1.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
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Ironworks
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An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i. e. the singular of ironworks is ironworks, Ironworks succeed bloomeries when blast furnaces replaced former methods. An integrated ironworks in the 19th century usually included one or more blast furnaces, after the invention of the Bessemer process, converters became widespread, and the appellation steelworks replaced ironworks. The processes carried at ironworks are usually described as ferrous metallurgy and this is derived from the Greek words sideros - iron and ergon or ergos - work. This is a term in English, and it is best regarded as an anglicisation of a term used in French, Spanish. Ironworks is used as a term covering works undertaking one or more iron-producing processes. A thin film of metal oxide forms on the anode in the intense heat, the oxide forms a protective layer that prevents excess consumption of the base metal. It was usually necessary for there to be a preliminary refining process in a coke refinery, after puddling, the puddled ball needed shingling and then to be drawn out into bar iron in a rolling mill. The mills operating converters of any type are better called steelworks, ironworks referring to former processes, a tinplate works - where rolling mills made sheets of iron, which were coated with tin. A plating forge with a hammer, a lighter hammer with a rapid stroke rate, enabling the production of thinner iron, suitable for the manufacture of knives, other cutlery. A cementation furnace might be used to convert the bar iron into steel by the cementation process. Most of these processes did not produce finished goods, further processes were often manual, including Manufacturing by blacksmiths or more specialist kind of smith. It might be used in shipbuilding, in the context of the iron industry, the term manufacture is best reserved for this final stage. Ancient iron extraction site consisting of mines and three clay built furnaces, darkhill Ironworks, in the Forest of Dean, England
3.
Giant's kettle
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The interiors of potholes tend to be smooth and regular, unlike a plunge pool. An example is the large pothole found in Archbald, Pennsylvania in Archbald Pothole State Park, potholes vary in size from a few inches to several feet in depth and diameter. The hardness of the pebbles must be the same or higher than the rock at the bottom of stream where the kettle is forming, in areas where there are diamonds and quartz pebbles, the hardness of these carve potholes and sometimes remain trapped in the bottom of them. Giants kettles can also be formed while the surface is covered by a glacier, the sides of the crevasse are abraded, and a vertical shaft is formed in the ice. Such cavities and pipes afford valuable evidence as to the extent of glaciers. Similar holes are encountered in riverbeds at the foot of cascades, the GletscherGarten of Lucerne is famous for its giants kettles, having 32 in number, the largest being 8 m wide and 9 m deep. They are also common in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, in the northern Great Plains of North America, wetlands formed in glacial kettles are known as prairie potholes. Moulin Pothole Sinkhole This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
4.
Nature reserve
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Nature reserves may be designated by government institutions in some countries, or by private landowners, such as charities and research institutions, regardless of nationality. Nature reserves fall into different IUCN categories depending on the level of protection afforded by local laws, early reservations often had a religious underpinning, such as the evil forest areas of West Africa which were forbidden to humans, who were threatened with spiritual attack if they went there. Sacred areas taboo from human entry to fishing and hunting are known by ancient cultures worldwide. The worlds first modern nature reserve was established in 1821 by the naturalist and explorer Charles Waterton around his estate in Walton Hall and he spent £9000 on the construction of a 3 mile long,9 ft tall wall to enclose his park from poachers. He tried to encourage birdlife by planting trees and hollowing out trunks for owls to nest in and he also invented artificial nest boxes to house starlings, jackdaws and sand martins and unsuccessfully attempted to introduce little owls from Italy. Drachenfels was protected as the first state-designated nature reserve in modern-day Germany, in Australia, a nature reserve is the title of a type of protected area used in the jurisdictions of the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia. The term “nature reserve” is defined in the relevant statutes used in those states and territories rather than by a national statute. As of 2014,1767 out of a total of 10339 protected areas listed within the Australian National Reserve System used the term “nature reserve in their names, in Brazil, nature reserves are classified as ecological stations or biological reserves by the National System of Conservation Units. Their main objectives are preserving fauna and flora and other natural attributes, visits are allowed only with permission, and only for educational or scientific purposes. Changes to the ecosystems in both types of reserve are allowed to restore and preserve the balance, biological diversity. Ecological stations are allowed to change the environment within strictly defined limits for the purpose of scientific research. A wildlife reserve in Brazil is also protected, and hunting is not allowed, there are 30 nature reserves in Egypt which cover 12% of Egyptian land. Those nature reserves were built according to the laws no, 102/1983 and 4/1994 for protection of the Egyptian nature reserve. Egypt announced a plan from to build 40 nature reserves from 1997 to 2017, to protect the natural resources. The largest nature reserve in Egypt is Gebel Elba in the southeast, denmark has three national parks and several nature reserves, some of them inside the national park areas. The largest single reserve is Hanstholm Nature Reserve, which covers 40 km2 and is part of Thy National Park, in Sweden there are 29 national parks. The first of them were established in 1909, in fact, Sweden was the first European country that established 9 national parks. There are almost 4,000 nature reserves in Sweden and they comprise about 85% of the surface that is protected by the Swedish Enironmental Code
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Niagara Falls
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They form the southern end of the Niagara Gorge. From largest to smallest, the three waterfalls are the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls, the Horseshoe Falls lies on the border of the United States and Canada with the American Falls entirely on the American side, separated by Goat Island. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls are also on the American side, the international boundary line was originally drawn through Horseshoe Falls in 1819, but the boundary has long been in dispute due to natural erosion and construction. Located on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America, as measured by vertical height and flow rate. The falls are 17 miles north-northwest of Buffalo, New York, while not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls are very wide. More than six cubic feet of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow. The Niagara Falls are famed both for their beauty and as a source of hydroelectric power. Balancing recreational, commercial, and industrial uses has been a challenge for the stewards of the falls since the 19th century. The Horseshoe Falls drop about 188 feet, while the height of the American Falls varies between 70 and 100 feet because of the presence of giant boulders at its base. The larger Horseshoe Falls are about 2,600 feet wide, the distance between the American extremity of the Niagara Falls and the Canadian extremity is 3,409 feet. The volume of water approaching the falls during peak season may sometimes be as much as 225,000 cubic feet per second. The average annual rate is 85,000 cubic feet per second. Since the flow is a function of the Lake Erie water elevation. This is accomplished by employing a weir – the International Control Dam – with movable gates upstream from the Horseshoe Falls. The falls flow is further halved at night, and, during the low tourist season in the winter, water diversion is regulated by the 1950 Niagara Treaty and is administered by the International Niagara Board of Control. The current rate of erosion is approximately 1 foot per year and it is estimated that 50,000 years from now, even at this reduced rate of erosion, the remaining 20 miles to Lake Erie will have been undermined and the falls will cease to exist. The features that became Niagara Falls were created by the Wisconsin glaciation about 10,000 years ago, the same forces also created the North American Great Lakes and the Niagara River. All were dug by an ice sheet that drove through the area, deepening some river channels to form lakes
6.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
7.
Allsvenskan
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Allsvenskan is a Swedish professional league for mens association football clubs. It was founded in 1924, and is the top flight of the Swedish football league system, operating on a system of promotion and relegation with Superettan. Seasons run from late March or early April to the beginning of November, with the 16 clubs all meeting each other twice, resulting in a 30-match season, Allsvenskan is ranked 20th in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years. As it stands now, Allsvenskan is ranked highest of the leagues in Scandinavia, the current champions are Malmö FF, who won the title in the 2016 season. Allsvenskan started in the 1924–25 Allsvenskan season and the first winner was GAIS, the one-league twelve team Allsvenskan replaced the Svenska Serien, consisting of a southern and northern group that was held before. In 1931, the league started to decide the Swedish football champions, in the early years, Norrland and Gotland teams were not allowed to play on higher levels in the league system, which was gradually changed to include the Norrland and Gotland teams on higher levels. In the 1955–56 season, Lycksele IF became the first Norrland team to play in an Allsvenskan promotion play-off, for the 1959 Allsvenskan, the season start was changed from autumn to spring to be played in one calendar year. In 1973, it was expanded to contain 14 teams. C, from the 1982 season, the league introduced a play-off to determine the Swedish football champions. In the late 1980s, Malmö FF were dominant, winning the five times in a row. The 1990 season saw the introduction of three points per win, the play-off season years were followed by two years of continuation league, named Mästerskapsserien. The 1993 season saw a return to the format, again with 14 teams. IFK Göteborg won five Allsvenskan league titles in the 1990s, in the early 2000s, Djurgårdens IF won three titles. In 2004, Örebro SK lost its place in the due to financial problems. Since 2008, the league consists of 16 teams, the champions of the Allsvenskan are considered Swedish champions and gold medal winners. The runners-up are awarded the Large Silver medal, the third positioned team are awarded the Small Silver medal, there have been seasons with exceptions when the winners of Allsvenskan wasnt considered Swedish champions as well. The years 1982 through 1990 are also exceptions, the title was decided through play-offs during these years. The same was true for the years 1991 through 1992 when the title was decided through a league called Mästerskapsserien. Historically, there is though a big difference between the Allsvenskan winners before 1931 compared to the period between 1982 and 1992, since 2008 there are 16 clubs in Allsvenskan
8.
Superettan
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Superettan is a professional league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish mens football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Allsvenskan, seasons run from April to October, with teams playing 30 matches each, totalling 240 matches in the season. The league was created in 2000, the second tier of Swedish football had previously consisted of a varying number of regionalized leagues operating under the Division 2 and Division 1 names. There are 16 clubs in Superettan, during the course of a season each club plays the other twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 30 games. The top two teams in Superettan are promoted to Allsvenskan and the two lowest placed teams from Allsvenskan are relegated in their place, the third placed team in Superettan plays a promotion/relegation play-off against the third lowest team in Allsvenskan. The Swiss corporation Kentaro has owned the TV rights for Superettan since 2006, the current license agreement is valid from 2011 to 2015. 1 Correct as of end of 2015 season The current managers in Superettan are, the highest attendance ever recorded at a Superettan match is 31,074. The leagues best season attendance-wise was 2014 when Hammarbys average attendance reached a level that was extraordinary for Superettan, sports attendances Allsvenskan Swedish Football Association - Superettan
9.
Degerfors IF
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Degerfors IF is a Swedish football club located in Degerfors. The club, formed 13 January 1907, is playing in the second highest Swedish league. Degerfors IF first played in the Allsvenskan in 1939 making use of their new ground at Stora Valla. Up until 1966 the club appeared in the Allsvenskan but in recent decades they have played at the highest level for 5 seasons from 1993 to 1997. Their record attendance is 21,065 spectators when Degerfors IF played IFK Norrköping in 1963, the club is affiliated to the Värmlands Fotbollförbund. As of 1 April,2017 Note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules, players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality
Sweden
