of Bedfordshire with a small anvil and a few tools on his back. His anvil was wedge-shaped, so that he could knock it into the ground when he needed to do a repair. His anvil is now in the John Bunyan museum in Bedford.

Use as a musical instrument 

The anvil has sometimes been used as a percussion instrument because it makes a very loud sound when hit by the hammer. Usually musicians use a metal bar mounted on a sound-box. This sounds just as good as a real anvil (which would be very heavy to carry around).

Verdi wrote some famous music called the Anvil Chorus in his opera Il Trovatore. Wagner asked for 18 anvils in Das Rheingold in the scene which takes place below the earth where the Nibelungs are working at their forges. Albert Parlow wrote an Anvil Polka, Varèse used an anvil in Ionisation, Walton uses an anvil in Belshazzar’s Feast and there is an anvil in the orchestra in Howard Shore's music for The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

Related pages
Forge
Iron
Steel
Blacksmith
Silversmith

Tools
Percussion instruments
Inca Empire

The Inca were a pre-Columbian civilization and empire in the Andes of South America. The word Inca can also mean the emperor or king of the Inca people. It was the largest empire in the Americas, and was large even by world standards. It existed shortly before Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas. 

The Inca ruled along the western coast of South America for a little over 100 years, until the Spanish invasion in the 16th century. The empire was centred around the city of Cusco, or Qosqo, in what is now southern Peru. This was the administrative, political and military center of the empire. In later years, it was also centred around Quito. The Inca were ruled by an Emperor known as the Sapa Inca. Throughout their empire, they built many roads and bridges to make travel  between their communities easy.

The Inca Empire was called  in Quechua, which means "four regions". The empire only lasted for about 100 years as the arrival of the conquering Spaniards in 1532 AD marked the end of their reign. Their main language was Quechua, but as the Empire was made up of many different groups there were probably many different languages as well.

The Inca Empire began around Lake Titicaca in about 1197. From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used conquest and non-violent assimilation to gain a large portion of western South America. Their empire centered on the Andean mountain ranges. It included large parts of what is now Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile.

In 1533, Atahualpa, the last sovereign emperor, was executed by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro. That meant the beginning of Spanish rule in South America. The Inca Empire was supported by an economy based on the collective ownership of the land.

Bibliography 
Popenoe, Hugh et al 1989. Lost crops of the Incas. Washington DC: National Academy Press.
De la Vega, Garcilaso 1961. The Incas: the royal commentaries of the Inca. New York: The Orion Press.
McNeill, William H. 2006. How the potato changed the world's history. Social Research 66 1.

Other websites 
 Conquest of Peru, Prescott, 1847 Full text, free to read and search, a definitive history of the Incas.  One of the most readable and engaging history books of all time.  Humankind lost a civilization of impressive societal value.
 Inca Land by Hiram Bingham (published 1912–1922)
 Inca Artifacts, Peru, and Machu Picchu 360 degree movies of inca artifacts and Peruvian landscapes.
 Inca civilization and other ancient civilizations by Genry Joil.
 Inca stone cutting techniques: theory on how the Inca walls fit so perfectly.
 Ancient Civilizations - Inca Great research site for kids.
 Incan Ice Mummies NOVA site based on their series about the 1996 expedition that discovered Incan ice mummies.
 Incan Religion 

 
Former empires
1197 establishments
1532 disestablishments
Former monarchies of South America
16th-century disestablishments in South America
Pre-Columbian era

The pre-Columbian era means the history and prehistory of the Americas before there were important European influences on the American continent.

The word pre-Columbian refers to the era before Christopher Columbus, but sometimes it can include the history of American indigenous cultures as they continued to develop after the Christopher Columbus' first landing in 1492, until they were conquered or influenced by Europeans, even if this happened decades or even centuries after the arrival of Columbus.

Pre-Columbian can also mean cultures of any one of the great native civilizations of the Americas, such as those of Mesoamerica (the Aztec and Maya) and of the Andes (Inca, Moche and Chibcha).

Related pages
Native American
Columbian Exchange

References 
Sorenson, John L. and Johannessen, Carl L. (2006) "Biological Evidence for Pre-Columbian Transoceanic Voyages." In: Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World. Ed. Victor H. Mair. University of Hawai'i Press. pp. 238–297.

Other websites 
 Central Andes Prehistoric Sequence

Native American
Periods and ages in history
Duct tape

Duct tape, sometimes called duck tape, is a very strong adhesive tape with a cloth backing . Usually duct tape is grey or black, but it is made in other colors including transparent, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, flames, zebra stripe, leopard spot, tye dye, and others. People use duct tape to repair many things, for example a broken handbag or a broken chair.

Duct tape was designed during World War I. It was first used to keep water out of ammunition cases. It was found to work so well that people started using it to fix many other things. Duct tape was also called "100 mph tape" by the military because it is said the tape will still stick in winds at speeds of 100 miles per hour. Duct tape got its name from its use on heating and air conditioning ducts but oddly enough, that is the one use that the tape is not very good for. It is illegal in California to use duct tape on ducts and most professional builders in the United States are not allowed to use it either.

In the United States, people use duct tape in many action movies and television shows. Strips of duct tape can be used to tie a person up because it is very hard to get them off.

Duct tape is also great for making things like wallets, purses, clothes, and sometimes even sculptures. The use of it as an art medium is fairly new, though.

Tools
Text editor

A text editor is a program that is run on a computer that can create and change text.  The text can be saved into a file that is called a "text file".  Text editors can be used for a lot of things.  Many people use them to write documents.  Some people write code (like HTML or C++) using a text editor. 

Some text editors can edit rich text.  Rich text allows bold text, italic text, and other things.  This is why rich text is different form "text file" which do not have bold text or italic text properties.

Most text editors today support "search and replace". A computer will quickly find some text the user wants. The user can tell the computer to replace the found text with something else. This can be in part or all of the document.

Copy, cut and paste are other common options in text editors.  Copy allows users to instantly add a copy of text in one place to another place.  Cut and paste are similar, except that the text is moved from one place to another instead of being copied.  This is very useful when a writer wishes to put his paragraphs in a different order, for example.

Sometimes users make mistakes, or need to do the same thing over and over without getting bored. This is what the undo and redo features do. Users can reverse their mistakes, or quickly repeat their actions. Some text editors allow many mistakes in a row to be reversed; others allow only one or two.

Related pages 
 Hex editor
 Word processor
 WYSIWYG
 WYSIWYM

software
Valency

This article is about the chemical concept of valence, or valency. Other meanings are at valence.

In chemistry, valency or valence is the number of chemical bonds that an atom of a certain element can form.

For a long time, people thought that this number was a fixed property of the element in question. They thought that carbon always has four bonds, oxygen always has two, and hydrogen always has one. The problem was seen only later. For example, phosphorous sometimes behaves as if it had three bonds, a valence of three. At other times, though, it seems to have five bonds. 

IUPAC saw this problem, and proposed oxidation numbers. This means there is one number per chemical element. The problem with this approach is that it leaves aside most chemical properties of the elements in question.

A valence band is the highest occupied molecular orbital normally occupied by valence electrons for a given solid at absolute zero temperature.

Related pages 
 Valence electron

Other websites 
"Valence" from the IUPAC Gold Book (PDF file)

Chemistry
Valence (Charente)

This article is about a village in Poutou-Charentes, other meanings of the word are at Valence
Valence is a village in France, in Poitou-Charentes. It is near Angoulême. In 1999, 240 people lived there.

Communes in Charente
Valence (Tarn-et-Garonne)

This article is about a village in the french department Tart-et-Garonne. Other meanings are at Valence

Valence is a village in the Midi-Pyrénées region of France. It is in the department Tarn-et-Garonne. In 1999, about 4800 people lived there. Together with 23 other, similar villages, it formed the Communauté de communes des Deux Rives. In that structure (that is, in all the villages together) there are about 15.500 people. 

Valence is located 25 km from Agen, 45 km from  Montauban, 60 km from Cahors,  90 km from Toulouse and 160 km from  Bordeaux

Communes in Tarn-et-Garonne
Valence-d'Albigeois

This article is about a village near Albi. Other meanings are at Valence

Valence-d'Albigeois is a village in the department of Tarn, in French region Midi-Pyrénées. It is near Albi. In 1999, 1142 people lived there.

Communes in Tarn
Valence-en-Brie

This article is about a village near Melun. Other meanings are at Valence

Valence-en-Brie is a village in the Île-de-France region in France. It is located near Melun in the department Seine-et-Marne. In 1999, 583 people lived there.

Communes in Seine-et-Marne
Valence-sur-Baïse

This article is about the medieval bastide near Condom-en-Armagnac. Other meanings are at Valence

Valence-sur-Baïse is a city in the Gers department of the Midi-Pyrénees region in France. It is near Condom-en-Armagnac. It was founded in 1274 by Gerald V, Count of Armagnac, and the Cistercian Abbey of Flaran as a Bastide (a fortified city). In 1999, 1151 people lived there. There is an old cisercian abbey at the place. Today the abbey serves as a cultural center. There is also a public washing basin, and a port, where ships can land.

Bastides
Communes in Gers
Arcade

This is about an architecture. For the game arcade, check Video arcades.
In architecture, an Arcade is a passage or a walkway that is covered by arches or vaults. It can also be a covered walkway with arches (towards a place or a street).

Images 

Architectural elements
Camouflage (disambiguation)

Camouflage can mean:

Camouflage: protective colouration of living things
Military camouflage used for uniforms, vehicles and ships
Camouflage (band), a German synth-pop band
Camouflage (book), a science fiction novel by Joe Haldeman
Camouflage (TV series) short-lived U.S. game show on TV from 1961-1962
A song by Stan Ridgway from 1986 ("I was a PFC on a search patrol hunting Charlie down...")
Military camouflage

Camouflage is a type of clothing, fabric covering, or painted pattern used by militaries and armies to make it harder to see soldiers and weapons such as artillery guns and military vehicles. Camouflage clothes, fabric coverings, and paint use a colored pattern of several colors that is designed to blend in with the surroundings. Camouflage patterns are also used for hunting clothes.

Types of camouflage patterns 

Camouflage patterns used in desert areas, are beige and light brown. Camouflage patterns used in forested areas, mix different green and brown colors. Camouflage patterns used in urban areas mix grey, white, and black colors. Camouflage for snowy areas use white colors to blend in with the snow.

History 
Camouflage became an important part of modern military tactics when the accuracy of rifles and cannons improved at the end of the 1800s. But armies continued to use bright colours and designs until the 20th century. During World War II camouflage became a common feature in military uniforms. As well, many military vehicles such as planes and trucks were painted with camouflage patterns.

Different countries use different types of military camouflage patterns.

References
Alan Raven - The Development of Naval Camouflage 1914 – 1945
Roy R. Behrens - Art and Camouflage: An Annotated Bibliography 
U.S. Army manual FM 21-76 on camouflage 
Guy Hartcup - Camouflage: A History of Concealment and Deception in War (1980)
WWII War Department Field Manual FM 5-20B: Camouflage of Vehicles (1944)

History of British Military Uniforms.

Other websites

Henrik Clausen 
Kamouflage.net
Crye Precision's Multicam multi-environment pattern
Roggenwolf digital camouflage 
Hyperstealth Biotechnology fractal camouflage

War
Survival skills
Clothing
Assyrian genocide

The Assyrian genocide was a genocide by the Ottoman Empire in which over 300,000 Assyrians were killed during raids.

The Assyrians call it the Sayfo, the Aramaic word for "sword". Many Assyrians were considered unpure by the Turks and were massacred for not giving up Christianity and becoming Muslims. Assyrians lost their homes and possessions to the sultan, Adulhamed the Red. Even before the genocide, they had been persecuted and forced to pay high taxes.

Since ancient times and the conquest by the Babylonians, the Assyrians have not have had their own nation. Their diaspora has spread over to many different countries.

Under the Arabs and the Turks, they were oppressed and forced assimilated to the empires, and many lost their independence. Those who have survived keep their common unity, especially in their deep Christian faith.

Personal experience quoted from the Assyrian Voice

Overview of the massacre 

The Assyrian genocide (also known as Sayfo or Seyfo) was committed against the Assyrian population of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War by the Young Turks. The Assyrian population of northern Mesopotamia included the Tur Abdin, Hakkari, Van, Siirt regions of present-day southeastern Turkey and the Urmia region of northwestern Iran. They were forcibly relocated and massacred by Ottoman (Turkish) and Kurdish forces between 1914 and 1920 under the regime of the Young Turks.
Scholars have placed the number of Assyrian victims from 300,000-750,000.

The Assyrian genocide took place in the same context and time-period as the Armenian and Greek genocides. But unlike these, no official national or international recognition of the Assyrian genocide has been made, and many accounts discuss the Assyrian genocide as a part of the larger events subsumed under the Armenian genocide.

References 

Genocides in Asia
Ottoman Empire
Democratic Republic of Georgia

The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; Georgian: საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა, Sakartvelos Demokratiuli Respublika), 1918–1921, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of Georgia.

Georgia's capital was Tbilisi, and its state language was Georgian. Created on May 26, 1918, on the break-up of the Transcaucasian Federation, it was led by the Social Democratic Menshevik party. Facing permanent internal and external problems, the young state was not able to withstand the invasion by the Russian SFSR Red Armies. It collapsed between February and March of 1921 to become a Soviet republic.

Former republics
1918 establishments in Europe
1921 disestablishments
1920s disestablishments in Europe
Alternative rock

Alternative rock  is a type of rock music that started between 1979-1981 and popular by 1992. Alternative rock is made up of various subgenres that have come out of the indie music scene since the 1980s, such as grunge, indie rock, Britpop, gothic rock, and indie pop.  

These genres are sorted by their collective types of punk, which laid the groundwork for alternative music in the 1970s. 

Examples of alternative rock bands include R.E.M., Nirvana, Radiohead and Oasis.

References 

Rock music
Alternative music
Anne Sullivan

Anne Sullivan (April 14, 1866 – October 20, 1936) was a teacher best known as the tutor of Helen Keller.  Anne Sullivan married John Macy in 1905.  Her health started getting worse in 1914, and she died on October 20, 1936 holding hands with Helen Keller.

Anne Sullivan was born in Feeding Hills, Hampden County, Massachusetts.  Her parents, Thomas Sullivan and Alice Clohessy, were poor Irish farmers who left Ireland in 1847 because of the Irish Potato Famine.  Sullivan taught Helen Keller sign language.  Anne and Helen lived together in Forest Hills, Queens, New York and Anne died there on October 20, 1936.  Anne was Helen's favorite teacher.  Helen wrote the book 'Teacher' about Anne. 

1866 births
1936 deaths
American teachers
Educators from Massachusetts
Blind people
Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra

The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Belgrade, Serbia.  It was founded in 1923. Its founder was Stevan Hristić, one of the most important Serbian composers and conductors. The  first concert of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra took place on  April 28, 1923 with Hristić conducting.

The orchestra was the best orchestra in Yugoslavia.  By the 1960s it had become one of the best orchestras in Europe.  Then, during the 1990s there were wars in the areas which made up Yugoslavia.  For a time the orchestra were not allowed to play abroad.  It was a difficult time for them, and many players left.

In 2000, with Belgrade now the capital city of Serbia, the orchestra was built up again.  Many new players from other countries joined the orchestra, most of them were young.  Their concert hall was rebuilt.  They have worked with famous people such as Zubin Mehta, Sarah Chang and Nigel Kennedy.

However, the orchestra are facing difficult times again.  They need more money.  In 2009 they advertised in the city's newspapers that they were available to play at weddings, funerals, baptisms, divorces and saints' days.  Some people thought the advertisement was not the right thing for the orchestra to do, but it has attracted support from many young people.

References

Orchestras
Belgrade
1923 establishments in Europe
20th century establishments in Serbia
Futrono

Futrono is one of the 12 municipalities in the province of Valdivia, in the region of Los Lagos of Chile. It is located on the north side of the Ranco lake, but the town of Futrono is not on the shore.

This place was a territory of mapuches indigenous. They called this town, Futronohue. Then, it becomes a port used to transport things to Puerto Nuevo, and after that to La Unión. In 1941, the municipality was created and that made it grow in population.

Now, Futrono has much more activity, for example; agriculture, tourism and high quality furniture companies.

Cities in Chile
Tigranes the Great

Tigranes the Great (, ; also called Tigranes II and sometimes Tigranes I) was the king of Armenia. He ruled from 95 BCE to 55 BCE. His country became for a short time the strongest state in the Roman East.

Tigranes was born around 140 BCE and was the son or nephew of Artavasdes I or Tigranes I.

Tigranes the Great represented the Artaxiad Royal House.

He was involved in many battles during his reign. He had battles against the Parthian, Seleucid, and Roman empires.

Related pages 
Kingdom of Armenia (Antiquity) (Expanded lands massively)

Other websites

History of Armenia
Monarchs of Armenia
George Canning

George Canning PC, FRS (11 April 1770 – 8 August 1827) was a British statesman and politician who was Foreign Secretary and, briefly, Prime Minister.

Entry into politics 
Stratford Canning was a Whig and would introduce his nephew in the 1780s to prominent Whigs such as Charles James Fox, Edmund Burke, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. George Canning's friendship with Sheridan would last for the remainder of Sheridan's life.

1770 births
1827 deaths
Alumni of the University of Oxford
Chancellors of the Exchequer
People buried in Westminster Abbey
Politicians from London
Chester city walls

The Chester city walls are big intact defensive walls around an important English city of Chester. The city has been defended with walls since the foundation of the Deva Victrix fort on the site in 79.

History
The first walls were built to help the Roman fort in 79, although these were replaced by stronger stone walls between the 1st and 3rd century. The walls enclosed a far smaller area than the modern walls, with the south-western corner much farther from the River Dee.

History of England
Monuments and memorials in England
Defensive walls
citywalls
Physicalism

Physicalism is the view that everything in the universe is made out of physical matter.  Physicalism does not believe in gods, spirits, or other things that are not made of physical material.  A person who believes in physicalism is a materialist.

Epistemology
Philosophical movements and positions
Herd

A herd is a large group of animals. The term is used for mammals, particularly hoofed animals. Herding is a good example of collective animal behavior. Other terms are used for similar types of behavior in other types of animal. For example, a large group of birds is usually called a flock (this may also refer to certain mammals as well) and a large group of carnivores is usually called a pack. 

In addition, special collective nouns may be used for particular cases: for example a flock of geese, if not in flight, is sometimes called a gaggle. However, in theoretical discussions in behavioural ecology, the term "herd" is used for all these kinds of assemblage. A herd may also refer to one that tends and cares for such groups (e.i. shepherds tend to sheep, and goatherds tend to goats, etc.).

When an association of animals (or, by extension, people) is described as a "herd", that means that the group tends to act together (for example, all moving in the same direction at a given time), but that this does not occur as a result of planning or co-ordination. Rather, each individual is choosing behaviour that corresponds to that of the majority of other members, possibly through imitation or possibly because all are responding to the same external circumstances. A herd can be contrasted with a co-ordinated group where individuals have distinct roles. Many human groupings, such as an army detachments or sports teams, show such co-ordination and differentiation of roles, but so do some animal groupings such as those of eusocial insects, which are co-ordinated through pheromones and other forms of animal communication. Conversely, some human groupings may behave more like herds.

Related pages 
Collective animal behaviour

Zoology
Ethology
Ungulate

Ungulates (meaning roughly "hoofed animal") are several groups of mammals. Most of them use the tips of their toes, usually as hooves, to support their body weight while moving.  

As a descriptive term, "ungulate" normally excludes cetaceans (whales, dolphins, porpoises), because they do not have most of the typical morphological characteristics of ungulates. However, recent discoveries show that the Cetacea were descended from early artiodactyls. 

Ungulates are typically herbivorous and many use specialised gut flora to digest cellulose. Some modern species, such as pigs, are omnivorous. Some prehistoric species, such as the Mesonychia, were carnivorous.

Ungulates include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses and tapirs, and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, camels, sheep, deer, and hippopotamuses. Cetaceans are also even-toed ungulates although they do not have hooves.

References

Related pages
 Even-toed ungulate
 Odd-toed ungulate
Aylesbury

Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in south central England. It had a population in 2001 of 65,173. Aylesbury is near London. Aylesbury was a major market town in Anglo-Saxon times. Aylesbury replaced Buckingham as the county town of Buckinghamshire in 1529 by order of King Henry VIII.

It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and, since 2010, the 1,200 seat Waterside Theatre. 

It is a popular London commuter town, thanks to its easy access to the A41, directly leading to the M25.

References 

County towns in England
Towns in Buckinghamshire
Augusta, Georgia

Augusta is a city in the state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 195,182. In 1996, the governments of the City of Augusta and Richmond County combined to form the Augusta-Richmond County. The consolidated city-county is today simply known as "Augusta, Georgia". The area that makes up the city of Augusta includes almost all of Richmond County, except for the towns of Hephzibah and Blythe. These towns have their own governments separate from that of Augusta.

Augusta is on the Georgia/South Carolina border. It is about 150 miles east of Atlanta. It is the second largest city and second largest metropolitan area in the state. Augusta is the birthplace of the Southern Baptist denomination. It is also the location of Springfield Baptist Church, the oldest African-American Baptist church in the United States. The city is famous for its golf course, the Augusta National Golf Club which is home to the first major golf tournament of each year, The Masters.

The city was named for Augusta, Princess of Wales, daughter-in-law of King George II of Great Britain and mother of King George III of Great Britain. It was the second state capital of Georgia from 1785 until 1795

Augusta's official nickname is The Garden City. It is also known as Masters City, because of the Masters golf tournament.

References

Other websites 
 City of Augusta Homepage
 Augusta Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau 

 
County seats in Georgia
1736 establishments
1730s establishments in the Thirteen Colonies
18th-century establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
Landsberg Prison

Landsberg Prison is a prison in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria. It is about  west of Munich.

History
The Landsberg Prison was built around 1910 on the town's western edge. Its most noted prisoner was Adolf Hitler. Hitler was there in 1924 after being found guilty of treason for his part in the Beer Hall Putsch. It was during his time at Landsberg that Hitler wrote his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) with help from Rudolf Hess. During the occupation of Germany by the Allies after World War II, the US Army named the prison as "War Criminal Prison No. 1". They held many Nazi war criminals there. Executions of war criminals were also done at Landsberg. The last of these executions happened on June 8, 1951. These were the last executions in the Federal Republic of Germany, then commonly known as West Germany.

Related pages
 Beer Hall Putsch

References

Other websites

 Landsberg "The Hitlertown": The City of Youth

Buildings and structures in Bavaria
Nazism
Prisons in Germany
Melun

Melun is a city in France. It is the capital of the Seine-et-Marne department, in the Île-de-France region of France. The city is about 40 kilometres southeast of Paris, in a bend of the river Seine. Between Brie and Gâtinais. It is between 37 metres and 102 metres of above the sea. At the last count in 1999, 37.500 people lived there.

The city is home to the production of the Brie de Melun, a saltier variant of the Brie de Meaux. A school for police officers has been in the city since 1945. Other than that there are pharmaceuitical and aviation industries and a prison complex in the city.

The first historical mention of the city is in 52BC, as Melodunum. The modern name of the city comes from the name it had in the 6th century, Meluneum. Clovis I makes a duchy out of the city. He also has fortifications built. The city gains new importance. The city is also prone to raids of the vikings, most notably those in 852 and 866.

When the département Seine-et-Marne was formed on the 4th March 1790, Melun became its capital.

Education 
A campus of the École nationale de l'aviation civile (French civil aviation academy) is in Melun.

Transports 
 Melun Villaroche Aerodrome

Images

Communes in Seine-et-Marne
Departmental capitals in France
Cities in France
World Heritage Sites in France
Midi-Pyrénées

Midi-Pyrénées ( or Mieidia-Pirenèus) is a former administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Occitanie. It is part of the historical region of Occitania.

The name of the region is not based on any old name, like in most other regions, but on the geography of the region, Midi (meaning "southern France") - Pyrénées (Pyrenees mountains that are the highest mountains in the region). The French adjective and name of the people living in the region is Midi-Pyrénéen.

The departments in the region were Ariège, Aveyron, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Lot, Hautes-Pyrénées, Tarn, and Tarn-et-Garonne. Its capital was Toulouse.

Geography
The Midi-Pyrénées region is the largest region of Metropolitan France. It had an area of . It bordered to the south with Spain and Andorra. It also bordered four French regions: Aquitaine to the west, Limousin to the north, Auvergne to the northeast and Languedoc-Roussillon to the east.

The region can be divided into three landscape zones:
 The south is dominated by the high mountains of the Pyrenees.
 The north-east and the north are part of the highlands of the Massif Central
 The central and north-western parts of the region, however, are flat. This zone is dominated by the Garonne river and its tributaries, which drains most of the region to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Pic Vignemale (), at , is the highest point of the Midi-Pyrénées region; it is on the border with Spain. The Vignemale is in the Pyrénées National Park.

The main rivers of the region are the Garonne river, that flows through the Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrénées and Tarn-et-Garonne departments; and the Adour river, that flows through the Hautes-Pyrénées and Gers departments.

Departments
The Midi-Pyrénées region was formed by eight departments:

Demographics
In 2012, The Midi-Pyrénées region had a population of 2,926,592. Its population density was  inhabitants/km2.

The 10 most important cities in the region were:

Gallery

References

Other websites

 Regional Council of Midi-Pyrénées official website 
 france.fr - Official website of France 
 About-France.com: MIDI-PYRENEES - a short guide

Former administrative regions of France
Alsace

Alsace (Alsatian and Alemannic German: Elsàss, pre-1996 German: Elsaß) was an administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Grand Est. Alsace was on the eastern border of France. It was on the west bank of the Upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. 

The departments in Alsace were Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin.

Before the region merged with Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine in 2014, data from INSEE stated that about 1.8 million people lived there as of 2013. Its capital was Strasbourg, the largest city. It changed hands between France and Germany many times. The people living there had an attitude and set of social values that was closer to the German ones, than the French. Language, cuisine, music, dress and customs were Germanic, and very close to the Swabian ones across the Rhine. The overall culture was generally more German than French, being somewhere between German and French.  

Alsace was part of the Holy Roman Empire and was still inhabited by people speaking a dialect of Upper German.  In the 17th century, all of Alsace was annexed (in steps) under King Louis XIV of France. He made it one of the provinces of France. 

The Treaty of Verdun had divided the empire of Charlemagne in the 9th century, eventually causing Alsace to be frequently mentioned in conjunction with Lorraine, because the possession of these two régions (as Alsace-Lorraine) was often contested in the 19th and 20th centuries.

References

Other websites
Regions of France

France is split into 18 administrative regions (regions). These regions are a kind of local government.

Thirteen regions are in Metropolitan France (the part of the country that is in Europe). Each region contains a few of the Departments of France. Corsica has a different status than the other 12 metropolitan regions. It is called collectivist territorial. Five regions are overseas.

There used to be 27 regions. In 2016, some regions were combined and there are now 18.

References

Geography of France
Auvergne

Auvergne () is a former administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is in the Massif Central in south-central France. The inhabitants of the region are known as Auvergnats.

The four departments in Auvergne were Allier, Cantal, Haute-Loire, and Puy-de-Dôme. Its capital was Clermont-Ferrand.

History
The region of Auvergne was named after the Arverni, one of the most powerful gallic tribes.

The administrative region of Auvergne was formed with the territory of the old province of Auvergne, most of the territory of the Bourbonnais and small parts of Languedoc and Lyonnais.

During World War II, Vichy (a city in the department of Allier) was the headquarters of the government of the French State.

Geography
The Auvergne region has an area of , 4.8% of France's total surface area. It was surrounded by six other former regions: Burgundy to the northeast, Rhône-Alpes to the east and to the southeast, Languedoc-Roussillon to the south, Midi-Pyrénées to the southwest, Limousin to the west and Centre-Val de Loire to the northwest.

The landscape of the region varies greatly, with valleys, mountain, meadows and forests. Much of the regions is in the Massif Central, a high region in south-central France with mountains and plateaus.

There are many dormant volcanoes (volcanoes that are not active) in Auvergne, mainly in the Monts Dore and in the Chaîne des Puys. The highest point in Auvergne is the Puy de Sancy (), at  high.

The northern part of the region (in the Allier department) is a land of small hills cut in two parts by a plain, the valley of the Allier river.

Auvergne has about 50 freshwater ponds and lakes. Some are high in the mountains and have volcanic origins. The Guéry Lake is, at  high in the Puy-de-Dôme department, the highest lake in Auvergne.

The main rivers of the region are the:
 Loire, that runs through the Haute-Loire in the southeast and then, after returning from the Rhône-Alpes region, makes the northeastern border of the Allier department; and
 Allier, that runs though the centre of the region.

Departments
The Auvergne region was formed by four departments:

Demographics
The Auvergne region had a population, in 2012, of 1,354,104, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

The ten main cities in the department are:

Economy
The region is predominantly agricultural. Cattle are common and are used both for meat (beef) and for milk, which is made into a number of well-known cheeses such as Bleu d'Auvergne, Cantal, Fourme d'Ambert and Saint-Nectaire.

The main industry in Auvergne is the tyre industry, represented by Michelin, with headquarters and history in Clermont-Ferrand, and Dunlop in Montluçon.

Gallery

References

Other websites

 Regional Council of Auvergne official website 
 Holidays in Auvergne
 About-France.com: Auvergne guide and tourist attractions

Former administrative regions of France
Lower Normandy

Lower Normandy (called Basse-Normandie in French) is a former  administrative Regions of France.  It is now part of the region of Normandy. The capital city was Caen. In 2007 about 1.4 million people lived there.

Lower Normandy became a region in 1956. The old region of Normandy was split into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. The departments in the region were Calvados, Manche, and Orne.

The economy is centered on agriculture. Cider is made there and livestock is farmed. There is a bit of textile industry as well. It was the first region of France when it comes to producing butter, cheese and horses. The west part of the region is used mainly for farming, because of the prairies. Camembert, Pont-l'évêque and Livarot cheeses come from this region.

Former administrative regions of France
Centre-Val de Loire

Centre-Val de Loire is one of the administrative regions of France. Its capital is Orléans but its largest city is Tours.

It was formed in 2014 from the territories of three historical provinces: Touraine (Indre-et-Loire), Orléanais (Loiret, Eure-et-Loir, Loir-et-Cher), and Berry (Cher, Indre).

Geography

The Centre-Val de Loire region is the seventh largest region of France with an area of . It is in north central France and borders with 6 regions: Normandy to the northwest, Île-de-France to the north, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté to the east, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the southeast, Nouvelle-Aquitaine to the south and Pays de la Loire to the west.

The distances from Orléans, the capital of the region, to other cities are:

 Paris, the national capital, ;
 Bordeaux, ;
 Lyon, ;
 Marseille, ;
 Montpellier, ;
 Nice, ;
 Strasbourg, ;
 Toulouse, .

Rivers
The Centre-Val de Loire is crossed by the longest French river: the Loire, . Some other rivers that flow through the region are:
 Eure - .
 Loir - .
 Cher - .
 Loing - .
 Indre - .

Mountains
The territory of the Centre-Val de Loire region is formed mostly by large plains and low plateaus.

The Le Magnoux (), at , is the highest point of the Centre-Val region. It is in northwestern Massif Central, in the southern end of the Cher department.

The highest point of the different departments in the Centre-Val de Loire region are:

Departments
The Centre-Val de Loire region is formed by 6 departments:

Arr. = Arrondissements          Cant. = Cantons          Comm. = Communes

Demographics
, the Centre-Val de Loire region had a population of 2,577,435, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

The main cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants (2014) in the region are:

Gallery

Related pages
 Touraine
 Regions of France

References

Other websites

 Regional Council website 
 Prefecture of the region
Champagne-Ardenne

Champagne-Ardenne is a former administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Grand Est. Its capital was Chalons-en-Champagne. Another very important city in the region is Reims.

The departments in Champagne-Ardenne were Ardennes, Aube, Marne, and Haute-Marne.

The region is heavily centered on farming. It was the first region of France in the production of barley and alfalfa. Many cereals are also grown here. It is also very important for vegetables and wine. It is nearest to the east border. Sparkling wine is officially allowed to be called champagne if it is from here.

Other websites

Former administrative regions of France
Upper Normandy

Upper Normandy (called Haute-Normandie in French) is a former region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Normandy. The capital was Rouen, which is now the capital of Normandy. In 2007 about 1.9 million people lived in the region.

Upper Normandy was formed as a region in 1956. The old region of Normandy was split into the current Upper Normandy and Lower Normandy. The departments in the region were Seine-Maritime and Eure.

The region was the first producer of flax in France. It is also quite industrialized, specialising in petrochemical and pharmaceutical, as well as manufacturing industries.

Former administrative regions of France
Limousin

Limousin is a former administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Its capital was Limoges. With 42 people per square kilometer, this was one of the least populated regions. About 710,000 people lived on roughly .

The departments in the region were Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne.

The local economy had been recentered around services. 
 

Former administrative regions of France
Languedoc-Roussillon

Languedoc-Roussillon (; ) is a former administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Occitanie. It is the southernmost region of mainland France and borders to the south with Spain and Andorra.

The five departments in the region were Aude, Gard, Hérault, Lozère, and Pyrénées-Orientales.

Its capital was Montpellier, the largest city. In French, the name of the inhabitants of the region is Languedocien-Roussillonnais.

Etymology
The name of the province of Languedoc originates from the language spoken in southern France, langue d'oc, also known as Occitan, and Roussillon, an area in the South of present-day Languedoc-Roussillon.

Geography
The Languedoc-Roussillon region has an area of . It bordered to the south with Spain and Andorra; to the east is the Mediterranean Sea (the Gulf of Lion). It also bordered four French regions: Midi-Pyrénées to the west, Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes to the north, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) to the northeast.

The highest point in Languedoc-Roussillon is Pic Carlit () in the Pyrénées-Orientales department; it is  high.

Departments
The Languedoc-Roussillon region is formed by five departments:

Demographics
The Languedoc-Roussillon region has a population, in 2012, of 2,700,266, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

The 10 most important cities in the region are:

Gallery

References

Other websites

 Regional Council of Languedoc-Roussillon official website 
 Tourism in Languedoc-Roussillon

Former administrative regions of France
Poitou-Charentes

Poitou-Charentes is a former administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It was in the west, bordering the Atlantic. Its capital was Poitiers. In 2007 about 1.7 million people lived in the region.

The departments in the region were Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne.

The region is well known for making wines. It is better known for its spirits, such as Cognac and Pineau. There is also some tourism and a little agriculture.

Other websites

 A short guide to the Poitou Charentes region

Former administrative regions of France
Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Nord-Pas-de-Calais (sometimes also Nord-Pas de Calais)  used to be an administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Hauts-de-France. Its prefecture was Lille. In 2012, four million people lived there (365,000 in the urban area of Lille).

The two departments in the region were Nord and Pas-de-Calais.

The local economy was based on carbon, steel and textiles. The secondary sector (industry) employed 33.8% (of an 28.9% national average). Unemployment was at 12.9 per cent (9.8% national average). Structural investment in the TGV and the Channel Tunnel has shown some improvement though. The tourism industry does well thanks to the border with Belgium and closeness to England.

Other websites

Former administrative regions of France
Picardy

Picardy ()  used to be an administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Hauts-de-France. It is in the north of the country. Amiens was its capital. In 2007 almost 1.9 million people lived in the region, 186,000 of them in the capital.

The departments in the region were Aisne, Oise, and Somme.

Agriculture is very important for Picardy. There are many products, including potatoes, cereals, and vegetables. Picardy was also called Jardin de France, meaning 'Garden of France'.

Other websites

Former administrative regions of France
Pays de la Loire

Pays de la Loire (or Pays-de-la-Loire) is an administrative region of France. Its capital is Nantes. In 2018, about 3.8 million people lived in the region. There are seven big centers, with more than 100.000 people in the respective urban area:  Nantes, Angers, Le Mans, La Roche-sur-Yon, Cholet, Saint-Nazaire and Laval.  

The departments in the region are:
Loire-Atlantique
Maine-et-Loire
Mayenne
Sarthe
Vendée

The economy is centered around the production of food, and agriculture in general. It is the third in France in that sector. 51% of meat products, 19% of milk, and 67% of the natural produce of grain (cereals) are produced there.

Languages 
Some people in the region also speak other local languages. These are  

 Angevin
 Breton
 Gallo
 Poitevin

Breton is a Celtic language, the others are Romance languages.

References

Other websites
Rhône-Alpes

Rhône-Alpes is a former administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. In 2010, about six million people lived in the region.

The capital was Lyon. Grenoble and Saint-Étienne are also important cities in the region.

The departments in the region were:
Ain
Ardèche
Drôme
Isère
Loire
Rhône
Savoie
Haute-Savoie

The Rhône-Alpes region hosted the Winter Olympics three times; in 1924 at Chamonix, 1968 at Grenoble, and 1992 at Albertville.

Other websites

Former administrative regions of France
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA (, Italian: Provenza-Alpi-Costa Azzurra) is one of the 18 administrative regions of France. Its capital is Marseille.

Geography

The Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region is the tenth largest region of France with an area of . It is in southeastern France and borders to the east with Monaco and Italy (with the Italian regions of Liguria and Piedmont). To the north is the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and to the west is the Occitanie region.

To the south, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur has about  of coast along the Mediterranean Sea.

The distances from Marseille, the capital of the region, to other cities are:

 Paris, the national capital, ;
 Toulouse, ;
 Bordeaux, ;
 Lyon, ;
 Montpellier, ;
 Nice, .

Rivers
The only main drainage basin in the region is the Mediterranean basin; some of the rivers in region are:

 Rhône - 
 Durance - 
 Verdon - 
 Var - 
 Tinée - 
 Estéron - 
 Loup - 
 Vésubie - 
 Siagne -

Mountains
The Barre des Écrins (), at , is the highest mountain of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is in the Écrins National Park (), one of the ten French national parks.

The highest point of the different departments in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region are:

Departments
The Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region is formed by 6 departments:

Arr. = Arrondissements          Cant. = Cantons          Comm. = Communes

Demographics
The Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region had, in 2014, a population of 4,983,438, with a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

The main cities with more than 30,000 inhabitants (2014) in the region are:

Gallery

Related pages
 Provence
 Regions of France

References

Other websites

 Regional Council website  
 Prefecture of the region
 Encyclopédie Larousse online
Île-de-France

Île-de-France is a region of France. The capital city is Paris. It is also the capital city of France. In 2013 about 12 million people lived in the region. About 2.1 million people live in the city of Paris.

There are 8 departments in the region. They are:
Essonne
Hauts-de-Seine 
Paris 
Seine-et-Marne
Seine-Saint-Denis
Val-d'Oise
Val-de-Marne 
Yvelines
Pont-l'évêque cheese

Pont-l'évêque is a soft cheese from Normandy. It is produced in the village with the same name. It has had an AOC since 1976, which means it can only be made in Pont-l'Évêque, Calvados. It is made from the milk of cows. 

French cheeses
Normandy
Livarot cheese

Livarot is a cheese from Normandy. It is produced in the village with the same name. It is a soft cheese made from the milk of cows.

French cheeses
Normandy