1.
Lagos, Portugal
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Lagos is a municipality at the mouth of Bensafrim River and along the Atlantic Ocean, in the Barlavento region of the Algarve, in southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 31,049, in an area of 212.99 km², the main town of Lagos has a population of approximately 22,000. Typically, these numbers increase during the months, with the influx of visiting tourists. Yet, Lagos is also a centre of the Portuguese Age of Discovery, frequent home of Henry the Navigator, historical shipyard and, at one time. In 2012, travel website TripAdvisor, classified Lagos as the number 1 travel destination, on a list of 15 destinations on the rise worldwide, Lagos is an ancient maritime town with more than 2000 years of history. The name Lagos comes from a Celtic settlement, derived from the Latin Lacobriga and it became an early settlement of the Carthaginians, who recruited Celtic tribesmen in their war against the Romans. Owing to its important harbour, it was colonized by the Romans and integrated into the Roman province of Lusitania. Quintus Sertorius, a rebellious Roman general, helped by the Lusitanians of Lacobriga, with the fall of Rome, the town of Lagos was occupied in the 6th century by the Visigoths from the Kingdom of Toledo and later by the Byzantines. The Moors arrived in the 8th century from North Africa, renaming the settlement Zawaia and it became part of the much larger coastal region of al-Gharb, which eventually became known as the algarve. The Moors fortified the town with Lagos Castle and established important trade links to Northern Africa from their bases in the Iberian peninsula. In 1174, the local Wāli gave permission for the Christian peoples to construct a dedicated to São João Baptista. Even as King Afonso Henriques advanced to the south, the Christian Reconquista never made it into Algarve and Alentejo, King Sancho I, with the support of Crusader forces used Lagos as a stepping stone to attack the fortress of Alvôr. Zawaia was eventually captured by King Afonso III of Portugal in 1241, from this period on the King began self-styling himself as the King of Portugal and the Algarve, stressing the fact that the Algarve had been annexed into the dominion of the Portuguese. Lagos became an independent jurisdiction under the rule of King Peter I in 1361, King John I assembled his fleet in the harbour of Lagos, before setting sail for the siege and conquest of the city of Ceuta in 1415. This was the first step in opening the Muslim world to medieval Europe, by the 15th century, Lagos became the centre of Portuguese maritime exploration, with ships ordered south to trace the shoreline of Africa in order to find routes to India. Infante Henry the Navigator, third son of King John, lived most of the time in Lagos, from here he directed expeditions to Morocco and to the western coast of Africa with caravels, lateen-rigged ships with excellent seafaring capabilities. The act of rounding the Cape, much like the later rounding of the Cape of Good Hope, when, by 1443, Lançarote had sailed as far as Arguim and brought back 275 Africans, the Portuguese had sufficient slaves to relieve the perpetual handicap of agricultural labour. Over the following decades, news of discoveries and achievements, and ships loaded with spices and it was also the gateway for the first African slaves into post-medieval Europe
2.
Kingdom of Portugal
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The Kingdom of Portugal was a monarchy on the Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of modern Portugal. It was in existence from 1139 until 1910, after 1248, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves and between 1815 and 1822, it was known as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. The name is often applied to the Portuguese Empire, the realms extensive overseas colonies. The nucleus of the Portuguese state was the County of Portugal, established in the 9th century as part of the Reconquista, by Vímara Peres, a vassal of the King of Asturias. The county became part of the Kingdom of León in 1097, the kingdom was ruled by the Alfonsine Dynasty until the 1383–85 Crisis, after which the monarchy passed to the House of Aviz. During the 15th and 16th century, Portuguese exploration established a vast colonial empire, from 1580 to 1640, the kingdom of Portugal was in personal union with Habsburg Spain. After the Portuguese Restoration War of 1640–1668, the passed to the House of Braganza and after to the House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg. From this time, the influence of Portugal declined, but it remained a major due to its most valuable colony. Portugal was an absolute monarchy before 1822. It rotated between absolute and constitutional monarchy from 1822 until 1834, and was a constitutional monarchy after 1834. The Kingdom of Portugal finds its origins in the County of Portugal, the Portuguese County was a semi-autonomous county of the Kingdom of León. Independence from León took place in three stages, The first on 26 July 1139 when Afonso Henriques was acclaimed King of the Portuguese internally, the second was on 5 October 1143, when Alfonso VII of León and Castile recognized Afonso Henriques as king through the Treaty of Zamora. The third, in 1179, was the Papal Bull Manifestis Probatum, once Portugal was independent, D. Afonso Is descendants, members of the Portuguese House of Burgundy, would rule Portugal until 1383. Even after the change in houses, all the monarchs of Portugal were descended from Afonso I, one way or another. With the start of the 20th century, Republicanism grew in numbers and support in Lisbon among progressive politicians, however a minority with regard to the rest of the country, this height of republicanism would benefit politically from the Lisbon Regicide on 1 February 1908. When returning from the Ducal Palace at Vila Viçosa, King Carlos I, with the death of the king and his heir, Carlos Is second son would become king as King Manuel II of Portugal. Manuels reign, however, would be short-lived, ending by force with the 5 October 1910 revolution, sending Manuel into exile in England, on 19 January 1919, the Monarchy of the North was proclaimed in Porto. The monarchy would be deposed a month later and no other monarchist counterrevolution in Portugal has happened since, after centuries of Portuguese dominion in Angola, the Kingdom of Kongo was made a vassal state of the Portuguese kingdom, its king pledging allegiance to the King of Portugal
3.
Portuguese people
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Portuguese people are an ethnic group indigenous to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and their predominant religion is Christianity, Portuguese people were a key factor to the Age of Exploration, discovering several lands unknown to the Europeans in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania, helping to pave the way for Globalization. There are around 10 million native Portuguese in Portugal, out of a population of 10.34 million. A small minority of about 15,000 speak the Mirandese language, in the municipalities of Miranda do Douro, Vimioso, all of the speakers are bilingual with Portuguese. An even smaller minority of no more than 2,000 people speak Barranquenho, some people from the former colonies have been migrating to Portugal since the 1900s. More recently, a number of Slavs, especially Ukrainians, Moldovans, Romanians and Russians. There is also a Chinese minority, in addition, there is a small minority Gypsies of about 40,000 people, Muslims about 34,000 people and an even smaller minority of Jews of about 5,000 people. Between 1886 and 1966, Portugal lost to more than any West European country except Ireland. From the middle of the 19th century to the late 1950s, about 40 million Brazilians have relatively recent Portuguese background, due to massive immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. About 1.2 million Brazilian citizens are native Portuguese, significant verified Portuguese minorities exist in several countries. Portuguese Sephardic Jews are also in Israel, the Netherlands, the United States, France, Venezuela, Brazil, in Brazil many of the colonists were also originally Sephardic Jews, who, converted, were known as New Christians. In the United States, there are Portuguese communities in New Jersey, the New England states, in the Pacific, Hawaii has a sizable Portuguese element that goes back 150 years, Australia and New Zealand also have Portuguese communities. Canada, particularly Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, has developed a significant Portuguese community since 1940, argentina and Uruguay had Portuguese immigration in the early 20th century. So has Chile where an estimated 50,000 descendants live, an estimated 800,000 Portuguese returned to Portugal as the countrys African possessions gained independence in 1975, after the Carnation Revolution, while others moved to Brazil and South Africa. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Equatorial Guinea, in 1989 some 4,000,000 Portuguese were living abroad, mainly in France, Germany, Brazil, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, Venezuela, and the United States. Portuguese constitute 13% of the population of Luxembourg, in areas such as Thetford and the crown dependencies of Jersey and Guernsey, the Portuguese form the largest ethnic minority groups at 30% of the population, 20% and 3% respectively. The British capital London is home to the largest number of Portuguese people in the UK, with the majority being found in the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth and Westminster. The Portuguese diaspora communities still are very attached to their language, their culture and their national dishes, in colonial times, over 700,000 Portuguese settled in Brazil, and most of them went there during the gold rush of the 18th century
4.
Cape Bojador
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Cape Bojador is a headland on the northern coast of Western Sahara, at 26°07 37N, 14°29 57W. as well as the name of the large nearby town with a population of 41,178. The name of the province also derives its name from the cape. It is shown on charts with the original Portuguese name Cabo Bojador. It is said that it is known as the Bulging Cape. The Capes name in Arabic is Abu Khatar, meaning the father of danger, the cape is not prominent on maps but may be located by looking 220 km due south of the south-western point of the hook of Fuerteventura, Canary Islands. Eanes had made an attempt in 1433 which resulted in failure, but tried again under orders of Prince Henry the Navigator. He was successful after the second expedition, the disappearance of numerous European vessels that had made prior attempts to round the Cape despite its violent seas, led some to suggest the presence of sea monsters. The regions coastal areas became a very important area for Portuguese traders. The mythic importance of the cape for Portugal was captured in Fernando Pessoas early 20th century work Mensagem, in famous stanzas from this longer poem Pessoa wrote of the enormous costs of the Portuguese explorations to the nation. Capturing the symbolic importance to the nation of rounding Cape Bojador, Pessoa wrote, Who wants to pass beyond Bojador and they thought the ocean was burning past cape Bojador but Henrys men went past Bojador. A rocky patch, with a least depth of 8m, lies about 2 miles W of the cape, the coast between Cabo Falso Bojador and Cabo Bojador,10 miles SW, consists of a sandy beach fringed by rocks. Clumps of scrub top the sand dunes which stand about 0.5 mile inland of this beach, heavy breakers have been observed along this coast at all times. Cabo Bojador, a low point, is located 9.5 miles SW of Cabo Falso Bojador and is bordered on the S side by black rocks. From the N, the cape appears as a mass of red sand with a slope towards the sea. From the W, the cape is difficult to identify, and it is here that the winds start to blow strongly from the northeast at all seasons. In the end it was discovered that by sailing well out to out of sight of land—a more favorable wind could be picked up. This tragedy is recounted in the Skeletons on the Zahara, by Dean King, Dean reports that any coastal map of Western Sahara is inaccurate because of the ever-changing physical features, due to the harsh conditions of the Sahara. It also mentions that the depth of the water surrounding Cape Bojador is deceptively shallow, the cape had a fearsome reputation among mariners even prior to the wreck of the Commerce, as there had been at least thirty known shipwrecks between 1790 and 1806
5.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
6.
Exploration
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Exploration is the act of searching for the purpose of discovery of information or resources. Exploration occurs in all animal species, including humans. In human history, its most dramatic rise was during the Age of Discovery when European explorers sailed and charted much of the rest of the world for a variety of reasons. Since then, major explorations after the Age of Discovery have occurred for reasons mostly aimed at information discovery, in scientific research, exploration is one of three purposes of empirical research. The term is used metaphorically. For example, an individual may speak of exploring the Internet, sexuality, the Phoenicians traded throughout the Mediterranean Sea and Asia Minor though many of their routes are still unknown today. The presence of tin in some Phoenician artifacts suggests that they may have traveled to Britain, according to Virgils Aeneid and other ancient sources, the legendary Queen Dido was a Phoenician from Tyre who sailed to North Africa and founded the city of Carthage. Hanno the Navigator, a Carthaginean navigator explored the Western Coast of Africa, the Greek explorer from Marseille, Pytheas was the first to circumnavigate Great Britain, explore Germany, and reach Thule. Africa Exploration The Romans organized expeditions to cross the Sahara desert with five different routes, through the western Sahara, toward the Niger river, through the Tibesti mountains, toward Lake Chad and actual Nigeria through the Nile river, toward actual Uganda. Though the western coast of Africa, toward the Canary Islands, through the Red Sea, toward actual Somalia and perhaps Tanzania. All these expeditions were supported by legionaries and had mainly a commercial purpose, only the one done by emperor Nero seemed to be a preparative for the conquest of Ethiopia or Nubia, in 62 AD two legionaries explored the sources of the Nile river. One of the reasons of the explorations was to get gold using the camel to transport it. The explorations near the African western and eastern coasts were supported by Roman ships, Romans organized several explorations also in Northern Europe, and as far as Asia up to China. 30 BC-640 AD With the acquisition of Ptolemaic Egypt, The Romans begin trading with India, the Empire now has a direct connection to the Spice trade Egypt had established beginning in 118 BC.100 AD-166 AD Romano-Chinese relations begin. Ptolemy writes of the Golden Chersonese and the port of Kattigara, now identified as Óc Eo in northern Vietnam, then part of Jiaozhou. The Chinese historical texts describe Roman embassies, from a land they called Daqin, 2nd century Roman traders reach Siam, Cambodia, Sumatra, and Java. 161 An embassy from Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius or his successor Marcus Aurelius reaches Chinese Emperor Huan of Han at Luoyang, when Zhang returned to China in 125 BC, he reported on his visits to Dayuan, Kangju, and Daxia. Zhang described Dayuan and Daxia as agricultural and urban countries like China, from about 800 Ad to 1040 AD, the Vikings explored Europe and much of the Western Northern Hemisphere via rivers and oceans
7.
Age of Discovery
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It also marks the rise of the period of widespread adoption in Europe of colonialism and mercantilism. Many lands previously unknown to Europeans were discovered during this period, from the perspective of many non-Europeans, the Age of Discovery marked the arrival of settlers and invaders from a previously unknown continent. This represented one of the most-significant global events concerning ecology, agriculture and it also allowed for the expansion of Christianity throughout the world with the spread of missionary activity, becoming the worlds largest religion. The Portuguese began systematically exploring the Atlantic coast of Africa from 1418, in 1488 Bartolomeu Dias reached the Indian Ocean by this route. In 1492 the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon funded Christopher Columbuss plan to sail west to reach the Indies by crossing the Atlantic and he landed on a continent uncharted by Europeans and seen as a new world, the Americas. In 1498, a Portuguese expedition commanded by Vasco da Gama reached India by sailing around Africa, soon, the Portuguese sailed further eastward, to the valuable Spice Islands in 1512, landing in China one year later. In 1513, Spanish Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama, thus, Europe first received news of the eastern and western Pacific within a one-year span around 1512. Meanwhile, from the 1580s to the 1640s, Russians explored and conquered almost the whole of Siberia, another source was the Radhanite Jewish trade networks of merchants established as go-betweens between Europe and the Muslim world during the time of the Crusader states. Knowledge about the Atlantic African coast was fragmented and derived mainly from old Greek and Roman maps based on Carthaginian knowledge, the Red Sea was barely known and only trade links with the Maritime republics, the Republic of Venice especially, fostered collection of accurate maritime knowledge. Indian Ocean trade routes were sailed by Arab traders, between 1405 and 1421, the Yongle Emperor of Ming China sponsored a series of long range tributary missions under the command of Zheng He. The fleets visited Arabia, East Africa, India, Maritime Southeast Asia, by 1400 a Latin translation of Ptolemys Geographia reached Italy coming from Constantinople. The rediscovery of Roman geographical knowledge was a revelation, both for mapmaking and worldview, although reinforcing the idea that the Indian Ocean was landlocked, a prelude to the Age of Discovery was a series of European expeditions crossing Eurasia by land in the late Middle Ages. A series of Europeans took advantage of these to explore eastwards, most were Italians, as trade between Europe and the Middle East was controlled mainly by the Maritime republics. The close Italian links to the Levant raised great curiosity and commercial interest in countries which lay further east, christian embassies were sent as far as Karakorum during the Mongol invasions of the Levant, from which they gained a greater understanding of the world. The first of these travellers was Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, dispatched by Pope Innocent IV to the Great Khan, about the same time, Russian prince Yaroslav of Vladimir, and subsequently his sons Alexander Nevsky and Andrey II of Vladimir, travelled to the Mongolian capital. Though having strong political implications, their journeys left no detailed accounts, other travellers followed, like French André de Longjumeau and Flemish William of Rubruck, who reached China through Central Asia. After returning, he dictated an account of his journeys to a scholar he met in Granada, the Rihla, between 1357 and 1371 a book of supposed travels compiled by John Mandeville acquired extraordinary popularity. These overland journeys had little immediate effect, the Mongol Empire collapsed almost as quickly as it formed and soon the route to the east became more difficult and dangerous
8.
Prince Henry the Navigator
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Infante D. Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu, better known as Prince Henry the Navigator, was an important figure in 15th-century Portuguese politics and in the early days of the Portuguese Empire. Through his administrative direction, he is regarded as the initiator of what would be known as the Age of Discoveries. King John I was the founder of the House of Aviz, Henry encouraged his father to conquer Ceuta, the Muslim port on the North African coast across the Straits of Gibraltar from the Iberian Peninsula. Henry is regarded as the patron of Portuguese exploration, Henry was the third surviving son of King John I and his wife Philippa, sister of King Henry IV of England. He was baptized in Porto, and may have been there, probably when the royal couple was living in the citys old mint, now called Casa do Infante. Another possibility is that he was born at the Monastery of Leça do Bailio, in Leça da Palmeira, Henry was 21 when he and his father and brothers captured the Moorish port of Ceuta in northern Morocco. Ceuta had long been a base for Barbary pirates who raided the Portuguese coast, following this success, Henry started to explore the coast of Africa, most of which was unknown to Europeans. His objectives included finding the source of the West African gold trade and the legendary Christian kingdom of Prester John, at that time the ships of the Mediterranean were too slow and too heavy to make these voyages. This made the caravel largely independent of the prevailing winds, with the caravel, Portuguese mariners explored the shallow waters and rivers as well as the open ocean with wide autonomy. In 1419, Henrys father appointed him governor of the province of the Algarve, in 1425, his second brother the Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra, made a tour of Europe. While largely a diplomatic mission, among his goals was to seek out material for his brother Henry. Peter returned from Venice with a current world map drafted by a Venetian cartographer. In 1431 he donated houses for the Estudo Geral to reunite all the sciences — grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, music, for other subjects like medicine or philosophy, he ordered that each room should be decorated according to each subject that was being taught. When John I died in 1433, Henrys eldest brother Edward became king and he granted Henry all profits from trading within the areas he discovered as well as the sole right to authorize expeditions beyond Cape Bojador. Henry also held a monopoly on fishing in the Algarve. When Edward died eight years later, Henry supported his brother Peter for the regency during the minority of Edwards son Afonso V, Henry functioned as a primary organizer of the disastrous expedition to Tangier in 1437. Henrys younger brother Ferdinand was given as a hostage to guarantee that the Portuguese would fulfill the terms of the agreement that had been made with Çala Ben Çala. The Portuguese Cortes refused to approve the return of Ceuta in exchange for the Infante Ferdinand who remained in captivity until his death six years later, Prince Regent Peter had an important role and responsibility in the Portuguese maritime expansion in the Atlantic Ocean and Africa during his administration
9.
Algarve
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The Algarve is the southernmost region of continental Portugal. It has an area of 4,997 square kilometres with 451,006 permanent inhabitants, the region has as its administrative centre in the city of Faro, where both the regions international airport and public university, University of Algarve, are located. Tourism and related activities are extensive and make up the bulk of the Algarves summer economy, production of food, which includes fish and other seafood, fruit, oranges, carob beans, figs and almonds, is also economically important in the region. The Algarve is the most popular tourist destination in Portugal, and its population triples to nearly 1.5 million people in the peak holiday season thanks to seasonal residents, and receives an average of 7 million foreign tourists each year. In total, including visitors, almost 10 million people visit the Algarve annually. The Algarve is currently the third richest region in Portugal, after Lisbon and Madeira, human presence in southern Portugal dates back to the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. The presence of stones in the area of Vila do Bispo attests to this presence. The Cynetes, influenced by Tartessos, were established by the sixth century BC in the region of the Algarve and they would be strongly influenced by the Celtici. Those indo-european tribes, celtic or pre-celtic, founded the city of Lagos, the Phoenicians had established trading ports along the coast circa 1000 BC. Some sources claim that the Carthaginians founded Portus Hanibalis – known today as Portimão – in about 550 BC, much of the Iberian Peninsula was absorbed into the Roman Republic in the second century BC, and the Algarve region similarly came under Roman control. Many Roman ruins can still be seen, notably in Lagos, Roman bath complexes and fish salting tanks have been found near the shore in several locations, for example the ones near Vilamoura and Praia da Luz. In the 5th century the Visigoths took control of the Algarve until the beginning of the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711, when the Moors conquered Lagos in 716, it was named Zawaia. Faro, which the Christian residents had called Santa Maria, was renamed Faraon, due to the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, the region was called Gharb Al-Andalus, Gharb means the west, while al-Andalus is the Arabic name for the Iberian Peninsula. For several years, the town of Silves was the capital of the region, in the mid-13th century, during the Reconquista, the Kingdom of Portugal conquered the region in a series of successful military campaigns against the Moors. Al-Gharb became the Kingdom of the Algarve, and the moors were expelled and it was not until the early 14th century that the Portuguese finally secured the region against the subsequent Muslim attempts to recapture the area. King Afonso III of Portugal started calling himself King of Portugal, prior to the independence of Brazil, the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was an official designation for Portugal which also alluded to the Algarve. Portuguese monarchs continued used this title until the proclamation of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910, between 1595 and 1808, the Algarve was a semi-autonomous area of Portugal with its own governor, as well as a separate taxation system. In the 15th century, Prince Henry the Navigator based himself near Lagos and it was also from Lagos that Gil Eanes set sail in 1434 to become the first seafarer to round Cape Bojador in West Africa
10.
Cape (geography)
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In geography, a cape is a headland or a promontory of large size extending into a body of water, usually the sea. A cape usually represents a change in trend of the coastline. Their proximity to the makes them prone to natural forms of erosion. This results in capes having a relatively short geologic lifespan, capes can be formed by glaciers, volcanoes, and changes in sea level. Erosion plays a role in each of these methods of formation. Eritrea–Sudan Ras Kasar Ghana Cape Coast Liberia Cape Mesurado - The Cape on which Monrovia is located, separates the Golden Horn Bay from the Sea of Marmara
11.
Africa
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Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most-populous continent. At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earths total surface area and 20.4 % of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the human population. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos and it contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states, nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. Africas population is the youngest amongst all the continents, the age in 2012 was 19.7. Algeria is Africas largest country by area, and Nigeria by population, afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000 years ago. Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas, it is the continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones. Africa hosts a diversity of ethnicities, cultures and languages. In the late 19th century European countries colonized most of Africa, Africa also varies greatly with regard to environments, economics, historical ties and government systems. However, most present states in Africa originate from a process of decolonization in the 20th century, afri was a Latin name used to refer to the inhabitants of Africa, which in its widest sense referred to all lands south of the Mediterranean. This name seems to have referred to a native Libyan tribe. The name is connected with Hebrew or Phoenician ʿafar dust. The same word may be found in the name of the Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania, under Roman rule, Carthage became the capital of the province of Africa Proconsularis, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya. The Latin suffix -ica can sometimes be used to denote a land, the later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name. According to the Romans, Africa lay to the west of Egypt, while Asia was used to refer to Anatolia, as Europeans came to understand the real extent of the continent, the idea of Africa expanded with their knowledge. 25,4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya, isidore of Seville in Etymologiae XIV.5.2. Suggests Africa comes from the Latin aprica, meaning sunny, massey, in 1881, stated that Africa is derived from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, meaning to turn toward the opening of the Ka. The Ka is the double of every person and the opening of the Ka refers to a womb or birthplace
12.
Canary Islands
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The Canary Islands, also known as the Canaries, are an archipelago and autonomous community of Spain located on the Atlantic Ocean,100 kilometres west of Morocco. The Canaries are among the outermost regions of the European Union proper and it is also one of the eight regions with special consideration of historical nationality recognized as such by the Spanish Government. The main islands are Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, the archipelago also includes a number of islands and islets, La Graciosa, Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Oeste and Roque del Este. In ancient times, the chain was often referred to as the Fortunate Isles. The Canary Islands is the most southerly region of Spain and the largest and most populated archipelago of the Macaronesia region, the islands have a subtropical climate, with long hot summers and moderately warm winters. The precipitation levels and the level of maritime moderation varies depending on location and elevation, green areas as well as desert exist on the archipelago. Due to their location above the inversion layer, the high mountains of these islands are ideal for astronomical observation. For this reason, two professional observatories, Teide Observatory on the island of Tenerife and Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, have built on the islands. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been the largest city in the Canaries since 1768, between the 1833 territorial division of Spain and 1927 Santa Cruz de Tenerife was the sole capital of the Canary Islands. In 1927 a decree ordered that the capital of the Canary Islands be shared, the third largest city of the Canary Islands is San Cristóbal de La Laguna on Tenerife. This city is home to the Consejo Consultivo de Canarias. During the time of the Spanish Empire, the Canaries were the main stopover for Spanish galleons on their way to the Americas, who came south to catch the prevailing northeasterly trade winds. The name Islas Canarias is likely derived from the Latin name Canariae Insulae, meaning Islands of the Dogs, according to the historian Pliny the Elder, the Mauretanian king Juba II named the island Canaria because it contained vast multitudes of dogs of very large size. Another speculation is that the dogs were actually a species of monk seal, critically endangered. The dense population of seals may have been the characteristic that most struck the few ancient Romans who established contact with these islands by sea. Alternatively, it is said that the inhabitants of the island, Guanches, used to worship dogs, mummified them. The ancient Greeks also knew about a people, living far to the west, who are the dog-headed ones, who worshipped dogs on an island. Some hypothesize that the Canary Islands dog-worship and the ancient Egyptian cult of the god, Anubis are closely connected
13.
Sagres (Vila do Bispo)
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Sagres is a civil parish in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the southern Algarve of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 1,909, in an area of 34.37 square kilometres and it is historically connected to the early Portuguese Age of Discovery. The name Sagres, follows from Sagrado owing to the important local religious practices, from here some of the Mediterranean peoples, venerated their divinities and which some believed, owing to the absence of a human settlement, was the gathering place for their gods. Christinas that lived in this zone, during the Muslim occupation, erected the Church of Corvo, the presence of martyrs remains lead the Portuguese to refer to the site and the peninsula as the Cape of Saint Vincent. The area has been linked to the nautical school first developed by Prince Henry the Navigator. Although born in the city of Porto, he would be connected with his life in the parish, until his death in 1460. Although there existed a settlement in this area, all the land was donated on 27 October 1443 to Infante Henry. The prince was associated with the Military Order of Christ, Duke of Viseu, Master of Covilã, the fortified town was situated on the Ponta de Sagres, a strategic point dominated the coves of Mareta and Beliche. Henrys controlled his material interests from his villa, located on the clifftops, and when he died on 13 November 1460, Sagres was created in 1519, through the division of the municipality of Vila do Bispo. King Sebastian was known to have spent time in the parish, listening to music along the cliffs and the sea. A chronicle of the 16th century, referred to the young Kings stay at the Convent of São Vicente do Cabo, in May 1587, Francis Drake disembarked 800 men who assaulted the fortress of Sagres. After two hours of combat, fortifications adjacent to the fortress were destroyed and its artillery was pillaged. Until 1834, Sagres was an independent municipality, consisting of more than 413 inhabitants. Exposed to the Atlantic Ocean, it is influenced by Mediterranean currents, whether by coastal erosion, or the hard rock, its composition influences the relief of the area. At 157 meters high, Torre de Aspa is a viewpoint on the side of Vila do Bispo. The church of Santa Maria, consecrated in 1519, to the invocation of Nossa Senhora da Graça was constructed at the centre of the site, during the reign of King Manuel I of Portugal. A valuable gilded altarpiece from the Chapel of Santo António, the fortification was remodeled in the 16th, 17th and 18th century, after various attacks, its current form dates to 1793. Notes Sources Câmara Municipal, ed. Freguesia de Sagres, Vila do Bispo, Portugal, Câmara Municipal de Vila do Bispo, retrieved 7 November 2013
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Barquentine
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A barquentine or schooner barque is a sailing vessel with three or more masts, with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts. The term barquentine is 17th century in origin, formed from barque in imitation of brigantine, a two-masted vessel square-rigged only on the forward mast, concordia, a sail training ship that capsized and sank on 17 February 2010. Mercator of 1932, Belgian training ship, transit, an experimental design of 1800 that could be worked entirely from the deck. Many smaller ships of the late 19th century Royal Navy were rigged as barquentines, endurance, commanded by Sir Ernest Shackleton and crushed by ice in the Weddell Sea during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–17. Esmeralda, a training ship of the Chilean Navy. Polish-built Pogoria class sail training ships, Pogoria, Kaliakra and Iskra, thor-Heyerdahl Southern Swan, tall ship from 1922 re-rigged as a Barquentine from its original rigging as a Schooner. Sails on Sydney Harbour for cruises, juan Sebastián Elcano 1927 Photo gallery of barquentine Jadran Training Ship
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Caravel
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A caravel is a small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing windward, Caravels were used by the Portuguese for the oceanic exploration voyages during the 15th and 16th centuries in the Age of Discovery. Prince Henry, Christopher Columbus, and Bartolomeu Dias all used caravels, until the 15th century, Europeans were limited to coastal navigation using the barge or the balinger, ancient cargo vessels of the Mediterranean Sea with a capacity of around 50 to 200 tons. Its name may derive from an ancient boat type known as carabus in Latin and καραβος in Greek, later adopted into Arabic as qārib, indicating some continuity of its carvel build through the ages. They were agile and easier to navigate than the barca and barinel, with a tonnage of 50 to 160 tons and 1 to 3 masts, being smaller and having a shallow keel, the caravel could sail upriver in shallow coastal waters. With the lateen sails attached, it was maneuverable and could sail much nearer the wind, while with the square Atlantic-type sails attached. Its economy, speed, agility, and power made it esteemed as the best sailing vessel of its time, the limited capacity for cargo and crew were their main drawbacks, but did not hinder its success. The exploration done with caravels made the trade of the Portuguese. However, for the itself, the caravel was later replaced by the larger carrack. The caravel was one of the ships in Iberian ship development from 1400–1600. Due to its weight and thus greater speed, the caravel was a boon to sailors. Early caravels generally carried two or three masts with lateen sails, while later types had four masts, in this form it was sometimes known as caravela redonda. It had a foremast with square sails and three masts with a lateen each, for a total of 4 masts. The hull was galleon-shaped, and it is considered a forerunner of the fighting galleon, the Portuguese man o war was named after the appearance of the man-of-war, which were in use until the 17th century. Iberian ship development, 1400–1600 Notorious - a replica caravel in Australia The History and Development of Caravels - A Thesis - George Robert Schwarz, B. A. University of Cincinnati, Chair of Advisory Committee, Dr. Luis Filipe Vieira de Castro, May 2008 Museu da Marinha Museu da Marinha, fac-similes, caravela Durchbruch am Kap des Schreckens dir
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Tetra
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The Characidae are distinguished from other fish by the presence of a small adipose fin between the dorsal and caudal fins. Many of these, such as the neon tetra, are brightly colored, consequently, they are extremely popular for home aquaria. Tetra is no longer a taxonomic, phylogenetic term and it is short for Tetragonopterus, a genus name formerly applied to many of these fish, which is Greek for square-finned. Because of the popularity of tetras in the hobby, many unrelated fish are commonly known as tetras. Even vastly different fish may be called tetras, for example, payara is occasionally known as the sabretooth tetra or vampire tetra. Tetras generally have compressed, fusiform bodies and are identifiable by their fins. They ordinarily possess a homocercal caudal fin and a dorsal fin characterized by a short connection to the fish’s body. This adipose fin represents the fourth unpaired fin on the fish, lending to the name tetra, while this adipose fin is generally considered the distinguishing feature, some tetras lack this appendage. Ichthyologists debate the function of the fin, doubting its role in swimming due to its small size. Although the list below is sorted by name, in a number of cases the common name is applied to different species. Since the aquarium trade may use a different name for the same species, advanced aquarists tend to use scientific names for the less-common tetras
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Mindelo
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Mindelo is a port city in the northern part of the island of São Vicente in Cape Verde. Mindelo is also the seat of the parish of Nossa Senhora da Luz, the city is home to 93% of the entire islands population. The town is known for its colourful and animated carnival celebrations, with roots in Portuguese traditions, a settlement at Mindelo was founded in 1795 by the Portuguese. It became a coal deposit for ships of the British East India Company in 1838, the town grew to 1,400 inhabitants in the 1850s. In 1884 a submarine cable was laid between Europe, Africa, India and North America, making Mindelo an important communications centre for the British Empire. The shift from coal to oil as fuel for ships after 1900 caused the decline of Mindelo, unemployment and poverty struck the island, even worsened by famines and the economical crisis of the 1930s. With independence, the city gained prominence and has seen steady growth. Mindelo was the capital of the Portuguese-speaking world from November 2002 until November 2003. Mindelo is also considered the capital of Cape Verde. Mindelo is situated at the Porto Grande Bay, a natural harbour. The town is surrounded by low mountains, the Monte Cara and the Morro Branco headland to the west, the town is crossed by the river Ribeira de Julião. The Cesária Évora Airport lies 9 km southwest of Mindelo, near the village São Pedro, ferries for Santo Antão leave from the port. The main streets of Mindelo are Rua Lisboa and Avenida Marginal, many colonial buildings have been preserved in the city centre. The average annual temperature in Mindelo is 23.2 °C which is two degrees more than in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. City is very dry with only 98 mm every year and these rare climate conditions are due to its position far off the west African coast and because Cape Verde are in the middle of cold Canary Current. Its economy consists mainly of business, fishing, shipping, boating, Mindelo has several hotels, restaurants and tourist agencies. Palácio do Governador has a colonial architecture. It was constructed with two floors and is well preserved and it used the building style that is represented from India
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Portuguese Empire
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The Portuguese Empire, also known as the Portuguese Overseas, was one of the largest and longest-lived empires in world history and the first colonial empire. It existed for almost six centuries from the capture of Ceuta in 1415 to the grant of sovereignty to East Timor in 2002, the first era of the Portuguese empire originated at the beginning of the Age of Discovery. Initiated by the Kingdom of Portugal, it would eventually expand across the globe, in 1488, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1498, Vasco da Gama reached India. In 1500, either by an accidental landfall or by the secret design. Over the following decades, Portuguese sailors continued to explore the coasts and islands of East Asia, establishing forts, by 1571, a string of naval outposts connected Lisbon to Nagasaki along the coasts of Africa, the Middle East, India and South Asia. This commercial network and the trade had a substantial positive impact on Portuguese economic growth. Though the realms continued to be administered separately, the Council of Portugal ruled the country and its empire from Madrid. As the King of Spain was also King of Portugal, Portuguese colonies became the subject of attacks by three rival European powers hostile to Spain, the Dutch Republic, England, and France. With its smaller population, Portugal was unable to defend its overstretched network of trading posts. Eventually, Brazil became the most valuable colony of the era until, as part of the wave of independence movements that swept the Americas during the early 19th century. The third era represents the stage of Portuguese colonialism after the decolonization of the Americas of the 1820s. The colonial possessions had been reduced to the African coastline, Portuguese Timor, the disastrous 1890 British Ultimatum led to the contraction of Portuguese ambitions in Africa. Macau was returned to China in 1999, the origin of the Kingdom of Portugal lay in the reconquista, the gradual reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Moors. There were several motives for their first attack, on the Marinid Sultanate. In 1415 an attack was made on Ceuta, a strategically located North African Muslim enclave along the Mediterranean Sea, although Ceuta proved to be a disappointment for the Portuguese, the decision was taken to hold it while exploring along the Atlantic African coast. At the time, Europeans did not know what lay beyond Cape Bojador on the African coast, under his sponsorship, soon the Atlantic islands of Madeira and Azores were reached and started to be settled producing wheat to export to Portugal. Fears of what lay beyond Cape Bojador, and whether it was possible to return once it was passed, were assuaged in 1434 when it was rounded by one of Infante Henrys captains, Gil Eanes. Once this psychological barrier had been crossed, it became easier to further along the coast
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Timeline of European exploration
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The following timeline covers European exploration from 1418 to 1957. In the 17th century, the Russians explored and conquered Siberia in search of sables, the 18th century saw the first extensive exploration of the South Pacific and the discovery of Alaska, while the nineteenth was dominated by exploration of the polar regions. By the 20th century, the poles themselves had been reached,1418 – João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira discover Porto Santo. 1419 – Gonçalves and Vaz discover Madeira,1427 – Diogo de Silves discovers the Azores. 1434 – Gil Eanes passes Cabo de Não and rounds Cape Bojador,1443 – Nuno Tristão passes Cape Blanco. 1444 – Dinis Dias reaches the mouth of the Senegal River,1446 – The Portuguese reach Cape Verde and the Gambia River. 1456 – Alvise Cadamosto and Diogo Gomes explored the Cape Verde Islands,1460 – Pêro de Sintra reaches Sierra Leone. 1470 – Cape Palmas is passed,1472 – Fernão do Pó discovers Bioko. 1473 – Lopo Gonçalves is the first to cross the equator, 1474–75 – Ruy de Sequeira discovers São Tomé and Príncipe. 1482 – Diogo Cão reaches the Congo River, where he erects a padrão, 1485–86 – Cão reaches Cape Cross, where he erects his last padrão. 1488 – Bartolomeu Dias rounds the Cape of Storms,1492 – Christopher Columbus discovers the Bahamas, Cuba, and Española. 1493–94 – Columbus discovers Dominica and Guadeloupe, among other islands of the Lesser Antilles, also discovers Puerto Rico,1497 – John Cabot discovers Newfoundland. 1497–98 – Vasco da Gama sails to India and back,1498 – Columbus discovers the mainland of South America. 1499 – Alonso de Ojeda explores the South American mainland from about Cayenne to Cabo de la Vela, discovering the mouths of the Orinoco,1499 – Amerigo Vespucci discovers the mouth of the Amazon River and reaches 6°S, in present-day northern Brazil. 1499 – João Fernandes Lavrador, together with Pêro de Barcelos,1499 – Gaspar and Miguel Corte-Real reach and map Greenland. 1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón reaches the northeast coast of today is Brazil at a cape he names Santa Maria de la Consolación. 1500 – Pedro Álvares Cabral makes the discovery of Brazil, leading the first expedition that united Europe, America, Africa. 1500 – João Fernandes reaches Cape Farewell, Greenland, 1500–02 – Gaspar and Miguel Corte Real discover and name the coasts of Terra Verde and Labrador
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Samuel Eliot Morison
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Samuel Eliot Morison, was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and highly popular. He received his Ph. D. from Harvard University in 1912 and he won Pulitzer Prizes for Admiral of the Ocean Sea, a biography of Christopher Columbus, and John Paul Jones, A Sailors Biography. In 1942, he was commissioned to write a history of United States naval operations in World War II, Morison wrote the popular Oxford History of the American People, and co-authored the classic textbook The Growth of the American Republic with Henry Steele Commager. Samuel Eliot Morison was born July 9,1887, in Boston, Massachusetts, to John Holmes Morison and he was named for his maternal grandfather Samuel Eliot—a historian, educator, and public-minded citizen of Boston and Hartford, Connecticut. The Eliot family, which produced generations of prominent American intellectuals, descended from Andrew Eliot, the most famous of this Andrew Eliots direct descendants was poet T. S. Eliot, who titled the second of his Four Quartets East Coker. Morison attended Noble and Greenough School and St. Pauls prior to entering Harvard University, at the age of fourteen, he learned to sail, and soon after learned horsemanship—both skills would serve him well in his later historical writings. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1908, after studying at the École Libre des Sciences Politiques, Morison returned to Harvard. After earning his Ph. D. at Harvard, Morison became an instructor in history at the University of California, in 1915 he returned to Harvard and took a position as an instructor. During World War I he served as a private in the US Army and he also served as the American Delegate on the Baltic Commission of the Paris Peace Conference until June 17,1919. In 1922–1925 Morison taught at Oxford University as the first Harmsworth Professor of American History, in 1925 he returned to Harvard, where he was appointed a full professor. One of several subjects that fascinated Morison was the history of New England, as early as 1921 he published The Maritime History of Massachusetts, 1783-1860. During his time at Harvard, Morison became the last professor to arrive on campus via horseback and he was chosen to speak at the 300th Anniversary celebration of Harvard in 1936 and a recording of his speech is included as part of the Harvard Voices collection. In 1938 Morison was elected as a member of the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati. In 1940, Morison published Portuguese Voyages to America in the Fifteenth Century, in 1941, Morison was named Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History at Harvard. For Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Morison combined his personal interest in sailing with his scholarship by actually sailing to the places that Christopher Columbus explored. The Harvard Columbus Expedition, led by Morison and including his wife and Captain John W. McElroy, Herbert F. Hossmer, Jr. Richard S. Colley, Dr. Clifton W. Anderson, Kenneth R. After following the coast of South and Central America the expedition returned to Trinidad on 15 December 1939, the expedition returned to New York on 2 February 1940 aboard the United Fruit liner Veragua. The book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1943, the President and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox agreed to the proposal
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Virtual International Authority File
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The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
