the-french-artist/wikipedia_20220301.simple_sentence_split huggingface dataset:
The city is entirely accessible and is relatively safe on the road, although it is unsafe to go around the city without a radiation dosimeter that measures exposure.
The doors of all the buildings are open to reduce the risk to visitors, although many have accumulated too much radioactive material to be safe to visit.
Site about Pripyat created by its former residents.
Contains photos from the deserted town of Pripyat and much other useful information
Pripyat Ghost Town (1970-1986): a tale by Elena Filatova with photos
Greenpeace pictures with no text
Pripyat - Ghost Town II (www.opuszczone.com)
Ghost towns
1970s establishments in Europe
1986 disestablishments
20th-century establishments in Ukraine
Cities in Kyiv Oblast
How is Thyroid Cancer Diagnosed?
Basic Tests:
During a physical exam, a doctor can check for lumps or swelling in the neck; a larger-than-normal thyroid (goiter); and how the patient is feeling in general.
Blood tests can check for levels of hormones released by other organs in the body.
Special Tests:
Special scans, like CT scans, PET scans, MRIs, and radioiodine scans.
These tests can find out where the thyroid cancer is, how big it is, and how far it has spread.
Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy: A thin needle, guided by an ultrasound, is put through the skin and into the thyroid.
A biopsy is done: a sample of cells is taken out (aspirated) and checked for cancer.
Ultrasound: If a person has a lump on their thyroid, an ultrasound can measure how big it is.
Surgical biopsy: A surgeon can take out one side of the thyroid, or the whole thyroid, so it can be tested for cancer. (
Sometimes, taking out the whole thyroid is also a treatment for thyroid cancer.)
Thyroid scan: The patient takes a pill of radioactive iodine. (
It is radioactive so the iodine can be seen on the test.
The thyroid is supposed to be able to make iodine into thyroid hormones, so if the thyroid cannot do this because of cancer, the test will show it.)
A special camera is used to get an image of the thyroid on a computer screen.
This test is not used very often, since it is only useful in certain cases.
Notable cases
2000: 28-year-old Colombian-American actress and model Sofía Vergara was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
2012: 27-year-old Russian singer and actress, former part of world-wide famous duo t.A.T.u, Yuliya Volkova was diagnosed with stage I papillary thyroid cancer.
She developed some thyroid problems after giving birth to her son Samir in 2007 and she do ultrasounds few times a year ever since to prevent serious health problems and eventually was diagnosed with early stage of cancer when her son was 4.
She underwent surgery to the tumor, her thyroid was removed too.
She later underwent hormonies treatment.
Doctors damaged her voice nerve during the surgery and she lost her voice.
She underwent multiple courses of treatments in Russia, Israel and Germany to get her voice back during the next year.
She later was able to got her voice back in Korea.
As of early April 2016 she was cancer-free.
2013: Famous movie critic Roger Ebert died after suffering from the disease for nearly eight years.
He had part of his lower jaw removed to prevent the cancer spread.
However, in late 2012, the cancer spread to parts of his hip and bone.
A containment building is a building with a nuclear reactor in it.
It is built around the reactor to keep the radiation from getting out, if something happens to the reactor.
The containment building is the last barrier to the radiation getting into the environment.
Containment systems for nuclear power reactors are distinguished by size, shape, materials used, and suppression systems.
The kind of containment used is determined by the type of reactor, generation of the reactor, and the specific plant needs.
The Chernobyl accident was very bad partly because the Soviet RBMK reactors used at the Chernobyl power plant had no containment buildings.
The explosion, however, was so powerful that it is unlikely a containment building would have completely prevented the release of radiation.
Layers of nuclear defense
The diagram shows the order of defense layers for a nuclear reactor.
The first layer of defense is the inert, ceramic quality of the uranium oxide itself.
The second layer is the air tight zirconium alloy of the fuel rod.
The third layer is the reactor pressure vessel made of steel more than a dozen centimeters thick.
The fourth layer is the pressure resistant, air tight containment building.
The fifth layer is the exclusion zone around the reactor.
It was a major communications node and important center of trade and commerce, especially in the 19th century.
The city is 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) south by south-east of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, which became known for the Chornobyl disaster.
The plant exploded on 26 April 1986; clouds of radioactive particles were released, and the severely damaged containment vessel started leaking radioactive matter.
More than 100,000  people were evacuated from the city and other affected areas.
Despite the fact that radiation is still being emitted from the nuclear disaster site, the 800-year-old city of Chornobyl survives.
As of 2004, government workers still police the zone.
They try to clean up radioactive material.
Hundreds of people — mostly  the elderly — have decided to live with the dangers and have returned to their homes in the zone's towns and villages.
Their population was highest in 1987, when there were more than 1200 people.
In 2003, there were about 300.
There are currently 704 people living in Chornobyl, the houses that have people inside have a sign on the outside saying, Owner of this house lives here.
In 2022, as part of Russia's invasion into Ukraine, Chernobyl has since been under Russian military control.
Klaus Wowereit (born 1 October 1953) is a German politician.
He was born in Berlin.
He was the SPD Governing Mayor of Berlin from 2001 to 2014.
He and his party won 31.4% of the votes in the 2001 state elections, and he started a coalition government with Linkspartei.
PDS.
He was President of the Bundesrat in 2001/02.
He was re-elected as Governing Mayor in 2006, and has carried on the coalition.
He supports Kurt Beck as "Kanzlerkandidat", the SPDs nominee for the Chancellorship of Germany.
Many people wanted Wowereit to be the candidate, not so many after he decided to stay in coalition with Die Linke after the 2006 elections.
Klaus Wowereit attended the Ulrich-von-Hutten-Oberschule in Berlin until 1973.
He went on to study law at the Free University Berlin, passing his first State Exams in 1981 and the second set in 1984.
After university Wowereit spent three years as a civil servant in the Senate Office (that is, Ministry) of the Interior.
At the age of 30, he was became the youngest councillor in the city of Berlin when he was elected a councillor of Tempelhof Borough.
After eleven years he stood for the Berlin House of Deputies Abgeordnetenhaus which is City's Landtag or state legislature in 1995.
In December 1999, he was elected chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Abgeordnetenhaus.
From June 2001 to December 2014 he served as Governing Mayor, Regierender Bürgermeister, of Berlin.
Wowereit is one of the most famous German politicians who has openly declared himself homosexual.
He came out at a convention of the Berlin SPD just before the 2001 mayoral elections, when he said "" ("I am gay, and it's good that way".)
This is now a famous quotation in Germany.
He probably came out so that the tabloid newspapers could not publish what they thought were embarrassing stories about him.
Wowereit is not the only gay mayor of a large European city.
Bertrand Delanoë, the mayor of Paris, is openly gay, and Ole von Beust, the former mayor of Hamburg, is also gay.
In September 2007, Wowereit published an autobiography called "...und das ist auch gut so.",
after his famous coming out phrase.
Konsequent Berlin (Personal website for British and French readers)
CityMayors.com profile
German LGBT people
German politicians of the Left Party
LGBT politicians
Politicians from Berlin
Politicians of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Sino-Soviet split (1960–1989) was a time when the relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union weakened during the Cold War.
Eventually, China's leader, Mao Zedong, decided to break the alliance with the Soviet Union.
The Soviet leader, Stalin, wanted to help spread communism in the world, including China.
In the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Soviets gave weapons and supplies to the Kuomintang, and advised the Communists to ally with them against the Japanese Empire.
The Chinese Civil War continued, however.
After World War II, Stalin and the Soviet Union helped the Communists.
Chinese leaders disliked the Soviet leaders for not helping Mao and the Communists from the start.
Suddenly, in 1953, Stalin died.
Mao saw Stalin as the leader of Communism, but also had a bad relationship with the Soviet Union throughout his time as leader.
The new Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, was not like Stalin.
He did not want capitalism to collapse like Stalin did.
Mao got angry about this, and he wanted Nikita Khrushchev to help him fight the imperialists.
Khrushchev said no, and then Mao decided that if Khrushchev was not going to cooperate, they would not work with each other anymore.
Later, there was peace between the USSR and China, but they were suspicious of each other.
They were no longer allies, and Mao's supporters said that it had been a victory.
History of the People's Republic of China
Being Awake is a daily brain state.
It is being in a state of consciousness where one is conscious about the surroundings.
The person (or animal) can respond to these surroundings by communicating, walking, eating, and more.
When you are asleep most responses to your surroundings are turned off, and you are unconscious of what is happening around you.
Animals are awake for some hours each day or night.
Animals which are awake during the day are called diurnal.
Animals which are awake during the night are called nocturnal.
Diurnal animals include humans.
They wake up in the morning and are awake during the day.
When they are awake they can eat and move.
He went into battle against the Yellow Turban Rebellion rebellion in 184, along with his sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
Later (in 190) he joined Gongsun Zan against the evil Dong Zhuo who had seized the Han emperor Xian.
After Dong lost, the emperor was in the clutches of his followers—until Cao Cao saved him and seized control over him.
Cao Cao tried to conquer all   of China for the emperor but in fact wanted to conquer it for himself.
He defeated Liu Bei once at the Battle of Changban in 207 but was not able to win the Battle of Red Cliffs against the united forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, a warlord in the South.
From 211 to 214, Liu Bei conquered the country Ba Shu in the West.
Because he had now an empire of his own, Sun Quan demanded his western regions back but Liu Bei declined.
This made Sun Quan quite angry.
After several useless battles against Liu Bei's general Guan Yu, Cao Cao chose to make a union with Sun Quan.
They attacked Guan Yu with their allied forces and overthrew him in 219.
Liu Bei was mad and swore revenge for the death of his brother and the loss of an important part of his empire.
When Cao Cao died in 220, his son Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian of Han to give up his power.
Cao Pi declared himself Emperor of the Wei Dynasty.
Liu Bei found that offensive, for he was a member of the royal family of Han and considered himself the righteous Emperor of China.
That's why he declared himself emperor of the Shu Han in 221.
The next year, Sun Quan claimed the title Emperor of Wu for himself.
Liu Bei was really mad at Sun Quan's arrogance.
In 222 he opposed him in the Battle of Yiling but failed due to Lu Xun's (a Wu general) great tactics.
After his defeat Liu Bei got ill and died a year later.
His son Liu Shan followed him as emperor.
161 births
223 deaths
Emperors of Three Kingdoms era
Cao Cao (曹操 155-220) was a Chinese general.
He managed to control the last Han Emperor Xian and conquered the whole northern China.
Cao Cao gathered an army in 184 to fight against the Yellow Scarves rebellion.
After the Dong Zhuo had seized the Emperor Liu Bian in 189 and deposed him in favour of his brother Liu Xie (Emperor Xian), a coalition of local warlords all over the country arose against Dong.
It was called by Cao Cao and led by Yuan Shao, and many powerful warriors joined it.
After Dong Zhuo's death through the hands of his foster son Lü Bu, Emperor Xian was controlled by Dong's associates.
He fled to Chang'an (the old capital) in 195 but almost starved to death.
Cao Cao saved him in 196 and brought him to his own place at Xuchang.
With the emperor under his control, Cao Cao managed to kill most of the minor warlords in Northern China and was even able to defeat Lü Bu and the powerful Yuan Shao at Guandu in 200.
He tried to conquer the south, too, but Liu Bei and Sun Quan opposed him and defeated his forces in the Battle at Red Cliffs.
Cao Cao led several campaigns against the south, but with fairly low success.
Also, he managed to get the famous general Guan Yu killed by Sun Quan's general Lü Meng.
Cao Cao died in 220, and his son Cao Pi followed him in control of the emperor.
He eventually deposed him the same year and became Emperor Wen of Wei, making his father posthumously Emperor Wu of Wei.
Cao Cao was a poet.
Only some of his poetry can be found today.
155 births
220 deaths
Chinese poets
Zhang Fei (167-221) was a warrior in ancient China.
He fought along with his brothers Liu Bei and Guan Yu for the restoration of the Han Dynasty.
167 births
221 deaths
Dong Zhuo (董卓 139-192) was a reckless general in ancient China.
He took control over the imperial court of Han in 189.
He was later killed by his own foster son, Lu Bu.
Dong Zhuo had been a successful warrior and general since his youth.
Anyway, he was defeated by Yellow Scarves rebels in 184 and demoted.
After the death of Emperor Ling, the eunuchs kidnapped the young follower Liu Bian and his brother Liu Xie.
Dong Zhuo freed them and intimidated the kidnappers so they committed suicide by drowning in the Yellow River.
Dong then brought the emperor and his brother back to the capital Luoyang and seized perfect control over the court.
Because Liu Bian seemed too stupid to him, Dong deposed him and made his brother Liu Xie emperor instead (Emperor Xian).
In 190 he poisoned Liu Bian.
Dong Zhuo became arrogant and violent.
He even forced the emperor to move to the city Chang'an as capital instead and burned Luoyang.
Because of that, many warlords and Han generals all over the country formed an alliance to destroy Dong's reign.
After some fierce battles, Lü Bu knew that his position was lost, and killed his foster father Dong in 192.
Dong's associates Guo Si and Li Jue continued to control the emperor, but they started struggles and the emperor escaped.
He was rescued by Cao Cao in 196.
139 births
192 deaths
As a warlord
His brother Sun Ce conquered Southeastern China from 197 until his death in 200.
Sun Quan was in charge at the age of 18.
He continued to expand his empire and drew back the forces of Cao Cao in the Battle at Red Cliffs (along with Liu Bei).
To have better opportunities against the north, he gave his Jing Province to Liu Bei so that he could create an empire on his own.
Liu Bei conquered the other western territories from 211 to 214 and set his brother Guan Yu in charge of defending Jing.
Now that Liu Bei had his own empire, Sun quan demanded his western province back from him, but Liu Bei declined.
In alliance with Cao Cao, Sun Quan's general Lü Meng captured Guan Yu in 219 and slayed him along with his son, Guan Ping.
After Cao Cao's son Cao Pi started the Wei Dynasty in 220, Liu Bei also wanted to be an emperor and declared himself Emperor of Shu Han in 221.
He considered himself the righteous heir of the abdicated Han emperor Xian.
Sun Quan declared himself King of Wu in 222.
Liu Bei found that offensive, and launched a great attack against Sun Quan but failed—due to Lu Xun's great tactics.
Under the regency of the Shu prime minister Zhuge Liang, the alliance between Shu and Wu was renewed.
Both empires did not have to worry about their defense in the west/east after that.
As Emperor
In 229, Sun Quan declared himself Emperor of Wu.
His attacks on Wei were all in vain but he managed to develop his country very well.
After his son Crown Prince Sun Deng died in 241, he made his now-oldest son Sun He Crown Prince.
All along the next nine years, He would have trouble with his brother Sun Ba who wanted to be Crown Prince instead.
Their fight even caused the honorable general Lu Xun to die of anger in 245.
In 250, Sun Quan was sick of his sons' struggles and deposed them both as princes.
Instead he made his youngest son Sun Liang Crown Prince.
Two years later, Sun Quan died at the age of 70.
For his follower was too young to rule on his own, the official Zhuge Ke became regent.
182 births
252 deaths
A conference is an event where people get together to discuss things.
For example, scientists usually present their findings at conferences.
Many other types of people other than scientists attend conferences also.
Business people sometimes come together to talk about things.
International business conferences are very common because it allows individuals to showcase their knowledge to the world.
Using modern media, like the Internet, or the telephone people can talk to each other that are not in the same place.
This is then called a conference call.
Very often, digital video cameras can be used to transmit images, as well as sound.
A pasture is a piece of land.
Usually specific grasses and herbs are grown on it.
Then livestock is put on for grazing.
Rangeland is similarly used, but less controlled.
A hectare is a unit of measurement of area.
It is equal to 10,000 square metres, or a square with sides of 100 by 100 metres.
100 hectares is 1 square kilometre.
Therefore, a farm with 200 hectares of fields has 2 square kilometres of fields.
The word hectare means 100 ares.
Hecto is the metric prefix of 100.
The are is a metric unit of area, equal to 100 square metres.
He helped his lord Liu Bei conquer the country Ba Shu from 211 to 214, along with Pang Tong.
After Liu Bei's death in 223, Zhuge Liang was a regent for the new emperor Liu Shan.
Zhuge Liang attempted to conquer the Southern Wei territories five times but had no success.
He died in 234, leaving the regency to Jiang Wei.
181 births
234 deaths
Chinese politicians
A wavelength is the length of the shortest repeating part of a "sine wave".
All waves can be formed by adding up sine waves.
That is, every wave is a total of sine waves, which may be identified by Fourier analysis.
Examples of waves
Waves are everywhere.
Examples of waves include:
electromagnetic spectrum including
radio wave
water waves such as ocean surface waves
earthquake waves
"Length" of a sine wave
The sine wave has a pattern that repeats.
The length of this repeating piece of the sine wave is called the wavelength.
The wavelength can be found by measuring the length or distance between one peak of a sine wave and the next peak.
The wavelength can be found in many other ways too.
As the frequency of a wave increases, the wavelength decreases Thus, the frequency and wavelength are in inverse proportionality.
A symbol used for wavelength most often is the Greek letter lambda (λ).
Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 - January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer and poet.
He is best known for writing a poem which later became the words of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the United States of America.
His mother was Ann Phoebe Penn Dagworthy (Charlton) and his father was Captain John Ross Key.
He graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland in 1796.
1843 deaths
Latex, also known as rubber, is a natural polymer.
It is taken from the milky sap of the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), native to the tropical forests of Central and South America.
Today, much of the natural latex comes from Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
Polymers made from artificial latex are called "synthetic rubber."
High mechanical resistance
Non-adherent
Electrical insulator
Chemical resistance
Insoluble in organic solvents
Tires
Shoe soles
Flexible tubes
Raincoats
Bed mattresses
A drum is a musical instrument that is played with the hands using a drum stick (a stick for hitting a drum).
A collection of drums and cymbals is called a drum kit, or drum set.
Drums are used to keep a steady beat in a song.
They give music of many kinds a sense of feeling.
For example, to make a song to be slow or fast, the drums play slower or faster.
A drum is a percussion instrument, which means it makes a noise by being hit.
There are many types such as cymbals and bells; even a simple piece of wood can be used as a percussion instrument.
The drum kit is a group of drums & cymbals to make beats for music.
Drum kits are used in most types of popular music, including rock, jazz, country, blues, and many others.
Acoustic Drum
Acoustic drum kit is a set of drums and cymbals designed to be played as one instrument.
A standard drum kit is made from a bass drum, snare drum, set of tom toms, hi hat cymbals, a ride cymbal and a crash cymbal.
The sound is produced by striking the drums or cymbals with a drum stick or mallet.
Electric Drum
Electric drum kit is essentially a collection of sample pads set up in the same way as an acoustic drum kit.
The pads themselves are designed to produce little acoustic sound, other than the dead sound of the wooden drum sticks hitting rubber.
The drum kit has to be plugged into an amplifier, speaker, or pair of headphones to be heard, which makes them ideal for practice when volume has to be kept to a minimum.
Unlike acoustic drums, it is incredibly easy and quick to record electronic drums.
There are two main ways to record audio from an electronic kit - Using a USB cable or Using an audio interface.
Something related to the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain)
Pashupatinath is one of the most sacred temples of Hinduism.
It is in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal.
It is the temple of the Hindu god Shiva.
Invasion is a word that comes from Latin.
Originally, it meant that something goes in (as in military occupation) of a foreign territory.
So far, the following uses are known:
Military: Getting troops to take control of enemy territory.
Often a state invades another to start a war, but invasions can happen anytime during war.
Others: Sometimes, biologists speak about an invasive species.
There might be locust swarms invading, or that some algae spread far more rapidly in new territory.
One of many examples is the importing of rabbits  to Australia.
As they had no enemies, they did what rabbits do best.
They multiplied.
To get rid of them, people then thought about importing foxes as well.
In psychology invasion is a state where the unconsciousness is a ruler (by C.G.Jung).
The olive tree  is a small tree.
Its scientific name is Olea europaea.
A long time ago, it came from  the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean, from Syria and the maritime (next to the sea) parts of Asia Minor and northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.
It has been farmed for a very long time.
The Ancient Greeks were farming it.
They spread the trees to the western part of the Mediterranean.
Olive trees like soil with lots of chalk in it.
They grow best on limestone slopes and crags in coastal climate.
The Wild Olive is a small tree or shrub that grows up to 8–15 m tall with thorny branches.
The leaves are opposite, 4–10 cm long and 1–3 cm wide.
The leaves have a dark greyish-green color above and are pale with whitish scales below.
The small white flowers, with calyx and corolla divided into four parts, two stamens and bifid stigma, are mostly on the last year's wood, in racemes coming up from the axils of the leaves.
The fruit is a small drupe 1–2 cm long, thinner-fleshed and smaller in wild plants than in orchard cultivars.
The fruit of the tree is used:
For cooking.
Directly from the tree the olive does not taste very good (it tastes very bitter).
It is put into some liquid that makes it less bitter.
When this is done, it can be used in many recipes of Mediterranean cooking.
To make olive oil, a very important vegetable oil.
The wood of the tree is very hard.
It is used to make furniture or articles of everyday use.
The leaves of the tree have some medical uses.
It is said that the leaves have a calming effect.
They are good for people going to sleep.
They are also good for the immune system and to bring down high levels of cholesterol.
The oil is good for the cardiovascular system (the heart, and the arteries, etc.)
and the circulation of fat in the body.
The numbers behind
In total, about 17.3 million tons of olives are produced every year.
60% of all olive trees are in the European Union.
The top producers are:
Very probably, the first olive trees were grown in Syria.
From there they spread rapidly.
In Ancient Greece, the tree was considered to be holy.
Some city states (polis) like Athens punished people for cutting down olive trees.
Olive at Plants for a Future
International Olive Oil Council Includes studies on health benefits
The California Olive Oil Council
Resource portal for olive oil
Olive Oil Times
Information about growing olive trees
The history and gastronomy of the olive and olive oil in Spain
Hello is a greeting in the English language.
It is common between two people in a non-formal (informal) setting, but can also be used in a formal setting.
There are also many other ways of saying "hello", for example a wave of the hand, a salute or a bow (both very formal), a handshake (a little formal) or a high five (very informal).
Saying "hello" is a sign of politeness, especially when it is said in a friendly way. "
Hello" was first used in writing in about 1833.
Other greetings like "hello" include; Hi, Hallo, Hiya, Howdy, Hey, Howya, 'Sup, Yo, 'Yello, Herro, Greetings, Good day, What's poppin', G'day mate, Top of the mornin' to you, Ay up, what's up mate and many more.
People then often say "goodbye" when they leave each other. "
Goodbye" is a shortened version of the religious farewell expression "God be with ye", which indicates the user's religious belief, usually in a single god.
Similar expressions exist in other languages such as: adieu, adieus, adieux, adios.
These terms also possess religious undertones as they are derived from the Latin word "deus", meaning "god".
This of course does not always mean they are religious.
Annexation (Latin: ad "to" and nexus "joining") is the one-sided forceful takeover of one state's territory by another.
Anschluss (World War II, Austria merged to Nazi Germany)
Republic of Texas annexed to United States
Manchuria (Northeast China) is the homeland of the Manchu people.
To the Chinese, the region is simply known as the Northeast (Chinese: 东北, Dōngbĕi).
Manchuria is made up of China's three northeastern most provinces: Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang.
Parts of Manchuria were annexed by the Russian Empire in the past, and they are now ruled by Russia.
In the early history, Manchuria was under the control of many Chinese kingdoms.
Later, the Manchu people formed their own empire called Jurchen.
They eventually invaded China and founded the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Although the Manchus, who at the time ruled China, signed a treaty with Russia, the Russians took advantage of the weak Qing government and annexed the part that touches the Pacific Ocean, where the modern Chinese city of Dalian stands today.
Japan then attacked the Russians to take this important piece of land.
Later, Japan invaded the Chinese part of Manchuria too (see Manchukuo).
This eventually led to World War II.
Manchuria is in north-east China and the Russian Far East.
The land has rocks, grasslands, mountains, and deserts.
The weather is very extreme.
It is very hot and humid in the summer, and is very cold and dry in the winter.
Tuva Republic is one of 85 federal subjects of Russia.
Another way to spell its name is Tyva.
It is in south Siberia.
It is grouped and governed as part of Siberian Federal District.
The Siberian Federal District contains nine other federal subjects too.
Tuva also shares an international border with Mongolia.
During the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Tuva was part of the province of Mongolia.
From 1921 to 1944, Tuva was a separate country called Tannu-Tuva.
In 1944, it joined the Soviet Union.
In 1991, it continued to be part of Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Kyzyl is the capital city of Tuva.
The name means red in Tuvan.
Tuvans say that Kyzyl is the exact center of Asia.
And there is a monument to the Center of Asia in the capital.
But others think that Kyzyl is not the exact center of Asia.
Nevertheless, Tuva is in Central Asia.
And Tuvan culture is similar to the culture of their neighbors in other Central Asian countries.
Tuva is in a mountain basin between the Sayan Mountains and the Tannu-Ola Mountains.
In the east, Tuva has forests.
In the west, the land is drier.
The average temperature in January is −32 °C (−25.6 °F).
The average temperature in July is +18 °C (64.4 °F).
Tuva's population at the end of the Soviet Union stayed about the same for some time, according to data.
It is currently increasing again.
A little bit more than half of the population live in cities and towns.
Most of the people that live in cities and towns live in Kyzyl.
Ethnic Tuvans make up the most of the population.
Most ethnic Tuvans practice a religion that is mixed with Tibetan Buddhism and Shamanism, which is a belief that worships spirits and nature.
Tuvans speak their own language, which is called Tuvan.
It is a Turkic language.
And it is related to Turkish.
Before Tuva joined the Soviet Union, the Tuvan language used the Roman alphabet, which is the same alphabet that English uses.
Since Tuva joined the Soviet Union, they have used the Cyrillic alphabet, which is the same alphabet that Russian uses.
Because Tuva is part of Russia, Tuvans also learn to speak Russian.
Before they joined the Soviet Union, Tuvans were nomadic people.
They traveled on horses.
Therefore, horses were very important in Tuvan culture.
Tuvan art often shows horses.
And many Tuvan songs are about horses.
Tuvans lived in yurts (round, felt covered houses that are easy to take apart and carry).
Even today, a few Tuvans are nomads.
Ethnically they are Mongols.
Tuvans are famous for their throat singing.
Throat singing is a very old art.
And it is very special because a throat singer can sing two or more notes at the same time.
Throat singers imitate the sounds of nature.
They can sound like a bird or like the howling wind.
One style of throat singing has a rhythm like a horse trotting.
For many centuries only men were allowed to be throat singers.
But now women are throat singers too.
Singing more than one note at the same time is sometimes called overtone singing.
Tannu-Tuva was also famous for its colorful and unusual postage stamps.
Some were triangles.
Many showed interesting pictures of life in Tuva.
Nomads of Eurasia, the National History Museum of Los Angeles County and the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., 1989.
Where Rivers and Mountains Sing: Sound, Music, and Nomadism in Tuva and Beyond by Ted Levin, Indiana University Press, January 11, 2006.
The Postal History and Stamps of Tuva by S. M. Blekhman.
English edition published by Scientific Consulting Services International, 1997.
News of Tuva
Friends of Tuva
Demonstrations of Tuvan throat singing styles
Picture of Kongar-ool Ondar at the Monument to the Center of Asia in Kyzyl
Republics of Russia
The group of islands, islets and rocks is east of mainland China, northeast of Taiwan, west of Okinawa, and north of the southwestern end of the Ryukyu Islands.
The islands are about 200km from Taiwan, and about 300 km from Okinawa.
Control over these islands and rocks is disputed.
The dispute issues are complex.
The islands are also described as part of China.
There are conflicts in the positions of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC).
The PRC and ROC have a shared history.
The United States occupied the islands from 1945 to 1972 when they reverted to Japan.
The official US position is neutral in a dispute among Japan, China and Taiwan.
Japan,  "The Basic view on the Sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands", Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
China,  "China's Diaoyu Islands Sovereignty is Undeniable", People's Daily
Taiwan, "ROC (Taiwan) Government Reaffirms Sovereignty over Diaoyutai Islands", Republic of China Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Islands of Japan
Islands of China
Islands of Taiwan
Uninhabited islands
The First Sino-Japanese War happened from 1894 to 1895, about control of Korea.
The Second Sino-Japanese War happened from 1931 (more strongly starting in 1937) to 1945.
After 1941, it was part of World War II.
World Youth Day (WYD) is a gathering (meeting) of young Catholic people.
It was created by Pope John Paul II in 1984 "to consolidate the ordinary youth ministry by offering new encouragement for commitment, objectives which foster ever greater involvement and participation"[1].
In other words, the Pope wanted young Catholics to come together, and work together.
The day is celebrated around the world every year, and every two or three years, a gathering is held at a different place.
Thousands of people (including young people) from many countries go to this celebration.
Because of World Youth Day, many young people are more likely to work together around the world.
The last World Youth Day celebration was held in 2005, in Cologne, Germany, the country in which Pope Benedict XVI was born in.
About 1,200,000 attended the event.
In 2008 World Youth Day was held in Sydney, Australia and in 2011 in Madrid,Spain and in 2013 in Rio,Brazil
Carl XVI Gustaf (born 30 April 1946) is the king of Sweden.
He became king or as he himself wrote; "knug", on 15 September 1973.
He is married to Silvia Sommerlath who is half German, half Brazilian.
With her he has three children:
Kings and Queens of Sweden
Age of Empires III is a 2005 computer game made by the company Ensemble Studios.
It is published by Microsoft.
It is the third game of the Age of Empires games, and has better graphics than the ones before it.
It is a real-time strategy game.
The plot is from 1500 to 1860.
An expansion pack, Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs, was released for the game on October 17, 2006.
The second expansion, Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, was released on October 23, 2007. ''
Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition was announced on August 21, 2017, and it is still in development.
The game is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10.
The game is available on Steam.
CPU: should be above 1.4 GHz
Memory: 256 MB RAM
Graphics: 64 MB video card
2 GB free space on the harddisk.
The expansions require additional free space.
2005 video games
The Bank of China Tower (BOC Tower, 中銀大廈) is one of the most well known skyscrapers in the central parts of Hong Kong.
In the tower, the Bank of China has their offices.
The tower was designed by the architect I. M. Pei and is 315 meters high.
On the tower there are two masts that are 369 meters (1209 feet) high.
Emporis.com - Bank of China Tower
SkycraperPage.com – Bank of China Tower
Skyscrapers in China
Buildings and structures in Hong Kong
I. M. Pei buildings
1990s establishments in China
Ulaanbaatar, or Ulan Bator, is the capital and largest city of Mongolia.
The city is an independent municipality not part of any provinces, and its population as of 2008 is just over 1 million.
Located in the north central part of the country, the city is at an elevation of about 1310 m in a valley on the Tuul River.
The city is the country's center for culture, industry and finance, and since it is more than 13 times bigger than the second largest city in Mongolia, Erdenet, it is the country's primate city.
Ulaanbaatar is connected by highway to all the major towns in Mongolia and by rail to the Trans-Siberian Railway and Chinese railroad network.
The city was founded in 1639 as a Buddhist monastery center and, in the 20th century, grew into a major manufacturing center.
Ulaanbaatar has had many names in its history.
From 1639–1706, it was known as Örgöö (Mongolian: Өргөө, residence), and from 1706–1911 as Ikh Khüree (Mongolian: Их = "great", Хүрээ = "camp"), Da Khüree or simply Khüree.
Upon independence in 1911,the city's name changed to Niislel Khüree (Mongolian: Нийслэл = "capital", Хүрээ = "camp").
When the city became the capital of the new Mongolian People's Republic in 1924, its name was changed to Ulaanbaatar, literally "red hero", in honour of Mongolia's national hero Damdin Sükhbaatar, that liberated Mongolia from Ungern von Sternberg's troops and Chinese occupation with the Soviet Red Army.
In Europe and North America, Ulaanbaatar was generally known as Urga (from Örgöö) or sometimes Kuren (from Khüree) or Kulun (from 庫倫, the Chinese transcription of Khüree) before 1924.
Ulaanbaatar is at about 1350 meters (4430 ft) above sea level.
For this high elevation, and for the high latitude, and location hundreds of kilometres from any coast, Ulaanbaatar is the coldest national capital in the world, with a subarctic climate.
- 1911: Mongolian leaders in Ikh Khüree for Naadam met in secret and resolved upon independence from China for their country.
On December 29, 1911, the Bogd Khan was declared ruler of an independent Mongolia.
- After the growth of 1990 many buildings as, cinemas, shops were built.
Now the biggest cinema is Urguu and Tengis cinema.
Main shopping district is 3rd and 4th distirict.
Administration and subdivisions
Ulaanbaatar is divided into nine districts (Düüregs): Baganuur, Bagakhangai, Bayangol, Bayanzürkh, Chingeltei, Khan Uul, Nalaikh, Songino Khairkhan, and Sükhbaatar.
Each district is subdivided into Khoroos.
The capital is governed by a city council (the Citizen's Representatives Hural) with forty members, elected every four years.
The city council appoints the mayor.
Ulaanbaatar is governed as an independent first-level subdivision of Mongolia, separate from Töv Aimag, the province that surrounds Ulaanbaatar.
Science and Technological University of Mongolia
Mongolian University of Life Sciences
University of Health and Medical Science
Pedagogical University
University of Art and Culture.
Important places
The Choijin Lama Monastery, a Buddhist monastery that was completed in 1908.
It escaped the destruction of Mongolian monasteries when it was turned into a museum in 1942.
The Gandantegchinlen Khiid Monastery, which dates to the 19th century.
Its most famous attraction is a 26.5-meter-high golden statue of Migjid Janraisig.
Choijin Lama Monastery and Gandantegchinlen Khiid Monastery are two of the very few in Mongolia to escape the destruction of Mongolian monasteries under Khorloogiin Choibalsan.
The Natural History Museum features many dinosaur fossils and meteorites found in Mongolia.
The National Museum of Mongolian History.
The Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts contains a large collection of Mongolian art, including works of the 17th century sculptor/artist Zanabazar, as well as Mongolia's most famous painting, One Day In Mongolia by B. Sharav.
The Winter Palace of the Bogd Khan remains as a museum of the last king of Mongolia (1911-1924).
The Ulaanbaatar Opera House hosts concerts and musical performances.
Sükhbaatar Square, in the government district, is the center of Ulaanbaatar.
In the middle of Sükhbaatar Square, there is a statue of Damdin Sükhbaatar on horseback.
The Zaisan Memorial, a memorial to Russian soldiers killed in World War II, sits on a hill south of the city.
National Sports Stadium is the main sporting venue.
The Naadam festival is held here every July.
The Gorkhi-Terelj National Park.
The official symbol of Ulaanbaatar is the , a mythical bird in both Buddhist and Hindu mythology called Khan Garuda or Khangar'd by Mongols.
The city’s flag is sky blue with the  arms in the center.
Moscow, Russian Federation
Denver, Colorado, USA
Sapporo, Japan
Hohhot, People's Republic of China
Cities in Mongolia
1639 establishments
17th-century establishments in Asia
Establishments in Mongolia
Pyŏngyang (평양 직할시 in hangul, 平壤直轄市 in hanja) is the capital and biggest city in North Korea.
The government does not want people from outside the country to know anything about North Korea, so Pyongyang is one of the few places in North Korea that people from other countries can travel to.
Pyongyang is a closed city meaning that North Koreans can't just go there.
They must apply for a permit or be high up in the military.
It is the most advanced city in the country which allows tourists to go there.
Pyongyang does not really show what North Korea is really like, because the government uses it to pretend to tourists that the country is not poor.
The city is kept very clean and littering is strictly not allowed.
The city is home to the DPRK's only fast food restaurant which only the most privileged North Koreans go to (a meal would be worth around a weeks wages for the average person there).
Many shops there have plastic food on display in the windows to make tourists think that there is lots of food in the country when in fact, food is scarce.
The city has lots of nice attractions like the statues of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il at Mansudae hill.
The Juche tower is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the country, towering over the Taedong River across from Kim Il-Sung square.
It also has the world's deepest subway system.
Pyongyang has many large parks and wide avenues as well as the largest sports stadium in the world, the Rungrado May Day Stadium.
The city is also the location of the embalmed bodies of the two leaders, Il-Sung and Jong-Il in the Kumsusan Palace of the sun.
Pyongyang is home to the 105-story hotel, Ryugyong Hotel.
The construction started in 1987 and the exterior was completed twenty-four years later in 2011.
It was originally intended as a propaganda device to make North Korea look wealthy when a South Korean recently built the world's then-tallest building.
The hotel to this day remains empty and unopened.
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a multinational technology company from the United States that makes and sells software, computer hardware, infrastructure services, and consulting services.
IBM is one of the biggest Information Technology companies in the world.
IBM has had the most patents of any technology company for many years, and has made many important inventions and discoveries that have improved computers.
IBM began in 1911, it was called the "Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company".
It was set up by a man named Charles Flint.
There were no computers at that time, so IBM made other machines, such as typewriters.
In 1924, the company changed its name to International Business Machines (IBM).
In 1937, the company's Tabulating Machines were used by the United States government to record information about Americans, so they could make a new law called the Social Security Act.
During World War II, IBM made guns for the American army.
During the 1960s and 1970s IBM dominated the mainframe computer market.
IBM computers were used for American space exploration.
From the 1980s starting in 1981 until 2005, IBM made personal computers.
In 2005, IBM sold their personal computer manufacturing to a Chinese company called Lenovo.
Today, IBM mostly makes software, and some powerful supercomputers.
1911 establishments
Multinational technology companies
Companies based in New York
In Abrahamic religions, Mary (Judeo-Aramaic מרים Maryām "Bitter";  (Maryam); Septuagint Greek Μαριαμ, Mariam, Μαρια, Maria; ) was the mother of Jesus.
Her story is told in the New Testament of the Bible.
Christian beliefs about Mary are based on the Bible.
The Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke say that Mary was a young woman who was engaged to be married to a man called Joseph.
The Gospel of Luke says that the angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her that she would give birth to a son.
The angel told Mary that she should call her son Jesus.
The angel also said that Jesus would save people from their sins.
Mary asked the angel how she could be pregnant, since she was a virgin.
The angel told her that God had made her pregnant through a miracle.
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one!
The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.
According to the law that Israelites follow, Joseph had the right to divorce Mary publicly, but he did not.
In a dream Joseph was told that Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
At this time, the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, made a law that everyone in the Roman Empire had to pay a tax.
Everyone had to go back to the town that their family came from, to have their name put on the tax lists.
Joseph came from Bethlehem, which was called The City of David.
So Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem.
There, she gave birth to the baby, Jesus.
She gave birth in an animal shed, because Mary and Joseph could not find a room to stay in.
Thirty-three years later, Jesus was killed by crucifixion.
Many of Jesus' apostles were scared of the Roman soldiers and ran away.
However, Mary stood by the cross and was with Jesus when he died.
As he was dying, he told the young disciple John to care for Mary as if she was his own mother, and the words were "Woman, this is your son.
This is your mother".
On the third day after Jesus' death, Mary went to Jesus' tomb with other women.
They saw that the stone was rolled away from the tomb, and his body was gone.
An angel told the women that Jesus had risen and was alive (see: Book of John, in end pages).
Mary continued to meet with the early church after the Ascension of Jesus. (
Acts 1:14)
Giving honor to Mary
Mary is given honor in the Christian faith.
She is especially honored as "the Mother of God" in the Roman Catholic Church.
She is also honored as "Theotokos" (roughly translated as "the one who gave birth to God") in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
In Christianity, Jesus is thought to be both fully God and fully man.
Christians do not worship Mary, because they believe that only God should be worshipped.
However, some Christians - mainly Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians- venerate her, which means they pray to her and respect her acceptance of God's will by willingly giving birth to Jesus.
Mary is also given honor by Muslim(s) because the Qur'an says that she was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus.
Muslims honor Jesus as a great prophet.
Mary is often called "the Blessed Virgin Mary" by Roman Catholics.
There are many feast days which honor the Virgin Mary.
For example, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin on 8 September remembers her birth.
Catholics also celebrate the Immaculate Conception, and Mary as Queen of Heaven on August 22.
Christian art often shows the Virgin Mary.
Many paintings show Mary with the baby Jesus.
These paintings are known as Madonna and Child pictures.
Many people who pray through Mary use a prayer called the Hail Mary.
The first part of the prayer honors Mary: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus."