1.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
2.
Federated States of Micronesia
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Together, the states comprise around 607 islands that cover a longitudinal distance of almost 2,700 km just north of the equator. While the FSMs total land area is small, it occupies more than 2,600,000 km2 of the Pacific Ocean. The capital is Palikir, located on Pohnpei Island, while the largest city is Weno, each of its four states is centered on one or more main high islands, and all but Kosrae include numerous outlying atolls. The Federated States of Micronesia is spread across part of the Caroline Islands in the region of Micronesia. The term Micronesia may refer to the Federated States or to the region as a whole, the FSM was formerly a part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a United Nations Trust Territory under U. S. Other neighboring island entities, and also members of the TTPI, formulated their own constitutional governments and became the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The FSM has a seat in the United Nations, the ancestors of the Micronesians settled over four thousand years ago. A decentralized chieftain-based system eventually evolved into a centralized economic. Nan Madol, consisting of a series of artificial islands linked by a network of canals, is often called the Venice of the Pacific. European explorers—first the Portuguese in search of the Spice Islands and then the Spanish—reached the Carolines in the sixteenth century, the Spanish incorporated the archipelago to the Spanish East Indies and in the 19th century established a number of outposts and missions. In 1887, they founded the town of Santiago de la Ascension in what today is Kolonia on the island of Pohnpei, following defeat in the Spanish–American War, the Spanish sold the archipelago to Germany in 1899 under the German–Spanish Treaty of 1899. Germany incorporated it into German New Guinea, during World War I, it was captured by Japan. Following the war, the League of Nations awarded a mandate for Japan to administer the islands as part of the South Pacific Mandate, during World War II, a significant portion of the Japanese fleet was based in Truk Lagoon. In February 1944, Operation Hailstone, one of the most important naval battles of the war, took place at Truk, in which many Japanese support vessels and aircraft were destroyed. On May 10,1979, four of the Trust Territory districts ratified a new constitution to become the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands chose not to participate. The FSM signed a Compact of Free Association with the United States, independence was formally concluded under international law in 1990, when the United Nations officially ended the Trusteeship status pursuant to Security Council Resolution 683. The Compact was renewed in 2004, the Federated States of Micronesia is governed by the 1979 constitution, which guarantees fundamental human rights and establishes a separation of governmental powers. The unicameral Congress has fourteen members elected by popular vote, four senators—one from each state—serve four-year terms, the remaining ten senators represent single-member districts based on population, and serve two-year terms
3.
Fishing
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Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild, techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping. Fishing may include catching aquatic animals other than fish, such as molluscs, cephalopods, crustaceans, the term is not normally applied to catching farmed fish, or to aquatic mammals, such as whales where the term whaling is more appropriate. According to United Nations FAO statistics, the number of commercial fishermen. Fisheries and aquaculture provide direct and indirect employment to over 500 million people in developing countries, in 2005, the worldwide per capita consumption of fish captured from wild fisheries was 14.4 kilograms, with an additional 7.4 kilograms harvested from fish farms. In addition to providing food, modern fishing is also a recreational pastime, Fishing is an ancient practice that dates back to at least the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic period about 40,000 years ago. Isotopic analysis of the remains of Tianyuan man, a 40. Archaeology features such as middens, discarded fish bones, and cave paintings show that sea foods were important for survival. During this period, most people lived a lifestyle and were, of necessity. However, where there are examples of permanent settlements such as those at Lepenski Vir. The British dogger was a type of sailing trawler from the 17th century. The Brixham trawler that evolved there was of a build and had a tall gaff rig. They were also sufficiently robust to be able to tow large trawls in deep water, the great trawling fleet that built up at Brixham, earned the village the title of Mother of Deep-Sea Fisheries. The small village of Grimsby grew to become the largest fishing port in the world by the mid 19th century, an Act of Parliament was first obtained in 1796, which authorised the construction of new quays and dredging of the Haven to make it deeper. It was only in the 1846, with the expansion in the fishing industry. The foundation stone for the Royal Dock was laid by Albert the Prince consort in 1849, the dock covered 25 acres and was formally opened by Queen Victoria in 1854 as the first modern fishing port. The elegant Brixham trawler spread across the world, influencing fishing fleets everywhere, by the end of the 19th century, there were over 3,000 fishing trawlers in commission in Britain, with almost 1,000 at Grimsby. These trawlers were sold to fishermen around Europe, including from the Netherlands, twelve trawlers went on to form the nucleus of the German fishing fleet
4.
Mineral
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A mineral is a naturally occurring chemical compound, usually of crystalline form and abiogenic in origin. A mineral has one specific chemical composition, whereas a rock can be an aggregate of different minerals or mineraloids, the study of minerals is called mineralogy. There are over 5,300 known mineral species, over 5,070 of these have been approved by the International Mineralogical Association, the silicate minerals compose over 90% of the Earths crust. The diversity and abundance of species is controlled by the Earths chemistry. Silicon and oxygen constitute approximately 75% of the Earths crust, which translates directly into the predominance of silicate minerals, minerals are distinguished by various chemical and physical properties. Differences in chemical composition and crystal structure distinguish the various species, changes in the temperature, pressure, or bulk composition of a rock mass cause changes in its minerals. Minerals can be described by their various properties, which are related to their chemical structure. Common distinguishing characteristics include crystal structure and habit, hardness, lustre, diaphaneity, colour, streak, tenacity, cleavage, fracture, parting, more specific tests for describing minerals include magnetism, taste or smell, radioactivity and reaction to acid. Minerals are classified by key chemical constituents, the two dominant systems are the Dana classification and the Strunz classification, the silicate class of minerals is subdivided into six subclasses by the degree of polymerization in the chemical structure. All silicate minerals have a unit of a 4− silica tetrahedron—that is, a silicon cation coordinated by four oxygen anions. These tetrahedra can be polymerized to give the subclasses, orthosilicates, disilicates, cyclosilicates, inosilicates, phyllosilicates, other important mineral groups include the native elements, sulfides, oxides, halides, carbonates, sulfates, and phosphates. The first criterion means that a mineral has to form by a natural process, stability at room temperature, in the simplest sense, is synonymous to the mineral being solid. More specifically, a compound has to be stable or metastable at 25 °C, modern advances have included extensive study of liquid crystals, which also extensively involve mineralogy. Minerals are chemical compounds, and as such they can be described by fixed or a variable formula, many mineral groups and species are composed of a solid solution, pure substances are not usually found because of contamination or chemical substitution. Finally, the requirement of an ordered atomic arrangement is usually synonymous with crystallinity, however, crystals are also periodic, an ordered atomic arrangement gives rise to a variety of macroscopic physical properties, such as crystal form, hardness, and cleavage. There have been recent proposals to amend the definition to consider biogenic or amorphous substances as minerals. The formal definition of an approved by the IMA in 1995, A mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline. However, if geological processes were involved in the genesis of the compound, Mineral classification schemes and their definitions are evolving to match recent advances in mineral science
5.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
6.
Nan Madol
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Nan Madol is a ruined city adjacent to the eastern shore of the island of Pohnpei that was the capital of the Saudeleur Dynasty until about 1628. It is in the present day Madolenihmw district of Pohnpei state, the city, constructed in a lagoon, consists of a series of small artificial islands linked by a network of canals. The site core with its stone walls encloses an area approximately 1.5 km long by 0.5 km wide and it contains nearly 100 artificial islets—stone, the name Nan Madol means spaces between and is a reference to the canals that crisscross the ruins. The original name was Soun Nan-leng, according to Gene Ashby in his book Pohnpei and it is often called the Venice of the Pacific. Nan Madol was the ceremonial and political seat of the Saudeleur Dynasty, set apart between the main island of Pohnpei and Temwen Island, it was a scene of human activity as early as the first or second century AD. By the 8th or 9th century, islet construction had started, little can be verified about the megalithic construction. Radiocarbon dating indicates that Nan Madol predates Leluh and it is likely that Nan Madol influenced Leluh. According to Pohnpeian legend, Nan Madol was constructed by twin sorcerers Olisihpa and Olosohpa from the mythical Western Katau, the brothers arrived in a large canoe seeking a place to build an altar so that they could worship Nahnisohn Sahpw, the god of agriculture. After several false starts, the two brothers built an altar off Temwen Island, where they performed their rituals. In legend, these brothers levitated the huge stones with the aid of a flying dragon, when Olisihpa died of old age, Olosohpa became the first Saudeleur. Olosohpa married a woman and sired twelve generations, producing sixteen other Saudeleur rulers of the Dipwilap clan. The founders of the dynasty ruled kindly, though their successors placed ever increasing demands on their subjects and their reign ended with the invasion by Isokelekel, who also resided at Nan Madol, though his successors abandoned the site. The elite centre was a place of residence for the nobility. Its population almost certainly did not exceed 1,000, although many of the residents were chiefs, the majority were commoners. Madol Powe, the sector, contains 58 islets in the northeastern area of Nan Madol. Most islets were once occupied by the dwellings of priests, some islets served a special purpose, food preparation, canoe construction on Dapahu, and coconut oil preparation on Peinering. This was built for the first Saudeleur, on Nan Madol there is no fresh water or food, water must be collected and food grown inland. During Saudeleur rule, Pohnpeians brought essential food and water by boat, the Saudeleur received food at a particular islet — first Peiniot, and later the closer Usennamw
7.
Yap
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Yap or Wa′ab traditionally refers to an island located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of the Federated States of Micronesia. The name Yap in recent years has come to refer to the state within the Federated States of Micronesia, inclusive of the Yap Main Islands. The Yap Main Islands is considered to be made up of four islands, Yap Island proper, Gagil-Tamil, Maap. The four are contiguous, though separated by water, and are surrounded by a coral reef. They are formed from an uplift of the Philippine Sea Plate, the land is mostly rolling hills, densely vegetated. Mangrove swamps line much of the shore, although there are beaches on the sides of the islands. Excluding the reef area, Yap is approximately 24 km long, 5–10 km wide, the highest elevation is 178 meters/584 feet at Mount Taabiywol in Fanif municipality on Yap island proper. The Yapese peoples indigenous cultures and traditions are strong compared to states in Micronesia. Historically, a system existed between the Neighboring Islands and the Yap Main Islands. This probably related to the need for goods from the islands, including food. In 2000 the population of Colonia and ten other municipalities totalled 11,241, the state has a total land area of 102 km2. The only region of which this is true is the Caroline Islands with their stone money, the first recorded sighting of Yap by Europeans came during the Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Saavedra in 1528. Its sighting was recorded by the Spanish expedition of Ruy López de Villalobos on 26 January 1543. Yap also appeared in Spanish charts as Los Garbanzos and Gran Carolina, from the 17th century until 1899, Yap was a Spanish colony within the Captaincy General of the Philippines of the Spanish East Indies. The Spanish used Yap Island as a prison for those captured during the Philippine Revolution, after the defeat against the United States in 1898 and subsequent loss of the Philippines, Spain sold these islands and its other minor Pacific possessions to Germany. It was occupied by Japanese troops in September 1914, and passed to the Japanese Empire under the Versailles Treaty in 1919 as a territory under League of Nations supervision. US commercial rights on the island were secured by a special US-Japanese treaty to that effect, the Japanese garrison comprised 4,423 IJA men under the command of Colonel Daihachi Itoh and 1,494 IJN men. At the end of World War II, Yap was occupied by the U. S. military victors, the U. S. held it and the rest of the Caroline Islands as a trusteeship under a United Nations mandate until 1986
8.
Government debt
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Government debt is the debt owed by a central government. By contrast, the government deficit refers to the difference between government receipts and spending in a single year. A central government with its own currency can pay for its spending by creating money ex novo, Governments create debt by issuing securities, government bonds and bills. Less creditworthy countries sometimes borrow directly from an organization or international financial institutions. As the government draws its income from much of the population, Government debt can be categorized as internal debt and external debt. Another common division of government debt is by duration until repayment is due, short term debt is generally considered to be for one year or less, long term is for more than ten years. Medium term debt falls between two boundaries. A broader definition of government debt may consider all government liabilities, including future pension payments and payments for goods and services the government has contracted, during the Early Modern era, European monarchs would often default on their loans or arbitrarily refuse to pay them back. This generally made financiers wary of lending to the king and the finances of countries that were often at war remained extremely volatile. The creation of the first central bank in England—an institution designed to lend to the government—was initially an expedient by William III of England for the financing of his war against France and he engaged a syndicate of city traders and merchants to offer for sale an issue of government debt. This syndicate soon evolved into the Bank of England, eventually financing the wars of the Duke of Marlborough and later Imperial conquests. The establishment of the bank was devised by Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, in 1694, the Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694. The founding of the Bank of England revolutionised public finance and put an end to such as the Great Stop of the Exchequer of 1672. From then on, the British Government would never fail to repay its creditors, in the following centuries, other countries in Europe and later around the world adopted similar financial institutions to manage their government debt. 1815, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, British government debt reached a peak of more than 200% of GDP, a government bond is a bond issued by a national government. Such bonds are most often denominated in the domestic currency. Sovereigns can also issue debt in foreign currencies, almost 70% of all debt in 2000 was denominated in US dollars, Government bonds are sometimes regarded as risk-free bonds, because national governments can if necessary create money de novo to redeem the bond in their own currency at maturity. Although many governments are prohibited by law from creating money directly, central banks may provide finance by buying government bonds, Government debt, synonymous to sovereign debt, can be issued either in domestic or foreign currencies
9.
Fish processing
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The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Larger fish processing companies often operate their own fishing fleets or farming operations, the products of the fish industry are usually sold to grocery chains or to intermediaries. A central concern of fish processing is to prevent fish from deteriorating, Fish processing can be subdivided into fish handling, which is the preliminary processing of raw fish, and the manufacture of fish products. There is evidence humans have been processing fish since the early Holocene and these days, fish processing is undertaken by artisan fishermen, on board fishing or fish processing vessels, and at fish processing plants. Fish is a highly perishable food which needs proper handling and preservation if it is to have a shelf life and retain a desirable quality. The central concern of fish processing is to prevent fish from deteriorating, the most obvious method for preserving the quality of fish is to keep them alive until they are ready for cooking and eating. For thousands of years, China achieved this through the aquaculture of carp, usually more than one of these methods is used. When chilled or frozen fish or fish products are transported by road, rail, sea or air and this requires insulated containers or transport vehicles and adequate refrigeration. Modern shipping containers can combine refrigeration with a controlled atmosphere, Fish processing is also concerned with proper waste management and with adding value to fish products. There is a demand for ready to eat fish products. When fish are captured or harvested for commercial purposes, they need some preprocessing so they can be delivered to the part of the marketing chain in a fresh. This means, for example, that fish caught by a fishing vessel need handling so they can be stored safely until the lands the fish on shore. Catch processing operations can be manual or automated, the equipment and procedures in modern industrial fisheries are designed to reduce the rough handling of fish, heavy manual lifting and unsuitable working positions which might result in injuries. An alternative, and obvious way of keeping fish fresh is to them alive until they are delivered to the buyer or ready to be eaten. This is a common practice worldwide, typically, the fish are placed in a container with clean water, and dead, damaged or sick fish are removed. The water temperature is lowered and the fish are starved to reduce their metabolic rate. This decreases fouling of water with metabolic products that become toxic, Fish can be kept alive in floating cages, wells and fish ponds. In aquaculture, holding basins are used where the water is filtered and its temperature
10.
Pearl
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A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as a conulariid. Just like the shell of a clam, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate. in minute crystalline form, the ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes, known as baroque pearls, can occur. The finest quality natural pearls have been valued as gemstones. Because of this, pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, the most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as natural pearls, cultured or farmed pearls from pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of those currently sold. Imitation pearls are widely sold in inexpensive jewelry, but the quality of their iridescence is usually very poor and is easily distinguished from that of genuine pearls. Pearls have been harvested and cultivated primarily for use in jewelry and they have also been crushed and used in cosmetics, medicines and paint formulations. Whether wild or cultured, gem-quality pearls are almost always nacreous and iridescent, however, almost all species of shelled mollusks are capable of producing pearls of lesser shine or less spherical shape. The English word pearl comes from the French perle, originally from the Latin perna meaning leg, nacreous pearls, the best-known and most commercially significant, are primarily produced by two groups of molluskan bivalves or clams. A nacreous pearl is made from layers of nacre, by the same living process as is used in the secretion of the mother of pearl which lines the shell, natural pearls, formed without human intervention, are very rare. Cultured pearls are formed in pearl farms, using human intervention as well as natural processes, saltwater pearls can grow in several species of marine pearl oysters in the family Pteriidae. Freshwater pearls grow within certain species of mussels in the order Unionida. The unique luster of pearls depends upon the reflection, refraction, the thinner and more numerous the layers in the pearl, the finer the luster. The iridescence that pearls display is caused by the overlapping of successive layers, in addition, pearls can be dyed yellow, green, blue, brown, pink, purple, or black. The very best pearls have a metallic mirror-like luster, because pearls are made primarily of calcium carbonate, they can be dissolved in vinegar. Calcium carbonate is susceptible to even a weak acid solution because the crystals of calcium carbonate react with the acid in the vinegar to form calcium acetate. Freshwater and saltwater pearls may sometimes look quite similar, but they come from different sources, Freshwater pearls form in various species of freshwater mussels, family Unionidae, which live in lakes, rivers, ponds and other bodies of fresh water. These freshwater pearl mussels occur not only in hotter climates, most freshwater cultured pearls sold today come from China
186th nominal (2013)
2.0% (2017)[3]
This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook website https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html.