This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Gloucestershire at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by "Office for National Statistics" with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
Cowry
Cowry shells (or cowrie), are marine snails of the family Cypraeidae.
They are found chiefly in tropical regions. There are about 200 different species of cowry.
The shell itself is almost always very smooth and shiny. They have with a long, narrow, slit-like opening. All varieties have a porcelain-like shine and many have colorful patterns. In life the shell is covered by the slippery mantle.
Shell sizes range from 5 mm (1/5") for some tropical species to 15 cm (6") for the tiger cowry, "Cypraea tigris".
The slippery shell is very difficult for most animals to grip. The very narrow toothed aperture of the cowry shell makes it difficult for predators to reach into. However cowries are still vulnerable to predation:
For nearly 200 years, every species in the family Cypraeidae was placed in one genus, "Cypraea", but in 2002 the cowries were divided into many different genera.
Cowries (esp. "Cypraea moneta") were used as a currency in Africa (Ghanaian cedi in Ghana named after cowry shells) and elsewhere, such as in China where the shell or copies of the shell were in theory used as a means of exchange. They are also worn as jewelry or otherwise used as ornaments or charms, as they are viewed as symbols of womanhood, fertility, birth and wealth. Many find the shiny, porcelain-like shells pleasing to look at.
Cowry shells are sometimes used in a way similar to dice, e.g., in board games like Pachisi, or in divination (cf. Ifá and the annual customs of Dahomey).
A number of shells (6 or 7 in Pachisi) are thrown, with those landing aperture upwards indicating the actual number rolled.
Cowries have also been used in the recent past as a frame over which sock heels were stretched for darning. The cowry ridges allowed the needle to get under the cloth more easily.
The Ojibway aboriginal people in North America used the cowry shells in ceremonies, and the Whiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba, Canada is named after this type of shell. There is some debate about how they traded for or found these shells so far inland, away from the natural sources. Oral stories and birch bark scrolls seem to indicate that they were found in the ground, and/or washed up on the shores of lakes or rivers. The cowry shells so far inland may indicate the use of them by an earlier tribe or group in the area, and an extensive trade network in the ancient past.
The typewritten postage stamps of 1895 Uganda also are called "Cowries".
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (short: "Wilts") is an English county. It borders the counties of Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, and contains the unitary authority of Swindon. The county town is Trowbridge, in the west of the county at . The county covers 858,931 acres (3476 km²)
Notable towns and cities in Wiltshire are:
A full list of settlements is at List of places in Wiltshire.
Notable places of interest in Wiltshire are:
Notable areas of countryside in Wiltshire are:
Notable routes through Wiltshire are:
Wiltshire is "Mid-Wessex" in the novels of Thomas Hardy
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West Midlands (county)
The County of West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a population of around 2,600,000 people. The county contains three major cities, these being Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton. Other large settlements in the county include Sutton Coldfield, Solihull, and the Black Country towns of Dudley, Walsall and West Bromwich.
The name "West Midlands" is also used for the much larger West Midlands region, which sometimes causes confusion.
The West Midlands borders the counties of Warwickshire to the east, Worcestershire to the south, and Staffordshire to the north.
The West Midlands is one of the most heavily urbanised counties in the UK. Birmingham, Wolverhampton, the Black Country and Solihull together form the largest conurbation in the UK outside London, with a combined population of around 2.27 million.
The West Midlands is not entirely urban; Coventry is separated from the Birmingham urban area, by stretch of green belt land roughly 15 miles across known as the "Meriden Gap", which retains a strongly rural character.
A smaller piece of green belt between Birmingham, Walsall and West Bromwich includes Barr Beacon and the Sandwell Valley.
The West Midlands contains 6 universities;
Though Warwick and Birmingham are considered the most prestigious of the universities in the area, all have a large intake of students from around the country.
Conurbation
A conurbation is an urban area that includes a number of cities, towns and villages which, through population growth and expansion, have physically merged to form one continuous built up area. It is a sort of agglomeration.
A metropolitan area usually combines one or several conurbations.
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (, pronounced or ; ) is a harbour city in the northernmost part of France, 10 km (6 mi) from the Belgian border.
The population of the whole metropolitan area was of 265,974 at the 1999 census.
Until the middle of the 20th century the city was in the Dutch language area; today the local Dutch dialect still can be heard but has largely given way to French.
Dunkirk was first mentioned in 1067 as "Dunkerk" ().
In World War II, heavy fighting took place around Dunkirk during the German invasion in 1940 (Battle of Dunkirk), but a lull in the action unexpectedly allowed a large number of French and British soldiers to escape to England. The British evacuation of Dunkirk through the English Channel was codenamed "Operation Dynamo".
During the war, Dunkirk was largely destroyed by bombing.
On 14 December 2002, the Norwegian auto carrier "Tricolor" collided with the Bahamian-registered "Kariba" and sank off Dunkirk harbour, causing a hazard to navigation in the English Channel.
Dunkirk has the third largest harbour in France, after those of Le Havre and Marseille. It is also an industrial city, heavily dependent on the steel, food processing, oil refining, ship building and chemical industries.
Dunkirk has a ferry connection with Dover in England.
Dunkirk is twinned with:
Dunkirk has cooperation agreements with:
Limburg-Weilburg
Limburg-Weilburg is a Landkreis (rural district) in the west of Hesse, Germany.
1867 the "Oberlahnkreis" with the capital Weilburg was created. In 1886 "Limburg an der Lahn" district was set up, with the capital Limburg. In 1974 both districts were joined together.
The district is located between the two mountain areas Westerwald and Taunus. The main river is the Lahn.
Elz, Hesse
Elz is a municipality and a village in Hessen, Germany. It is part of the Landkreis Limburg-Weilburg. It is along the river Lahn. It has 8,088 inhabitants (2004).
The elevation is between 110m and 291m above sea level. Elz is in a valley called "Limburger Becken", which surrounds the town of Limburg. Elz is also in the valley of the "Elbbach", which flows into the river Lahn after passing Elz.
The municipality of Elz borders the municipalities of Hundsangen, Hambach, Görgeshausen, Niedererbach, Obererbach and the towns of Hadamar and Limburg.
The municipality of Elz consists of two villages: The village of Elz (7,743 inhabitants) and the village of Malmeneich (345 inhabitants).
Average temperatures are 10.5 °C in Elz and 9.9 °C in Malmeneich. Though this sounds quite moderate, temperatures can vary between -20 °C in winter and 40 °C in summer. In an average year there are 600mm of rain in Elz and 720mm in Malmeneich.
Elz was first mentioned in a document from 933 AD, which does not exist any more. Political importance resulted from its position at the Hohe Straße, the former most important road between Frankfurt am Main and Cologne, which still exists and is now part of the "Bundesstraße 8", which can be translated with Interstate 8.