1.
Bay of Pigs Invasion
–
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on 17 April 1961. Launched from Guatemala and Nicaragua, the force was defeated within three days by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, under the direct command of Prime Minister Fidel Castro. The Presidential coup of 1952 led by General Fulgencio Batista, against President Carlos Prio, President Prios exile was the reason for the 26th July Movement led by Fidel Castro. The movement, which did not succeed until after the Cuban Revolution of December 31,1958, severed the countrys formerly strong links with the US after nationalizing American economic assets. It was after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, that Fidel Castro forged strong links with the Soviet Union, with whom, at the time. US President Dwight D. Eisenhower was very concerned at the direction Castros government was taking, the CIA proceeded to organize the operation with the aid of various Cuban counter-revolutionary forces, training Brigade 2506 in Guatemala. Eisenhowers successor John F. Kennedy approved the invasion plan on 4 April 1961. Over 1,400 paramilitaries, divided into five battalions and one paratrooper battalion. Two days later, on 15 April, eight CIA-supplied B-26 bombers attacked Cuban airfields, on the night of 16 April, the main invasion landed at a beach named Playa Girón in the Bay of Pigs. It initially overwhelmed a local revolutionary militia, the Cuban Armys counter-offensive was led by José Ramón Fernández, before Castro decided to take personal control of the operation. As the US involvement became apparent to the world, Kennedy decided against providing further air cover for the invasion, as a result, the operation only had half the forces the CIA had deemed necessary. The original plan devised during Eisenhowers presidency had required both air and naval support, on 20 April, the invaders surrendered after only three days, with the majority being publicly interrogated and put into Cuban prisons. The failed invasion helped to strengthen the position of Castros leadership, made him a national hero and it also strengthened the relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union. This eventually led to the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the invasion was a major failure for US foreign policy, Kennedy ordered a number of internal investigations across Latin America. Cuban forces under Castros leadership clashed directly with US forces during the Invasion of Grenada over 20 years later, for centuries, Cuba was home of the Spanish Empire. The US subsequently invaded the island, and forced the Spanish army out, subsequently, large numbers of US settlers and businessmen arrived in Cuba, and by 1905, 60% of rural properties were owned by non-Cuban North Americans. Between 1906 and 1909,5,000 US Marines were stationed across the island, many opponents of the Batista regime took to armed rebellion in an attempt to oust the government, sparking the Cuban Revolution. Another was the Directorio Revolucionario Estudantil, which had been founded by the Federation of University Students President José Antonio Echevarría, however, the best known of these anti-Batista groups was the 26th of July Movement, founded by a lawyer named Fidel Castro
2.
Pig's Bay
–
Pigs Bay is a coastal area in East Shoebury, a small beachland area in Shoeburyness. The main entrance to the site is at Blackgate Road, Shoeburyness and this is also the gateway to the island of Foulness, the fourth largest island off the coast of England. The bay is the site of MoD Shoeburyness, a military installation established in 1849, one of the other uses of the site is the storage and scrapping of old railway vehicles. The site has featured in a few episodes of the Channel 4 series Scrapheap Challenge
3.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Inlet
–
An inlet is an indentation of a shoreline, usually long and narrow, such as a small bay or arm, that often leads to an enclosed body of salt water, such as a sound, bay, lagoon, or marsh. In sea coasts, an inlet usually refers to the connection between a bay and the ocean and is often called an entrance or a recession in the shore of a sea, lake. A certain kind of created by glaciation is a fjord, typically but not always in mountainous coastlines. Complexes of large inlets or fjords may be called sounds, e. g. Puget Sound, Howe Sound, Karmsund. Some fjord-type inlets are called canals, e. g. Portland Canal, Lynn Canal, Hood Canal, and some are channels, e. g. Dean Channel and Douglas Channel. Tidal amplitude, wave intensity, and wave direction are all factors that influence sediment flux in inlets Alaska Panhandle British Columbia Coast Calanque Inside Passage Ria Bruun, Per, stability of Tidal Inlets, Theory and Engineering. Amsterdam, Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co. p.510, be pub co Coastal Inlets Research Program Hood Canal on Google Maps
5.
Gulf of Cazones
–
Gulf of Cazones is a large gulf in southern Cuba. It is located at the south by the provinces of Matanzas and Cienfuegos, between the northeast edge of the Jardinillos Bank on the south, and Piedras and other cays and it is considered dangerous for sailing vessels to cross because of calms and cross currents. Two miles east-northeast of the point of Diego Perez Cay is the beginning of the northeast section of the Jardinillos bank which continues to the southeast of East Rock. East Rock is situated approximately a cable from the northeast end of East Guano Cay and this northern edge of the bank rises like a wall with one or two sandy patches on it above water. With Pedras Cays and the reefs on the north, it forms the Gulf of Cazones, a submerged platform, between 3 and 4 fathoms deep, exists between the Bay of Pigs, the Gulf of Cazones, the Gulf of Batabano, and the Isle of Pines. It is also inferred that the Gulf of Cazones may have been created due to a geological fault, on the western border of the Gulf of Cazones, a stretch of 48 kilometres forms the head of Cayo Sigua and Cayo Blanco. In this stretch, with cliffs, there are diving locations where the depth of the sea varies from 15 m to 200m. At these diving locations, coral fish and large tubular sponges, sea fans, lane snappers spawn at the edge of the gulf.2 metres tall and 2.5 centimetres wide
6.
Cuba
–
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and it is south of both the U. S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti, and north of Jamaica. Havana is the largest city and capital, other cities include Santiago de Cuba. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of 109,884 square kilometres, prior to Spanish colonization in the late 15th century, Cuba was inhabited by Amerindian tribes. It remained a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, as a fragile republic, Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system, but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1952. Further unrest and instability led to Batistas ousting in January 1959 by the July 26 Movement, since 1965, the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba. A point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, a nuclear war broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America, Cuba is a Marxist–Leninist one-party republic, where the role of the vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Independent observers have accused the Cuban government of human rights abuses. It is one of the worlds last planned economies and its economy is dominated by the exports of sugar, tobacco, coffee, according to the Human Development Index, Cuba is described as a country with high human development and is ranked the eighth highest in North America. It also ranks highly in some metrics of national performance, including health care, the name Cuba comes from the Taíno language. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as where fertile land is abundant, authors who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese state that Cuba was named by Columbus for the town of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal. Before the arrival of the Spanish, Cuba was inhabited by three distinct tribes of indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Taíno, the Guanajatabey, and the Ciboney people. The ancestors of the Ciboney migrated from the mainland of South America, the Taíno arrived from Hispanola sometime in the 3rd century A. D. When Columbus arrived they were the dominant culture in Cuba, having a population of 150,000. The name Cuba comes from the native Taíno language and it is derived from either coabana meaning great place, or from cubao meaning where fertile land is abundant. The Taíno were farmers, while the Ciboney were farmers as well as fishers and hunter-gatherers, Columbus claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain and named it Isla Juana after Juan, Prince of Asturias. In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa, other towns soon followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1515, which later became the capital
7.
Santa Clara Province
–
Santa Clara was a historical province of Cuba and its capital was Santa Clara. Until 1976, its territory was that of the modern Cuban provinces of Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, the province was split up in 1976, with the administrative re-adjustment proclaimed by Cuban Law Number 1304 of July 3,1976. Cuba, History and Description, Special Places, Santa Clara, list of Works Relating to the West Indies
8.
Matanzas Province
–
Matanzas is one of the provinces of Cuba. Major towns in the province include Cárdenas, Colón, Jovellanos, the resort town of Varadero is also located in this province. The second largest in Cuba, Matanzas province is largely flat, the north-western coast is largely rocky, with a few beaches, while the north-eastern coast has numerous small cays of its coast, and scrubland and mangroves near the shoreline. Cubas northernmost point is located in on Hicacos Peninsula, the southern coast has one of Cubas most distinctive features, an enormous marsh, Ciénaga de Zapata that covers both the southern part of the province and the Zapata Peninsula. East of the lies the Bay of Pigs, the site of the failed US backed invasion. From 1976 to 2010 Matanzas was sub-divided into 14 municipalities, starting from 2011, the municipality of Varadero was abolished and merged to Cárdenas. Thus Matanzas now has 13 municipalities, in 2004, the province of Matanzas had a population of 675,980. With a total area of 11,802.72 km2, Cuba, History and Description, Special Places, Matanzas. List of Works Relating to the West Indies, media related to Matanzas Province at Wikimedia Commons Provincial portal
9.
Provinces of Cuba
–
Administratively, Cuba is divided into 15 provinces and a special municipality thats not included in any province. The last modification was approved in August 2010, splitting Havana province into two new provinces, Artemisa and Mayabeque, the new provinces started functioning from January 1,2011. Havana City Province recovered its original name, La Habana, Isla de la Juventud was known until the 1970s as the Isla de Pinos. The provinces were created in 1879 by the Spanish colonial government, from 1879 to 1976, Cuba was divided into 6 provinces, which maintained with little changes the same boundaries and capital cities, although with modifications in official names. These historical provinces are the following, Pinar del Río La Habana, included the city of Havana, current Mayabeque, some municipalities of current Artemisa Province, oriente, contained the present-day provinces of Las Tunas, Granma, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo Pop. Source, Cuba census 2002 Presidents of the Provincial Assemblies of Peoples Power in each province in the country
10.
Cienfuegos
–
Cienfuegos, capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about 250 km from Havana and has a population of 150,000, the city is dubbed La Perla del Sur. Cienfuegos literally translates to one hundred fires—cien meaning one hundred, fuegos meaning fires, the area where the city lies was identified as Cacicazgo de Jagua by early Spanish conquistadors. It was originally settled by Taino indigenous people, Cacicazgo translates from the Taino language as chiefdom. Cacicazgo de Jagua was therefore the chiefdom of Chief Jagua, the city was later settled by French immigrants from Bordeaux and Louisiana led by Don Louis de Clouet on April 22,1819. The settlers named the city Fernandina de Jagua in honor of King Ferdinand VII of Spain, the settlement successively became a town in 1829, renamed for José Cienfuegos, Captain General of Cuba, and a city in 1880. Many of the streets in old town reflect French origins in their names, Bouyón, DClouet, Hourruitiner, Gacel, and Griffo, for instance. Its advantageous trading location on the historically eponymous Bay of Jagua was used by the Cuban sugar oligarchy when a railroad was built between both cities between 1853 and 1860. During the Cuban Revolution, the city saw an uprising against Fulgencio Batista and was bombed in retaliation on September 5,1957, in 1969 and 1970, Soviet naval vessels visited the city. This appeared to be in violation of the Kennedy-Khrushchev agreements of 1962, however, there was no notice given by the United States and no confrontation ensued. In 2005, Hurricane Dennis made its landfall near Cienfuegos at about 1, 00PM AST with winds of 232 km/h. Near the entrance to Cienfuegos Bay is Castillo de Jagua, an erected in 1745 for protection against Caribbean pirates. Cienfuegos, one of the seaports of Cuba, is a center of the sugar trade as well as coffee. While sugarcane is the crop, local farmers also grow coffee. In 2004, the municipality of Cienfuegos had a population of 163,824, with a total area of 333 km2, it has a population density of 492. 0/km2. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Cienfuegos has a savanna climate. The downtown area contains 6 buildings from 1819–50,327 buildings from 1851–1900, there is no other place in the Caribbean which contains such a remarkable cluster of Neoclassical structures. Cienfuegos fields a team in the Cuban National Series, the Cienfuegos Elefantes, since joining the league in 1977–78, the best finish the Camaroneros have achieved is a 3rd place showing in the 2010–11 Cuban National Series
11.
Havana
–
Havana is the capital city, largest city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet, the sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay. King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City in 1592, walls as well as forts were built to protect the old city. The sinking of the U. S. battleship Maine in Havanas harbor in 1898 was the cause of the Spanish–American War. Contemporary Havana can essentially be described as three cities in one, Old Havana, Vedado and the suburban districts. The city is the center of the Cuban government, and home to various ministries, headquarters of businesses, the current mayor is Marta Hernández of the Communist Party of Cuba. In 2009, the city/province had the third highest income in the country, the city attracts over a million tourists annually, the Official Census for Havana reports that in 2010 the city was visited by 1,176,627 international tourists, a 20% increase from 2005. Old Havana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982, the city is also noted for its history, culture, architecture and monuments. As typical of Cuba, Havana also features a tropical climate, in May 2015, Havana was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, Doha, La Paz, Durban, Beirut, and Kuala Lumpur. Most native settlements became the site of Spanish colonial cities retaining their original Taíno names, an alternate theory is that Habana is derived from the Middle Dutch word havene, referring to a harbour, etymologically related to the English word haven. All attempts to found a city on Cubas south coast failed, however, an early map of Cuba drawn in 1514 places the town at the mouth of this river. The town that became Havana finally originated adjacent to what was then called Puerto de Carenas, the quality of this natural bay, which now hosts Havanas harbor, warranted this change of location. Pánfilo de Narváez gave Havana – the sixth town founded by the Spanish on Cuba – its name, the name combines San Cristóbal, patron saint of Havana. Shortly after the founding of Cubas first cities, the served as little more than a base for the Conquista of other lands. Havana began as a port, and suffered regular attacks by buccaneers, pirates. The first attack and resultant burning of the city was by the French corsair Jacques de Sores in 1555, ships from all over the New World carried products first to Havana, in order to be taken by the fleet to Spain. The thousands of ships gathered in the bay also fueled Havanas agriculture and manufacture, since they had to be supplied with food, water. On December 20,1592, King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City, later on, the city would be officially designated as Key to the New World and Rampart of the West Indies by the Spanish Crown
12.
Coral reef
–
Coral reefs are diverse underwater ecosystems held together by calcium carbonate structures secreted by corals. Coral reefs are built by colonies of tiny animals found in waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups, the polyps belong to a group of animals known as Cnidaria, which also includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons which support, most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated waters. Often called rainforests of the sea, shallow coral reefs form some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth, paradoxically, coral reefs flourish even though they are surrounded by ocean waters that provide few nutrients. They are most commonly found at depths in tropical waters. Coral reefs deliver ecosystem services to tourism, fisheries and shoreline protection, the annual global economic value of coral reefs is estimated between US$29. 8-375 billion. However, coral reefs are fragile ecosystems, partly because they are sensitive to water temperature. Most of the coral reefs we can see today were formed after the last glacial period when melting ice caused the sea level to rise and this means that most modern coral reefs are less than 10,000 years old. As communities established themselves on the shelves, the reefs grew upwards, Reefs that rose too slowly could become drowned reefs. They are covered by so much water there was insufficient light. Coral reefs are found in the sea away from continental shelves, around oceanic islands. The vast majority of islands are volcanic in origin. The few exceptions have tectonic origins where plate movements have lifted the deep ocean floor on the surface. In 1842 in his first monograph, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, Charles Darwin set out his theory of the formation of atoll reefs and he theorized uplift and subsidence of the Earths crust under the oceans formed the atolls. Darwin’s theory sets out a sequence of three stages in atoll formation and it starts with a fringing reef forming around an extinct volcanic island as the island and ocean floor subsides. As the subsidence continues, the reef becomes a barrier reef. Darwin predicted that underneath each lagoon would be a bed rock base, where the level of the underlying earth allows, the corals grow around the coast to form what he called fringing reefs, and can eventually grow out from the shore to become a barrier reef
13.
Zapata Swamp
–
Zapata Swamp is located on the Zapata Peninsula in the southern Matanzas province of Cuba. It is located less than 150 kilometres southeast of Havana, ciénaga de Zapata represents also a municipality, the largest one of Cuba with 4,162 km2. Within the Zapata Swamp are over 900 autochthonous plant species,175 species of birds,31 species of reptiles, some of the most notable are local endemics to Cuba, for birds, it includes the Zapata wren, Zapata rail, and the Zapata sparrow. The Zapata Swamp is also visited by 65 species of birds during their migration pattern from North America through the Caribbean to South America. Zapata is also known for the local endemic Cuban crocodile which are restricted to the Zapata Swamp and are being reintroduced to the nearby Lanier Swamp on the Isle of Youth, in mid-2001 an additional 4,520 km² were declared a Ramsar Site in mid-2001. The Zapata Swamp lies between 22°01’ and 22°40’ N latitude and between 80°33’ and 82°09’ W longitude, the swamp in total is over one million acres. Between May and October, the warmest season of the year, between November and April, the coldest season of the year, the temperature on average is 20 °C. Ciénaga de Zapata is administered as one of 14 municipalities of the Matanzas Province, in 2004, the municipality of Cienaga de Zapata had a population of 8,611. With a total area of 4,162 km2, it has a density of 2. 0/km2. Geography of Cuba Playa Girón Protected area Ramsar Convention World Conservation Monitoring Centre cubatechtravel. com, Areas of Natural Interes, Beaches, Nature Trails
14.
Zapata Peninsula
–
Zapata Peninsula is a large peninsula in Matanzas Province, southern Cuba, at 22. 30°N81. 38°W /22.30, -81.38. Ciénaga de Zapata National Park is located on the peninsula and it is located south of Ensenada de la Broa, east of the gulf of Batabano and north of the Gulf of Cazones. The Bay of Pigs defines its eastern limit, to the north, it is lined by the Carretera Central highway
15.
Mangrove
–
A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are salt tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to life in coastal conditions. They contain a complex filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion. They are adapted to the low oxygen conditions of waterlogged mud, the saline conditions tolerated by various mangrove species range from brackish water, through pure seawater, to water concentrated by evaporation to over twice the salinity of ocean seawater. The term mangrove comes to English from Spanish, and is likely to originate from Guarani and it was earlier mangrow, but this word was corrupted via folk etymology influence of the word grove. Mangrove swamps are found in tropical and subtropical tidal areas, areas where mangal occurs include estuaries and marine shorelines. The intertidal existence to which trees are adapted represents the major limitation to the number of species able to thrive in their habitat. High tide brings in water, and when the tide recedes. The return of tide can flush out these soils, bringing back to salinity levels comparable to that of seawater. At low tide, organisms are exposed to increases in temperature and desiccation. About 110 species are considered mangroves, in the sense of being a tree grows in such a saline swamp, though only a few are from the mangrove plant genus. However, a mangrove swamp typically features only a small number of tree species. It is not uncommon for a mangrove forest in the Caribbean to feature three or four tree species. For comparison, the tropical rainforest biome contains thousands of tree species, though the trees themselves are few in species, the ecosystem that these trees create provides a home for a great variety of other organisms. Mangrove plants require a number of adaptations to overcome the problems of anoxia, high salinity. Each species has its own solutions to problems, this may be the primary reason why, on some shorelines. Small environmental variations within a mangal may lead to greatly differing methods for coping with the environment, once established, mangrove roots provide an oyster habitat and slow water flow, thereby enhancing sediment deposition in areas where it is already occurring
16.
Central Intelligence Agency
–
As one of the principal members of the U. S. Intelligence Community, the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is focused on providing intelligence for the President. Though it is not the only U. S. government agency specializing in HUMINT and it exerts foreign political influence through its tactical divisions, such as the Special Activities Division. Despite transferring some of its powers to the DNI, the CIA has grown in size as a result of the September 11 attacks. In 2013, The Washington Post reported that in fiscal year 2010, the CIA has increasingly expanded its roles, including covert paramilitary operations. One of its largest divisions, the Information Operations Center, has shifted focus from counter-terrorism to offensive cyber-operations, when the CIA was created, its purpose was to create a clearinghouse for foreign policy intelligence and analysis. Today its primary purpose is to collect, analyze, evaluate, and disseminate foreign intelligence, warning/informing American leaders of important overseas events, with Pakistan described as an intractable target. Counterintelligence, with China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, the Executive Office also supports the U. S. military by providing it with information it gathers, receiving information from military intelligence organizations, and cooperates on field activities. The Executive Director is in charge of the day to day operation of the CIA, each branch of the military service has its own Director. The Directorate has four regional groups, six groups for transnational issues. There is a dedicated to Iraq, regional analytical offices covering the Near East and South Asia, Russia and Europe, and the Asian Pacific, Latin American. The Directorate of Operations is responsible for collecting intelligence. The name reflects its role as the coordinator of intelligence activities between other elements of the wider U. S. intelligence community with their own HUMINT operations. This Directorate was created in an attempt to end years of rivalry over influence, philosophy, in spite of this, the Department of Defense recently organized its own global clandestine intelligence service, the Defense Clandestine Service, under the Defense Intelligence Agency. This Directorate is known to be organized by regions and issues. The Directorate of Science & Technology was established to research, create, many of its innovations were transferred to other intelligence organizations, or, as they became more overt, to the military services. For example, the development of the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft was done in cooperation with the United States Air Force, the U-2s original mission was clandestine imagery intelligence over denied areas such as the Soviet Union. It was subsequently provided with signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence capabilities, subsequently, NPIC was transferred to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
17.
Fidel Castro
–
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008. Politically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party socialist state, industry and business were nationalized, born in Birán, Oriente as the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted leftist anti-imperialist politics while studying law at the University of Havana. After a years imprisonment, he traveled to Mexico where he formed a revolutionary group, returning to Cuba, Castro took a key role in the Cuban Revolution by leading the Movement in a guerrilla war against Batistas forces from the Sierra Maestra. After Batistas overthrow in 1959, Castro assumed military and political power as Cubas Prime Minister, adopting a Marxist–Leninist model of development, Castro converted Cuba into a one-party, socialist state under Communist Party rule, the first in the Western Hemisphere. Policies introducing central economic planning and expanding healthcare and education were accompanied by control of the press. These actions, coupled with Castros leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and Cubas medical internationalism, following the Soviet Unions dissolution in 1991, Castro led Cuba into its Special Period and embraced environmentalist and anti-globalization ideas. In the 2000s he forged alliances in the Latin American pink tide—namely with Hugo Chávezs Venezuela—and signed Cuba up to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, in 2006 he transferred his responsibilities to Vice-President Raúl Castro, who was elected to the presidency by the National Assembly in 2008. Castro is a world figure. His supporters view him as a champion of socialism and anti-imperialism whose revolutionary regime advanced economic, critics view him as a dictator whose administration oversaw human-rights abuses, the exodus of a large number of Cubans, and the impoverishment of the countrys economy. He was decorated with various awards and significantly influenced various individuals. In 1960 Castro was bestowed with the Grand Slam Silver Trophy in the prestigious Ernest Hemingway International Billfishing Tournament after he caught a sailfish, Castro was born out of wedlock at his fathers farm on August 13,1926. His father, Ángel Castro y Argiz, was a migrant to Cuba from Galicia, aged six, Castro was sent to live with his teacher in Santiago de Cuba, before being baptized into the Roman Catholic Church at the age of eight. Being baptized enabled Castro to attend the La Salle boarding school in Santiago, in 1945 he transferred to the more prestigious Jesuit-run El Colegio de Belén in Havana. Although Castro took an interest in history, geography and debating at Belén, he did not excel academically, in 1945, Castro began studying law at the University of Havana. Admitting he was illiterate, he became embroiled in student activism. In 1947, Castro joined the Party of the Cuban People, a charismatic figure, Chibás advocated social justice, honest government, and political freedom, while his party exposed corruption and demanded reform. Though Chibás came third in the 1948 general election, Castro remained committed to working on his behalf, in later years anti-Castro dissidents accused him of committing gang-related assassinations at the time, but these remain unproven
18.
Leonid Brezhnev
–
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in duration, during Brezhnevs rule, the global influence of the Soviet Union grew dramatically, in part because of the expansion of the Soviet military during this time. His tenure as leader was marked by the beginning of an era of economic, Brezhnev was born in Kamenskoye into a Russian workers family in 1906. After graduating from the Dniprodzerzhynsk Metallurgical Technicum, he became an engineer in the iron and steel industry. He joined Komsomol in 1923, and in 1929 became a member of the CPSU. He was drafted into military service during World War II. While at the helm of the USSR, Brezhnev pushed for détente between the Eastern and Western countries. However, in December 1981 he decided not to intervene in Poland, instead allowing the countrys government to impose martial law. After years of declining health, Brezhnev died on 10 November 1982 and was succeeded in his post as General Secretary by Yuri Andropov. Brezhnev had fostered a cult of personality, although not nearly to the degree as Stalin. Mikhail Gorbachev, who would lead the USSR from 1985 to 1991, denounced his legacy, in spite of this, opinion polls in Russia show Brezhnev to be the most popular Russian leader of the 20th century. Brezhnev was born on 19 December 1906 in Kamianske in Ukraine, to metalworker Ilya Yakovlevich Brezhnev and his wife and his parents used to live in Brezhnevo before moving to Kamenskoe. Brezhnevs ethnicity was specified as Ukrainian in some documents, including his passport, like many youths in the years after the Russian Revolution of 1917, he received a technical education, at first in land management where he started as a land surveyor and then in metallurgy. He graduated from the Dniprodzerzhynsk Metallurgical Technicum in 1935 and became an engineer in the iron. Brezhnev joined the Communist Party youth organisation, the Komsomol, in 1923, in 1935 and 1936, Brezhnev served his compulsory military service, and after taking courses at a tank school, he served as a political commissar in a tank factory. Later in 1936, he director of the Dniprodzerzhynsk Metallurgical Technicum. In 1936, he was transferred to the center of Dnipropetrovsk and, in 1939, he became Party Secretary in Dnipropetrovsk. As a survivor of Stalins Great Purge of 1937–39, he was able to quickly as the purges created numerous openings in the senior and middle ranks of the Party
19.
Balistes vetula
–
Balistes vetula, the queen triggerfish or old wife, is a reef dwelling triggerfish found in the Atlantic Ocean. It is occasionally caught as a gamefish, and sometimes kept in marine aquaria, the queen triggerfish reaches 60 cm, though most only are about half that length. It is typically blue, purple, turquoise and green with a yellowish throat and it can change colour somewhat to match its surroundings, or if subjected to stress. In the western Atlantic, it ranges from Canada to southern Brazil and it is reasonably common in Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. The queen triggerfish is typically found at coral and rocky reefs in depths of 3–30 m and it preys on a variety of invertebrates, notably sea urchins. As one of the largest and most aggressive of the triggerfish and it is however a hardy fish for those who can provide it with a proper environment. Because it grows so large and so quickly the ideal aquarium for this fish is a 500-gallon aquarium, although some sources argue it can be kept in as little a tank as 125 gallons, when it achieves its adult size of two feet it is unlikely to thrive. In aquariums shrimp, squid, clams, octopus, scallops and this fish is called cochino in Cuba, and this is the probable origin of the name Bahía de Cochinos, which is known as the Bay of Pigs in English. Animal-world. com Page on queen triggerfish Aquarium Fish, Triggerfish
20.
Wild boar
–
The wild boar, also known as the wild swine or Eurasian wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia, North Africa, and the Greater Sunda Islands. Human intervention has spread its range further, making the one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world. Its wide range, high numbers, and adaptability mean that it is classed as least concern by the IUCN, the animal probably originated in Southeast Asia during the Early Pleistocene, and outcompeted other suid species as it spread throughout the Old World. As of 1990, up to 16 subspecies are recognised, which are divided into four regional groupings based on skull height, the species lives in matriarchal societies consisting of interrelated females and their young. Fully grown males are solitary outside the breeding season. The grey wolf is the boars main predator throughout most of its range except in the Far East and the Lesser Sunda Islands. It has a history of association with humans, having been the ancestor of most domestic pig breeds. As true wild boars became extinct in Britain before the development of modern English, the English boar stems from the Old English bar, which is thought to be derived from the West Germanic *bairaz, of unknown origin. Boar is sometimes used specifically to refer to males, and may also be used to refer to male domesticated pigs, the young may be called piglets. The animals specific name scrofa is Latin for sow, the earliest fossil finds of the species come from both Europe and Asia, and date back to the Early Pleistocene. Its closest wild relative is the pig of Malacca and surrounding islands. These subspecies are typically high-skulled, with thick underwool and poorly developed manes, Indian, Includes S. s. davidi and S. s. cristatus. These subspecies have sparse or absent underwool, with long manes and prominent bands on the snout, while S. s. cristatus is high-skulled, S. s. davidi is low-skulled. Eastern, Includes S. s. sibiricus, S. s. ussuricus, S. s. leucomystax, S. s. riukiuanus, S. s. taivanus, and S. s. moupinensis. These subspecies are characterised by a streak extending from the corners of the mouth to the lower jaw. With the exception of S. s. ussuricus, most are high-skulled, the underwool is thick, except in S. s. moupinensis, and the mane is largely absent. It is the most basal of the four groups, having the smallest relative brain size, more primitive dentition, with the exception of domestic pigs in Timor and Papua New Guinea, the wild boar is the ancestor of most pig breeds. Remains of pigs have been dated to earlier than 11,400 BC in Cyprus and those animals must have been introduced from the mainland, which suggests domestication in the adjacent mainland by then
21.
Geography of Cuba
–
Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. Cuba has an area of 109,884 km2. Its area is 110,860 km2 including coastal and territorial waters. The main island has 5,746 km of coastline and 28.5 km of land borders — all figures including the United States territory at Guantánamo Bay, where the U. S. Navys Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located. Cuba lies west of the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Gulf of Mexico, south of the Straits of Florida, northwest of the Windward Passage, the main island makes up most of the land area 104,556 km2. The island is 1,250 km long and 191 km across its widest points and 31 km across its narrowest points, the largest island outside the main island is the Isla de la Juventud in the southwest, with an area of 2,200 km2. Cuba is located 77 km west of Haiti across the Windward Passage,21 km south of the Bahamas,150 km south of Florida,210 km east of Mexico, Cuba is the largest country by land area in the Caribbean. Its main island is the seventeenth-largest island in the world by land area, the island rises between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is bordered on the north by the Straits of Florida, on the northeast by Nicholas Channel, the southern part is bounded by the Windward Passage and the Cayman Trench, while the southwest lies in the Caribbean Sea. To the west, it reaches to the Yucatan Channel, more than 4,000 islands and cays are found in the surrounding sea and bays. The southern coast includes such archipelagos as Jardines de la Reina, the northeastern shore is lined by the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago, which includes Jardines del Rey and is composed of approximately 2,517 cays and islands. The Colorados Archipelago is developed on the north-western coast, terrain is mostly flat to rolling plains, with rugged hills and mountains in the southeast. The lowest point is the Caribbean Sea at 0 m and the highest point is Pico Turquino at 1,974 m, part of the Sierra Maestra mountain range, located in the southeast of the island. Other mountain ranges are Sierra Cristal in the southeast, Escambray Mountains in the center of the island, white sand beaches, as well as mangroves and marshes can be found in the coastal area. The largest is the Zapata Swamp, with over 4,520 km2, Cuba has negligible inland water area. The largest natural water mirror is Laguna de Leche at 67.2 km2, while the man-made Zaza Reservoir, Cuba makes maritime claims that include a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles and an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles. Extreme points in Cuba are, Natural resources include cobalt, nickel, iron ore, copper, salt, timber, silica, oil and petroleum. At one time, the island was covered with forests and there are still many cedar, chechem, mahogany
22.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
