the-french-artist/wikipedia_20220301.simple_sentence_split huggingface dataset:
In 2019, 4 million tourists visited the country.
It is estimated, that Cyprus earned 2.7 million euros in that year.
Tourism is very important to the country, as tourism made up 23% of its economy in 2020.
Cyprus became independent from the British Empire in 1960 following the London and Zürich Agreements of 19 February 1959.
Makarios III became its first president.
The Turk Cypriots was suppressed.
In July 1974, Turkey invaded and Greek Cypriots where forced to move to the south, while Turk Cypriots was foreced to move to the north.
Since then the northern part of the island has been under Turkish occupation.
In 1983 the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and became de facto independent it was only recognised by Turkey.
When entering by from Tymbou Airport, a short stop has to be made in mainland Turkey due to the embargo.
The present situation with the island split came about because Cyprus, historically Greek, was conquered and became part of the Ottoman Empire from 15701914.
The British administered it from 1878 until 1960.
Likewise, Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire for several centuries.
Negotiations for a unified island have been held several times without success.
In 2004, Cyprus joined the European Union.
On 1 January 2008 Cyprus adopted the Euro, the single European currency.
Although the official currency of Northern Cyprus is the Turkish Lira, many shops accept Euros and British pounds.
Mycenaeans of Ancient Greece were the first inhabitants of the island.
Greek settlement began unsystematically about 1400 BC.
There are two mountain ranges, the Troodos Mountains and the smaller Kyrenia Range.
The Pedieos River is the longest on the island.
The highest point on Cyprus is Mount Olympus at .
The Republic of Cyprus is only on the southern two-thirds of the island (59.74%).
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is the northern third (34.85%) and rest are Akrotiri and Dhekelia owned by the British.
The Republic of Cyprus is a constitutional presidential republic.
Each president is elected for a five-year term.
The president has a lot of power.
Cyprus is the only member of the European Union that is governed by a presidential system of government.
It is one of few countries (along with San Marino) to have had a democratically-elected communist government, in office from 2008 until 2013.
Since 2013 governing party has been the Democratic Rally.
The European Union issued a warning in February 2019 that Cyprus, an EU member, was selling EU passports to Russian oligarchs.
This would allow allow organised crime syndicates to get into the EU.
In 2020 leaked documents revealed a range of former and current officials from Afghanistan, China, Dubai, Lebanon, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and Vietnam who bought a Cypriot citizenship before a change of the law in July 2019.
Cyprus and Turkey have been engaged in a dispute over the extent of their exclusive economic zones.
It was apparently caused by the potential for oil and gas exploration in the area.
The Republic of Cyprus is divided into six districts: Nicosia, Famagusta, Kyrenia, Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos.
These are not the same as those of Northern Cyprus.
Cyprus Videos
Cyprus Pictures
Cyprus Map
CyprusLinks.com
Cyprus Tourist Guide
Latvia is a country in Northern Europe.
The capital is Riga.
It is one of the Baltic States, together with Estonia in the north and Lithuania in the south.
Latvia's neighbours to the east are the countries Russia and Belarus.
Latvia is split into four parts called Kurzeme, Vidzeme, Zemgale, and Latgale.
People from Latvia are called Latvians.
They speak the Latvian language, which is a little like the Lithuanian language, though not close enough to be understood.
Latvia was settled by the Baltic tribes thousands of years ago.
They mainly fished, hunted, and traded.
German traders and crusaders came to Latvia at the end of the 12th century.
Latvians lost control of their homeland.
Over the next 800 years, Germans, Danes, Swedes, Poles, and Russians all invaded Latvia.
Latvia finally became independent in 1918.
During the all time before the World War I the aristocracy were mainly  German.
During the Great Northern war (1700-1721) modern-day Latvia became the part of the Russian empire.
There were organized Courland and Livonia governorates.
In 1940 Latvia became Soviet republic and joined to the Soviet Union.
It was under Nazi occupation during the World War II in 1941-1944.
After the war a lot of factories were opened.
Latvia became one of the successful Soviet republics.
In 1991 the Soviet Union was destroyed and new Latvian republic was declared.
In Copenhagen on 13 December 2002, Latvia and nine other countries were invited to join the European Union.
On 20 September 2003, Latvians held an election to vote on joining.
Two thirds of Latvians voted to join, and on 1 May 2004 Latvia became a member of the EU.
Latvian Government official site
Lithuania is a country in Europe.
It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland to the south and Russia to the southwest.
It is one of the Baltic states.
The country's area is 65,300 km² and there are about 2.8 million people who live in Lithuania.
The national language is the Lithuanian language, which is spoken by around 3 million people.
Vilnius is the capital and largest city.
Lithuania is a member of the European Union, NATO, and several other organizations.
Lithuania began to turn into a country in the 7th–9th centuries from Baltic nations group.
The Balts, the ancestors of Lithuanians and Latvians, came to the area between Nemunas, Daugava rivers and the Baltic Sea, from a supposed original homeland of the Proto-Indo-European languages.
Many scientists think they came there sometime in the 3rd millennium BC.
Lithuania (at that time - The Grand Duchy of Lithuania) made a Treaty with Poland in 1569.
The country was taken over by the Russian Empire in 1795, ending the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
It got back its independence on February 16, 1918.
In 1940 the country became a Soviet republic and joined to the Soviet Union.
On June 22, 1941, after German invasion, the republic was occupied.
It continued until 1944.
Lithuania re-declared its independence on March 11, 1990.
Currently, Lithuania is an independent, semi-presidential, democratic republic.
Lithuania is a semi presidential republic, that restored its independence and democracy in 1990.
Since then, very important reforms were made and Lithuania is now declared as a democratic state that grants the human rights.
The Constitution that was adopted in 1992 declares that the leader of the country is the President, who must be elected to take office.
The elections are held every 5 years.
If the President breaks their oath, they can be forced to resign by the Parliament.
The President also represents Lithuania abroad and is the commander-in-chief.
The legislative power of Lithuania is called the Seimas, or Parliament.
There are 141 members of Seimas who are elected for 4-year-terms.
Seimas passes the laws that must be executed by the government, that is formed in Seimas, and it must be accepted by the President.
The Prime Minister is set and fired by the President.
The justice is under the power of the courts.
The supreme court in Lithuania is the Constitutional Court.
Administrative subdivisions
Lithuania is divided into 10 counties, 60 municipalities and 500 elderates.
The county governor rules the county.
He or she must be appointed by the central government.
Municipalities are governed by the Municipal Councils that are elected for 4 year terms.
The head of a municipality is the mayor.
The elderates are governed by the elders.
The elders are appointed by the municipal councils.
Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe.
Its neighbours are Poland in the southwest, Russia (Kaliningrad) in west, Latvia in north and Belarus in the east.
Lithuania borders the Baltic Sea and 99 kilometres of its coast belong to Lithuania.
The highest hill is Aukštojas (294 metres high), the largest lake is Drūkšiai Lake.
31% of the land is suitable for farms.
Aukštaitija
Dzūkija
Mažoji Lietuva (Lithuania Minor)
Suvalkija
Žemaitija (Samogitia)
Lithuania has a fast growing economy.
It grew up to 7% in the first quarter of 2008.
GDP per capita, based on purchasing power parity is estimated to be $19,730 in 2008.
The nominal GDP per capita is estimated to be $14,213 at the same year.
According to these numbers, Lithuanian per capita GDP reaches only 61% of EU average.
However, it is impressive that only in 8 years, since 2000 it grew up from 30% of EU average.
Emigration still creates a problem.
According to the official data, emigration in 2006 was 30% lower than the previous year, with 3,483 people leaving in four months.
About 80% of people in Lithuania are Lithuanians.
There are large national minorities:
The Poles, (6.3%), mainly live in Vilnius County, which was taken over by Poland in 1920.
The Russians, (5.1%), mainly live in Vilnius County and Utena County, as workers at the Ignalina nuclear plant.
The Belorussians, (1.1%), most of them live in Vilnius County.
Lithuanian is spoken by 82% of the people and it is the only official language.
Polish is used mostly in Vilnius County where Polish politicians are elected to represent the Polish minority.
The documents and street names must be in Lithuanian.
The nursery schools and the kindergartens are the first-level education forms.
However, they are not compulsory.
The children start attending the primary school at age 7, where educational programs last for 4 years; then they must start attending secondary school (5th to 10th grades).
After finishing 8th or 10th grade, the student can continue learning at the high school or choose courses at the vocational college.
The students who finish the high school can join colleges and universities.
Higher education is free for the students whose annual median of grades is 8 or higher.
The others have to pay 500 Litas per semester at least.
The higher education schools are universities and colleges.
The main universities are:
Vilnius University (the oldest university in northeastern Europe, founded in 1579);
University of Vytautas the Great, in Kaunas;
The University of Technology of Gediminas, in Vilnius;
The Klaipėda University.
Radio and Television
Lithuanians can choose from many television and radio stations.
The first radio station was started in 1926 in Kaunas.
The first television station started in 1957.
The main radio stations are:
Public broadcaster: LRT Radijas (talk station), LRT Klasika (classical music), LRT Opus (alternative music)
M-1 (TOP 40)
Lietus (Lithuanian pop)
Radiocentras (TOP 40)
Power Hit Radio (dance)
ZIP FM (TOP 40)
M-1 Plius (adult contemporary)
Žinių Radijas (talk station)
Public broadcaster: LRT Televizija (main programme), LRT Plius (culture, sports, movies)
TV3 (national)
LNK (national)
BTV (national)
Lrytas TV (national)
TV1 (women-oriented)
TV8 (women-oriented)
TV6 (men-oriented)
Info TV (news)
Printed Media and Internet
The oldest legal newspaper in Lithuania is the Polish Kurier Wilenski.
It was first published in the 18th century and is now only popular with the Polish community.
The biggest selling newspapers are:
Lietuvos Rytas (national)
Verslo žinios (business)
Kauno diena (regional)
Vakaro žinios (tabloid)
Vakarų ekspresas (regional)
Internet news portals are very popular in Lithuania.
They have the latest information and also let people make comments.
The most popular Internet sites with news and information are:
Delfi.lt
15min.lt
lrytas.lt
tv3.lt
lrt.lt
Notes and references
The official Tourism site in Lithuanian and English
The site of the President's administration
The site of Lithuanian Parliament
The site of Government of Lithuania
The Official site of Department of Statistics
The official site of Vilnius Municipality
The official site of Kaunas Municipality
The official site of klaipėda Municipality
Malta is a country in the European Union and considered part of Southern Europe.
It is an island near the center of the Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily.
The capital of Malta is Valletta.
Around 500,000 people live in Malta and it is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
Malta is 316 sq km, which makes it one of the smallest countries.
Its many cities and towns grew close to each other over time.
Maltese is the national language of Malta and is influenced by Greek due to Magna Grecia settlements in Sicily.
Maltese and English are the official languages in line with the constitution of the country.
A majority of the people of Malta can speak three languages; Maltese, English and Italian.
Malta had its own currency, called the Maltese Lira until 2008.
The Maltese Lira was better known as the Maltese Pound because of the strong links to the United Kingdom.
One Maltese Lira consisted of 100 cents.
In 2008 Malta joined the Euro countries in adopting the Euro as the National Currency.
People have lived in Malta since at least 5200 BC.
The island has some key archaeological sites dating from early times.
Malta became well known as the base of the Knights Hospitaller.
They moved to Malta after being forced to leave Palestine and then Rhodes, in Greece.
In 1565 they survived a great attack by the Ottoman Empire.
The history of the knights at Malta continued the strong Roman Catholic beliefs in the country that were started by the Norman and Spanish rulers.
In 1798, Napoleon took control of Malta.
The French rule was not popular and in 1800 Maltese rebels invited the British Royal Navy to come to the island.
This led to 200 years as a British colony and independent Commonwealth member.
During World War II, Malta was attacked this time by the Axis forces.
The entire island was symbolically given the George Cross for heroism.
Malta became independent in 1964 and a republic in 1974.
In 2004 Malta joined the European Union and in 2008 Malta joined the Euro.
Maltese Relocation and Travel Guide
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Malta Wiki - Malta Popular Encyclopedia
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Malta travel guide
Malta Travel Guide
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To talk about the shape of the Universe, scientists want to forget that the Universe is expanding.
So they separate the shape from time and pretend that the Universe is not expanding.
They remember that, really, the Universe is expanding, but they write this in a variable called the scale factor.
Then, the distances they talk about, while putting the scale factor to the side, are called comoving distances.
When they think about the Universe using comoving distance, they think of the Universe as not expanding.
This way, some calculations are easier.
When the part of the Universe which we can see today started, it was very small.
Everything in this part of the Universe was much closer together than today.
It was also very hot and photons (particles of light) were moving in different directions.
Light moves very fast, but the light speed is limited and the Universe was expanding very fast.
Think of two ants on the surface of an expanding balloon.
One ant starts moving towards another, but the balloon itself is also expanding.
After a long time the balloon starts expanding more slowly.
Eventually one ant reaches another.
That's like photons in our universe.
Some of the light from the stars you see at night traveled for billions of years to reach your eye.
Surprisingly, it started very close to where you were (or the atoms of which your body consists), but just could not keep up with the universe expansion.
Of course, if something else started out very close to where you were, but was not traveling toward you, it would be very far away from you now because of the expansion.
Shaanxi (Chinese:陕西, also sometimes called Shenshi) is a province in east China.
The word "Shaan" (viz Shanzhou) is a place in Henan Province. "
Xi" means "west".
So "Shaanxi" means "the place to the west of Shaan".
Although in pinyin, "Shaanxi" is spelled exactly the same as "Shanxi", the only difference in how the two words are pronounced is that the first syllable in "Shanxi" is said using the first tone in Mandarin, while the first syllable in "Shaanxi" is said with the third tone.
Since tone markers are not usually used to show how to pronounce the two different names, the first word in "Shaanxi" is spelled using the Gwoyeu Romatzyh method instead, which indicates tones by adding extra letters to a syllable.
The river Wei He runs across it.
It has a large population of more than 30 million people.
The capital of Shaanxi is Xi'an.
It abbreviates as Shan (陕) or Qin (秦), also known as SanQin (三秦, meaning Three Qins).
January 23, 1556 – A massive earthquake, measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, strikes Shaanxi, killing over 850,000 people.
This is the most devastating earthquake in recorded history.
Political divisions
Xi'an Municipality(西安市)
Ankang Municipality(安康市)
Baoji Municipality(宝鸡市)
Hanzhong Municipality(汉中市)
Shangluo Municipality(商洛市)
Tongchuan Municipality(铜川市)
Weinan Municipality(渭南市)
Xianyang Municipality(咸阳市)
Yan'an Municipality(延安市)
Yulin Municipality(榆林市)
Lisbon is the capital city of Portugal.
It is the largest city of Portugal.
The city has a population of about half million people.
In Lisbon's urban area live around 2.8 million people, being the 10th-most populous urban area in the European Union.
Lisbon is placed on the right bank (western) of the Tagus River, near the outfall.
It has a pleasant climate and has about 220 days of sunshine each year.
There are many beautiful beaches close to the city.
There are also many seafood restaurants, historical sites and monuments.
Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world.
Official page of the city
Lisbon Photos a collection of Photos, showing Lisbon as it is to visitors.
Lisbon Tourist Guide and Information
719 establishments
Establishments in Portugal
Surfing is a water sport done in the ocean or sea.
The surfer uses their surfboard to catch a wave and ride in towards the shore.
Surfing was invented by the Polynesians at least 4000 years ago.
It has become a popular sport among both men and women of all ages.
With lifestyles and regimens freer than those of most sports, surfers comprise a unique culture.
Though surfing is practiced in many other Pacific nations, its center remains Hawaii, where many rounds of the international surfing championships (the ASP) are held annually.
Surfing is popular in Australia, the US, and Northern Europe.
Lyon (Arpitan: Liyon) is a city in the southeast of France.
It is the third-largest city in the country (behind Paris and Marseille), with about 513,000 people living there in 2015.
It is the second largest metropolis, or metro area, in France (behind only that of Paris), with about 2.3 million people in 2014.
In ancient history, the name of Lyon was Lugdunum.
Someone who lives in Lyon is called a Lyonnais (male) or a Lyonnaise (female) in French.
Lyon has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa in the Koeppen climate classification).
It is between the Rhône and the Saône.
It is about  west of the Italian border.
Famous people from Lyon
The Lumière Brothers who created cinema
Paul Bocuse, a world renowned chef
Olympique Lyonnais: The local football team that plays in Ligue 1
ASVEL: The local basketball team
LOU: (Lyon Olympique Universitaire) The local rugby team
EMLYON Business School
Web@cademie
Departmental capitals in France
Regional capitals in France
World Heritage Sites in France
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman.
He was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009.
He is the son of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and former U.S. First Lady Barbara Bush.
Before becoming president, he was the Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.
He flew warplanes in the Texas and Alabama Air National Guard.
After graduating from Yale College in 1968 and Harvard Business School in 1975, he worked in the oil industry.
In 1977, he married Laura Welch and ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, but lost.
He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team.
In 1994, he was elected Governor of Texas, defeating the incumbent governor, Democrat Ann Richards.
As governor, Bush successfully backed legislation for tort reform, gave more money for education, set higher standards for schools, and changed the criminal justice system.
Bush also helped make Texas the leading producer of wind powered electricity in the U.S.
In 2000, Bush was elected President of the United States when he defeated Democratic incumbent Vice President Al Gore in a very close election.
He became the fourth person to be elected president without winning the popular vote.
He is the second son of a former United States president to himself become president, the first being John Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams.
Bush was inaugurated in January 2001.
As president, his early focus was on domestic issues.
He cut taxes, passed an education reform bill, made changes to Medicare, and changed abortion laws.
On September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked by terrorists.
As a result of these attacks, Bush created the Department of Homeland Security and started a "War on Terror" that began with a war in Afghanistan in 2001.
He also signed into law the Patriot Act in order to spy on people believed to be terrorists.
In 2003, he ordered an invasion of Iraq, which started the Iraq War.
The reason why he did this was because his administration claimed that Iraq had a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program, and that the Iraqi government was a threat to the U.S. However, no WMDs or a program for WMDs were ever found.
He was re-elected to a second term in 2004.
In his second term, Bush reached multiple free trade agreements and was able to put John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.
He wanted to make major changes to Social Security and immigration laws, but these changes did not pass in Congress.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continued, and in 2007 he sent more troops to Iraq.
Bush received criticism from both sides politically for his handling of Hurricane Katrina and for the midterm dismissal of U.S. attorneys.
In December 2007, the U.S. entered the Great Recession.
This made the Bush administration create programs protect the country's financial system, such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
Bush left office in January 2009 and was succeeded by Democrat Barack Obama.
He has a ranch in Crawford, Texas, which is near Waco.
In 2010, he published a memoir called Decision Points.
His presidential library opened in 2013.
He is not ranked very high in presidential opinion polls, but he has started to become more popular again after his presidency ended.
Bush was one of the most polarised U.S. presidents in history; he received the highest recorded approval ratings right after the 9/11 attacks, but one of the lowest such ratings during the 2008 financial crisis.
Bush was born at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut.
Bush grew up in Midland, Texas.
He went to a high school called Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1964.
He went to school at Yale University from 1964 until he graduated in 1968, with a bachelor's degree in history.
He joined the Texas Air National Guard in 1968 (part of the United States National Guard) during the Vietnam War and became a fighter pilot but did not fight in the war.
He left the Texas Air National Guard in 1973.
In 1975 Bush earned an MBA from Harvard University.
On November 5, 1977, Bush married Laura Welch.
In 1978, Bush tried to get elected to Congress in West Texas, but lost.
After that, he ran some oil companies and was one of the owners of the Texas Rangers baseball team.
He thought about trying to become the commissioner of Major League Baseball, but went into politics instead.
Bush is a Methodist.
In 1994, he was elected to be Governor of Texas, defeating incumbent Democratic Governor Ann Richards.
Governor of Texas, 1995–2000
Bush announced he was running for governor in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election.
His campaign focused on four themes: changing welfare, changing torts, crime reduction, and making education better.
He easily won the Republican primary.
His opponent was popular Democratic incumbent Governor Ann Richards.
During the campaign, he said that if he was elected, he would sign a bill that would allow Texans to get permits to carry concealed weapons (this means a person can carry a weapon on them, as long as it cannot be seen).
Bush won the general election with 53.5 percent against Richards' 45.9 percent.
Bush used a budget surplus (when the government makes more money than it spends) to pass a $2 billion dollar tax-cut, which was Texas's largest.
He used government money to fund organizations that teach people of the dangers of alcohol and drug use and abuse, and helping to reduce domestic violence.
In 1998, Bush won re-election with a record 69 percent of the vote.
He became the first governor in Texas history to be elected to two consecutive four-year terms.
In his second term, Bush promoted faith-based organizations and had high approval ratings.
He proclaimed June 10, 2000, to be Jesus Day in Texas, a day on which he asked all Texans to "answer the call to serve those in need".
In 1999, Bush signed a law that said electric retailers needed to buy a certain amount of energy from renewable sources.
This helped Texas become the leading producer of wind powered electricity in the U.S.
Critics said that during his time as governor, Texas ranked near the bottom in environmental evaluations.
Supporters pointed to his efforts to raise the pay of teachers and improve educational test scores.
During Bush's first term, he was seen as a future presidential candidate.
After he was reelected in 1998, this belief grew.
In 1999, he decided to seek the 2000 Republican presidential nomination.
2000 presidential election
Bush ran against then-Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 United States presidential election.
More than 100 million people voted on November 7, 2000.
But the election was very close.
When they began counting the votes, it became clear that whoever got the most votes in the state of Florida would win the election.
But there were many issues with the ballots in Florida.
Gore sued to get Florida to count the votes again.
For more than a month no one knew who won the election.
The Supreme Court made a decision to stop recounting votes.
Gore decided to accept his loss on December 13 and Bush was declared the winner.
Presidency (2001–2009)
First term, 2001–05
While he was President, George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law.
It was an education reform bill.
Bush did not approve of abortion.
In 2004, he signed the Unborn Victims Of Violence Act which made it so that if a pregnant woman is murdered, her murderer can also be charged with killing the fetus that the woman was carrying.
His first foreign policy test came when an American spy plane crashed in China.
Bush peacefully negotiated the release of the plane crew.
Eight months after Bush became president, the September 11 attacks occurred.
Because of this, President Bush declared a War on Terrorism.
Bush tried to do many things to stop another terrorist attack from happening.
He ordered an invasion of Afghanistan in 2002.
He did this because the leaders of Afghanistan were helping Osama bin Laden, who was responsible for attacking America on September 11, 2001.
Almost ten years later, on May 2, 2011 bin Laden was killed on orders of President Barack Obama.
The war in Afghanistan (2001–present) has not ended yet.
Bush asked Congress to do more to stop terrorism.
As a result, Congress passed a law that created the Department Of Homeland Security, a government department which tries to prevent terrorist attacks from happening.
It also responds to emergencies such as floods or diseases.
After Saddam refused to cooperate with the United Nations weapons inspectors and the United States Congress authorized Bush to invade Iraq if its government did not cooperate with the weapons inspectors, Bush decided on the Gulf War in 2003 with several allies.
Saddam Hussein was removed from power, and Iraq turned into a democracy.
Over 100,000 people were killed in this war.
2004 presidential election
In the 2004 presidential election, Bush won again with a majority of votes.
His opponent was Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, a Democrat.
Second term, 2005–09
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina (the most destructive hurricane in American history) happened.
It caused over 1800 deaths and caused billions of dollars of destruction.
George W. Bush signed several acts into law which would help Hurricane Katrina victims.
In the Iraq War, no weapons of mass destruction were found, and the Bush Administration was criticized for being wrong about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction.
Bush added more American troops to Iraq (which was called "the surge") to speed up the war.
The surge was successful, and in result, Iraq had less violence.
Although the economy was doing very well during much of his presidency, in early 2008, the economy was slowing down.
Bush signed a bill into law which would gave $600 to every American citizen, hoping that people would go out and spend the money so that it would prevent a recession (a bad economy) from happening.
Later in 2008, stock market crashed and the country fell into its worst recession since the Great Depression.
Bush helped create a 700 billion dollar bailout, which would give money to corporations (large businesses) to prevent them from being bankrupt and to try to prevent the recession from getting worse.
During the last few days he was President, Bush gave his farewell address.
He was succeeded by Barack Obama on January 20, 2009.
Post-presidency (2009–present)
After his presidency, Bush stayed away from the spotlight and did not want much attention.
He said that he was not going to criticize President Obama.
He began to build his presidential library in 2010.
It was open to the public in 2013.
After over a year and a half of saying little in public, in November of 2010, Bush appeared on several television interviews and released a book called Decision Points.
The book focuses on fourteen big decisions he made in congress, including quitting drinking, running for president, Hurricane Katrina, invading Iraq, and his response to the financial meltdown in 2008.
On May 2, 2011, President Obama called Bush, who was at a restaurant with his wife, to inform him that Osama bin Laden had been killed.
The Bushes joined the Obamas in New York City to mark the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
At the Ground Zero memorial, Bush read a letter that President Abraham Lincoln wrote to a widow who lost five sons during the Civil War.
On August 6, 2013, Bush was successfully treated for a coronary artery blockage with a stent.
The blockage had been found during an annual medical examination.
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Organic compounds are carbon-based compounds.
Organic compounds contain carbon bonds in which at least one carbon atom is covalently linked to an atom of another type (usually hydrogen, oxygen or nitrogen).
Most polymers are organic compounds.
People believed that only living things could make organic compounds and "dead" things (such as minerals) could make inorganic compounds.
However, Friedrich Wöhler proved this wrong by synthesizing urea, a well-known organic compound.
Kinds of organic compounds
There are natural organic compounds, and synthetic ones.
Their structure may be described by using names, and making diagrams.
One way of showing the molecule is by drawing its structural formula.
Because molecules can have complicated structures, people have made ways to show them in simple language.
One way is to use line diagrams.
Each atom is shown by a letter, and connected by a line to each atom with which it is has a covalent bond.
One line means a single bond, two lines means a double bond and so on.
Because there is in an infinite number of possible organic compounds, language is needed to give a unique name to each one.
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, or IUPAC, made a system for doing this.
Although an IUPAC name makes every single possible molecule unique, the names are often long and complicated, so in everyday life, trivial names--unofficial but widely understood names--are used, such as the trivial names Paracetamol, Tylenol, and Acetaminophen, which are used for a compound whose IUPAC name is N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) acetamide.
Some of these trivial names are trademarks.
Natural Compounds
Natural compounds are compounds made by living beings.
These could also be made in a lab, but many of these compounds are taken from nature because it is easier and less expensive to do it that way.
For example, every year people grow and eat huge amounts of natural sugar and starch.
Other common natural compounds are: amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates, many antibiotics like Penicillin and Amoxicillin.
Synthetic compounds
Synthetic compounds are those made by people.
Sometimes, this is done by taking something natural and changing the molecule in a small way, such as making glycerin from vegetable oils.
Other compounds are synthesized in long, complicated reactions with many steps.
Plastics are sometimes mostly natural, and other kinds are manufactured.
Since a compound is often first discovered in nature instead of being made on purpose in a lab, people may know the compound exists, and even know what it does sometimes, but not know exactly what atoms it is made of and how it is arranged.
There are several ways of taking an unknown compound and finding out this structure:
X-ray diffraction
Organic chemistry online
Coal is a hard rock which can be burned as a solid fossil fuel.
It is mostly carbon but also contains hydrogen, sulphur, oxygen and nitrogen.
It is a sedimentary rock formed from peat, by the pressure of rocks laid down later on top.
Peat, and therefore coal, is formed from the remains of plants which lived millions of years ago in tropical wetlands  (coal swamps), such as those of the late Carboniferous period (the Pennsylvanian).
Charcoal is made by wood heated in an airless space.
Coal can be burned for energy or heat.
About two-thirds of the coal mined today is burned in power stations to make electricity.
Like oil, when coal is burned its carbon joins with oxygen in the air and makes a lot of carbon dioxide, which causes climate change.
Many people die early because of illnesses from air pollution from coal.
Most countries are turning to other sources of energy, such as solar power and wind power.
But new coal power plants are still being built in some parts of the world, such as China.
Coal can be roasted (heated very hot in a place where there is no oxygen) to produce coke.
Coke can be used in smelting to reduce metals from their ores.
Coal was the most important fuel of the Industrial Revolution.
Coal was an important part of rail freight in the UK in the 20th century, forming the greater part of several companies' freight volume.
Early in the 21st century most coal fired power stations in the United Kingdom and several other countries were closed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Types of coal
Peat is not yet coal.
Lignite (brown coal) is the dirtiest coal, is about 60%-70% carbon, and is used as fuel for electric power generation.
Jet is a compact form of lignite that is sometimes polished and has long been used as an ornamental stone.
Sub-bituminous coal is used as fuel for steam-electric power generation.
Also, it is a source of light aromatic hydrocarbons for the chemical synthesis industry.
Bituminous coal is a dense rock, black but sometimes dark brown.
It is a relatively soft coal that breaks and burns readily and quickly.
It used as fuel in power stations, and for heat and power applications in manufacturing, for blacksmithing; and to make coke to make steel.
Anthracite is a harder, glossy, black coal.
It is longer burning, and used mainly for residential and commercial space heating.
Graphite is difficult to burn and is not so commonly used as fuel.
It is still used in pencils, mixed with clay.
When powdered, it can be used as a lubricant.
Diamond is commonly believed to be the end result of this process, but this is not true.
Diamond is carbon but is not formed from coal.
Coal contains impurities.
The particular impurities determine the use.
Coking coal has little ash or sulfur or phosphorus.
Those would spoil the iron made by the blast furnace.
Environmental problems
Coal, when burnt, gives off almost a third more carbon dioxide per unit of energy than oil, and 80% more than natural gas.
Almost half of the carbon dioxide from people is because of burning coal so it is the biggest single cause of global warming.
Coal contributes to acid rain and smog, especially when burned without scrubbers.
Burning coal releases toxic chemicals, including soot, mercury, and carbon monoxide, which contribute to diseases such as cancer and asthma in both humans and wild animals.
Coal mining, especially mountaintop removal mining, can damage large areas of land and destroy natural habitats.
Higher grades of coal burn more cleanly than lower grades, although they still pollute more than other fuels.
In addition to air pollution, burning coal produces toxic coal ash, which can cause water pollution if it is accidentally released into the environment.
There are several underground mine fires burning throughout the world.
These underground fires release toxic smoke into the air, and can also cause the ground above to collapse.
The city of Centralia, Pennsylvania was evacuated and is now abandoned due to an underground coal mine fire.
Deaths and illness from pollution
Because of coal every year more than one hundred thousand people die early and millions of people get ill.
Coal miners often get pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) from exposure to coal dust.
Protests against coal
Peak coal
Peak coal means the year in which most coal is mined or burned.
Many countries have already passed their peak coal years, for example Germany in 1985 and the United States in 2008.
Now those countries are mining and burning less coal.
But China still mines a lot of coal.
The peak coal year for the world may have passed.
Compared to other non-renewable sources of energy, coal is inefficient and produces high amounts of greenhouse gases.
Coal is commonly found and cheap.
Coal provides about a quarter of the world's heating.
Coal-fired power stations produce 37% of the world's electricity.
Almost 70% of world steel production depends on burning coal.
The world's top coal producer is China, which produces about four billion tonnes each year.
India, the United States, Australia, Indonesia and Russia also produce coal, less than a billion tonnes a year each.
The largest exporter by far is Australia and the largest importers are China, India and Japan.
Coal forests
Electricity Map countries where more coal is burned are usually darker brown on map
National Coal Mining Museum for England
Petroleum, (from Greek πέτρα - rock and έλαιο - oil) also called crude oil, is a thick and black liquid.
It is a natural material mainly made of hydrocarbons.
Most petroleum is found by drilling down through rocks on land or off-shore on the continental shelf.
Major producers are in the Middle East, the Americas, and Russia.
It is the most important world fuel source.
It supplies 38% of the world's energy and is also used to make petrochemicals.
Crude oil is a mixture of many different chemicals (mostly hydrocarbons), most of which burn well.
It is separated into simpler, more useful mixtures by fractional distillation in oil refineries to give separate chemicals such as gasoline (or petrol) for cars, kerosene for airplanes and bitumen for roads.
The bitumen gives crude oil its dark black color; most of the other chemicals in crude are slightly yellow or colorless.
Petroleum can be easily transported by pipeline and oil tanker.
Refined petroleum is used as fuels; mainly gasoline (petrol) for cars, diesel fuel for diesel engines used in trucks, trains and ships, kerosene fuel for jets and as lubricants.
alcohols
antiseptics
artificial rubber
detergents
insecticides
textile fiber
Petroleum resource is limited and non-renewable.
Some believe it will run out within 70 years after a peak oil early in the 21st century.
Burning petroleum or other fossil fuel adds the carbon in the oil to the oxygen in the air to create carbon dioxide, which is an air pollutant.
The carbon can be removed from the carbon dioxide by plants.
There is a lot of crude oil left underground.
Oil companies quote "reserves" which some people confuse with the actual amount of oil underground, but are more to do with the cost of extracting it by oil wells.
Most of the crude left underground is in the Middle East which is not a politically stable part of the world.
Some governments with lots of oil reserves work together through OPEC to keep production low and prices high.
Politicians in countries that burn much oil complain about high oil prices, because voters complain.
However many environmentalists worry about damage being done by using oil as a fuel source (especially global warming) and are therefore happy when prices are kept high so that people use less oil.
US Energy Information Administration - Part of the informative website of the US Government's Energy Information Administration.
Environmental effects of oil extraction
BP Statistical Review of World Energy
PetroTalk Portal for petro related Articles, Discussion, Links and more
Oil, petroleum: Development, production, consumption and reserves
World oil consumption World oil consumption
Crude: 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation documentary [3 x 30 minutes] about the formation of oil, and humanity's use of it
Petroleum crude oil Citizendium
Department of Energy EIA - World supply and consumption
Department of Energy EIA - Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports to USA
US petroleum prices  - from US Department of Energy EIA
European Brent prices  since 1987
Natural gas is a mixture of gases.
It consists mainly of hydrocarbons.
The main component is methane.
Natural gas is often found in the ground, either alone or together with petroleum.
Landfills and natural processes produce a little methane.
Usually it is transported to users in a pipeline.
Most natural gas is burnt as a fuel to produce energy.
It burns with a clean blue flame, causing little pollution.
Natural gas is burned to produce electricity, to cook and to heat buildings.
It is also used as fuel for natural gas vehicles for transport.
When natural gas is burned in a power station it boils water into steam that spins a steam turbine that turns a generator to make electricity.
Some power stations use natural gas in a gas turbine.
Natural gas is also converted into many different industrial chemicals.
It is the most common feedstock for making pure hydrogen.
Hydrogen is used as fuel in fuel cells, and to make ammonia.
Ammonia is used as a fuel, as a fertilizer for crops, and for making many other things.
Natural gas is also converted into monomers to make many plastic products.
non-renewable resource
History of using natural gas from the U.S. Department of Energy
In physics, energy is a property of matter and space.
It can be transferred between objects.
It can be converted in its form.
It cannot be created or destroyed.
In economics it may mean the ‘energy industry’, as in fuel or electric power distribution.
Energy can be used to heat, move or illuminate.
In everyday use, the word is used to describe someone acting or speaking in a lively and vigorous way.
Scientific energy
Kinetic energy - energy of an object in motion, which acts as the capacity to undergo change in position over time.
Potential energy - stored energy, which acts as the potential to do work.
Heat - thermal energy which is used to vibrate atoms and molecules.
Electrical energy which is energy that relates to electrical interactions.
Energy is a property that is not created or destroyed, although energy can change in detectable form.
This is a rule that is commonly understood as the "conservation law of energy".
In respects to this rule, the total amount of energy that exists in an isolated system will always be the same, no matter what changes have been made to it.
In the early 20th century, scientist found that matter itself can be created from energy (energy and matter are interchangeable, in spite of everyday experiences).
This is just another change of form.
After these discoveries, the conservation law of energy was extended to become the conservation law of matter and energy: matter and energy can neither be created from nothing nor destroyed to the point of complete erasure from reality.
Albert Einstein was the first to mathematically show this. (
E = mc2)
Matter can be created from energy or converted into energy through  processes such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion.
1.kinetic energy
human throws the stone using energy stored in muscles = chemical energy
stone moves upwards = kinetic energy
stone at the highest point = potential energy
stone falls to ground = kinetic energy
stone hits ground = thermal energy/sonic energy
Scientists have identified many types of energy, and found that they can be changed from one kind into another.
Sound energy
Elastic energy
Gravitational potential energy
Measuring energy
Energy can be measured.
The amount of energy a thing has can be given a number.
As in other kinds of measurements, there are measurement units.
The units of measurement for measuring energy are used to make the numbers meaningful.
The SI unit for both energy and work is the joule (J).
It is named after James Prescott Joule.
1 joule is equal to 1 newton-metre.
In terms of SI base units, 1 J is equal to 1 kg m2 s−2.
It is most often used in science, though particle physics often uses the electronvolt.
The measurement for electricity most often uses the kilowatt-hour (kW·h).
One kW·h is equivalent to 3,600,000 J (3600 kJ or 3.6 MJ).
Jewels (or gems or gemstones) are rare minerals.
They usually come in colours and sizes.
They begin in a rough rock form, but can be cut and polished to turn into a jewellery.
However, some other non-mineral rocks (such as lapis lazuli) or organic materials can also be also used for jewelry and are called gemstones.
These include amber or jet.
Pearls and coral are sometimes also called gemstones.
Most gemstones are hard.
Soft minerals are used in jewelry too, because of their luster that gives them value.
Being rare or in short supply also makes a gemstone valuable.
The Ancient Greeks began to decide which gems are precious and semi-precious.
This continued in other cultures.
In modern times, the precious stones are diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald, with all other gemstones being semi-precious.
"Book of Royal Gemstones" is a book from 1554 that talks about gemstones.
"The Blossoms of Thoughts Regarding the Precious Stones" is an old book from the 1600s that is considered one of the most important books about precious stones.
It is written in the Arabic language.
Xenon is a non-metal chemical element.
It has the chemical symbol Xe and atomic number 54.
It is one of the few elements that are a gas at the standard temperature and pressure.
Sir William Ramsay and M. W. Travers discovered this element in 1898.
The element's name came from the Greek word xenos, which means 'stranger'.
Xenon belongs to the group of the noble gases.
Noble gases are very unreactive.
However, in 1962, chemists have found that xenon can react with fluorine under special conditions, such as high pressure and high temperature.
It is not known why xenon behaves differently under these circumstances.
There are also some compounds with oxygen.
The gas is not very reactive, because if fulfills the octet rule.