1.
Units of measurement
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A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same quantity. Any other value of quantity can be expressed as a simple multiple of the unit of measurement. For example, length is a physical quantity, the metre is a unit of length that represents a definite predetermined length. When we say 10 metres, we actually mean 10 times the definite predetermined length called metre, the definition, agreement, and practical use of units of measurement have played a crucial role in human endeavour from early ages up to this day. Different systems of units used to be very common, now there is a global standard, the International System of Units, the modern form of the metric system. In trade, weights and measures is often a subject of regulation, to ensure fairness. The International Bureau of Weights and Measures is tasked with ensuring worldwide uniformity of measurements, metrology is the science for developing nationally and internationally accepted units of weights and measures. In physics and metrology, units are standards for measurement of quantities that need clear definitions to be useful. Reproducibility of experimental results is central to the scientific method, a standard system of units facilitates this. Scientific systems of units are a refinement of the concept of weights, science, medicine, and engineering often use larger and smaller units of measurement than those used in everyday life and indicate them more precisely. The judicious selection of the units of measurement can aid researchers in problem solving, in the social sciences, there are no standard units of measurement and the theory and practice of measurement is studied in psychometrics and the theory of conjoint measurement. A unit of measurement is a quantity of a physical property. Units of measurement were among the earliest tools invented by humans, primitive societies needed rudimentary measures for many tasks, constructing dwellings of an appropriate size and shape, fashioning clothing, or bartering food or raw materials. Weights and measures are mentioned in the Bible and it is a commandment to be honest and have fair measures. As of the 21st Century, multiple unit systems are used all over the world such as the United States Customary System, the British Customary System, however, the United States is the only industrialized country that has not yet completely converted to the Metric System. The systematic effort to develop an acceptable system of units dates back to 1790 when the French National Assembly charged the French Academy of Sciences to come up such a unit system. After this treaty was signed, a General Conference of Weights, the CGPM produced the current SI system which was adopted in 1954 at the 10th conference of weights and measures. Currently, the United States is a society which uses both the SI system and the US Customary system
2.
Volume
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Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by a closed surface, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains. Volume is often quantified numerically using the SI derived unit, the cubic metre, three dimensional mathematical shapes are also assigned volumes. Volumes of some simple shapes, such as regular, straight-edged, Volumes of a complicated shape can be calculated by integral calculus if a formula exists for the shapes boundary. Where a variance in shape and volume occurs, such as those that exist between different human beings, these can be calculated using techniques such as the Body Volume Index. One-dimensional figures and two-dimensional shapes are assigned zero volume in the three-dimensional space, the volume of a solid can be determined by fluid displacement. Displacement of liquid can also be used to determine the volume of a gas, the combined volume of two substances is usually greater than the volume of one of the substances. However, sometimes one substance dissolves in the other and the volume is not additive. In differential geometry, volume is expressed by means of the volume form, in thermodynamics, volume is a fundamental parameter, and is a conjugate variable to pressure. Any unit of length gives a unit of volume, the volume of a cube whose sides have the given length. For example, a cubic centimetre is the volume of a cube whose sides are one centimetre in length, in the International System of Units, the standard unit of volume is the cubic metre. The metric system also includes the litre as a unit of volume, thus 1 litre =3 =1000 cubic centimetres =0.001 cubic metres, so 1 cubic metre =1000 litres. Small amounts of liquid are often measured in millilitres, where 1 millilitre =0.001 litres =1 cubic centimetre. Capacity is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as the applied to the content of a vessel, and to liquids, grain, or the like. Capacity is not identical in meaning to volume, though closely related, Units of capacity are the SI litre and its derived units, and Imperial units such as gill, pint, gallon, and others. Units of volume are the cubes of units of length, in SI the units of volume and capacity are closely related, one litre is exactly 1 cubic decimetre, the capacity of a cube with a 10 cm side. In other systems the conversion is not trivial, the capacity of a fuel tank is rarely stated in cubic feet, for example. The density of an object is defined as the ratio of the mass to the volume, the inverse of density is specific volume which is defined as volume divided by mass. Specific volume is an important in thermodynamics where the volume of a working fluid is often an important parameter of a system being studied
3.
United States customary units
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United States customary units are a system of measurements commonly used in the United States. The United States customary system developed from English units which were in use in the British Empire before the US declared its independence, however, the British system of measures was overhauled in 1824 to create the imperial system, changing the definitions of some units. Therefore, while many U. S. units are similar to their Imperial counterparts. The majority of U. S. customary units were redefined in terms of the meter and these definitions were refined by the international yard and pound agreement of 1959. Americans primarily use customary units in commercial activities, as well as for personal and social use, in science, medicine, many sectors of industry and some of government, metric units are used. The International System of Units, the form of the metric system, is preferred for many uses by the U. S. National Institute of Standards. The United States system of units is similar to the British imperial system, both systems are derived from English units, a system which had evolved over the millennia before American independence, and which had its roots in Roman and Anglo-Saxon units. The customary system was championed by the U. S. -based International Institute for Preserving and Perfecting Weights, advocates of the customary system saw the French Revolutionary, or metric, system as atheistic. An auxiliary of the Institute in Ohio published a poem with wording such as down with every metric scheme and A perfect inch, one adherent of the customary system called it a just weight and a just measure, which alone are acceptable to the Lord. The U. S. government passed the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, the legislation states that the federal government has a responsibility to assist industry as it voluntarily converts to the metric system, i. e. metrification. This is most evident in U. S. labeling requirements on food products, according to the CIA Factbook, the United States is one of three nations that have not adopted the metric system as their official system of weights and measures. U. S. customary units are used on consumer products. Metric units are standard in science, medicine, as well as many sectors of industry and government, the metric system also lacks a parallel to the foot. Frequently, however, these units designate quite different sizes, for example, the mile ranged by country from one-half to five U. S. miles, foot and pound also had varying definitions. Historically, a range of non-SI units were used in the U. S. and in Britain. This article deals only with the commonly used or officially defined in the U. S. For measuring length, the U. S. customary system uses the inch, foot, yard, and mile, since July 1,1959, these have been defined on the basis of 1 yard =0.9144 meters except for some applications in surveying. The U. S. the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries agreed on this definition, the NAD27 was replaced in the 1980s by the North American Datum of 1983, which is defined in meters
4.
Imperial units
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The system of imperial units or the imperial system is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act of 1824, which was later refined and reduced. The Imperial units replaced the Winchester Standards, which were in effect from 1588 to 1825, the system came into official use across the British Empire. The imperial system developed from what were first known as English units, the Weights and Measures Act of 1824 was initially scheduled to go into effect on 1 May 1825. However, the Weights and Measures Act of 1825 pushed back the date to 1 January 1826, the 1824 Act allowed the continued use of pre-imperial units provided that they were customary, widely known, and clearly marked with imperial equivalents. Apothecaries units are mentioned neither in the act of 1824 nor 1825, at the time, apothecaries weights and measures were regulated in England, Wales, and Berwick-upon-Tweed by the London College of Physicians, and in Ireland by the Dublin College of Physicians. In Scotland, apothecaries units were unofficially regulated by the Edinburgh College of Physicians, the three colleges published, at infrequent intervals, pharmacopoeiae, the London and Dublin editions having the force of law. The Medical Act of 1858 transferred to The Crown the right to publish the official pharmacopoeia and to regulate apothecaries weights, Metric equivalents in this article usually assume the latest official definition. Before this date, the most precise measurement of the imperial Standard Yard was 0.914398416 metres, in 1824, the various different gallons in use in the British Empire were replaced by the imperial gallon, a unit close in volume to the ale gallon. It was originally defined as the volume of 10 pounds of distilled water weighed in air with brass weights with the standing at 30 inches of mercury at a temperature of 62 °F. The Weights and Measures Act of 1985 switched to a gallon of exactly 4.54609 l and these measurements were in use from 1826, when the new imperial gallon was defined, but were officially abolished in the United Kingdom on 1 January 1971. In the USA, though no longer recommended, the system is still used occasionally in medicine. The troy pound was made the unit of mass by the 1824 Act, however, its use was abolished in the UK on 1 January 1879, with only the troy ounce. The Weights and Measures Act 1855 made the pound the primary unit of mass. In all the systems, the unit is the pound. For the yard, the length of a pendulum beating seconds at the latitude of Greenwich at Mean Sea Level in vacuo was defined as 39.01393 inches, the imperial system is one of many systems of English units. Although most of the units are defined in more than one system, some units were used to a much greater extent, or for different purposes. The distinctions between these systems are not drawn precisely. One such distinction is that between these systems and older British/English units/systems or newer additions, the US customary system is historically derived from the English units that were in use at the time of settlement
5.
Litre
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The litre or liter is an SI accepted metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre,1,000 cubic centimetres or 1/1,000 cubic metre. A cubic decimetre occupies a volume of 10×10×10 centimetres and is equal to one-thousandth of a cubic metre. The original French metric system used the litre as a base unit. The word litre is derived from an older French unit, the litron, whose name came from Greek — where it was a unit of weight, not volume — via Latin, and which equalled approximately 0.831 litres. The litre was also used in subsequent versions of the metric system and is accepted for use with the SI. The spelling used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures is litre, the less common spelling of liter is more predominantly used in American English. One litre of water has a mass of almost exactly one kilogram. Subsequent redefinitions of the metre and kilogram mean that this relationship is no longer exact, a litre is defined as a special name for a cubic decimetre or 10 centimetres ×10 centimetres ×10 centimetres. Hence 1 L ≡0.001 m3 ≡1000 cm3, from 1901 to 1964, the litre was defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water at maximum density and standard pressure. The kilogram was in turn specified as the mass of a platinum/iridium cylinder held at Sèvres in France and was intended to be of the mass as the 1 litre of water referred to above. It was subsequently discovered that the cylinder was around 28 parts per million too large and thus, during this time, additionally, the mass-volume relationship of water depends on temperature, pressure, purity and isotopic uniformity. In 1964, the definition relating the litre to mass was abandoned in favour of the current one, although the litre is not an official SI unit, it is accepted by the CGPM for use with the SI. CGPM defines the litre and its acceptable symbols, a litre is equal in volume to the millistere, an obsolete non-SI metric unit customarily used for dry measure. The litre is often used in some calculated measurements, such as density. One litre of water has a mass of almost exactly one kilogram when measured at its maximal density, similarly,1 millilitre of water has a mass of about 1 g,1,000 litres of water has a mass of about 1,000 kg. It is now known that density of water depends on the isotopic ratios of the oxygen and hydrogen atoms in a particular sample. The litre, though not an official SI unit, may be used with SI prefixes, the most commonly used derived unit is the millilitre, defined as one-thousandth of a litre, and also often referred to by the SI derived unit name cubic centimetre. It is a commonly used measure, especially in medicine and cooking, Other units may be found in the table below, where the more often used terms are in bold
6.
Pint
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The pint /ˈpaɪnt/ is a unit of volume or capacity in both the imperial and United States customary measurement systems. In both of those systems it is traditionally one-eighth of a gallon, Imperial or U. S. although measuring a different amount of liquid, the British pint is thus about 20% larger than the American pint. Almost all other countries have standardized on the metric system, the size of what may be called a pint varies depending on local custom. The imperial pint is used in the United Kingdom and Ireland, in the United States, two pints are used, a liquid pint and a less-common dry pint. Each of these pints is one-eighth of its respective gallon, but the gallons differ, the imperial pint consists of 20 imperial fluid ounces and the US liquid pint is 16 US fluid ounces, making the imperial fluid ounce about 4% smaller than the US fluid ounce. In the United Kingdom, the pint is still the primary unit for draught beer and cider. Historically, units called a pint were used much of Europe. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the system during the 19th century. The imperial pint is equal to one-eighth of an imperial gallon, the United States liquid pint is equal to one-eighth of a United States liquid gallon. It is used commonly in the United States, the United States dry pint is equal to one-eighth of a United States dry gallon. It is used in the United States, but is not as common as the liquid pint, a now-obsolete unit of measurement in Scotland known as the Scottish pint or joug equals three imperial pints. It remained in use until the 19th century, surviving significantly longer than most of the old Scottish measurements, the French word pinte is etymologically related, but historically described a larger unit. The Royal pint was 48 French cubic inches and this is one of numerous false friends which exist between English and French. They are not the same although they have the same linguistic origin - the French Canadian pinte is actually equivalent to the English quart. If you want to order an English pint of beer in Canadian French, the Imperial system of measurement is no longer taught in Canadian schools, so servers may be unclear on how big a pint or pinte is regardless of language. In Flanders, the word pintje, meaning little pint, refers only to a 250 mL glass of lager, some West- and East-Flemish dialects use it as a word for beaker. The equivalent word in German, Pintchen, refers to a glass of a third of a litre in Cologne, one US fluid pint of water weighs about a pound, resulting in the popular saying, The pints a pound, the world around. A different saying for the pint is a pint of pure water weighs a pound
7.
Caribbean
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The Caribbean is a region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands and the surrounding coasts. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region comprises more than 700 islands, islets, reefs and cays. These islands generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea, in a wider sense, the mainland countries of Belize, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are often included due to their political and cultural ties with the region. Geopolitically, the Caribbean islands are usually regarded as a subregion of North America and are organized into 30 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. From December 15,1954, to October 10,2010, there was a known as the Netherlands Antilles composed of five states. The West Indies cricket team continues to represent many of those nations, the region takes its name from that of the Caribs, an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of the Spanish conquest. The two most prevalent pronunciations of Caribbean are KARR-ə-BEE-ən, with the accent on the third syllable. The former pronunciation is the older of the two, although the variant has been established for over 75 years. It has been suggested that speakers of British English prefer KARR-ə-BEE-ən while North American speakers more typically use kə-RIB-ee-ən, usage is split within Caribbean English itself. The word Caribbean has multiple uses and its principal ones are geographical and political. The Caribbean can also be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to slavery, European colonisation, the United Nations geoscheme for the Americas accords the Caribbean as a distinct region within the Americas. Physiographically, the Caribbean region is mainly a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea, to the north, the region is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Northern Atlantic Ocean, which lies to the east and northeast. To the south lies the coastline of the continent of South America, politically, the Caribbean may be centred on socio-economic groupings found in the region. For example, the known as the Caribbean Community contains the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands, which are in the Atlantic Ocean, are members of the Caribbean Community. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is also in the Atlantic and is a member of the Caribbean Community. According to the ACS, the population of its member states is 227 million people. The geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies, Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin and these islands include Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, the Bahamas, and Antigua
8.
Latin America
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Latin America is a group of countries and dependencies in the Americas where Romance languages are predominant. It is therefore broader than the terms Ibero-America or Hispanic America—though it usually excludes French Canada and it has an area of approximately 19,197,000 km2, almost 13% of the Earths land surface area. As of 2015, its population was estimated at more than 626 million and in 2014, Latin America had a combined nominal GDP of 5,573,397 million USD and a GDP PPP of 7,531,585 million USD. The term Latin America was first used in 1861 in La revue des races Latines, a further investigation of the concept of Latin America is by Michel Gobat in the American Historical Review. The term was first used in Paris in an 1856 conference by the Chilean politician Francisco Bilbao and this term was also used in 1861 by French scholars in La revue des races Latines, a magazine dedicated to the Pan-Latinism movement. Latin America is, therefore, defined as all parts of the Americas that were once part of the Spanish. By this definition, Latin America is coterminous with Ibero-America and this definition emphasizes a similar socioeconomic history of the region, which was characterized by formal or informal colonialism, rather than cultural aspects. As such, some sources avoid this oversimplification by using the phrase Latin America, the distinction between Latin America and Anglo-America is a convention based on the predominant languages in the Americas by which Romance-language and English-speaking cultures are distinguished. Latin America can be subdivided into several subregions based on geography, politics, demographics and it may be subdivided on linguistic grounds into Hispanic America, Portuguese America and French America. *, Not a sovereign state The concept of Latin America has been criticized by a number of intellectuals, the earliest known settlement was identified at Monte Verde, near Puerto Montt in Southern Chile. Its occupation dates to some 14,000 years ago and there is disputed evidence of even earlier occupation. Over the course of millennia, people spread to all parts of the continents, by the first millennium CE, South Americas vast rainforests, mountains, plains and coasts were the home of tens of millions of people. Some groups formed more permanent settlements such as the Chibcha and the Tairona groups and these groups are in the circum Caribbean region. The Chibchas of Colombia, the Quechuas and Aymaras of Bolivia, the region was home to many indigenous peoples and advanced civilizations, including the Aztecs, Toltecs, Maya, and Inca. The Aztec empire was ultimately the most powerful civilization known throughout the Americas, with the arrival of the Europeans following Christopher Columbus voyages, the indigenous elites, such as the Incas and Aztecs, lost power to the heavy European invasion. Hernándo Cortés seized the Aztec elites power with the help of local groups who had favored the Aztec elite, epidemics of diseases brought by the Europeans, such as smallpox and measles, wiped out a large portion of the indigenous population. Historians cannot determine the number of natives who died due to European diseases, due to the lack of written records, specific numbers are hard to verify. Many of the survivors were forced to work in European plantations, intermixing between the indigenous peoples and the European colonists was very common, and, by the end of the colonial period, people of mixed ancestry formed majorities in several colonies
9.
Commonwealth of Nations
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The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as simply the Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of 52 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire. The Commonwealth dates back to the century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which established the states as free. The symbol of free association is Queen Elizabeth II who is the Head of the Commonwealth. The Queen is also the monarch of 16 members of the Commonwealth, the other Commonwealth members have different heads of state,31 members are republics and five are monarchies with a different monarch. Member states have no obligation to one another. Instead, they are united by language, history, culture and their values of democracy, free speech, human rights. These values are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games, the Commonwealth covers more than 29,958,050 km2, 20% of the worlds land area, and spans all six inhabited continents. She declared, So, it marks the beginning of that free association of independent states which is now known as the Commonwealth of Nations. As long ago as 1884, however, Lord Rosebery, while visiting Australia, had described the changing British Empire—as some of its colonies became more independent—as a Commonwealth of Nations. Conferences of British and colonial prime ministers occurred periodically from the first one in 1887, the Commonwealth developed from the imperial conferences. Newfoundland never did, as on 16 February 1934, with the consent of its parliament, Newfoundland later joined Canada as its 10th province in 1949. Australia and New Zealand ratified the Statute in 1942 and 1947 respectively, after World War II ended, the British Empire was gradually dismantled. Most of its components have become independent countries, whether Commonwealth realms or republics, there remain the 14 British overseas territories still held by the United Kingdom. In April 1949, following the London Declaration, the word British was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature, burma and Aden are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Hoped for success was reinforced by such achievements as climbing Mount Everest in 1953, breaking the four minute mile in 1954, however, the humiliation of the Suez Crisis of 1956 badly hurt morale of Britain and the Commonwealth as a whole. More broadly, there was the loss of a role of the British Empire. That role was no longer militarily or financially feasible, as Britains withdrawal from Greece in 1947 painfully demonstrated, Britain itself was now just one part of the NATO military alliance in which the Commonwealth had no role apart from Canada
10.
Pound (mass)
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The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement. The international standard symbol for the pound is lb. The unit is descended from the Roman libra, the English word pound is cognate with, among others, German Pfund, Dutch pond, and Swedish pund. All ultimately derive from a borrowing into Proto-Germanic of the Latin expression lībra pondō, usage of the unqualified term pound reflects the historical conflation of mass and weight. This accounts for the modern distinguishing terms pound-mass and pound-force, the United States and countries of the Commonwealth of Nations agreed upon common definitions for the pound and the yard. Since 1 July 1959, the avoirdupois pound has been defined as exactly 0.45359237 kg. In the United Kingdom, the use of the pound was implemented in the Weights and Measures Act 1963.9144 metre exactly. An avoirdupois pound is equal to 16 avoirdupois ounces and to exactly 7,000 grains, the conversion factor between the kilogram and the international pound was therefore chosen to be divisible by 7, and an grain is thus equal to exactly 64.79891 milligrams. The US has not adopted the system despite many efforts to do so. Historically, in different parts of the world, at different points in time, and for different applications, the libra is an ancient Roman unit of mass that was equivalent to approximately 328.9 grams. It was divided into 12 unciae, or ounces, the libra is the origin of the abbreviation for pound, lb. A number of different definitions of the pound have historically used in Britain. Amongst these were the avoirdupois pound and the tower, merchants. Historically, the sterling was a tower pound of silver. In 1528, the standard was changed to the Troy pound, the avoirdupois pound, also known as the wool pound, first came into general use c. It was initially equal to 6992 troy grains, the pound avoirdupois was divided into 16 ounces. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the pound was redefined as 7,000 troy grains. Since then, the grain has often been a part of the avoirdupois system
11.
Fahrenheit
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Fahrenheit is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, after whom the scale is named. It uses the degree Fahrenheit as the unit, several accounts of how he originally defined his scale exist. The lower defining point,0 °F, was established as the temperature of a solution of brine made from parts of ice. Further limits were established as the point of ice and his best estimate of the average human body temperature. All other countries in the world now use the Celsius scale, defined since 1954 by absolute zero being −273.15 °C, on the Fahrenheit scale, the freezing point of water is 32 degrees Fahrenheit and the boiling point is 212 °F. This puts the boiling and freezing points of water exactly 180 degrees apart, therefore, a degree on the Fahrenheit scale is 1⁄180 of the interval between the freezing point and the boiling point. On the Celsius scale, the freezing and boiling points of water are 100 degrees apart, a temperature interval of 1 °F is equal to an interval of 5⁄9 degrees Celsius. The Fahrenheit and Celsius scales intersect at −40°, absolute zero is −273.15 °C or −459.67 °F. For an exact conversion, the formulas can be applied. Again, f is the value in Fahrenheit and c the value in Celsius, f °Fahrenheit to c °Celsius, C °Celsius to f °Fahrenheit, −40 = f. Fahrenheit proposed his temperature scale in 1724, basing it on two points of temperature. In his initial scale, the point is determined by placing the thermometer in a mixture of ice, water. This is a mixture which stabilizes its temperature automatically, that stable temperature was defined as 0 °F. The second point,96 degrees, was approximately the human bodys temperature, in any case, the definition of the Fahrenheit scale has changed since. According to a letter Fahrenheit wrote to his friend Herman Boerhaave, his scale was built on the work of Ole Rømer, whom he had met earlier. In Rømers scale, brine freezes at zero, water freezes and melts at 7.5 degrees, body temperature is 22.5, Fahrenheit multiplied each value by four in order to eliminate fractions and increase the granularity of the scale. Fahrenheit observed that water boils at about 212 degrees using this scale, under this system, the Fahrenheit scale is redefined slightly so that the freezing point of water is exactly 32 °F, and the boiling point is exactly 212 °F or 180 degrees higher. It is for this reason that human body temperature is approximately 98° on the revised scale
12.
Celsius
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Celsius, also known as centigrade, is a metric scale and unit of measurement for temperature. As an SI derived unit, it is used by most countries in the world and it is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, who developed a similar temperature scale. The degree Celsius can refer to a temperature on the Celsius scale as well as a unit to indicate a temperature interval. Before being renamed to honour Anders Celsius in 1948, the unit was called centigrade, from the Latin centum, which means 100, and gradus, which means steps. The scale is based on 0° for the point of water. This scale is widely taught in schools today, by international agreement the unit degree Celsius and the Celsius scale are currently defined by two different temperatures, absolute zero, and the triple point of VSMOW. This definition also precisely relates the Celsius scale to the Kelvin scale, absolute zero, the lowest temperature possible, is defined as being precisely 0 K and −273.15 °C. The temperature of the point of water is defined as precisely 273.16 K at 611.657 pascals pressure. This definition fixes the magnitude of both the degree Celsius and the kelvin as precisely 1 part in 273.16 of the difference between absolute zero and the point of water. Thus, it sets the magnitude of one degree Celsius and that of one kelvin as exactly the same, additionally, it establishes the difference between the two scales null points as being precisely 273.15 degrees. In his paper Observations of two persistent degrees on a thermometer, he recounted his experiments showing that the point of ice is essentially unaffected by pressure. He also determined with precision how the boiling point of water varied as a function of atmospheric pressure. He proposed that the point of his temperature scale, being the boiling point. This pressure is known as one standard atmosphere, the BIPMs 10th General Conference on Weights and Measures later defined one standard atmosphere to equal precisely 1013250dynes per square centimetre. On 19 May 1743 he published the design of a mercury thermometer, in 1744, coincident with the death of Anders Celsius, the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus reversed Celsiuss scale. In it, Linnaeus recounted the temperatures inside the orangery at the University of Uppsala Botanical Garden, since the 19th century, the scientific and thermometry communities worldwide referred to this scale as the centigrade scale. Temperatures on the scale were often reported simply as degrees or. More properly, what was defined as centigrade then would now be hectograde.2 gradians, for scientific use, Celsius is the term usually used, with centigrade otherwise continuing to be in common but decreasing use, especially in informal contexts in English-speaking countries
13.
Cubic inch
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The cubic inch is a unit of measurement for volume in the Imperial units and United States customary units systems. It is the volume of a cube with each of its three dimensions being one inch long, one cubic foot is equal to exactly 1,728 cubic inches because 123 =1,728. The following symbols have been used to denote the cubic inch, cubic in cu inch, cu in inch^3, in^3 inch³, because of the extensive export of electrical equipment to other countries, some usage of the non-SI unit can be found outside North America. The cubic inch is used for this purpose in classic car collecting. The auto industry now uses liters for this purpose, while reciprocating engines used in commercial aircraft often have model numbers based on the cubic inch displacement. The fifth generation Ford Mustang has a Boss 302 version that reflects this heritage - with an engine similar to the original Boss. Chevrolet has also revived this usage on its 427 Corvette, in the UK, engine displacement is now denoted in litres. However, cubic inches were used in the past to denote model numbers. Conversion of units Cubic centimeter Cubic foot Orders of magnitude Square inch
14.
Bushel
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A bushel is an imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel was equal to 4 pecks or 8 gallons and was used mostly for agricultural products such as wheat, at present, the volume is usually only nominal, with bushels referring to standard quantities of mass instead. Two pecks make a kenning, and four pecks make a bushel, the name bushel is also used to translate similar units in other measurement systems. The name is an anglicization of the Old French boissiel and buissiel and it may further derive from Old French boise, thus meaning little butt. The bushel is a value between the pound and ton or tun that was introduced to England following the Norman Conquest. Norman statutes made the London bushel part of the measure of English wine, ale. In either case, the bushel was reckoned to contain 64 pounds of 12 ounces of 20 pence of 32 grains and these measures were based on the relatively light tower pound and were rarely used in Scotland, Ireland, or Wales during the Middle Ages. When the Tower system was abolished in the 16th century, the bushel was redefined as 56 avoirdupois pounds. The imperial bushel established by the Weights and Measures Act of 1824 described the bushel as the volume of 80 avoirdupois pounds of distilled water in air at 62 °F or 8 imperial gallons and this is the bushel in some use in the United Kingdom. Thus there is no distinction between liquid and dry measure in the imperial system, the Winchester bushel was the volume of a cylinder 18.5 in in diameter and 8 in high, which gives an irrational number of cubic inches. The modern American or US bushel is a variant of this, rounded to exactly 2150.42 cubic inches and it is also somewhat in use in Canada. Bushels are now most often used as units of mass or weight rather than of volume, the bushels in which grains are bought and sold on commodity markets or at local grain elevators, and for reports of grain production, are all units of weight. This is done by assigning a weight to each commodity that is to be measured in bushels. These bushels depend on the commodities being measured and the moisture content. Some of the common ones are, Oats, USA,32 lb Canada,34 lb Barley,48 lb Malted barley,34 lb Shelled maize at 15. 5% moisture by weight,56 lb Wheat at 13. Government policy in the United States is to phase out units such as the bushel, the German bushel was the Scheffel. The Polish bushel was used as measure of dry capacity and it was divided into 4 quarters and in the early 19th century had a value of 128 litres in Warsaw and 501.116 litres in Kraków. The Spanish bushel was used as a measure of dry capacity and it was roughly equal to 55.5 litres in Castille
15.
Peck
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A peck is an imperial and United States customary unit of dry volume, equivalent to 2 gallons or 8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints. Two pecks make a kenning, and four pecks make a bushel, although the peck is no longer widely used, some produce, such as apples, is still often sold by the peck. In Scotland, the peck was used as a dry measure until the introduction of units as a result of the Weights. The peck was equal to about 9 litres and about 13 litres, a firlot was equal to 4 pecks. Obsolete Scottish units of measurement Winchester measure Bushel
16.
Myanmar
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Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a sovereign state in South East Asia bordered by Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. About one third of Myanmars total perimeter of 5,876 km, forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km along the Bay of Bengal, the countrys 2014 census revealed a much lower population than expected, with 51 million people recorded. Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometres in size and its capital city is Naypyidaw and its largest city and former capital city is Yangon. Early civilizations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma, the Pagan Kingdom fell due to the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur. The British invaded Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the became a British colony. Myanmar became an independent nation in 1948, initially as a nation and then, following a coup détat in 1962. For most of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife, during this time, the United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country. In 2011, the junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election. While former military leaders still wield enormous power in the country, there is, however, continuing criticism of the governments treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority and its poor response to the religious clashes. In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyis party won a majority in both houses, Myanmar is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013, its GDP stood at US$56.7 billion, the income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military government. As of 2016, according to the Human Development Index, Myanmar had a level of human development. The renaming remains a contested issue, many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use Burma because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country. The countrys official name is the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form Union of Burma instead, in English, the country is popularly known as either Burma or Myanmar /ˈmjɑːnˌmɑːr/. Both these names are derived from the name of the majority Burmese Bamar ethnic group, Myanmar is considered to be the literary form of the name of the group, while Burma is derived from Bamar, the colloquial form of the groups name
17.
Anguilla
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Anguilla is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico, the islands capital is The Valley. The total land area of the territory is 35 square miles, Anguilla has become a popular tax haven, having no capital gains, estate, profit or other forms of direct taxation on either individuals or corporations. In April 2011, faced with a deficit, it introduced a 3% Interim Stabilisation Levy. The name Anguilla is an anglicised or latinate form of earlier Spanish anguila, French anguille, or Italian anguilla, for similar reasons, it was formerly known as Snake or Snake Island. Anguilla was first settled by Indigenous Amerindian peoples who migrated from South America, the earliest Native American artefacts found on Anguilla have been dated to around 1300 BC, remains of settlements date from AD600. The Arawak name for the island seems to have been Malliouhana, traditional accounts state that Anguilla was first colonised by English settlers from Saint Kitts beginning in 1650. The French temporarily took over the island in 1666 but returned it to English control under the terms of the Treaty of Breda the next year. A Major John Scott who visited in September 1667, wrote of leaving the island in good condition and it is likely that some of these early Europeans brought enslaved Africans with them. Historians confirm that African slaves lived in the region in the early 17th century, for example, Africans from Senegal lived in St. Christopher in 1626. By 1672 a slave depot existed on the island of Nevis, while the time of African arrival in Anguilla is difficult to place precisely, archival evidence indicates a substantial African presence of at least 100 slaves by 1683. These seem to have come from Central Africa as well as West Africa, attempts by the French to capture the island during the War of Austrian Succession and the Napoleonic Wars ended in failure. During the early period, Anguilla was administered by the British through Antigua, in 1825. In 1967, Britain granted Saint Kitts and Nevis full internal autonomy, Anguilla was also incorporated into the new unified dependency, named Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, against the wishes of many Anguillians. This led to two Anguillian Revolutions in 1967 and 1969 headed by Atlin Harrigan and Ronald Webster, the island briefly operated as the independent Republic of Anguilla. The goal of the revolution was not independence per se, but rather independence from Saint Kitts and Nevis, British authority was fully restored in July 1971 and in 1980 Anguilla was finally allowed to secede from Saint Kitts and Nevis and become a separate British Crown colony. Anguilla is an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom and its politics take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency, whereby the Chief Minister is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes Anguilla on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, the territorys constitution is Anguilla Constitutional Order 1 April 1982
18.
Antigua and Barbuda
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Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island country in the Americas, lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands. The permanent population numbers about 81,800 and the capital and largest port and city is St. Johns, on Antigua. Separated by a few miles, Antigua and Barbuda are in the middle of the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles. The countrys name was given by Christopher Columbus in 1493 after discovering the island, the country is nicknamed Land of 365 Beaches due to the many beaches surrounding the islands. Its governance, language, and culture have all been influenced by the British Empire. Antigua is Spanish for ancient and Barbuda is Spanish for bearded, the island of Antigua, originally called Waladli by Arawaks, is today called Wadadli by locals. Christopher Columbus, while sailing by in 1493 may have named it Santa Maria la Antigua, Antigua was first settled by archaic age hunter-gatherer Amerindians called the Siboney or Ciboney. Carbon dating has established the earliest settlements started around 3100 BC and they were succeeded by the ceramic age pre-Columbian Arawak-speaking Saladoid people who migrated from the lower Orinoco River. The Arawaks introduced agriculture, raising, among crops, the famous Antigua black pineapple, corn, sweet potatoes, chiles, guava, tobacco. The indigenous West Indians made excellent seagoing vessels which used to sail around on the Atlantic. As a result, Caribs and Arawaks were able to much of South America. Their descendants still live there, notably in Brazil, Venezuela, most Arawaks left Antigua around 1100 AD, those who remained were later raided by the Caribs. The Catholic Encyclopedia makes it clear that the European invaders had difficulty differentiating between the groups of the native peoples they encountered. As a result, the number and types of groups in existence at that time may have been much more varied. European and African diseases, malnutrition, and slavery eventually killed most of the Caribbeans native population, smallpox was probably the greatest killer. Some historians believe that the stress of slavery may also have played a part in the massive number of deaths amongst enslaved natives. Others believe the reportedly abundant but starchy, low-protein diet may have contributed to their severe malnutrition as they were used to a diet fortified with protein from the sea, the Spaniards did not colonise Antigua because it lacked fresh water but not aggressive Caribs
19.
The Bahamas
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The Bahamas, known officially as the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is an archipelagic state within the Lucayan Archipelago. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence, the designation of the Bahamas can refer either to the country or to the larger island chain that it shares with the Turks and Caicos Islands. As stated in the mandate/manifesto of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Bahamas is the site of Columbus first landfall in the New World in 1492. At that time, the islands were inhabited by the Lucayan, although the Spanish never colonised the Bahamas, they shipped the native Lucayans to slavery in Hispaniola. The islands were mostly deserted from 1513 until 1648, when English colonists from Bermuda settled on the island of Eleuthera, the Bahamas became a British Crown colony in 1718, when the British clamped down on piracy. After the American War of Independence, the Crown resettled thousands of American Loyalists in the Bahamas, they brought their slaves with them, Africans constituted the majority of the population from this period. Slavery in the Bahamas was abolished in 1834, Today the descendants of slaves and free Africans make up nearly 90% of the population, issues related to the slavery years are part of society. The Bahamas became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1973, retaining Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch, in terms of gross domestic product per capita, the Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the Americas, with an economy based on tourism and finance. The name Bahamas is derived from either the Taino ba ha ma, alternatively, it may originate from Guanahani, a local name of unclear meaning. In English, the Bahamas is one of two countries whose self-standing short name begins with the word the, along with The Gambia. Taino people moved into the uninhabited southern Bahamas from Hispaniola and Cuba around the 11th century and they came to be known as the Lucayan people. An estimated 30,000 Lucayan inhabited the Bahamas at the time of Christopher Columbus arrival in 1492, Columbuss first landfall in the New World was on an island he named San Salvador. Some researchers believe this site to be present-day San Salvador Island, an alternative theory holds that Columbus landed to the southeast on Samana Cay, according to calculations made in 1986 by National Geographic writer and editor Joseph Judge, based on Columbuss log. Evidence in support of this remains inconclusive, on the landfall island, Columbus made first contact with the Lucayan and exchanged goods with them. The Spanish forced much of the Lucayan population to Hispaniola for use as forced labour, the slaves suffered from harsh conditions and most died from contracting diseases to which they had no immunity, half of the Taino died from smallpox alone. The population of the Bahamas was severely diminished, in 1648, the Eleutherian Adventurers, led by William Sayle, migrated from Bermuda. These English Puritans established the first permanent European settlement on an island which they named Eleuthera—the name derives from the Greek word for freedom and they later settled New Providence, naming it Sayles Island after one of their leaders. To survive, the settlers salvaged goods from wrecks, in 1670 King Charles II granted the islands to the Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas in North America
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British Virgin Islands
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The British Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands, are a British overseas territory located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the islands constitute the US Virgin Islands. The 150-square-kilometre British Virgin Islands consist of the islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada. About 15 of the islands are inhabited, the capital, Road Town, is situated on Tortola, the largest island, which is about 20 km long and 5 km wide. The islands had a population of about 28,000 at the 2010 Census, of whom approximately 23,500 lived on Tortola, British Virgin Islanders are classed as British Overseas Territories citizens and since 2002 have had an entitlement to take up full UK citizenship. Although the territory is not part of the European Union and not directly subject to EU law, the official name of the territory is still simply the Virgin Islands, but the prefix British is often used. This is commonly believed to distinguish it from the neighbouring American territory which changed its name from the Danish West Indies to Virgin Islands of the United States in 1917. Moreover, the territorys Constitutional Commission has expressed the view that every effort should be made to encourage the use of the name Virgin Islands. In 1968 the British Government issued a memorandum requiring that the stamps in the territory should say British Virgin Islands. This was likely to prevent confusion following on from the adoption of US currency in the Territory in 1959, the Virgin Islands were first settled by the Arawak from South America around 100 BC. The Arawaks inhabited the islands until the 15th century when they were displaced by the more aggressive Caribs, the first European sighting of the Virgin Islands was by Christopher Columbus in 1493 on his second voyage to the Americas. Columbus gave them the fanciful name Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Vírgenes, shortened to Las Vírgenes, there is no record of any native Amerindian population in the British Virgin Islands during this period, although the native population on nearby Saint Croix was decimated. The Dutch established a permanent settlement on the island of Tortola by 1648, in 1672, the English captured Tortola from the Dutch, and the English annexation of Anegada and Virgin Gorda followed in 1680. Meanwhile, over the period 1672–1733, the Danish gained control of the islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John. The British islands were considered principally a strategic possession, but were planted when economic conditions were particularly favourable, the British introduced sugar cane which was to become the main crop and source of foreign trade, and slaves were brought from Africa to work on the sugar cane plantations. In 1917, the United States purchased St. John, St. Thomas, the British Virgin Islands were administered variously as part of the British Leeward Islands or with St. Kitts and Nevis, with an administrator representing the British Government on the islands. The islands gained separate status in 1960 and became autonomous in 1967. Since the 1960s, the islands have diversified away from their traditionally agriculture-based economy towards tourism and financial services and they are located in the Virgin Islands archipelago, a few miles east of the US Virgin Islands
21.
Cayman Islands
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The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean Sea. Its population is approximately 60,000, and its capital is George Town, the Cayman Islands are considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles. The territory is considered a major world offshore financial haven for many wealthy individuals. The Cayman Islands remained largely uninhabited until the 17th century, the first recorded permanent inhabitant of the Cayman Islands, Isaac Bodden, was born on Grand Cayman around 1661. He was the grandson of the original settler named Bodden who was one of Oliver Cromwells soldiers at the taking of Jamaica in 1655. England took formal control of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, following several unsuccessful attempts at settlement, a permanent English-speaking population in the islands dates from the 1730s. With settlement, after the first royal land grant by the Governor of Jamaica in 1734, many were brought to the islands from Africa, this is evident today with the majority of native Caymanians being of African and English descent. The results of the first census taken in the islands in 1802 showed the population on Grand Cayman to be 933 with 545 of those inhabitants being enslaved, slavery was abolished in the Cayman Islands in 1833. At the time of abolition, there were over 950 Blacks of African ancestry enslaved by 116 white families of English ancestry. The islands continued to be governed as part of the Colony of Jamaica until 1962, the Cayman Islands historically have been a tax-exempt destination. On 8 February 1794, the Caymanians rescued the crews of a group of ten merchant ships, including HMS Convert, the ships had struck a reef and run aground during rough seas. Legend has it that King George III rewarded the island with a never to introduce taxes as compensation for their generosity. While this remains a legend, the story is not true. However, whatever the history, in practice the government of the Cayman Islands has always relied on indirect, the islands have never levied income tax, capital gains tax, or any wealth tax, making them a popular tax haven. On 11 September 2004 the island of Grand Cayman, which lies largely unprotected at sea level, was hit by Hurricane Ivan, an estimated 83% of the dwellings on the island were damaged including 4% requiring complete reconstruction. A reported 70% of all dwellings suffered severe damage from flooding or wind, another 26% sustained minor damage from partial roof removal, low levels of flooding, or impact with floating or wind driven hurricane debris. Power, water and communications were disrupted for months in areas as Ivan was the worst hurricane to hit the islands in 86 years. Grand Cayman began a rebuilding process and within two years its infrastructure was nearly returned to pre-hurricane status.23 years
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Dominica
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Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is a sovereign island country. The capital, Roseau, is located on the side of the island. It is part of the Windward islands in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea, the island lies south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its area is 750 square kilometres and the highest point is Morne Diablotins, the population was 72,301 at the 2014 census. Great Britain took it over in 1763 after the Seven Years War, the island republic gained independence in 1978. Its name is pronounced with emphasis on the syllable, related to its French name of Dominique. Dominica has been nicknamed the Nature Isle of the Caribbean for its natural beauty. It is the youngest island in the Lesser Antilles, still being formed by geothermal-volcanic activity, the island has lush mountainous rainforests, and is the home of many rare plants, animals, and bird species. There are xeric areas in some of the coastal regions. The Sisserou parrot, also known as the amazon and found only on Dominica, is the islands national bird. Dominicas economy depends on tourism and agriculture, the precolonial inhabitants were the Island Caribs. The name comes from the Latin word dies Dominica for Sunday and its pre-Columbian name by the Caribs was Wai‘tu kubuli, which means Tall is her body. Spain had little success in colonising Dominica, in 1632, the French Compagnie des Îles de lAmérique claimed it and other Petite Antilles for France, but no physical occupation took place. Between 1642 and 1650, French missionary Raymond Breton became the first regular European visitor to the island, in 1660, the French and English agreed that Dominica and St. Vincent should not be settled, but left to the Caribs as neutral territory. But its natural resources attracted expeditions of English and French foresters, in 1690, the French established their first permanent settlements. French woodcutters from Martinique and Guadeloupe began to set up camps to supply the French islands with wood. They brought the first enslaved people from West Africa to Dominique, in 1715, a revolt of poor white smallholders in the north of Martinique, known as La Gaoulé, caused many to migrate to southern Dominique where they set up smallholdings. Meanwhile, French families and others from Guadeloupe settled in the north, already installed in Martinique and Guadeloupe and cultivating sugarcane, the French gradually developed plantations in Dominique for coffee
23.
Grenada
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Grenada is an island country consisting of Grenada itself and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent, Grenada is also known as the Island of Spice because of the production of nutmeg and mace crops, of which it is one of the worlds largest exporters. Its size is 344 square kilometres, with a population of 110,000. The national bird of Grenada is the critically endangered Grenada dove, before the arrival of Europeans, Grenada was inhabited by indigenous Arawaks and, subsequently, Island Caribs. Christopher Columbus sighted Grenada in 1498 during his voyage to the Americas. Although it was deemed the property of the King of Spain, French settlement and colonisation began in 1650 and continued for the next century. On 10 February 1763 Grenada was ceded to the British under the Treaty of Paris, British rule continued, except for a period of French rule between 1779 and 1783, until 1974. From 1958 to 1962 Grenada was part of the Federation of the West Indies, on March 3,1967, Grenada was granted full autonomy over its internal affairs as an Associated State. Herbert Blaize was the first Premier of the Associated State of Grenada from March to August 1967, Eric Gairy served as Premier from August 1967 until February 1974. Independence was granted on February 7,1974, under the leadership of Eric Gairy, Bishop was later freed by popular demonstration and attempted to resume power, but was captured and executed by soldiers. On October 25,1983, combined forces from the United States, the invasion was highly criticised by the governments of Britain, Trinidad and Tobago, and Canada, along with the United Nations General Assembly. Elections were held in December 1984 and were won by the Grenada National Party under Herbert Blaize who served as minister until his death in December 1989. On September 7,2004, after being hurricane-free for 49 years, the island was hit by Hurricane Ivan. On July 14,2005, Hurricane Emily struck the northern part of the island, the origin of the name Grenada is obscure, but it is likely that Spanish sailors renamed the island for the city of Granada. By the beginning of the 18th century, the name Grenada, on his third voyage to the region in 1498, Christopher Columbus sighted Grenada and named it La Concepción in honour of the Virgin Mary. It is said that he may have named it Assumpción. However, history has accepted that it was Tobago he named Assumpción, in 1499, the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci travelled through the region with the Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda and mapmaker Juan de la Cosa. Vespucci is reported to have renamed the island Mayo, which is how it appeared on maps for around the next 20 years, in the 1520s the Spanish named the islands to the north of Mayo as Los Granadillos, presumably after the mainland Spanish town
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Montserrat
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Montserrat is a Caribbean island—specifically in the Leeward Islands, which is part of the chain known as the Lesser Antilles, in the British West Indies. It is a British Overseas Territory, Montserrat measures approximately 16 km long and 11 km wide, with approximately 40 km of coastline. Montserrat is nicknamed The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of many of its inhabitants, on 18 July 1995, the previously dormant Soufrière Hills volcano, in the southern part of the island, became active. Eruptions destroyed Montserrats Georgian era capital city of Plymouth, between 1995 and 2000, two-thirds of the islands population was forced to flee, primarily to the United Kingdom, leaving fewer than 1,200 people on the island as of 1997. Visitors are generally not permitted entry into the zone. Relatively quiet since early 2010, the continues to be closely monitored by the Montserrat Volcano Observatory. It is the most studied volcano in the world and Montserrat has been regarded as a Modern Day Pompeii in the Caribbean, a new town and port is being developed at Little Bay, which is on the northwest coast of the island. While this construction proceeds, the centre of government and businesses is at Brades, in 1493, Christopher Columbus named the island Santa María de Montserrate, after the Virgin of Montserrat in the Monastery of Montserrat, on Montserrat mountain, near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. Montserrat means serrated mountain in Catalan, archaeological field work in 2012, in Montserrats Centre Hills indicated there was an Archaic occupation between 4000 and 2500 BP. Later coastal sites show the presence of the Saladoid culture, in November 1493, Christopher Columbus passed Montserrat in his second voyage, after being told that the island was unoccupied due to raids by the Caribs. A number of Irishmen settled in Montserrat in 1642, the island was captured by the French in 1666. It was captured shortly afterwards by the English and English control of the island was confirmed under the Treaty of Breda the following year, despite the interruption to English rule, the islands legal status is that of a colony acquired by settlement. A neo-feudal colony developed amongst the redlegs, the colonists began to transport Sub-Saharan African slaves for labour, as was common to most Caribbean islands. The colonists built an economy based on the production of sugar, rum, arrowroot and sea island cotton, by the late 18th century, numerous plantations had been developed on the island. Many Irish continued to be transported to the island, to work as indentured servants, on 17 March 1768, slaves rebelled but failed to achieve freedom. The people of Montserrat celebrate St Patricks Day as a public holiday due to the slave revolt, festivities held that week commemorate the culture of Montserrat in song, dance, food and traditional costumes. In 1782, during the American Revolutionary War, France briefly captured Montserrat after supporting the American rebels, the French returned the island to Great Britain under the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended that conflict. The Irish constituted the largest proportion of the population from the founding of the colony in 1628
25.
Saint Kitts and Nevis
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The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, also known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is a two-island country in the West Indies. Located in the Leeward Islands chain of the Lesser Antilles, it is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas and Western Hemisphere, the country is a Commonwealth realm, with the British monarch as head of state. The capital city is Basseterre on the island of Saint Kitts. The smaller island of Nevis lies about 2 miles southeast of Saint Kitts across a channel called The Narrows. The British dependency of Anguilla was historically also a part of this union, to the north-northwest lie the islands of Sint Eustatius, and Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten and Anguilla. To the east and northeast are Antigua and Barbuda, and to the southeast is the uninhabited island of Redonda, and the island of Montserrat. Saint Kitts and Nevis were among the first islands in the Caribbean to be settled by Europeans, Saint Kitts was home to the first British and French colonies in the Caribbean, and thus has also been titled The Mother Colony of the West Indies. Nevis is also the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton, Saint Kitts was named Liamuiga, which roughly translates as fertile land, by the Kalinago Indians who originally inhabited the island. The name is preserved via St. Kittss western peak, Mount Liamuiga, neviss pre-Columbian name was Oualie, meaning land of beautiful waters. Christopher Columbus upon sighting what we now call Nevis in 1493 gave that island the name San Martín, the current name Nevis is derived from a Spanish name Nuestra Señora de las Nieves. This Spanish name means Our Lady of the Snows and it is not known who chose this name for the island, but it is a reference to the story of a fourth-century Catholic miracle, a summertime snowfall on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. Perhaps the white clouds which usually wreathe the top of Nevis Peak reminded someone of the story of a snowfall in a hot climate. The island of Nevis upon first British settlement was referred to as Dulcina, eventually the original Spanish name was restored and used in the shortened form, Nevis. There is some disagreement over the name which Christopher Columbus gave to St. Kitts, for many years it was thought that he named the island San Cristóbal, after Saint Christopher, his patron saint and the patron hallow of travellers. New studies suggest that Columbus named the island Sant Yago, the name San Cristóbal was given by Columbus to the island now known as Saba,20 miles northwest. It seems that San Cristóbal came to be applied to the island of St. Kitts only as the result of a mapping error, no matter the origin of the name, the island was well documented as San Cristóbal by the 17th century. The first English colonists kept the English translation of this name, in the 17th century, a common nickname for Christopher was Kit, or Kitt. This is why the island was often referred to as Saint Kitts Island
26.
Saint Lucia
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Saint Lucia is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and it covers a land area of 617 km2 and reported a population of 165,595 in the 2010 census. The French were the islands first European settlers and they signed a treaty with the native Carib Indians in 1660. England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667, in ensuing years, it was at war with France 14 times, and rule of the island changed frequently. In 1814, the British took definitive control of the island, because it switched so often between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the Helen of the West Indies. Representative government came about in 1840, from 1958 to 1962, the island was a member of the Federation of the West Indies. On 22 February 1979, Saint Lucia became an independent state of the Commonwealth of Nations associated with the United Kingdom, Saint Lucia is a mixed jurisdiction, meaning that it has a legal system based in part on both the civil law and English common law. The Civil Code of St. Lucia of 1867 was based on the Quebec Civil Code of 1866 and it is also a member of La Francophonie. One of the Windward Islands, Saint Lucia was named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse by the French, the islands first European settlers, the French pirate François le Clerc frequently visited Saint Lucia in the 1550s. It was not until around 1600 that the first European camp was started by the Dutch at what is now Vieux Fort, in 1605 an English vessel called the Olive Branch was blown off-course on its way to Guyana, and the 67 colonists started a settlement on Saint Lucia. After five weeks only 19 survived due to disease and conflict with the Caribs, the French officially claimed the island in 1635. The English attempted the next European settlement in 1639, and that too was wiped out by Caribs, in 1643 a French expedition sent out from Martinique established a permanent settlement on the island. De Rousselan was appointed the governor, took a Carib wife. In 1664, Thomas Warner claimed Saint Lucia for England and he brought 1,000 men to defend it from the French, but after two years, only 89 survived with the rest dying mostly due to disease. In 1666 the French West India Company resumed control of the island, in 1722, George I of Great Britain granted both Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent to The 2nd Duke of Montagu. He in turn appointed Nathaniel Uring, a merchant sea captain and adventurer, Uring went to the islands with a group of seven ships, and established settlement at Petit Carenage. Unable to get support from British warships, he and the new colonists were quickly run off by the French. During the Seven Years War Britain occupied Saint Lucia for a year, Britain handed the island back to the French at the Treaty of Paris in 1763
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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
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The country is also known simply as Saint Vincent. Most of Saint Vincent lies within the Hurricane Belt, to the north of Saint Vincent lies Saint Lucia, to the east Barbados. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a densely populated country with approximately 102,000 inhabitants and its capital is Kingstown, also its main port. The main mother tongue is Vincentian Creole and the language is English. The island now known as Saint Vincent was originally named Youloumain by the native Island Caribs who called themselves Kalina/Carina, the Caribs aggressively prevented European settlement on Saint Vincent until 1719. The first Europeans to occupy St. Vincent were the French, following a series of wars and peace treaties, the islands were eventually ceded to the British. The French settlers cultivated coffee, tobacco, indigo, corn, the British captured the island from the French during the Seven Years War fought between 1754 and 1763. St Vincent was ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris, on taking control of the island in 1763, the British laid the foundations of Fort Charlotte. The island was restored to French rule in 1779 and regained by the British under the Treaty of Versailles, between 1783 and 1796, there was again conflict between the British and the Black Caribs, who were led by Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer. Between 1795 and 1796, with French support from Martinique, the Black Caribs fought a series of battles against the British and their uprising was eventually put down, resulting in almost 5,000 Black Caribs being exiled to the tiny island of Baliceaux off the coast of Bequia. Conflict between the British and the Black Caribs continued until 1796, in 1797 British General Sir Ralph Abercromby put an end to the open conflict by crushing an uprising which had been supported by the French radical, Victor Hugues. The British deported more than 5,000 Black Caribs to Roatán, in 1806 the building of Fort Charlotte was completed. The La Soufriere volcano erupted in 1812, like the French before them, the British also used African slaves to work plantations of sugar, coffee, indigo, tobacco, cotton and cocoa until full emancipation in 1838. The economy then went into a period of decline with many abandoning their estates. Slavery was abolished in Saint Vincent in 1834, and an apprenticeship period followed which ended in 1838, after its end, labour shortages on the plantations resulted, and this was initially addressed by the immigration of indentured servants. In the late 1840s many Portuguese immigrants arrived from Madeira and between 1861 and 1888 shiploads of East Indian labourers arrived, conditions remained harsh for both former slaves and immigrant agricultural workers, as depressed world sugar prices kept the economy stagnant until the turn of the century. In 1902, La Soufrière volcano erupted, killing 2,000 people, much farmland was damaged, and the economy deteriorated. From 1763 until its independence in 1979, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines passed through various stages of colonial status under the British
28.
Liberia
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Liberia /laɪˈbɪəriə/, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its west, Guinea to its north and it covers an area of 111,369 square kilometres and has a population of 4,503,000 people. English is the language and over 20 indigenous languages are spoken. The countrys capital and largest city is Monrovia, forests on the coastline are composed mostly of salt-tolerant mangrove trees, while the more sparsely populated inland has forests opening onto a plateau of drier grasslands. The climate is equatorial, with significant rainfall during the May–October rainy season, Liberia possesses about forty percent of the remaining Upper Guinean rainforest. It was an important producer of rubber in the early 20th century, the Republic of Liberia began as a settlement of the American Colonization Society, who believed African Americans would face better chances for freedom in Africa than in the United States. The country declared its independence on July 26,1847, the U. S. did not recognize Liberias independence until during the American Civil War on February 5,1862. The African American settlers carried their culture with them to Liberia, Liberia maintained and kept its independence during the European colonial era. In addition, President William Tubman encouraged economic changes, internationally, Liberia was a founding member of the League of Nations, United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity. Five years of rule by the Peoples Redemption Council and five years of civilian rule by the National Democratic Party of Liberia were followed by the First. These resulted in the deaths and displacement of more than half a million people, a peace agreement in 2003 led to democratic elections in 2005. Recovery proceeds but about 85% of the population live below the poverty line. The Pepper Coast, also known as the Grain Coast, has been inhabited by peoples of Africa at least as far back as the 12th century. Mende-speaking people expanded westward from the Sudan, forcing many smaller ethnic groups southward toward the Atlantic Ocean, the Dei, Bassa, Kru, Gola and Kissi were some of the earliest documented peoples in the area. This influx was compounded by the decline of the Western Sudanic Mali Empire in 1375, additionally, as inland regions underwent desertification, inhabitants moved to the wetter coast. These new inhabitants brought skills such as spinning, cloth weaving, iron smelting, rice and sorghum cultivation. Shortly after the Mane conquered the region, the Vai people of the former Mali Empire immigrated into the Grand Cape Mount County region, the ethnic Kru opposed the influx of Vai, forming an alliance with the Mane to stop further influx of Vai. People along the coast built canoes and traded with other West Africans from Cap-Vert to the Gold Coast, arab traders entered the region from the north, and a long-established slave trade took captives to north and east Africa
29.
Belize
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Belize, formerly British Honduras, is an independent country on the eastern coast of Central America. Belize is bordered on the north by Mexico, on the south and west by Guatemala and its mainland is about 290 km long and 110 km wide. Belize has an area of 22,800 square kilometres and a population of 368,310 and it has the lowest population density in Central America. The countrys population growth rate of 1. 87% per year is the second highest in the region, Belizes abundance of terrestrial and marine species and its diversity of ecosystems gives it a key place in the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. Belize has a society, composed of many cultures and languages that reflect its rich history. English is the language of Belize, with Belizean Kriol being the unofficial language. Over half the population is multilingual, with Spanish being the second most common spoken language, Belize is considered a Central American and Caribbean nation with strong ties to both the Latin American and Caribbean regions. Belize is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch, Belize is known for its September Celebrations, its extensive coral reefs, and punta music. The origin of the name Belize remains unclear, the earliest known record of the name appears in the journal of the Dominican priest Fray José Delgado, dating to 1677. Delgado recorded the names of three rivers that he crossed while travelling north along the Caribbean coast, Rio Soyte, Rio Xibum. The names of these waterways, which correspond to the Sittee River, Sibun River and it is likely that Delgados Balis was actually the Mayan word belix, meaning muddy-watered. Others have suggested that the name derives from a Spanish pronunciation of the name of the Scottish buccaneer Peter Wallace, there is no proof that Wallace settled in this area and some scholars have characterized this claim as a myth. Writers and historians have suggested other possible etymologies, including postulated French. Many aspects of this culture persist in the area despite nearly 500 years of European domination, prior to about 2500 BC, some hunting and foraging bands settled in small farming villages, they later domesticated crops such as corn, beans, squash, and chili peppers. A profusion of languages and subcultures developed within the Maya core culture, between about 2500 BC and 250 AD, the basic institutions of Maya civilisation emerged. The peak of this occurred during the classic period, which began about 250 AD. The Maya civilisation spread across what is now Belize around 1500 BC, the recorded history of the middle and southern regions is dominated by Caracol, an urban political centre that may have supported over 140,000 people. North of the Maya Mountains, the most important political centre was Lamanai, in the late Classic Era of Maya civilisation, as many as 1 million people may have lived in the area that is now Belize
30.
Colombia
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Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a transcontinental country largely situated in the northwest of South America, with territories in Central America. Colombia shares a border to the northwest with Panama, to the east with Venezuela and Brazil and to the south with Ecuador and it shares its maritime limits with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It is a unitary, constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments, the territory of what is now Colombia was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples including the Muisca, the Quimbaya and the Tairona. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization ultimately creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada, independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 the Gran Colombia Federation was dissolved. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada, the new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation, and then the United States of Colombia, before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. Since the 1960s the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict, Colombia is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse countries in the world, and thereby possesses a rich cultural heritage. Cultural diversity has also influenced by Colombias varied geography. The urban centres are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains. Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest, tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines, ecologically, it is one of the worlds 17 megadiverse countries, and the most densely biodiverse of these per square kilometer. Colombia is a power and a regional actor with the fourth-largest economy in Latin America, is part of the CIVETS group of six leading emerging markets and is an accessing member to the OECD. Colombia has an economy with macroeconomic stability and favorable growth prospects in the long run. The name Colombia is derived from the last name of Christopher Columbus and it was conceived by the Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda as a reference to all the New World, but especially to those portions under Spanish and Portuguese rule. The name was adopted by the Republic of Colombia of 1819. When Venezuela, Ecuador and Cundinamarca came to exist as independent states, New Granada officially changed its name in 1858 to the Granadine Confederation. In 1863 the name was changed, this time to United States of Colombia. To refer to country, the Colombian government uses the terms Colombia. Owing to its location, the present territory of Colombia was a corridor of early human migration from Mesoamerica, the oldest archaeological finds are from the Pubenza and El Totumo sites in the Magdalena Valley 100 km southwest of Bogotá. These sites date from the Paleoindian period, at Puerto Hormiga and other sites, traces from the Archaic Period have been found
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Dominican Republic
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The Dominican Republic is a sovereign state occupying the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western one-third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, christopher Columbus landed on the Western part of Hispaniola, in what is now Haiti, on December 6,1492. The island became the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World, the Dominican people declared independence in November 1821 but were forcefully annexed by their more powerful neighbor Haiti in February 1822. After the 1844 victory in the Dominican War of Independence against Haitian rule the country again under Spanish colonial rule until the Dominican War of Restoration of 1865. The Dominican Republic experienced mostly internal strife until 1916, a civil war in 1965, the countrys last, was ended by another U. S. military occupation and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer, 1966–1978. Since then, the Dominican Republic has moved toward representative democracy and has been led by Leonel Fernández for most of the time since 1996. Danilo Medina, the Dominican Republics current president, succeeded Fernandez in 2012, the Dominican Republic has the ninth-largest economy in Latin America and is the largest economy in the Caribbean and Central American region. Though long known for agriculture and mining, the economy is now dominated by services. Over the last two decades, the Dominican Republic have been standing out as one of the economies in the Americas – with an average real GDP growth rate of 5. 4% between 1992 and 2014. GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7. 0%, respectively, in the first half of 2016 the Dominican economy grew 7. 4% continuing its trend of rapid economic growth. Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing and tourism, private consumption has been strong, as a result of low inflation, job creation, as well as high level of remittances. The Dominican Republic has a market, Bolsa de Valores de la Republica Dominicana. and advanced telecommunication system. Nevertheless, unemployment, government corruption, and inconsistent electric service remain major Dominican problems, the country also has marked income inequality. International migration affects the Dominican Republic greatly, as it receives, mass illegal Haitian immigration and the integration of Dominicans of Haitian descent are major issues. A large Dominican diaspora exists, mostly in the United States, contributes to development, the Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. The year-round golf courses are major attractions, the island has an average temperature of 26 °C and great climatic and biological diversity. The country is also the site of the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress built in all of the Americas, located in Santo Domingos Colonial Zone, a World Heritage Site. Music and sport are of importance in the Dominican culture, with Merengue and Bachata as the national dance and music
32.
Ecuador
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Ecuador also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres west of the mainland. What is now Ecuador was home to a variety of Amerindian groups that were incorporated into the Inca Empire during the 15th century. The territory was colonized by Spain during the 16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, Spanish is the official language and is spoken by a majority of the population, though 13 Amerindian languages are also recognized, including Quichua and Shuar. The capital city is Quito, while the largest city is Guayaquil, in reflection of the countrys rich cultural heritage, the historical center of Quito was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. Cuenca, the third-largest city, was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999 as an outstanding example of a planned. Ecuador has an economy that is highly dependent on commodities, namely petroleum. The country is classified as a medium-income country, Ecuador is a democratic presidential republic. The new constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, Ecuador is also known for its rich ecology, hosting many endemic plants and animals, such as those of the Galápagos Islands. It is one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world, various peoples had settled in the area of the future Ecuador before the arrival of the Incas. They developed different languages while emerging as unique ethnic groups, even though their languages were unrelated, these groups developed similar groups of cultures, each based in different environments. Over time these groups began to interact and intermingle with each other so that groups of families in one area became one community or tribe, with a similar language and culture. Many civilizations arose in Ecuador, such as the Valdivia Culture and Machalilla Culture on the coast, the Quitus, each civilization developed its own distinctive architecture, pottery, and religious interests. Eventually, through wars and marriage alliances of their leaders, a group of nations formed confederations, one region consolidated under a confederation called the Shyris, which exercised organized trading and bartering between the different regions. Its political and military came under the rule of the Duchicela blood-line. The native confederations that gave them the most problems were deported to distant areas of Peru, Bolivia, similarly, a number of loyal Inca subjects from Peru and Bolivia were brought to Ecuador to prevent rebellion. Thus, the region of highland Ecuador became part of the Inca Empire in 1463 sharing the same language, in contrast, when the Incas made incursions into coastal Ecuador and the eastern Amazon jungles of Ecuador, they found both the environment and indigenous people more hostile. Moreover, when the Incas tried to subdue them, these indigenous people withdrew to the interior, as a result, Inca expansion into the Amazon basin and the Pacific coast of Ecuador was hampered. The indigenous people of the Amazon jungle and coastal Ecuador remained relatively autonomous until the Spanish soldiers, the Amazonian people and the Cayapas of Coastal Ecuador were the only groups to resist Inca and Spanish domination, maintaining their language and culture well into the 21st century
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El Salvador
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El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. El Salvadors capital and largest city is San Salvador, as of 2015, the country had a population of approximately 6.38 million, consisting largely of Mestizos of European and Indigenous American descent. El Salvador was for centuries inhabited by several Mesoamerican nations, especially the Cuzcatlecs, as well as the Lenca, in the early 16th century, the Spanish Empire conquered the territory, incorporating it into the Viceroyalty of New Spain ruled from Mexico City. In 1821, the country achieved independence from Spain as part of the First Mexican Empire, from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, El Salvador endured chronic political and economic instability characterized by coups, revolts, and a succession of authoritarian rulers. The conflict ended with a settlement that established a multiparty constitutional republic. El Salvador has since reduced its dependence on coffee and embarked on diversifying the economy by opening up trade and financial links, the colón, the official currency of El Salvador since 1892, was replaced by the U. S. dollar in 2001. As of 2010, El Salvador ranks 12th among Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index, however, the country continues to struggle with high rates of poverty, inequality, and crime. Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado named the new province for Jesus Christ – El Salvador, the full name was Provincia De Nuestro Señor Jesus Cristo, El Salvador Del Mundo, which was subsequently abbreviated to El Salvador. Tomayate is a site located on the banks of the river of the same name in the municipality of Apopa. The site has produced abundant Salvadoran megafauna fossils belonging to the Pleistocene epoch, at the same time, it is considered the richest vertebrate paleontological site in Central America and one of the largest accumulations of proboscideans in the Americas. Sophisticated civilization in El Salvador dates to its settlement by the indigenous Lenca people, theirs was the first, the Lenca were succeeded by the Olmecs, who eventually also disappeared, leaving their monumental architecture in the form of the pyramids still extant in western El Salvador. The Maya arrived and settled in place of the Olmecs, the Pipil were the last indigenous people to arrive in El Salvador. They called their territory Kuskatan, a Pipil word meaning The Place of Precious Jewels, backformed into Classical Nahuatl Cōzcatlān, the people of El Salvador today are referred to as Salvadoran, while the term Cuzcatleco is commonly used to identify someone of Salvadoran heritage. In pre-Columbian times, the country was inhabited by various other indigenous peoples, including the Lenca. Cuzcatlan was the domain until the Spanish conquest. Since El Salvador resided on the edge of the Maya Civilization. However, it is agreed that Mayas likely occupied the areas around Lago de Guija. Other ruins such as Tazumal, Joya de Cerén and San Andrés may have built by the Pipil or the Maya or possibly both
34.
Guatemala
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With an estimated population of around 15.8 million, it is the most populated state in Central America. Guatemala is a democracy, its capital and largest city is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción. The territory of modern Guatemala once formed the core of the Maya civilization, most of the country was conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century, becoming part of the viceroyalty of New Spain. Guatemala attained independence in 1821 as part of the Federal Republic of Central America, from the mid to late 19th century, Guatemala experienced chronic instability and civil strife. Beginning in the early 20th century, it was ruled by a series of dictators backed by the United Fruit Company, in 1944, authoritarian leader Jorge Ubico was overthrown by a pro-democratic military coup, initiating a decade-long revolution that led to sweeping social and economic reforms. A U. S. -backed military coup in 1954 ended the revolution, from 1960 to 1996, Guatemala endured a bloody civil war fought between the US-backed government and leftist rebels, including genocidal massacres of the Maya population perpetrated by the military. As of 2014, Guatemala ranks 31st of 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries in terms of the Human Development Index, Guatemalas abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems includes a large number of endemic species and contributes to Mesoamericas designation as a biodiversity hotspot. The country is known for its rich and distinct culture. The name Guatemala comes from the Nahuatl word Cuauhtēmallān, or place of many trees and this was the name the Tlaxcaltecan soldiers who accompanied Pedro de Alvarado during the Spanish Conquest gave to this territory. The first evidence of habitation in Guatemala dates back to 12,000 BC. Evidence, such as obsidian arrowheads found in parts of the country. There is archaeological proof that early Guatemalan settlers were hunters and gatherers, pollen samples from Petén and the Pacific coast indicate that maize cultivation had been developed by 3500 BC. Sites dating back to 6500 BC have been found in the Quiché region in the Highlands, archaeologists divide the pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica into the Preclassic period, the Classic period, and the Postclassic period. Until recently, the Preclassic was regarded as a period, with small villages of farmers who lived in huts. This period is characterized by urbanisation, the emergence of independent city-states and this lasted until approximately 900 AD, when the Classic Maya civilization collapsed. The Maya abandoned many of the cities of the lowlands or were killed off by a drought-induced famine. The cause of the collapse is debated, but the Drought Theory is gaining currency, supported by such as lakebeds, ancient pollen. A series of prolonged droughts, among other such as overpopulation, in what is otherwise a seasonal desert is thought to have decimated the Maya
35.
Haiti
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Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti and formerly called Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican Republic, the region was originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno people. Spain discovered the island on 5 December 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic, when Columbus initially landed in Haiti, he had thought he had found India or Asia. On Christmas Day 1492, Columbus flagship the Santa Maria ran aground north of what is now Limonade, the island was named La Española and claimed by Spain, which ruled until the early 17th century. Competing claims and settlements by the French led to the portion of the island being ceded to France. The development of plantations, worked by slaves brought from Africa. Upon his death in a prison in France, he was succeeded by his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the Haitian Revolution lasted just over a dozen years, and apart from Alexandre Pétion, the first President of the Republic, all the first leaders of government were former slaves. The Citadelle Laferrière is the largest fortress in the Americas, Henri Christophe – former slave and first king of Haiti, Henri I – built it to withstand a possible foreign attack. It has the lowest Human Development Index in the Americas, most recently, in February 2004, a coup détat originating in the north of the country forced the resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A provisional government took control with security provided by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, the name Haïti comes from the indigenous Taíno language which was the native name given to the entire island of Hispaniola to mean, land of high mountains. The h is silent in French and the ï in Haïti, is a mark used to show that the second vowel is pronounced separately. In English, this rule for the pronunciation is often disregarded, the name Haïti was restored by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines as the official name of independent Saint-Domingue, as a tribute to the Amerindian predecessors. The Taíno name for the island was Haiti. The people had migrated over centuries into the Caribbean islands from South America, genetic studies show they were related to the Yanomami of the Amazon Basin. They also originated in Central and South America, after migrating to Caribbean islands, in the 15th century, the Taíno were pushed into the northeast Caribbean islands by the Caribs. In the Taíno societies of the Caribbean islands, the largest unit of organization was led by a cacique, or chief. The caciquedoms were tributary kingdoms, with payment consisting of harvests, Taíno cultural artifacts include cave paintings in several locations in the country. These have become symbols of Haiti and tourist attractions
36.
Honduras
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Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a republic in Central America. It has at times referred to as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras. Honduras was home to several important Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya, the Spanish introduced Roman Catholicism and the now predominant Spanish language, along with numerous customs that have blended with the indigenous culture. Honduras has the worlds highest murder rate, Honduras spans about 112,492 km2 and has a population exceeding 8 million. Its northern portions are part of the Western Caribbean Zone, as reflected in the areas demographics and culture. Honduras is known for its natural resources, including minerals, coffee, tropical fruit, and sugar cane, as well as for its growing textiles industry. Honduras literally means depths in Spanish, the name could either refer to the bay of Trujillo as an anchorage, fondura in the Leonese dialect of Spanish, or to Columbuss alleged quote that Gracias a Dios que hemos salido de esas Honduras. It was not until the end of the 16th century that Honduras was used for the whole province, prior to 1580, Honduras only referred to the eastern part of the province, and Higueras referred to the western part. Another early name is Guaymuras, revived as the name for the dialogue in 2009 that took place in Honduras as opposed to Costa Rica. In pre-Columbian times, modern Honduras was part of the Mesoamerican cultural area, in the west, the Maya civilization flourished for hundreds of years. The dominant state within Hondurass borders was in Copán, Copán fell with the other Lowland centres during the conflagrations of the Terminal Classic in the 9th century. The Maya of this civilization survive in western Honduras as the Chorti, remains of other Pre-Columbian cultures are found throughout the country. On 30 July 1502 Columbus sent his brother Bartholomew to explore the islands and Bartholomew encountered a Mayan trading vessel from Yucatán, carrying well-dressed Maya and a rich cargo. Bartholomews men stole whatever cargo they wanted and kidnapped the elderly captain to serve as an interpreter in what was the first recorded encounter between the Spanish and the Maya. In March 1524, Gil González Dávila became the first Spaniard to enter Honduras as a conquistador, followed by Hernán Cortés, bringing forces down from Mexico. Much of the conquest was done in the two decades, first by groups loyal to Cristóbal de Olid, and then by those loyal of Francisco Montejo. In addition to Spanish resources, the conquerors relied heavily on armed forces from Mexico—Tlaxcalans, resistance to conquest was led in particular by Lempira, and many regions in the north never fell to the Spanish, notably the Miskito Kingdom. After the Spanish conquest, Honduras became part of Spains vast empire in the New World within the Kingdom of Guatemala, Trujillo and Gracias were the first city-capitals
37.
Nicaragua
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Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the largest country in the Central American isthmus. Nicaraguas capital, Managua, is the countrys largest city and the third-largest city in Central America, the multi-ethnic population of six million includes indigenous peoples, Europeans, Africans, and Asians. Native tribes on the eastern coast speak their own languages, the Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821, since its independence, Nicaragua has undergone periods of political unrest, dictatorship, and fiscal crisis—the most notable causes that led to the Nicaraguan Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Nicaragua is a democratic republic. The biological diversity, warm climate and active volcanoes make Nicaragua an increasingly popular tourist destination. The name Nicaragua was coined by Spanish colonists based on the name Nicarao, when Spaniard Gil González Dávila came to Nicaragua in 1521 he found in the areas between Rivas and San Jorge the first pre-Columbian natives of Nicaragua. At the time the city was called Quauhcapolca and the cacique leaders name was Macuilmiquiztli. The Pipil migrated to Nicaragua from central Mexico after 500 BC, meanwhile, the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua was inhabited by other peoples, mostly Chibcha language groups. They had coalesced in Central America and migrated also to present-day northern Colombia and they lived a life based primarily on hunting and gathering. In 1502, Christopher Columbus became the first European known to have reached what is now Nicaragua as he sailed southeast toward the Isthmus of Panama, on his fourth voyage, Columbus explored the Miskito Coast on the Atlantic side of Nicaragua. The Spanish attempted to convert all three tribes to Christianity, Nicaragua and Nicarao and their people converted, but Dirangen, however, did not, the first attempt to conquer what is now known as Nicaragua was by Gil González Dávila, who arrived in Panama in January 1520. The first Spanish permanent settlements were founded in 1524, conquistador Francisco Hernández de Córdoba founded two of Nicaraguas principal towns in 1524, Granada on Lake Nicaragua was the first settlement, followed by León at a location west of Lake Managua. Córdoba soon built defenses for the cities and fought against incursions by other conquistadors, Córdoba was later publicly beheaded following a power struggle with Pedro Arias Dávila. His tomb and remains were discovered in 2000 in the ruins of León Viejo, the clashes among Spanish forces did not impede their destruction of the indigenous people and their culture. The series of battles came to be known as the War of the Captains, Pedro Arias Dávila was a winner, although he had lost control of Panama, he moved to Nicaragua and successfully established his base in León. Through adroit diplomatic machinations, he became the first governor of the colony, many indigenous people died as a result of new infectious diseases, compounded by neglect by the Spaniards, who controlled their subsistence. In 1610, the Momotombo volcano erupted, destroying the capital and it was rebuilt northwest of what is now known as the ruins of Old León
38.
Peru
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Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the west by the Pacific Ocean. Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures spanning from the Norte Chico civilization in Caral, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty with its capital in Lima, ideas of political autonomy later spread throughout Spanish America and Peru gained its independence, which was formally proclaimed in 1821. After the battle of Ayacucho, three years after proclamation, Peru ensured its independence, subsequently, the country has undergone changes in government from oligarchic to democratic systems. Peru has gone through periods of political unrest and internal conflict as well as periods of stability, Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. It is a country with a high Human Development Index score. Its main economic activities include mining, manufacturing, agriculture and fishing, the Peruvian population, estimated at 31.2 million in 2015, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Europeans, Africans and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages and this mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music. The name of the country may be derived from Birú, the name of a ruler who lived near the Bay of San Miguel, Panama. When his possessions were visited by Spanish explorers in 1522, they were the southernmost part of the New World yet known to Europeans, thus, when Francisco Pizarro explored the regions farther south, they came to be designated Birú or Perú. An alternative history is provided by the contemporary writer Inca Garcilasco de la Vega, son of an Inca princess, the Spanish Crown gave the name legal status with the 1529 Capitulación de Toledo, which designated the newly encountered Inca Empire as the province of Peru. Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination Viceroyalty of Peru, the earliest evidences of human presence in Peruvian territory have been dated to approximately 9,000 BC. Andean societies were based on agriculture, using such as irrigation and terracing, camelid husbandry. Organization relied on reciprocity and redistribution because these societies had no notion of market or money, the oldest known complex society in Peru, the Norte Chico civilization, flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3,000 and 1,800 BC. These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures that developed mostly around the coastal, the Cupisnique culture which flourished from around 1000 to 200 BC along what is now Perus Pacific Coast was an example of early pre-Incan culture. The Chavín culture that developed from 1500 to 300 BC was probably more of a religious than a political phenomenon, on the coast, these included the civilizations of the Paracas, Nazca, Wari, and the more outstanding Chimu and Mochica. Their capital was at Chan Chan outside of modern-day Trujillo, in the 15th century, the Incas emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the largest empire in pre-Columbian America with their capital in Cusco
39.
Turks and Caicos Islands
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They are known primarily for tourism and as an offshore financial centre. The resident population is 31,458 as of 2012 of whom 23,769 live on Providenciales in the Caicos Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands lie southeast of Mayaguana in the Bahamas island chain and north of the island of Hispaniola and the other Antilles archipelago islands. Cockburn Town, the capital since 1766, is situated on Grand Turk Island about 1,042 kilometres east-southeast of Miami, the islands have a total land area of 430 square kilometres. The first recorded European sighting of the now known as the Turks. In the subsequent centuries, the islands were claimed by several European powers with the British Empire eventually gaining control, for many years the islands were governed indirectly through Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Jamaica. When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, the islands received their own governor, in August 2009, the United Kingdom suspended the Turks and Caicos Islands self-government following allegations of ministerial corruption. Home rule was restored in the islands after the November 2012 elections, the Turks and Caicos Islands are named after the Turks cap cactus, and the Lucayan term caya hico, meaning string of islands. The first inhabitants of the islands were Arawakan-speaking Taíno people, who crossed over from Hispaniola sometime from AD500 to 800, together with Taino who migrated from Cuba to the southern Bahamas around the same time, these people developed as the Lucayan. Around 1200, the Turks and Caicos Islands were resettled by Classical Taínos from Hispaniola, the southern Bahama Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands were completely depopulated by about 1513, and remained so until the 17th century. The first European documented to sight the islands was Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León, during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, the islands passed from Spanish, to French, to British control, but none of the three powers ever established any settlements. Bermudian salt collectors settled the Turks Islands around 1680, for several decades around the turn of the 18th century, the islands became popular pirate hideouts. From 1765–1783, the islands were under French occupation, and again after the French captured the archipelago in 1783, after the American War of Independence, many Loyalists fled to British Caribbean colonies, in 1783, they were the first settlers on the Caicos Islands. They developed cotton as an important cash crop, but it was superseded by the development of the salt industry, in 1799, both the Turks and the Caicos island groups were annexed by Britain as part of the Bahamas. The processing of sea salt was developed as an important export product from the West Indies. Salt continued to be an export product into the nineteenth century. In 1807, Britain prohibited the trade and, in 1833. British ships sometimes intercepted slave traders in the Caribbean, and some ships were wrecked off the coast of these islands, in 1837, the Esperanza, a Portuguese slaver, was wrecked off East Caicos, one of the larger islands. While the crew and 220 captive Africans survived the shipwreck,18 Africans died before the survivors were taken to Nassau, Africans from this ship may have been among the 189 liberated Africans whom the British colonists settled in the Turks and Caicos from 1833 to 1840
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Cup (unit)
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The cup is a unit of measurement for volume, used in cooking to measure liquids and bulk foods such as granulated sugar. Using millilitre/decilitre measures is an option to avoid ambiguity. Some countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, notably Australia, Canada and New Zealand and it is also used in the US to specify coffeemaker sizes. A 12-cup US coffeemaker makes 57.6 US customary fluid ounces of coffee, in older recipes cup may mean coffee cup. United States customary cup is defined as half a U. S. pint, a customary cup of coffee in the U. S. is usually defined as 4 fluid ounces, brewed using 5 fluid ounces of water. Coffee carafes used with drip coffee makers, such as Black, the cup currently used in the United States for nutrition labelling is defined in United States law as 240 ml. The imperial cup is half an imperial pint and it is no longer in common use, but many recipe books still include it. The Japanese cup is defined as 200 ml. The traditional Japanese cup, the gō, is approximately 180 ml.10 gō make one shō, gō cups are typically used for measuring rice, and sake is typically sold by the cup, the bottle, and flask sizes. Note modern sake bottle sizes are almost the same as the 750 ml international standard for wine bottles, in European cuisine the cup measure may be found in older recipes, with sometimes uncertain meaning, the transition to the metric system was generally made in the 19th century. In Latin American recipes a cup may be interpreted as 200 ml,250 ml or as a US cup measure, depending on country, in parallel also the measure glass may be 200 ml. In Europe, cooking recipes normally state any liquid volume larger than a few tablespoons in millilitres, most recipes in Europe use the millilitre or decilitre as a measure of volume. For example, where an American customary recipe might specify 1 cup of sugar and 2 cups of milk, conversion between the two measures must take into account the density of the ingredients, and some recipes specify both weight and volume to simplify. Many European measuring cups have additional weight scales besides the dl or ml scale for common ingredients like sugar, flour
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Gill (unit)
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The gill or teacup is a unit of measurement for volume equal to a quarter of a pint. It is no longer in use, except in regard to the volume of alcoholic spirits measures. The 1⁄4 gill was previously the most common measure in Scotland, in southern England, it is also called a noggin. In northern England, however, the large noggin is used, in some areas, a gill came to mean half a pint for both beer and milk. In Ireland, the standard spirit measure was historically 1⁄4 gill, in the Republic of Ireland, it still retains this value, though it is now legally specified in metric units as 35.5 ml. In the popular song The Crystal Ship recorded by The Doors, in L. Frank Baums The Patchwork Girl of Oz one of the ingredients required for a magic spell is a gill of water from a dark well. In chapter 19 the obscure unit is used for including a pun with Jack and Jill. In Bart the Genius, an episode of The Simpsons, a child tricks Bart by offering, a gill is also referenced in season 2 episode 3 Blood Test Archer when Barry explains to Archer that a liter is, about 8 gills. In George Orwells Animal Farm, Moses the Raven is allotted a gill of beer a day after he returns, with the implication that this is part of his payment for supporting the farm leaders, the pigs. Because of its widely used homograph, gill is often mispronounced with a hard g sound. FXs animated cartoon Archer, mispronounced gill in both Episodes Blood Test and Heart of Archness, Part Three, show host Stephen Fry mispronounced gill in a 2013 edition of the BBC TV programme QI
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Fifth (unit)
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The fifth was the usual size of bottle for distilled beverages in the United States until 1980. Other authorized units based on the fifth included 4⁄5 pint and 1⁄10 pint, during the 1970s, there was a push for metrication of U. S. government standards. These sizes are 50,100,200,375,500,750,1000, and 1750 ml
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Old French
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Old French was the Gallo-Romance dialect continuum spoken from the 9th century to the 14th century. In the 14th century, these came to be collectively known as the langues doïl. The mid-14th century is taken as the period to Middle French. The areal of Old French in contemporary terms corresponded to the parts of the Kingdom of France, Upper Burgundy. As part of the emerging Gallo-Romance dialect continuum, the langues doïl were contrasted with the langue doc, in these examples, we notice a clear consequence of bilingualism, that sometimes even changed the first syllable of the Latin words. Pope estimated that perhaps still 15% of the vocabulary of modern French derives from Germanic sources, at the third Council of Tours in 813, priests were ordered to preach in the vernacular language, since the common people could no longer understand formal Latin. The second-oldest document in Old French is the Eulalia sequence, which is important for reconstruction of Old French pronunciation due to its consistent spelling. The Capetians langue doïl, the forerunner of modern standard French, did not begin to become the common speech of all of France, however, until after the French Revolution. In the Late Middle Ages, the Old French dialects diverged into a number of distinct langues doïl, during the Early Modern period, French now becomes established as the official language of the Kingdom of France throughout the realm, also including the langue doc-speaking territories in the south. Old French gives way to Middle French in the mid-14th century, the earliest extant French literary texts date from the ninth century, but very few texts before the 11th century have survived. The first literary works written in Old French were saints lives, the Canticle of Saint Eulalie, written in the second half of the 9th century, is generally accepted as the first such text. The first of these is the area of the chansons de geste. More than one hundred chansons de geste have survived in three hundred manuscripts. The oldest and most celebrated of the chansons de geste is The Song of Roland, a fourth grouping, not listed by Bertrand, is the Crusade cycle, dealing with the First Crusade and its immediate aftermath. Jean Bodels other two categories—the Matter of Rome and the Matter of Britain—concern the French romance or roman, around a hundred verse romances survive from the period 1150–1220. From around 1200 on, the tendency was increasingly to write the romances in prose, the most important romance of the 13th century is the Romance of the Rose which breaks considerably from the conventions of the chivalric adventure story. The Occitan or Provençal poets were called troubadours, from the word trobar to find, lyric poets in Old French are called trouvères. By the late 13th century, the tradition in France had begun to develop in ways that differed significantly from the troubadour poets
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