1.
Gran Chaco Province
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Gran Chaco is a province in the eastern parts of the Bolivian department Tarija. The province voted to become a region on 6 December 2009. Gran Chaco province is one of six provinces in the Tarija Department and it is located between 21°00 and 22°17 south and between 62°16 and 64°18 west. The province borders Chuquisaca Department in the north, Burnet OConnor Province in the north-west, Aniceto Arce Province in the south-west, Argentina in the south, the province extends over 200 km from north to south, and 200 km from east to west. Main language of the province is Spanish, spoken by 98. 4%, while 11. 5% of the population speak Quechua,3.0 speak Aymara, the population increased from 74,612 inhabitants to 116,318, an increase of 55. 9%. -41. 9% of the population are younger than 15 years old,50. 7% of the population have no access to electricity,41. 1% have no sanitary facilities. 19. 1% of the population are employed in agriculture,1. 4% in mining,8. 3% in industry,71. 2% in general services,86. 8% of the population are Catholics,9. 4% are Protestants
2.
Chaco Province
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The Province of Chaco is a province in north-eastern Argentina. It is bordered by Salta and Santiago del Estero to the west, Formosa to the north, Corrientes to the east and it also has an international border with the Paraguayan Department of Ñeembucú. The capital, and largest city, is Resistencia, with an area of 99,633 km2, and a population of 1,055,259 as of 2010, it is the twelfth most extensive, and the ninth most populated, of the twenty-three Argentine provinces. Chaco derives from chacú, the Quechua word used to name a hunting territory or the technique used by the people of the Inca Empire. Annually, large groups of up to thirty thousand hunters would enter the territory, forming columns, the province of Chaco lies within the southern part of the Gran Chaco region, a vast lowland plain that covers territories in Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia. Chaco Province covers an area of 99,633 km2 and ranks as the twelfth largest Argentinian province, the highest ground in the province is also the most western, near the municipality of Taco Pozo, at an elevation of 272 m above sea level. The Paraná and Paraguay rivers separate Chaco province from Corrientes Province, to the north, the river Bermejo forms another natural border, dividing Chaco Province from Formosa Province. In the south, the border follows the 28th parallel south, separating the region from Santa Fe Province, while in the west it borders Salta, other important rivers include, the Negro, Tapenagá, Palometa, and Salado, all tributaries or anabranches of the river Paraná. The province has a subtropical climate and it is divided in two different climate zones, a more humid one in the east and a drier subtropical climate in the center and west. The eastern parts of the province have a subtropical climate with no dry season. In the west where precipitation is lower, it has a climate with a dry winter and is classified as a semi-arid climate due to potential evapotranspiration exceeding precipitation. In the most humid parts of the province, precipitation falls throughout the year with no dry season and these areas receive around 1,400 millimetres of precipitation per year. Precipitation decreases westwards and become concentrated in the summer months. Mean annual temperatures range between 21 to 23 °C which decreases from north to south, summers are hot with temperatures that can reach up to 38 to 41 °C in the eastern parts of the province. The western parts experience more variation in temperatures due continental influences, during winters, incursions of cold, polar air from the south can lead to frosts and temperatures that fall below freezing. Being under an area of solar radiation during summer, a consequence is that a low pressure system forms over the province during summer. Humidity in the province is due to its climate, particularly in the north. Most of the winds that transport humid air come from the north, winters are the most humid seasons due to this season being characterized by frequent fogs
3.
Chaco (Paraguay)
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The Paraguayan Chaco or Región Occidental is a semi-arid region in Paraguay, with a very low population density. The area is being rapidly deforested, consisting of more than 60% of Paraguay´s land area, but with less than 2% of the population, the Chaco is one of the most unused environments in South America. The Chaco is a geographic area that is sparsely populated. Many of those living in the region are native peoples and it covers the departments of Boquerón, Upper Paraguay and the Department of Presidente Hayes, Paraguay. The Chaco region was the scene of the longest territorial war to occur in South America, the Paraguayan Chaco is located between the Pilcomayo and Paraguay Rivers, which provide saline soils that attract a rich variety of plants and animals. The majority of the Indigenous peoples in Paraguay live in the Graco and these include the followings groups, The language families and their locations are as follows, Language family Maskoy Toba, on the Paraguay River in central-east. The language family Mataco Nivaclé, near the Pilcomayo River in the south-east, the language family Zamuco, Chamacoco, on the Paraguay River in north-east. The language family guaicurúes emake, in the lower Chaco, the Chaco has an abundance of wildlife. The Chaco is one of the last major refuges of the rhea, the region has an abundant and varied bird population. The streams host more than 400 fish species, among which are the salmon-like dorado, the region is home to many species of insects, some of which cause discomfort for travellers. Reptiles also are abundant, with lizards and at least 60 known species of snakes. At least six species of poisonous tree toads have been identified, the vegetation of the Chaco varies from the east to the west, reflecting the changing nature of the soil. Eastern Chaco is noted for its landscape of clustered trees and shrubs interspersed with tall. To the west, a transition zone grades into the espinal. Chacos vegetation has adapted to grow in conditions, and is highly varied. One of the most impressive vegetation formations is called the quebrachales, the quebracho tree is economically important as a source of tannin and lumber. Ecotourism remains an industry for the region because of its rich biodiversity. The region remains of interest to hunting enthusiasts, Chaco is known for its cultural, religious and economic diversity
4.
Paraguay
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Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the country from north to south. Due to its location in South America, it is sometimes referred to as Corazón de Sudamérica. Paraguay is one of the two landlocked countries that lie outside Afro-Eurasia, Paraguay is the smallest landlocked country in the Americas. The indigenous Guaraní had been living in Paraguay for at least a millennium before the Spanish conquered the territory in the 16th century, Spanish settlers and Jesuit missions introduced Christianity and Spanish culture to the region. Paraguay was a colony of the Spanish Empire, with few urban centers and settlers. Following independence from Spain in 1811, Paraguay was ruled by a series of dictators who generally implemented isolationist and protectionist policies and he was toppled in an internal military coup, and free multi-party elections were organized and held for the first time in 1993. A year later, Paraguay joined Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay to found Mercosur, as of 2009, Paraguays population was estimated to be at around 6.5 million, most of whom are concentrated in the southeast region of the country. The capital and largest city is Asunción, of which the area is home to nearly a third of Paraguays population. In contrast to most Latin American nations, Paraguays indigenous language and culture, Guaraní, in each census, residents predominantly identify as mestizo, reflecting years of intermarriage among the different ethnic groups. Guaraní is recognized as an official language alongside Spanish, and both languages are spoken in the country. There is no consensus for the derivation or meaning of the name Paraguay, the most common interpretations include, Born from water Riverine of many varieties River which originates a sea Fray Antonio Ruiz de Montoya said that it meant river crowned. The Spanish officer and scientist Félix de Azara suggests two derivations, the Payaguas, referring to the tribe who lived along the river. The French-Argentine historian and writer Paul Groussac argued that it meant river that flows through the sea, Paraguayan poet and ex-president Juan Natalicio González said it meant river of the inhabitants of the sea. Indigenous peoples have inhabited this area for thousands of years, pre-Columbian society in the region which is now Paraguay consisted of semi-nomadic tribes that were known for their warrior traditions. These indigenous tribes belonged to five language families, which was the basis of their major divisions. Differing language groups were generally competitive over resources and territories and they were further divided into tribes by speaking languages in branches of these families. Today 17 separate ethnolinguistic groups remain, the first Europeans in the area were Spanish explorers in 1516. The Spanish explorer Juan de Salazar de Espinosa founded the settlement of Asunción on 15 August 1537, the city eventually became the center of a Spanish colonial province of Paraguay
5.
Bolivia
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Bolivia, officially known as the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. It is bordered to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by Argentina, to the southwest by Chile, and to the northwest by Peru. One-third of the country is the Andean mountain range, with one of its largest cities and principal economic centers, El Alto, Bolivia is one of two landlocked countries that lie outside Afro-Eurasia. Bolivia is geographically the largest landlocked country in the Americas, but remains a small country in economic. Before Spanish colonization, the Andean region of Bolivia was part of the Inca Empire, Spanish conquistadors arriving from Cuzco and Asunción took control of the region in the 16th century. During the Spanish colonial period Bolivia was administered by the Royal Audiencia of Charcas, spain built its empire in great part upon the silver that was extracted from Bolivias mines. After the first call for independence in 1809,16 years of war followed before the establishment of the Republic, named for Simón Bolívar, on 6 August 1825. Since independence, Bolivia has endured periods of political and economic instability, including the loss of peripheral territories to its neighbors, such as Acre. The countrys population, estimated at 11 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Mestizos, the racial and social segregation that arose from Spanish colonialism has continued to the modern era. Spanish is the official and predominant language, although 36 indigenous languages also have official status, of which the most commonly spoken are Guarani, Aymara, modern Bolivia is constitutionally a unitary state, divided into nine departments. Its geography varies from the peaks of the Andes in the West, to the Eastern Lowlands and it is a developing country, with a medium ranking in the Human Development Index and a poverty level of 53 percent. Its main economic activities include agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and manufacturing such as textiles, clothing, refined metals. Bolivia is very wealthy in minerals, especially tin, Bolivia is named after Simón Bolívar, a leader in the Spanish American wars of independence. Sucre opted to create a new nation and, with local support. The original name was Republic of Bolívar, some days later, congressman Manuel Martín Cruz proposed, If from Romulus comes Rome, then from Bolívar comes Bolivia. The name was approved by the Republic on 3 October 1825, the region now known as Bolivia had been occupied for over 2,500 years when the Aymara arrived. However, present-day Aymara associate themselves with the ancient civilization of the Tiwanaku culture which had its capital at Tiwanaku, the capital city of Tiwanaku dates from as early as 1500 BC when it was a small, agriculturally based village. The community grew to urban proportions between AD600 and AD800, becoming an important regional power in the southern Andes
6.
Argentina
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Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a federal republic in the southern half of South America. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system, Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The earliest recorded presence in the area of modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century, Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with waves of European immigration radically reshaping its cultural. The almost-unparalleled increase in prosperity led to Argentina becoming the seventh wealthiest developed nation in the world by the early 20th century, Argentina retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs, and is a prominent regional power in the Southern Cone and Latin America. Argentina has the second largest economy in South America, the third-largest in Latin America and is a member of the G-15 and it is the country with the second highest Human Development Index in Latin America with a rating of very high. Because of its stability, market size and growing high-tech sector, the description of the country by the word Argentina has to be found on a Venice map in 1536. In English the name Argentina probably comes from the Spanish language, however the naming itself is not Spanish, Argentina means in Italian of silver, silver coloured, probably borrowed from the Old French adjective argentine of silver > silver coloured already mentioned in the 12th century. The French word argentine is the form of argentin and derives of argent silver with the suffix -in. The Italian naming Argentina for the country implies Argentina Terra land of silver or Argentina costa coast of silver, in Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said lArgentina. The name Argentina was probably first given by the Venitian and Genoese navigators, in Spanish and Portuguese, the words for silver are respectively plata and prata and of silver is said plateado and prateado. Argentina was first associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin. The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced to La Argentina, a 1602 poem by Martín del Barco Centenera describing the region, the 1826 constitution included the first use of the name Argentine Republic in legal documents. The name Argentine Confederation was also used and was formalized in the Argentine Constitution of 1853. In 1860 a presidential decree settled the name as Argentine Republic
7.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
8.
Upland and lowland
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Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of rivers, habitats are classified as upland and lowland. Upland and lowland are portions of plain that are categorized by their elevation above the sea level. Lowlands are usually no higher than 200 m, while uplands are somewhere around 200 m to 500 m, on rare occasions, certain lowlands such as Caspian Depression lay below the sea level. These classifications overlap with the definitions of upland and lowland. In geology an upland is generally considered to be land that is at a higher elevation than the plain or stream terrace. The term bottomland refers to low-lying alluvial land near a river, many freshwater fish and invertebrate communities around the world show a pattern of specialisation into upland or lowland river habitats. In freshwater ecology, upland rivers and streams are the rivers and streams that drain elevated or mountainous country. However, altitude is not the determinant of whether a river is upland or lowland. Arguably the most important determinants are that of power and course gradient. Rivers with a course that drops in altitude rapidly will have water flow. Rivers with a course that drops in altitude very slowly will have water flow. This in turn produces the other characteristics of a lowland river - a meandering course lacking rapids, lowland rivers tend to carry more suspended sediment and organic matter as well, but some lowland rivers have periods of high water clarity in seasonal low-flow periods. American Bottom - flood plain of the Mississippi River in Southern Illinois, bois Brule Bottom Bottomland hardwood forest - deciduous hardwood forest found in broad lowland floodplains of the United States. Freshwater biology River reclamation Riparian zone Mountain river
9.
Natural region
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A natural region is a basic geographic unit. Usually it is a region which is distinguished by its natural features of geography, geology. Thus most natural regions are homogeneous ecosystems, human impact can be an important factor in the shaping and destiny of a particular natural region. The concept natural region may refer to a small, well defined area, or to a large basic geographical unit, the term may also be used generically, like in alpine tundra, or specifically to refer to a particular place. The term is useful where there is no corresponding or coterminous official region. The Fens of eastern England, the Thai highlands, and the Pays de Bray in Normandy, are examples of this. Others might include regions with particular geological characteristics, like badlands, such as the Bardenas Reales, an upland massif of acidic rock, or The Burren, in Ireland
10.
Mato Grosso
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Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the western part of the country. Neighboring states are Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and it also borders Bolivia to the southwest. A state with a landscape, alternating great chapadas and plain areas. The vegetation of the open pasture covers 40% of the state, in the north is the Amazonian forest, with a biodiversity originally covering half of the state, currently largely devastated for logging, agricultural purposes and pastures. The Xingu National Park and the Araguaia River are in Mato Grosso, further south, the Pantanal, the worlds largest wetland, is the habitat for almost a thousand species of animals, with many aquatic birds. Located in the Mato Grosso is the Chapada dos Guimarães, an environment made from sandstone mountains. The terrain of the Mato Grosso is varied and includes cliffs, canyons, the biologically rich Pantanal, one of the worlds largest wetland/prairie ecosystems, is also located within this state. Much environmental degradation has occurred to the Pantanal within the past few decades, the Pantanal can be compared to the Everglades in Florida, as both share much in common, habitat wise, although the Pantanal is of much larger scale. In 1977, the state was split into two halves, with Mato Grosso do Sul becoming a new state, the Bororo Indians live in the Mato Grosso area. As late as 1880, soldiers patrolled lands on the outskirts of Cuiabá, Mato Grossos capital and largest city, the southwestern part of it was ceded to Bolivia in exchange for Acre, according to Treaty of Petrópolis in 1903. The historic remoteness of this area led it to be the subject of exploration, most notably by Captain Percy Fawcett and it was also the rumored location of access to the interior of the earth in various Hollow Earth theories. Mato Grosso had a rate of population growth in the 20th century. Despite this, the state as a whole has one of the lowest population densities of any Brazilian state, according to the IBGE of 2008,3,010,000 people resided in the state. The population density was 3.2 inh. /km², urbanization,76. 6%, Population growth,2. 4%, Houses,836,000. Ethnically, the state includes a high proportion of caboclos. The last PNAD census revealed the numbers,1,532,000 Brown people,1,179,000 White people,239,000 Black people,41,000 Amerindian people,14,000 Asian people. Agriculture is the largest component of GDP at 40. 8%, the industrial sector represents 19% of GDP. Mato Grosso exports, soybeans 83%, wood 5. 6%, meats 4. 8%, the states share of the Brazilian economy is 1. 7%
11.
Mato Grosso do Sul
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Mato Grosso do Sul is one of the Central-Western states of Brazil. Its total area of 357,125 square kilometers, or 137,891 square miles, is roughly the size as Germany. Neighboring Brazilian states are Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and it also borders the countries of Paraguay, to the southwest, and Bolivia, to the west. The economy of the state is based on agriculture and cattle-raising. Crossed in the south by the Tropic of Capricorn, Mato Grosso do Sul generally has a warm, sometimes hot, and humid climate, the state is also famous for its natural beauty, and is a major destination for domestic and international tourism. The Pantanal lowlands cover 12 municipalities and presents a variety of flora and fauna, with forests, natural sand banks, savannahs, open pasture, fields. The city Bonito, in the mountain of Bodoquena, has prehistoric caves, natural rivers, waterfalls, swimming pools and the Blue Lake cave. The name Mato Grosso do Sul literally means Thick Bushes of the South in Portuguese and it is not uncommon for people to mistakenly refer to Mato Grosso do Sul as simply Mato Grosso. Other names that were proposed, at the time of the split and afterwards, include Pantanal, Mato Grosso do Sul has humid subtropical and tropical climates. The average annual rainfall is 1471.1 mm. January is the warmest month, with maximum of 34 °C and minimum of 24 °C and more rain, July experiences the coldest temperatures, with mean maximum of 25 °C and minimum of -2,0 °C. The cerrado landscape is characterized by extensive savanna formations crossed by gallery forests, Cerrado includes various types of vegetation. Humid fields and buriti palm paths are found where the table is near the surface. Alpine pastures occur at higher altitudes and mesophytic forests on more fertile soils, the cerrado trees have characteristic twisted trunks covered by a thick bark, and leaves which are usually broad and rigid. Many herbaceous plants have extensive roots to store water and nutrients, the plants thick bark and roots serve as adaptations for the periodic fires which sweep the cerrado landscape. The adaptations protect the plants from destruction and make them capable of sprouting again after the fire, the state is located in western Brazil, in a region mostly occupied by the inland marshes of the Pantanal. The highest elevation is the 1,065 m high Morro Grande, in October 11,1977, the state was created by dividing the state of Mato Grosso. Its status as a state went into effect two years later on January 1,1979
12.
Pantanal
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The Pantanal is a natural region encompassing the worlds largest tropical wetland area. It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul and it sprawls over an area estimated at between 140,000 and 195,000 square kilometres. Various subregional ecosystems exist, each with distinct hydrological, geological and ecological characteristics, the name Pantanal comes from the Portuguese word pântano, meaning wetland, bog, swamp, quagmire or marsh. By comparison, the Brazilian highlands are locally referred to as the planalto, plateau or, literally, the Pantanal is a huge, gently-sloped basin that receives runoff from the upland areas and slowly releases the water through the Paraguay River and tributaries. The formation is a result of the large, concave pre-Andean depression of the earths crust and this area is also one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger Parana-Paraguay Plain area. The Pantanal is bounded by the Chiquitano dry forests to the west and northwest, by the Arid Chaco dry forests to the southwest, the Cerrado savannas lie to the north, east and southeast. The Pantanal has a yearly rainfall of 1, 000–1,400 mm. Its average temperature is 25 °C, but temperatures can fluctuate from 0 to 40 °C, floodplain ecosystems such as the Pantanal are defined by their seasonal inundation and desiccation. They shift between phases of standing water and phases of dry soil, when the table can be well below the root region. Soils range from high levels of sand in areas to higher amounts of clay. Elevation of the Pantanal ranges from 80 to 150 m above sea level, annual rainfall over the flood basin is between 1,000 and 1,500 mm, with most rainfall occurring between November and March. In the Paraguay River portion of the Pantanal, water levels rise between two meters to five meters seasonally, water fluctuations in other parts of the Pantanal are less than this. Flood waters tend to flow due to the low gradients. When rising river waters first contact previously dry soil, the waters become oxygen-depleted, many natural fish kills can occur if there are no oxygenated water refuges available. Forests usually occur at altitudes of the region, while grasslands cover the seasonally inundated areas. The key limiting factors for growth are inundation and, even more importantly, the Pantanal ecosystem is home to 3500 known plant species. The Pantanal ecosystem is thought to be home to 1000 bird species,400 fish species,300 mammalian species,480 reptile species. The apple snail is a species in Pantanals ecosystem
13.
Quechuan languages
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Quechua /ˈkɛtʃwə/, also known as runa simi, is an indigenous language family, with variations spoken by the Quechua peoples, primarily living in the Andes and highlands of South America. Derived from an ancestral language, it is the most widely spoken language family of indigenous peoples of the Americas. Approximately 13% of Peruvians speak Quechua and it is perhaps most widely known for being the main language of the Inca Empire, and was disseminated by the colonizers throughout their reign. Quechua had already expanded across wide ranges of the central Andes long before the expansion of the Inca Empire, the Inca were one among many peoples in present-day Peru who already spoke forms of Quechua. In the Cusco region, Quechua was influenced by languages such as Aymara. The Cuzco variety of Quechua developed as quite distinct, in similar ways, diverse dialects developed in different areas, related to existing local languages, when the Inca Empire ruled and imposed Quechua as the official language. After the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in the 16th century and it was officially recognized by the Spanish administration and many Spanish learned it in order to communicate with the local peoples. Clergy of the Catholic Church adopted Quechua to use as the language of evangelization, given its use by the Catholic missionaries, the range of Quechua continued to expand in some areas. In the late 18th century, colonial officials ended administrative and religious use of Quechua, the Crown banned even loyal pro-Catholic texts in Quechua, such as Garcilaso de la Vegas Comentarios Reales. Despite a brief revival of the immediately after the Latin American nations achieved independence in the 19th century. Gradually its use declined so that it was mostly by indigenous people in the more isolated. Nevertheless in the 21st century, those speaking Quechua language speakers number 8 to 10 million people across South America, the oldest written records of the language are by missionary Domingo de Santo Tomás, who arrived in Peru in 1538 and learned the language from 1540. He published his Grammatica o arte de la lengua de los indios de los reynos del Perú in 1560. In 1975 Peru became the first country to recognize Quechua as one of its official languages, the major obstacle to the usage and teaching of Quechua is the lack of written materials in that language, such as books, newspapers, software, and magazines. The Bible has been translated into Quechua and is distributed by certain missionary groups, Quechua, along with Aymara and the minor indigenous languages, remains essentially a spoken language. In recent years, Quechua has been introduced in intercultural education in Bolivia, Ecuador. Even in these areas, the governments are reaching only a part of the Quechua-speaking populations, some indigenous people in each of the countries are having their children study in Spanish for the purposes of social advancement. Radio Nacional del Perú broadcasts news and agrarian programs in Quechua for periods in the mornings, Quechua and Spanish are now heavily intermixed in much of the Andean region, with many hundreds of Spanish loanwords in Quechua
14.
Andes
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The Andes or Andean Mountains are the longest continental mountain range in the world. They are a range of highlands along the western edge of South America. This range is about 7,000 km long, about 200 to 700 km wide, the Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. Along their length, the Andes are split into several ranges, the Andes are the location of several high plateaus – some of which host major cities, such as Quito, Bogotá, Arequipa, Medellín, Sucre, Mérida and La Paz. The Altiplano plateau is the worlds second-highest after the Tibetan plateau and these ranges are in turn grouped into three major divisions based on climate, the Tropical Andes, the Dry Andes, and the Wet Andes. The Andes are the worlds highest mountain range outside of Asia, the highest mountain outside Asia, Mount Aconcagua, rises to an elevation of about 6,961 m above sea level. The peak of Chimborazo in the Ecuadorean Andes is farther from the Earths center than any other location on the Earths surface, the worlds highest volcanoes are in the Andes, including Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border, which rises to 6,893 m. The etymology of the word Andes has been debated, the majority consensus is that it derives from the Quechua word anti, which means east as in Antisuyu, one of the four regions of the Inca Empire. In the northern part of the Andes, the isolated Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta range is considered to be part of the Andes. The term cordillera comes from the Spanish word cordel, meaning rope, the Andes range is about 200 km wide throughout its length, except in the Bolivian flexure where it is about 640 kilometres wide. The Andes are the result of plate tectonics processes, caused by the subduction of oceanic crust beneath the South American plate. The main cause of the rise of the Andes is the compression of the rim of the South American Plate due to the subduction of the Nazca Plate. In the south, the Andes share a boundary with the former Patagonia Terrane. To the west, the Andes end at the Pacific Ocean, from a geographical approach, the Andes are considered to have their western boundaries marked by the appearance of coastal lowlands and a less rugged topography. The Andes Mountains also contain large quantities of iron ore located in mountains within the range. The Andean orogen has a series of bends or oroclines, the Bolivian Orocline is a seaward concave bending in the coast of South America and the Andes Mountains at about 18° S. At this point the orientation of the Andes turns from Northwest in Peru to South in Chile, the Andean segment north and south of the orocline have been rotated 15° to 20° counter clockwise and clockwise respectively. The Bolivian Orocline area overlaps with the area of maximum width of the Altiplano Plateau, the specific point at 18° S where the coastline bends is known as the Arica Elbow
15.
Regions of Argentina
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The provinces of Argentina are often grouped into eight geographical regions. The Pampas are often separated into Humid Pampa and Dry Pampas, other geographical analysis include other defined regions, being Comahue and Chaco Central among the most common. Regardless of the system used, some provinces are shared by more than one region. Finally, La Rioja is sometimes considered part of Cuyo region instead of the Northwest, finally, the portion of the Antarctica claimed by Argentina is known as Argentine Antarctica, in which lay a number of Argentine bases
16.
Argentine Northwest
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The Argentine Northwest is a geographic and historical region of Argentina composed of the provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, La Rioja, Salta, Santiago del Estero and Tucumán. The Argentine Northwest comprises very distinct biomes, or geographical and climatic regions, besides the Yungas jungle on the eastern fringe of the region, the only fertile lands are those near the river basins, which have been irrigated extensively. Across millennia the erosive forces of these rivers has created a multitude of red-rock canyons, such as the Quebrada de Humahuaca. Northwest Argentina is predominantly dry and hot and classified as subtropical, owing to its rugged topography, the region is climatically diverse, depending on the altitude, temperature and distribution of precipitation. Consequentially, the vegetation will differ at these different climate types, in general, the climate can be divided into 2 main types, a cold arid or semi-arid climate at the higher altitudes and warmer subtropical climate in the eastern parts of the region. The atmospheric circulation is controlled by the two semi–permanent South Atlantic and South Pacific highs, and a low pressure system east of the Andes. The movement of moist air into the region during the results in very high precipitation. Most of the moisture comes from the east since the Andes block any moisture from the Pacific Ocean, cold fronts that travel northwards to the region can produce precipitation during the summer months and is more prominent in the southern parts of the region. For example, in Tucuman Province, these fronts are responsible for 70% of the rainfall in that province. In contrast, during the months, the Chaco low attracts air masses from the South Pacific high, creating a dry. This effect is more prominent in the months, when the intensity of the cold is more stronger. This leads to enhanced precipitation in the form of thunderstorms during the summer months. At the highest altitudes, westerly winds from the Pacific Ocean can penetrate during the winter months, precipitation in the region is highly seasonal and is mostly concentrated in the summer months in which precipitation decreases from east to west. Precipitation is distributed irregularly owing to relief, as moist air reaches the eastern slopes of the mountains, this moist air raises up vertically, cooling adiabatically, leading to formation of clouds which generate copious amounts of rain. Eastern slopes of the mountains can receive between 1,000 to 1,500 mm of precipitation a year although some places can receive 2,500 mm of precipitation per year owing to orographic precipitation. In the south, the effect is enhanced by advancing cold fronts from the south. The high rainfall on these first slopes creates a jungle that extends in a narrow strip along these ranges. Beyond the first slopes of the Andes into the valleys, the air descends vertically, warming adiabatically, in the temperate valleys, which include major cities such as Salta and Jujuy, they have average precipitation ranging between 500 to 1,000 mm
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Mesopotamia, Argentina
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La Mesopotamia or Región Mesopotámica is the humid and verdant area of north-east Argentina, comprising the provinces of Misiones, Entre Ríos and Corrientes. The landscape and its characteristics are dominated by two rivers, the Paraná and the Uruguay, the long parallel courses of the two rivers, and the verdant areas between them, inspired comparisons to the region called Mesopotamia, in modern-day Iraq. The Spanish named the Argentine region after the Mideast region, the Provinces of Formosa, Chaco and Santa Fe share Mesopotamias features, as do the neighboring regions of nearby Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Mesopotamia has some of the most popular tourist attractions in Argentina, mainly the Iguazú Falls, the Iguazú National Park, the Iberá Wetlands in Corrientes are an extensive area of flooded forest similar to Brazils Pantanal. The region is part of the Brazilian central plateau, the whole region has high rainfall, particularly in August and September, up to 2,000 mm annually. Misiones, in the part of Mesopotamia, is largely covered by subtropical forest, with caiman, toucans. Fast decomposition of organic matter gives the area a red soil with only a thin layer that can easily be washed away. Corrientes is marshy and wooded, with low hills, Entre Ríos is covered with fertile pasture land stretching into Uruguay. The flora of Mesopotamia includes the palm, which is a protected species in the El Palmar National Park. Tree ferns, orchids and large trees can also be found, yerba mate is grown largely in Mesopotamia,1,800 square kilometres of Misiones are devoted to its production. The region is important for cattle and sheep, poultry, linseed, tobacco, citrus. Gualeguaychú in Entre Ríos is popular for its carnival at the beginning of Lent, Corrientes is also known for its carnival celebrations and is a centre of music and festivals generally, the chamamé music style has recently seen a resurgence in popularity. The region called Litoral consists of the Mesopotamia and the provinces of Chaco, Formosa, Mesopotamia has a subtropical climate with no dry season. Under the Köppen climate classification, it has a subtropical climate. The main features of the climate are high temperatures and abundant rainfall throughout the year, with abundant precipitation throughout the year, water deficiencies and extended periods of droughts are uncommon and much of the region has a positive water balance. Average annual precipitation ranges from less than 1,000 mm in the parts to approximately 1,800 mm in the eastern parts of Misiones province. Summers are one of the most humid seasons with a precipitation of 350 mm in these months although it can range from a low of 300 mm to a high of 450 mm. Most of the rainfall during summer falls during convective thunderstorms, fall is one of the rainiest seasons with many places receiving over 350 mm
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Cuyo (Argentina)
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Cuyo is the name given to the wine-producing, mountainous area of central-west Argentina. Historically it comprised the provinces of San Juan, San Luis, the modern term New Cuyo indicates both Cuyo proper and the province of La Rioja. New Cuyo is a political and economic macroregion, but culturally La Rioja is part of the North-West rather than of Cuyo, the soil is arid and reddish, crossed by few rivers. Most of the rivers are fed by the thawing of snow on the peaks, the Desaguadero River is the main collector, receiving waters from the Bermejo, Vinchina and Salado before reaching the Colorado River. Viticulture is one of the activities of the area. The wine production of the region represents almost 80% of national production, olives, potatoes, tomatoes and some fruits are also cultivated, and there is production of sweets and preserved foodstuffs. Quarrying and oil exploitation are other important industries, the cities and towns in the region are characterised by colonial low houses and churches, and narrow streets, contrasting in the principal cities with the modern parts. The Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, founded in 1939, is the most important within these provinces, and has its campus in Mendoza, the table below includes data for the year 2013 for the 23 provinces Table of Cuyo provinces according to the 2001 census. The region of Cuyo has a climate or a semi-arid climate with an average annual precipitation of about 100 to 500 millimetres that is generally unreliable from year to year. The region, which encompasses a range of latitudes combined with altitudes ranging from 500 m to nearly 7,000 m means that it has a diverse range of different climates. In general, most of the region has a climate with higher altitude valleys having a more milder climate. At the highest altitudes, icy conditions persist year round, the diurnal range is very large with very hot temperatures during the day followed by cold nights. Amongst all locations in Argentina, the region has the largest diurnal range in the country areas in San Juan Province having a diurnal range exceeding 19.1 °C. The Andes prevent rain–bearing clouds from the Pacific Ocean from coming in, with very low humidity, abundant sunshine throughout the year, and a temperate climate, the region is suitable for wine production. Droughts are often frequent and prolonged, more than 85% of the annual rainfall occurs from October to March, which represents the warm season. In contrast, the months are dry due to these systems weakening. Eastern and southeastern areas of the region receive more precipitation than the areas since they receive more summer rainfall. As such, most of Mendoza province and San Juan province receive the lowest annual precipitation with mean summer precipitation averaging less than 100 mm and in rare cases, no summer rainfall
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Pampas
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These vast plains are a natural region only interrupted by the low Ventana and Tandil hills near Bahía Blanca and Tandil, with a height of 1,300 m and 500 m, respectively. The climate is warm, with precipitation of 600 to 1,200 mm, more or less evenly distributed through the year and this area is also one of the distinct physiography provinces of the larger Paraná-Paraguay Plain division. These plains contain unique wildlife because of the different terrains around it, some of this wildlife includes the rhea, the pampas deer, several species of armadillos, the pampas fox, the white-eared opossum, the elegant crested tinamou, and several other species. The climate of the Pampas is generally temperate, gradually giving way to a subtropical climate in the north. Summer temperatures are more uniform than winter temperatures, generally ranging from 28 to 33 °C during the day, however, most cities in the Pampas occasionally have high temperatures that push 38 °C. This occurs when a warm, dry, northerly wind blows from southern Brazil, autumn arrives gradually in March, and peaks in April and May. In April, highs range from 20 to 25 °C and lows from 9 to 13 °C, the first frosts arrive in mid-April in the south, and in late May or early June in the north. Winters are generally mild, although cold waves do occur, normal temperatures range from 12 to 19 °C during the day, and from 1 to 6 °C at night. With strong northerly winds, days of over 25 °C can be recorded almost everywhere, whereas during cold waves, frost occurs everywhere in the Pampas, although it is much more frequent in the southwest, and less so around the Parana and Uruguay Rivers. Temperatures under −5 °C can occur everywhere, whereas values of −10 °C or lower are confined to the south, snow never falls in the northernmost third, and is rare and light elsewhere, except for exceptional events where depths have reached 30 cm. Springs are very variable, it is warmer than fall in most areas, violent storms are more common, as well as wide temperature variations, days of 35 °C can give way to nights of under 5 °C or even frost, all within only a few days. Precipitation ranges from 1,200 mm in the northeast, to about 500 mm in the southern and western edges. In the west, it is seasonal, with some places recording averages of 120 mm monthly in the summer. The eastern areas have small peaks in the fall and in the spring, however, where summer rain falls as short, heavy storms, winter rain falls mostly as cold drizzle, so that the amount of rainy days is fairly constant. Very intense thunderstorms are common in the spring and summer, and it has among the most frequent lightning, the severe thunderstorms produce intense hailstorms, and both floods and flash floods, as well as the most consistently active tornado region outside the central and southeastern US. Frequent wildfires ensure that only small plants such as grasses flourish, the dominant vegetation types are grassy prairie and grass steppe in which numerous species of the grass genus Stipa are particularly conspicuous. Pampas grass is a species of the Pampas. Vegetation typically includes perennial grasses and herbs, different strata of grasses occur because of gradients of water availability
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Patagonia
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Patagonia is a sparsely populated region located at the southern end of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the section of the Andes mountains as well as the deserts, steppes. Patagonia has two coasts, a western one towards the Pacific Ocean and an eastern one towards the Atlantic Ocean, the Colorado and Barrancas rivers, which run from the Andes to the Atlantic, are commonly considered the northern limit of Argentine Patagonia. The archipelago of Tierra del Fuego is sometimes included as part of Patagonia, most geographers and historians locate the northern limit of Chilean Patagonia at Reloncaví Estuary. The name Patagonia comes from the word used by Magellan in 1520 to describe the native people that his expedition thought to be giants. It is now believed that the people he called the Patagons were Tehuelches, the hypothesis was accepted and published in the New Review of Spanish Philology in the 2011 article. In the hollows of the plains are ponds or lakes of fresh and brackish water, towards the Andes, the shingle gives place to porphyry, granite, and basalt lavas, animal life becomes more abundant and vegetation more luxuriant. It is characteristic of the flora of the western coast, and consist principally of southern beech and conifers. Among the depressions by which the plateau is intersected transversely, the ones are the Gualichu, south of the Río Negro, the Maquinchao and Valcheta, the Senguerr. There, erosion which is caused principally by the sudden melting, best in evidence where in contact with folded Cretaceous rocks which are uplifted by the Cenozoic granite. It generally separates the plateau from the first lofty hills, the ridges generally called the pre-Cordillera, to the west of these, a similar longitudinal depression extends all along the foot of the snowy Andean Cordillera. This latter depression contains the richest and most fertile land of Patagonia, Lake basins along the Cordillera were also excavated by ice-streams, including Lake Argentino and Lake Fagnano, as well as coastal bays such as Bahía Inútil. There have been discrepancies among geologists on the origin of the Patagonian landmass, víctor Ramos has proposed that the Patagonian landmass originated as an allochtonous terrane that separated from Antarctica and docked in South America 250 to 270 Ma in the Permian era. A2014 study by Robert John Pankhurst and coworkers reject any idea of a far-travelled Patagonia claiming it is likely of parautochtonous origin, the Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposits have revealed a most interesting vertebrate fauna. The Patagonian Myolania belongs to the Upper Chalk, having been associated with remains of Dinosauria. In the Cenozoic marine formation, a number of cetaceans has been discovered. At a state level, Patagonia lies inside two countries, Chile and Argentina, both countries have organised their Patagonian territories into non-equivalent administrative subdivisions, Provinces and departments in Argentina, and regions, provinces and communes in Chile. Being a unitary state Chiles first level administrative divisions—the regions—enjoy far less autonomy than Argentine provinces, Argentine provinces have elected governors and parliaments, while Chilean regions have government-appointed intendants
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Argentine Antarctica
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Administratively, Argentine Antarctica is a department of the province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, and South Atlantic Islands. The provincial authorities reside in Ushuaia and the Governor annually designates his or her delegate for the Antarctica region, the civil power of any of the administrators extends no further than that nations own bases. The South Orkney Islands are part of Islas del Atlántico Sur Departament, the Argentine exploration of the continent started early in the 20th century. José María Sobral was the first Argentine to set foot on Antarctica in 1902, shortly afterwards, in 1904, the Orcadas permanent base was already fully operational. Years later other bases would be created, some permanent and others seasonal, the first Argentine expedition to reach the South Pole was the 1965 Operación 90. Argentine activities in Antarctica are coordinated by the Instituto Antártico Argentino, the estimated Argentine Antarctica area is 1,461,597 km2, of which 965,597 km2 is land. The ice in the shell has a thickness of 2 km on average. Temperatures range from 0 °C in summer and -60 °C in winter although in certain points may drop to approximately -82 °C, time zone UTC-3 is used as in the South American continent. Argentina has six permanent Antarctic Stations and seven Summer Stations with a total of 13, in 1815 Guillermo Brown, an Irish Marine Commodore in the service of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata, launched a campaign to harass the Spanish fleet in the Pacific Ocean. When rounding Cape Horn aboard the Hercules and Trinidad, strong winds pushed them to parallel 65 S, in the petition that was presented Aguirre, he has requested authorization for installation of an establishment for seal hunting in some of the existing islands off the South Pole. The fact that these sealers were directed to the islands with fixed course is regarded as proof that they were previously known. In 1848 Luis Piedrabuena traveled to Antarctica as a boy of William Smiley. This Argentine receive support in exchange for incorporating an Argentine Navy to dispatch and deliver scientific data, on their way through Buenos Aires lieutenant Jose Maria Sobral boarded the ship Antarctic on 21 December 1901. The expedition built a hut on Snow Hill Island in 1902, the Argentine Navy took possession of the hut in 1954 and named it Refugio Suecia. Currently it is an Argentine historical monument and historical site and monument as appointed by the Antarctic Treaty, the 1902 expedition built another hut in Hope Bay, it is also Argentine and an Antarctic monument under the control of Esperanza Station. In it an observatory, where he also worked a post office was installed. Civil Hugo Alberto Acuna accounted hoist for the first time in a way the flag of Argentina on the Argentine Antarctic sector. Such an observatory became the Orcadas Base the oldest existing today across the Antarctic territory permanent human settlement, thanks to Argentine collaboration with his expedition, Charcot named an insular group as Argentine Islands
22.
Paraguay River
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The Paraguay River is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. It flows about 2,621 kilometres from its headwaters in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso to its confluence with the Paraná River north of Corrientes, the Paraguays source is south of Diamantino in the Mato Grosso state of Brazil. It follows a generally southwesterly course, passing through the Brazilian city of Cáceres, from the city of Puerto Bahia Negra, Paraguay, the river forms the border between Paraguay and Brazil, flowing almost due south before the confluence with the Apa River. As such the river is considered perhaps the key feature of the country with which it shares its name. The Paraguay River is the major river of the Rio de la Plata Basin. The Paraguays drainage basin, about 365,592 square kilometres, covers a vast area that includes portions of Argentina, southern Brazil, parts of Bolivia. This makes it an important shipping and trade corridor, providing a link to the Atlantic Ocean for the otherwise landlocked nations of Paraguay. It serves such important cities as Asunción and Concepción in Paraguay, the river also a source of commerce in the form of fishing, and provides irrigation for agriculture along its route. This has created issues in large cities such as Asunción, where farmers from the countrys interior have populated the rivers banks in search of an easier lifestyle. Seasonal flooding of the rivers banks sometimes forces many thousands of displaced residents to seek shelter until the waters recede from their homes. The Paraguayan military has been forced to land on one of its reserves in the capital to emergency housing for these displaced citizens. The river is a tourist attraction for its beauty, the Paraguay River is the primary waterway of the 147, 629-square-kilometre Pantanal wetlands of southern Brazil, northern Paraguay and parts of Bolivia. The Pantanal is the worlds largest tropical wetland and is dependent upon waters provided by the Paraguay River. Owing to its importance as a navigable waterway serving Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, studies indicated that the proposed river engineering of the Paraguay would have lowered the river levels by several feet and have a devastating impact on the Pantanal wetlands. An effort by the Rios Vivos coalition to educate people on the effects of the project was successful in delaying the project, and the nations involved agreed to reformulate their plan. The final plan is still uncertain, along with the effect it will have on the Pantanal, the controversy over whether or not the project will have a disastrous effect on the local ecology, as well as the potential economic gains, continues to this day. The project is considered likely to have positive economic effects for Paraguay, Bolivia, western Brazil and the north of Argentina. Paraguays capital city, Asunción, would become an inland port benefiting exporters of cattle, cotton
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Bermejo River
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The Bermejo River is a river in South America that flows from Bolivia to the Paraguay River in Argentina. The river is generally called Bermejo in spite of its different names along its way, but it also has its own Native American names, in Wichí it is called Teuco, in the plains of Argentinas Gran Chaco the Bermejo forms wetlands and splits into two branches. The southern branch is the bed of the old Bermejo River, the northern branch is now the main stem of the Bermejo and is called the Teuco River, Bermejo Nuevo, or simply the Bermejo River. The two branches rejoin at 25°39′S 60°11′W, near Villa Río Bermejito, forming the Lower Bermejo River, the Bermejo River is 1,060 kilometres long and has a drainage basin of 123,000 square kilometres in area. Its mean annual discharge is irregular and varies between 20 cubic metres per second and 14,000 cubic metres per second, in general, it maintains a southeastern direction. At its highest part, its tributaries are the Lipeo River, and further downstream the Grande de Tarija, the Iruya River. It forms part of the boundary between Argentina and Bolivia. Near the Tropic of Capricorn, the splits in two, the smaller southern branch, Bermejito, and the northern branch that known as the Teuco River. When leaving the province of Salta, the Teuco marks the boundary between the provinces of Chaco and Formosa, the Bermejito, is intermittent and meandering. It crosses Chaco Province near the El Impenetrable jungle, on the shores of this river can still be seen the ruins of the former towns of Concepcion del Bermejo, San Bernardo de Vértiz, and La Cangayé. The Teuco follows its course to finality and into the Paraguay River, in front of the city of Pilar, the river carries red-coloured sediments and produces irregular accumulations that can even alter its course, leaving the older paths as wet depressions. Note, the part of the Desaguadero River is sometimes also called the Bermejo. List of rivers of Argentina List of rivers of Bolivia
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Pilcomayo River
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Pilcomayo is a river in central South America. At 1,100 kilometres long, it is the longest western tributary of the Paraguay River and its drainage basin is 270,000 square kilometres in area, and its mean discharge is 200 cubic metres per second. Along its course, the Pilcomayo silts up and splits into two branches, North and South. After some distance, these branches rejoin to form the Lower Pilcomayo, the Pilcomayo rises in the foothills of the Andes mountain range in the Bolivian Oruro Department, east of Lake Poopó. The Jacha Juqhu River is considered the origin of the Pilcomayo, upstream the Jacha Juqhu River successively receives the names Aguas Calientes and Kachi Mayu. From the confluence with the Chillawa, the river is called Pilcomayo, the Río Pilcomayo National Park is located on the Argentine side of the border. It also forms a part of the boundary between Argentina and Bolivia, just prior to the Argentina–Bolivia–Paraguay tripoint. The river basin is home to approximately 1.5 million people, one million in Bolivia,300,000 in Argentina, the Nakotoi Indian Tribe resides in the southern region of the Pilcomayo, a region located along the river in central Paraguay. The aborigines of this tribe are descendants of the highly renowned Redskin Tribe, the Natokoi treated all neighbors as enemies, but none more so than the Tobas Tribe and the Nimká Tribe, their respective neighbors to the southwest and northeast. Guerrilla warfare has long existed between the tribes, isolating the tribe from direct intercourse with the European settlers in the late 19th century, men of this tribe are generally tall and skinny, built like hunters or warriors, whereas women are short in size. The Natokoi dress in a rug, fastened around the waist-line, list of rivers of Argentina Oroncota, Yampara settlement and Inca fortress in the Pilcomayo River valley of Bolivia. A Naturalist in the Gran Chaco, new Opportunities to Apply Our Science, June 14–19, Richmond, VA
25.
Mennonite
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The Mennonites are Christian groups belonging to the church communities of Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons of Friesland. Through his writings, Simons articulated and formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders, rather than fight, the majority of these followers survived by fleeing to neighboring states where ruling families were tolerant of their radical belief in believers baptism. Over the years, Mennonites have become known as one of the peace churches because of their commitment to pacifism. There is controversy among Mennonites about this issue, with some insisting that they are simply a group while others argue that they form a distinct ethnic group. Historians and sociologists have increasingly started to treat Mennonites as an ethno-religious group, there is also a discussion about the term ethnic Mennonite. There are about 2.1 million Anabaptists worldwide as of 2015, Mennonite congregations worldwide embody the full scope of Mennonite practice from plain people to those who are indistinguishable in dress and appearance from the general population. Mennonites can be found in communities in at least 87 countries on six continents, the largest populations of Mennonites are to be found in Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India and the United States. Today, less than 500 Mennonites remain in Ukraine, a relatively small Mennonite presence, known as the Algemene Doopsgezinde Societeit, still continues in the Netherlands, where Simons was born. The early history of the Mennonites starts with the Anabaptists in the German, the German term is Täufer or Wiedertäufer. The Greek word palin is the single most used term translated as again throughout the Greek MSS translated into the English KJV Bible, when the Greek prepositional prefix ana is used, it is always translated separately, and not transliterated. The English transliteration of anbaptizmo demands a transliterated rendering as an-other baptism, hence ANA-baptism and these forerunners of modern Mennonites were part of the Protestant Reformation, a broad reaction against the practices and theology of the Roman Catholic Church. Other significant theological views of the Mennonites developed in opposition to Roman Catholic views or to the views of other Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther, some of the followers of Zwinglis Reformed church thought that requiring church membership beginning at birth was inconsistent with the New Testament example. At a small meeting in Zurich on January 21,1525, Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz and this meeting marks the beginning of the Anabaptist movement. In the spirit of the times, many groups followed, preaching about reducing hierarchy, relations with the state, eschatology and these movements are together referred to as the Radical Reformation. They joined forces to fight the movement, using such as banishment, torture. Despite strong repressive efforts of the churches, the movement spread slowly around western Europe. Officials killed many of the earliest Anabaptist leaders in an attempt to purge Europe of the new sect, by 1530, most of the founding leaders had been killed for refusing to renounce their beliefs. Many believed that God did not condone killing or the use of force for any reason and were unwilling to fight for their lives
26.
Savanna
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A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland grassland ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support a herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. Savannas maintain an open canopy despite a high tree density and it is often believed that savannas feature widely spaced, scattered trees. However, in savannas, tree densities are higher and trees are more regularly spaced than in forests. Savanna covers approximately 20% of the Earths land area, the word originally entered English in 1555 as the Latin Zauana, equivalent in the orthography of the times to zavana. Peter Martyr reported it as the name for the plain around Comagre. The accounts are inexact, but this is placed in present-day Madugandí or at points on the nearby Guna Yala coast opposite Ustupo or on Point Mosquitos. These areas are now given over to modern cropland or jungle. The common usage meaning to describe vegetation now conflicts with a simplified yet widespread climatic concept meaning, the divergence has sometimes caused areas such as extensive savannas north and south of the Congo and Amazon Rivers to be excluded from mapped savanna categories. Barrens has been used almost interchangeably with savanna in different parts of North America, sometimes midwestern savanna were described as grassland with trees. Different authors have defined the limits of savanna tree coverage as 5–10%. Two factors common to all environments are rainfall variations from year to year. In the Americas, e. g. in Belize, Central America, savanna vegetation is similar from Mexico to South America, savannas are subject to regular wildfires and the ecosystem appears to be the result of human use of fire. For example, Native Americans created the Pre-Columbian savannas of North America by periodically burning where fire-resistant plants were the dominant species, pine barrens in scattered locations from New Jersey to coastal New England are remnants of these savannas. Aboriginal burning appears to have responsible for the widespread occurrence of savanna in tropical Australia and New Guinea. The maquis shrub savannas of the Mediterranean region were created and maintained by anthropogenic fire. These fires are usually confined to the layer and do little long term damage to mature trees. However, these either kill or suppress tree seedlings, thus preventing the establishment of a continuous tree canopy which would prevent further grass growth
27.
Schinopsis lorentzii
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Schinopsis lorentzii is a hardwood tree known as red quebracho, native of the Paraguayan subtropical area, which forms forests in Gran Chaco region of Argentina, in Paraguay, and Bolivia. Some of its names are coronillo, quebracho Cornillo, quebracho chaqueño, quebracho colorado santiagueño, quebracho macho. The qualification colorado differentiates it from species of common quebracho tree. The indication santiagueño is made to distinguish it from quebracho colorado chaqueño and it is considered a symbol of the Gran Chaco region. This tree is very important due to its extremely hard and durable wood. The tanning industry has been exploiting quebracho forests for more than 100 years and this massive exploitation has led to the loss of 85% of the original Quebracho forests on in Argentina
28.
Insect
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Insects are a class of hexapod invertebrates within the arthropod phylum that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body, three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet, including more than a million described species, the number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million, and potentially represent over 90% of the differing animal life forms on Earth. Insects may be found in all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans. The life cycles of insects vary but most hatch from eggs, insect growth is constrained by the inelastic exoskeleton and development involves a series of molts. The immature stages can differ from the adults in structure, habit and habitat, Insects that undergo 3-stage metamorphosis lack a pupal stage and adults develop through a series of nymphal stages. The higher level relationship of the Hexapoda is unclear, fossilized insects of enormous size have been found from the Paleozoic Era, including giant dragonflies with wingspans of 55 to 70 cm. The most diverse insect groups appear to have coevolved with flowering plants, adult insects typically move about by walking, flying or sometimes swimming. As it allows for rapid yet stable movement, many insects adopt a tripedal gait in which they walk with their legs touching the ground in alternating triangles, Insects are the only invertebrates to have evolved flight. Many insects spend at least part of their lives under water, with adaptations that include gills. Some species, such as water striders, are capable of walking on the surface of water, Insects are mostly solitary, but some, such as certain bees, ants and termites, are social and live in large, well-organized colonies. Some insects, such as earwigs, show maternal care, guarding their eggs, Insects can communicate with each other in a variety of ways. Male moths can sense the pheromones of female moths over great distances, other species communicate with sounds, crickets stridulate, or rub their wings together, to attract a mate and repel other males. Lampyridae in the beetle order communicate with light, humans regard certain insects as pests, and attempt to control them using insecticides and a host of other techniques. Some insects damage crops by feeding on sap, leaves or fruits, a few parasitic species are pathogenic. Some insects perform complex ecological roles, blow-flies, for example, help consume carrion, Many other insects are considered ecologically beneficial as predators and a few provide direct economic benefit. Silkworms and bees have been used extensively by humans for the production of silk and honey, in some cultures, people eat the larvae or adults of certain insects. Insect first appears documented in English in 1601 in Hollands translation of Pliny, translations of Aristotles term also form the usual word for insect in Welsh, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, etc. The evolutionary relationship of insects to other animal groups remains unclear, in the Pancrustacea theory, insects, together with Entognatha, Remipedia, and Cephalocarida, make up a natural clade labeled Miracrustacea
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Physical geography
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Physical geography is one of the two major sub-fields of geography. Geomorphology seeks to understand landform history and dynamics, and predict future changes through a combination of observation, physical experiment. Thus the field encompasses water in rivers, lakes, aquifers and to an extent glaciers, in which the field examines the process and dynamics involved in these bodies of water. Similar to most fields of physical geography it has sub-fields that examine the bodies of water or their interaction with other spheres e. g. limnology and ecohydrology. Glaciology is the study of glaciers and ice sheets, or more commonly the cryosphere or ice, glaciology groups the latter as continental glaciers and the former as alpine glaciers. Glaciology also has a vast array of sub-fields examining the factors and processes involved in ice sheets and glaciers e. g. snow hydrology, Biogeography is the science which deals with geographic patterns of species distribution and the processes that result in these patterns. The main stimulus for the field since its founding has been that of evolution, plate tectonics, climatology examines both the nature of micro and macro climates and the natural and anthropogenic influences on them. The field is also sub-divided largely into the climates of various regions, meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and short term forecasting. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the eighteenth century, meteorological phenomena are observable weather events which illuminate and are explained by the science of meteorology. Pedology is the study of soils in their natural environment and it is one of two main branches of soil science, the other being edaphology. Pedology mainly deals with pedogenesis, soil morphology, soil classification, palaeogeography is a cross-disciplinary study that examines the preserved material in the stratigraphic record to determine the distribution of the continents through geologic time. Almost all the evidence for the positions of the continents comes from geology in the form of fossils or paleomagnetism, the use of this data has resulted in evidence for continental drift, plate tectonics, and supercontinents. This, in turn, has supported palaeogeographic theories such as the Wilson cycle, coastal geography is the study of the dynamic interface between the ocean and the land, incorporating both the physical geography and the human geography of the coast. It involves an understanding of coastal weathering processes, particularly wave action, sediment movement and weathering, coastal geography, although predominantly geomorphological in its research, is not just concerned with coastal landforms, but also the causes and influences of sea level change. Oceanography is the branch of geography that studies the Earths oceans. These diverse topics reflect multiple disciplines that oceanographers blend to further knowledge of the world ocean, Quaternary science is an inter-disciplinary field of study focusing on the Quaternary period, which encompasses the last 2.6 million years. The field was founded by the German geographer Carl Troll. Landscape ecology typically deals with problems in an applied and holistic context, geomatics is the field of gathering, storing, processing, and delivering geographic information, or spatially referenced information
30.
Lumber
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Lumber, or timber is wood that has been processed into beams and planks, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber may also refer to currently un-needed furniture, as in Lumber room, or an awkward gait, ultimately derived from the look of unfashionable, Lumber may be supplied either rough-sawn, or surfaced on one or more of its faces. Besides pulpwood, rough lumber is the raw material for furniture-making and it is available in many species, usually hardwoods, but it is also readily available in softwoods, such as white pine and red pine, because of their low cost. Lumber is mainly used for structural purposes but has other uses as well. It is classified more commonly as a softwood than as a hardwood, in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and Britain, the term timber describes sawn wood products, such as floor boards. In the United States and Canada, generally timber describes standing or felled trees, before they are milled into boards, Timber there also describes sawn lumber not less than 5 inches in its smallest dimension. The latter includes the often partly finished lumber used in timber-frame construction, remanufactured lumber is the result of secondary or tertiary processing/cutting of previously milled lumber. Specifically, it is cut for industrial or wood-packaging use. Lumber is cut by ripsaw or resaw to create dimensions that are not usually processed by a primary sawmill, resawing is the splitting of 1-inch through 12-inch hardwood or softwood lumber into two or more thinner pieces of full-length boards. For example, splitting a ten-foot 2×4 into two ten-foot 1×4s is considered resawing, structural lumber may also be produced from recycled plastic and new plastic stock. Its introduction has been opposed by the forestry industry. Blending fiberglass in plastic lumber enhances its strength, durability, logs are converted into timber by being sawn, hewn, or split. Sawing with a rip saw is the most common method, because sawing allows logs of lower quality, with grain and large knots. There are various types of sawing, Plain sawn —A log sawn through without adjusting the position of the log, quarter sawn and rift sawn—These terms have been confused in history but generally mean lumber sawn so the annual rings are reasonably perpendicular to the sides of the lumber. Boxed heart—The pith remains within the piece with some allowance for exposure, heart center—the center core of a log. Free of heart center —A side-cut timber without any pith, free of knots —No knots are present. Dimensional lumber is lumber that is cut to standardized width and depth, carpenters extensively use dimensional lumber in framing wooden buildings. Common sizes include 2×4, 2×6, and 4×4, the length of a board is usually specified separately from the width and depth
31.
Tannin
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A tannin is an astringent, polyphenolic biomolecule that binds to and precipitates proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term tannin refers to the use of wood tannins from oak in tanning hides into leather, hence the words tan. The tannin compounds are distributed in many species of plants, where they play a role in protection from predation, and perhaps also as pesticides. The astringency from the tannins is what causes the dry and puckery feeling in the following the consumption of unripened fruit or red wine or tea. Likewise, the destruction or modification of tannins with time plays an important role when determining harvesting times, Tannins have molecular weights ranging from 500 to over 3,000 and up to 20,000. There are three classes of tannins, Shown below are the base unit or monomer of the tannin. Particularly in the flavone-derived tannins, the base shown must be heavily hydroxylated and polymerized in order to give the high molecular weight polyphenol motif that characterizes tannins, typically, tannin molecules require at least 12 hydroxyl groups and at least five phenyl groups to function as protein binders. Oligostilbenoids are oligomeric forms of stilbenoids and constitute a class of tannins, pseudo tannins are low molecular weight compounds associated with other compounds. They do not change color during the Goldbeaters skin test, unlike hydrolysable and condensed tannins, some examples of pseudo tannins and their sources are, Ellagic acid, gallic acid, and pyrogallic acid were first discovered by chemist Henri Braconnot in 1831. Julius Löwe was the first person to synthesize ellagic acid by heating gallic acid with arsenic acid or silver oxide, maximilian Nierenstein studied natural phenols and tannins found in different plant species. Working with Arthur George Perkin, he prepared ellagic acid from algarobilla and he suggested its formation from galloyl-glycine by Penicillium in 1915. Tannase is an enzyme that Nierenstein used to produce acid from gallotannins. He proved the presence of catechin in cocoa beans in 1931 and he showed in 1945 that luteic acid, a molecule present in the myrobalanitannin, a tannin found in the fruit of Terminalia chebula, is an intermediary compound in the synthesis of ellagic acid. At these times, molecule formulas were determined through combustion analysis, the discovery in 1943 by Martin and Synge of paper chromatography provided for the first time the means of surveying the phenolic constituents of plants and for their separation and identification. There was an explosion of activity in this field after 1945, none more so than that of Edgar Charles Bate-Smith and it is referred to as the White–Bate-Smith–Swain–Haslam definition. Tannins are distributed in species throughout the plant kingdom and they are commonly found in both gymnosperms as well as angiosperms. Mole studied the distribution of tannin in 180 families of dicotyledons and 44 families of monocotyledons, most families of dicot contain tannin-free species. To the family of the oak, Fagaceae, 73% of the species tested contain tannin, for those of acacias, Mimosaceae, only 39% of the species tested contain tannin, among Solanaceae rate drops to 6% and 4% for the Asteraceae
32.
Bulnesia sarmientoi
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Bulnesia sarmientoi is a tree that inhabits a part of the Gran Chaco area in South America, around the Argentina-Bolivia-Paraguay border. Its wood is traded as Argentine lignum vitae or Paraguay lignum vitae, since it has properties and uses similar to the true lignum vitae trees of genus Guaiacum. Another trade name is vera or verawood, which may refer to the even more closely related B. arborea. Another common but rather ambiguous name is palo santo, in some places it is called ibiocaí Bulnesia sarmientoi heartwood is brown, black, and green, with streaks. The sapwood is mostly thin and light yellow, the basic specific gravity of this wood is between 0.92 and 1.1 g/cm³. Palo santo is employed for engraving work and for the making of wooden posts. From its wood, also, a type of oil known as oil of guaiac is produced, to be used as an ingredient for soaps and its resin can be obtained by means of organic solvents, and is employed to make varnishes and dark paints. Palo santo is appreciated for the properties of its essence and also because it provides good charcoal. It ignites easily despite being so dense, and produces a fragrant smoke, natives of the Chaco region employ the bark to treat stomach problems. Small pieces of the wood are used as a form of natural incense in spiritual rituals. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, richter, H. G. and M. J. Dallwitz. No lumbermill he knew had ever cut so much palo santo, Bulnesia sarmientoi is a weedy, willowy tree, sometimes called ironwood. … The barrel that Dogfish built is now housed at its brewery, in Milton. Its fifteen feet high and ten feet in diameter, and holds nine thousand gallons
33.
Soap
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In chemistry, a soap is a salt of a fatty acid. Household uses for soaps include washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping, in industry they are also used in textile spinning and are important components of some lubricants. Metal soaps are also included in modern artists oil paints formulations as a rheology modifier, soaps for cleaning are obtained by treating vegetable or animal oils and fats with a strong base, such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide in an aqueous solution. Fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, three molecules of fatty acids attach to a molecule of glycerol. The alkaline solution, which is often called lye, induces saponification, the glycerin, a useful byproduct, can remain in the soap product as a softening agent, or be isolated for other uses. Soaps are key components of most lubricating greases, which are usually emulsions of calcium soap or lithium soap, many other metallic soaps are also useful, including those of aluminium, sodium, and mixtures of them. Such soaps are also used as thickeners to increase the viscosity of oils, in ancient times, lubricating greases were made by the addition of lime to olive oil. When used for cleaning, soap allows insoluble particles to become soluble in water, for example, oil/fat is insoluble in water, but when a couple of drops of dish soap are added to the mixture, the oil/fat solubilizes into the water. Anything that is soluble will be washed away with the water, the type of alkali metal used determines the kind of soap product. Sodium soaps, prepared from sodium hydroxide, are firm, whereas potassium soaps, historically, potassium hydroxide was extracted from the ashes of bracken or other plants. Lithium soaps also tend to be hard—these are used exclusively in greases, soaps are derivatives of fatty acids. Traditionally they have made from triglycerides. Triglyceride is the name for the triesters of fatty acids. Tallow, i. e. rendered beef fat, is the most available triglyceride from animals and its saponified product is called sodium tallowate. Typical vegetable oils used in soap making are palm oil, coconut oil, olive oil, each species offers quite different fatty acid content and hence, results in soaps of distinct feel. The seed oils give softer but milder soaps, Soap made from pure olive oil is sometimes called Castile soap or Marseille soap, and is reputed for being extra mild. The term Castile is also applied to soaps from a mixture of oils. The earliest recorded evidence of the production of soap-like materials dates back to around 2800 BC in ancient Babylon, a formula for soap consisting of water, alkali, and cassia oil was written on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 BC
34.
Yerba mate
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Yerba mate is a species of the holly family, with the botanical name Ilex paraguariensis A. St. -Hil. Named by the French botanist Auguste François César Prouvençal de Saint-Hilaire, Yerba mate is widely known as the source of the beverage called mate. It is also popular among the Druze community in Syria and Lebanon. Yerba mate was initially utilized and cultivated by the Guaraní people and in some Tupí communities in southern Brazil, Yerba mate can also be found in various energy drinks on the market today. Yerba mate, Ilex paraguariensis, begins as a shrub and then matures to a tree, the leaves are evergreen, 7–110 millimetres long and 30–55 millimetres wide, with a serrated margin. The leaves are often called yerba or erva, both of which mean herb and they contain caffeine and also contains related xanthine alkaloids and are harvested commercially. The flowers are small, greenish-white, with four petals, the fruit is a red drupe 4–6 millimetres in diameter. The yerba mate plant is grown and processed in South America, specifically in northern Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, cultivators are known as yerbateros or ervateiros. Seeds used to new plants are harvested from January until April only after they have turned dark purple. After harvest, they are submerged in water in order to eliminate floating non-viable seeds and detritus like twigs, leaves, new plants are started between March and May. For plants established in pots, transplanting takes place April through September, plants with bare roots are transplanted only during the months of June and July. Many of the enemies of yerba mate are difficult to control in a plantation setting. When yerba mate is harvested, the branches are dried by a wood fire. The plant Ilex paraguariensis can vary in strength of the flavor, caffeine levels, female plants tend to be milder in flavor and lower in caffeine. They are also relatively scarce in the areas where yerba mate is planted and cultivated. According to FAO in 2012, Brazil is the biggest producer of mate in the world with 513,256 MT, followed by Argentina with 290,000 MT, sugar may or may not be added, and the mate may be prepared with cold water. Although traditionally made from a calabash gourd, these days mate gourds are produced from a variety of materials including wood, glass, ceramic. Yerba mate is most popular in Uruguay, where people are walking the streets carrying the mate
35.
Soil fertility
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In lands used for agriculture and other human activities, maintenance of soil fertility typically requires the use of soil conservation practices. This is because soil erosion and other forms of soil degradation generally result in a decline in quality with respect to one or more of the aspects indicated above, bioavailable phosphorus is the element in soil that is most often lacking. Nitrogen and potassium are also needed in substantial amounts, for this reason these three elements are always identified on a commercial fertilizer analysis. For example, a 10-10-15 fertilizer has 10 percent nitrogen,10 percent available phosphorus and 15 percent water-soluble potassium, sulfur is the fourth element that may be identified in a commercial analysis—e. g. 21-0-0-24 which would contain 21% nitrogen and 24% sulfate, inorganic fertilizers are generally less expensive and have higher concentrations of nutrients than organic fertilizers. However, some have criticized the use of fertilizers, claiming that the water-soluble nitrogen doesnt provide for the long-term needs of the plant. Slow-release fertilizers may reduce leaching loss of nutrients and may make the nutrients that they provide available over a period of time. Soil fertility is a process that involves the constant cycling of nutrients between organic and inorganic forms. As plant material and animal wastes are decomposed by micro-organisms, they release inorganic nutrients to the soil solution and those nutrients may then undergo further transformations which may be aided or enabled by soil micro-organisms. The balance between immobilization and mineralization processes depends on the balance and availability of nutrients and organic carbon to soil microorganisms. Natural processes such as lightning strikes may fix atmospheric nitrogen by converting it to, denitrification may occur under anaerobic conditions in the presence of denitrifying bacteria. Nutrient cations, including potassium and many micronutrients, are held in strong bonds with the negatively charged portions of the soil in a process known as cation exchange. In 2008 the cost of phosphorus as fertilizer more than doubled, recently the term peak phosphorus has been coined, due to the limited occurrence of rock phosphate in the world. Photosynthesis is the process whereby plants use light energy to chemical reactions which convert CO2 into sugars. As such, all plants require access to light and carbon dioxide to produce energy, grow and reproduce. While typically limited by nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, low levels of carbon dioxide can act as a limiting factor on plant growth. Peer-reviewed and published studies have shown that increasing CO2 is highly effective at promoting plant growth up to levels over 300 ppm. Further increases in CO2 can, to a small degree
36.
Phosphorus
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Phosphorus is a chemical element with symbol P and atomic number 15. As an element, phosphorus exists in two major forms—white phosphorus and red phosphorus—but because it is reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Earth. At 0. 099%, phosphorus is the most abundant pnictogen in the Earths crust, with few exceptions, minerals containing phosphorus are in the maximally oxidised state as inorganic phosphate rocks. The glow of phosphorus itself originates from oxidation of the white phosphorus — a process now termed chemiluminescence, together with nitrogen, arsenic, antimony, and bismuth, phosphorus is classified as a pnictogen. Phosphates are a component of DNA, RNA, ATP, and the phospholipids, demonstrating the link between phosphorus and life, elemental phosphorus was first isolated from human urine, and bone ash was an important early phosphate source. Phosphate mines contain fossils, especially marine fossils, because phosphate is present in the deposits of animal remains. Low phosphate levels are an important limit to growth in aquatic systems. The vast majority of compounds produced are consumed as fertilisers. Phosphate is needed to replace the phosphorus that plants remove from the soil, other applications include the role of organophosphorus compounds in detergents, pesticides, and nerve agents. Phosphorus exists as several forms that exhibit different properties. The two most common allotropes are white phosphorus and red phosphorus, from the perspective of applications and chemical literature, the most important form of elemental phosphorus is white phosphorus, often abbreviated as WP. It is a soft and waxy solid consists of tetrahedral P4 molecules. This P4 tetrahedron is also present in liquid and gaseous phosphorus up to the temperature of 800 °C when it starts decomposing to P2 molecules, White phosphorus exists in two crystalline forms, α and β. At room temperature, the α-form is stable, which is common and it has cubic crystal structure and at 195.2 K, it transforms into β-form. These forms differ in terms of the orientations of the constituent P4 tetrahedra. White phosphorus is the least stable, the most reactive, the most volatile, the least dense, White phosphorus gradually changes to red phosphorus. This transformation is accelerated by light and heat, and samples of white phosphorus almost always some red phosphorus. For this reason, white phosphorus that is aged or otherwise impure is also called yellow phosphorus, when exposed to oxygen, white phosphorus glows in the dark with a very faint tinge of green and blue
37.
Guaycuru peoples
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Guaycuru or Guaykuru is a generic term for several ethnic groups indigenous to the Gran Chaco region of South America, speaking several related Mataco–Guaycuru languages. At the time of the European conquest, the territory of the Guaycuru tribes extended into the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay. The name is written guaycurú or guaicurú in Spanish, and guaicuru in Portuguese and it was originally an offensive epithet given to some Mbayá tribes of Paraguay by the Guarani, meaning savage or barbarian, which later got extended to the whole group. It has also used in the past to include other tribes of the region. The major extant branches of the Guaycuru are, Mocoví Toba Pilagá Kadiweu The Mocoví, Toba and they have been placed together with the Abipón in the Southern division, while the Kadiweu are placed by themselves in a Northern division. The placement of the Payaguá in this classification is still controversial, other Guaycuru groups have become extinguished over the last 500 years, Abipón Mbayá Payaguá
38.
Paraguayan War
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With an estimated 400,000 deaths, the war was the deadliest and bloodiest in Latin Americas history. According to some estimates, Paraguays pre-war population of 525,000 was reduced to 221,000, the war began in late 1864, as a result of a conflict between Paraguay and Brazil caused by the Uruguayan War. Argentina and Uruguay entered the war against Paraguay in 1865, the war ended with the total defeat of Paraguay. The guerrilla war lasted 14 months until President Francisco Solano López was killed in action by Brazilian forces in the Battle of Cerro Corá on March 1,1870, Argentine and Brazilian troops occupied Paraguay until 1876. Estimates of total Paraguayan losses range from 21,000 to 200,000 people and it took decades for Paraguay to recover from the chaos and demographic losses. There are several theories regarding the origins of the war, before the war Paraguay had experienced rapid economic and military growth. A strong military was developed because Paraguays larger neighbors Argentina and Brazil had territorial claims against it, Paraguay had recurring boundary disputes and tariff issues with Argentina and Brazil for many years during the rule of Carlos Antonio López. Since Brazil and Argentina had become independent, their struggle for hegemony in the Río de la Plata profoundly marked the diplomatic, Brazil was the first country to recognize the independence of Paraguay in 1844. At this time Argentina still considered it a break-away province, as no roads linked the inland province of Mato Grosso to Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian ships needed to travel through Paraguayan territory, going up the Paraguay River to arrive at Cuiabá. However, Brazil had difficulty obtaining permission from the government in Asunción to freely use the Paraguay River for its shipping needs and this last intervention would lead to the Paraguayan War. Flores wanted to overthrow the Blanco Party government of President Bernardo Berro, Paraguayan President López sent a note on 6 September 1863 to the Argentine government asking for an explanation, but Buenos Aires denied any involvement in Uruguay. From that moment, mandatory service was introduced in Paraguay and in February 1864. Uruguayan President Atanasio Aguirre from the Blanco Party rejected the Brazilian demands, presented his own demands, Brazilian soldiers on the northern borders of Uruguay started to provide help to Flores troops, harassed Uruguayan officers, while the Imperial Fleet pressed hard on Montevideo. During the months of June–August,1864 a Cooperation Treaty was signed between Brazil and Argentina at Buenos Aires, for assistance in the Plate Basin Crisis. Brazilian Minister Saraiva on August 4,1864, sent an ultimatum to the Uruguayan government, either comply with the Brazilian demands, or the Brazilian army would retaliate. Despite the Paraguayan notes and ultimatums, on October 12,1864 Brazilian troops under the command of Gen. João Propício Mena Barreto invaded Uruguay thus marking the beginning of the hostilities. On 12 November 1864, the Paraguayan ship Tacuarí captured the Brazilian ship Marquês de Olinda, news of the wars end was brought by Pereira Pinto and met with joy in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II found himself waylaid by a crowd of thousands in the streets amid acclamations, but public opinion quickly changed for the worse when newspapers began running stories painting the convention of 20 February as harmful to Brazilian interests, for which the cabinet was blamed
39.
War of the Pacific
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The War of the Pacific, took place from 1879 to 1883, with Bolivia and Peru on one side and Chile on the other. The war ended with the victory of Chile, which gained a significant amount of land from Peru, battles were fought in the Pacific Ocean, the Atacama Desert, Perus deserts, and mountainous regions in the Andes. For the first five months the war played out in a naval campaign, Chile protested and solicited to submit it to mediation, but Bolivia refused and considered it a subject of Bolivias courts. Chile insisted and informed the Bolivian government that Chile would no longer consider itself bound to the 1874 Boundary Treaty if Bolivia did not suspend enforcing the law. On February 14,1879 when Bolivian authorities attempted to auction the property of CSFA. On April 5, after Peru refused this, Chile declared war on both nations, the following day, Peru responded by acknowledging the casus foederis. On the other, there was the competition for economic and political hegemony in the region. Afterwards, Chiles land campaign bested the Bolivian and Peruvian armies, Bolivia withdrew after the Battle of Tacna on May 26,1880. Chilean forces occupied Lima in January 1881, Peruvian army remnants and irregulars waged a guerrilla war that did not change the wars outcome. Chile and Peru signed the Treaty of Ancón on October 20,1883, Bolivia signed a truce with Chile in 1884. Chile acquired the Peruvian territory of Tarapacá, the disputed Bolivian department of Litoral, as well as control over the Peruvian provinces of Tacna. In 1904, Chile and Bolivia signed the Treaty of Peace, the 1929 Tacna–Arica compromise gave Arica to Chile and Tacna to Peru. It is also known as the Saltpetre War, as the The Ten Cents War in reference to the controversial ten-centavo tax imposed by the Bolivian government, or as the The Second Pacific War. Not to be confused with the Saltpeter War, a pre-Columbian war nor the Guano War as the Chincha Islands War is sometimes named, wanu is a Quechua word for fertilizer. Potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate are nitrogen-containing compounds collectively referred to as salpeter, saltpetre, salitre, caliche and they are used as fertilizer with also other important uses. Hence the words oficina, or oficina salitrera for saltpeter works, the word Atacama had two meanings. It was and is a Chilean region, then province, South of the Atacama desert, the Atacama desert mostly coincides with the disputed Antofagasta province, also named Litoral in Bolivia. The dry climate of the Peruvian and Bolivian coasts had permitted the accumulation and preservation of vast amounts of high-quality guano deposits, in the 1840s, Europeans knew the guano and nitrates value as fertilizer and saltpeters role in explosives
40.
Chaco War
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The Chaco War was fought between Bolivia and Paraguay over control of the northern part of the Gran Chaco region of South America, which was thought to be rich in oil. It is also referred to as La Guerra de la Sed in literary circles and it was the bloodiest military conflict fought in South America during the 20th century, between two of its poorest countries, both having previously lost territory to neighbors in 19th-century wars. During the war, both landlocked countries faced difficulties shipping arms and supplies through neighboring countries, Bolivia faced particular external trade problems, coupled with poor internal communications. Although Bolivia had lucrative mining income and a larger, better-equipped army, a series of factors turned the tide against it, the ultimate peace treaties granted two-thirds of the disputed territories to Paraguay. The origin of the war is commonly attributed in Latin America to a conflict between the oil companies Royal Dutch Shell backing Paraguay and Standard Oil supporting Bolivia. The discovery of oil in the Andean foothills sparked speculation that the Chaco might prove a source of petroleum. Standard Oil was already producing oil wells in the high hills of eastern Bolivia. However, it is if the war would have been caused solely by the interests of these companies. Both Bolivia and Paraguay were landlocked, though the 600,000 km2 Chaco was sparsely populated, control of the Paraguay River running through it provided access to the Atlantic Ocean. This became especially important to Bolivia, which had lost its Pacific coast to Chile in the 1879 War of the Pacific, Paraguay had lost almost half of its territory to Brazil and Argentina in the Paraguayan War of 1864-1870. The country was not prepared to surrender its economic viability, in international arbitration, Bolivia argued that the region had been part of the original Spanish colonial province of Moxos and Chiquitos to which Bolivia was heir. Meanwhile, Paraguay based its case on the occupation of the land, as of 1919, Argentine banks owned 400,000 hectares of land in the eastern Chaco while the Casado family, a powerful part of the Argentine oligarchy, held 141,000. The presence of Mennonite colonies in the Chaco, who settled there in the 1920s under the auspices of the Paraguayan parliament, was another factor in favour of Paraguays claim. He assumed that the new settlement was well inside Bolivian territory, the Paraguayan government sent in a naval detachment aboard the gunboat Pirapó, which forcibly evicted the Bolivians from the area in 1888. Two agreements followed — in 1894 and 1907 — which neither the Bolivian nor the Paraguayan parliament ever approved, meanwhile, in 1905 Bolivia founded two new outposts in the Chaco, Ballivián and Guachalla, this time along the Pilcomayo River. The Bolivian government ignored the half-hearted Paraguayan official protest, Bolivian penetration in the region went unopposed until 1927, when the first blood was shed over the Chaco Boreal. Fortín was the used for the small pillbox and trench-like garrisons in the Chaco. While the Bolivian government formally regretted the death of Rojas Silva, after the subsequent talks arranged in Buenos Aires failed to produce any agreement and eventually collapsed in January 1928, the dispute grew violent
41.
Carlos Saavedra Lamas
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Carlos Saavedra Lamas was an Argentine academic and politician, and in 1936, the first Latin American Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Born in Buenos Aires, Saavedra Lamas was a descendant of an early Argentine patriot and he married the daughter of president Roque Sáenz Peña. Saavedra Lamas was a student at Lacordaire College and at the University of Buenos Aires where he received the Doctor of Laws degree in 1903. Saavedra Lamas was a leading Argentine academician in two areas and his brief Vida internacional, which he wrote at the age of seventy, is an urbane by-product of all this study and experience. Saavedra Lamas began his career in 1906 as director of Public Credit. In 1908 he was elected to the first of two terms in Parliament. There he initiated legislation regarding water rights, irrigation, sugar production, government finances, colonization. His main interest, however, lay in foreign affairs, when General Agustín P. Justo became president of Argentina in 1932, he appointed Saavedra Lamas as foreign minister. In this post for six years, Saavedra Lamas brought international prestige to Argentina and his work in ending the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia had not only local significance but generalized international importance as well. When he took over the office, he immediately engaged in a series of moves to lay the diplomatic groundwork for a negotiated settlement of this dispute. In 1932 he initiated at Washington the Declaration of August 3 which put the American states on record as refusing to any territorial change in the hemisphere brought about by force. In 1935 he organized mediation by six neutral American nations which resulted in the cessation of hostilities between Paraguay and Bolivia, meanwhile, in 1934, Saavedra Lamas presented the South American Antiwar Pact to the League of Nations where it was well received and signed by eleven countries. Acclaimed for all of efforts, he was elected president of the Assembly of the League of Nations in 1936. In addition to the Nobel Peace Prize, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor of France and he died in 1959 at the age of eighty from the effects of a brain hemorrhage. In March 2014 his solid gold Nobel medal was put up for auction after being found in a South American pawn shop, in August 2014 a project for rebuying his Nobel medal by the Argentine Nation was presented at the Argentine congress
42.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
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Prosopis
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Prosopis is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia. They often thrive in soil and are resistant to drought. Their wood is hard, dense and durable. Their fruits are pods and may contain large amounts of sugar, the generic name means burdock in late Latin and originated in the Greek language. – honey mesquite, Haas Prosopis laevigata M. C. Johnst, – smooth mesquite Prosopis pubescens Benth. – screwbean mesquite Prosopis reptans Benth, – tornillo Prosopis velutina Wooton – velvet mesquite Algarrobos, bayahondas etc. – algarrobillo espinoso Prosopis affinis Spreng, – nandubay, algarrobillo, espinillo, Ibopé-morotí Prosopis alba Griseb. – creeping mesquite, Argentine screwbean Prosopis tamarugo Phil, – tamarugo African species Prosopis africana Taub. – gele Asian species Prosopis cineraria Druce – jand, ghaf, sami or sumri, khejri, sangri, kandi Prosopis farcta J. F. Macbr. The tannins present in Prosopis species are of the pyrogallotannin and pyrocatecollic types, the tannins are mainly found in the bark and wood while their concentration in the pods is low. Some species, such as P. africana or P. velutina, in Australia, invasive Prosopis species are causing severe economic and environmental damage. With their thorns and many low branches, Prosopis shrubs form impenetrable thickets which prevent cattle from accessing watering holes and they also take over pastoral grasslands and suck up scarce water. Prosopis species cause land erosion due to loss of grassland that are habitats for native plants, Prosopis thickets also provide shelter for feral animals such as pigs and cats. For more information on invasiveness of mesquite species, see Prosopis glandulosa, eradicating Prosopis is difficult because the plants bud regeneration zone can extend down to 6 in below ground level, the tree can regenerate from a piece of root left in the soil. Some herbicides are not effective or only partially effective against mesquite, spray techniques for removal, while effective against short-term regrowth, are expensive, costing more than $70/acre in the USA. Removing large trees requires tracked equipment, costs can approach $2,000 per acre, in Australia, several techniques are used to remove Prosopis. Invasive species in Australia Paciecznik, N. M. Harris P. J. C. & S. J. Smith, identifying Tropical Prosopis Species, A Field Guide. Handbook on taxonomy of Prosopis in Mexico, Peru and Chile Plant Walk I, Old Main Plant Walk 1 UofA Plant Walk 2 UofA U. S. Federal Noxious Weed List The Prosopis Website
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