1.
Nicaragua
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Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the largest country in the Central American isthmus. Nicaraguas capital, Managua, is the countrys largest city and the third-largest city in Central America, the multi-ethnic population of six million includes indigenous peoples, Europeans, Africans, and Asians. Native tribes on the eastern coast speak their own languages, the Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821, since its independence, Nicaragua has undergone periods of political unrest, dictatorship, and fiscal crisis—the most notable causes that led to the Nicaraguan Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Nicaragua is a democratic republic. The biological diversity, warm climate and active volcanoes make Nicaragua an increasingly popular tourist destination. The name Nicaragua was coined by Spanish colonists based on the name Nicarao, when Spaniard Gil González Dávila came to Nicaragua in 1521 he found in the areas between Rivas and San Jorge the first pre-Columbian natives of Nicaragua. At the time the city was called Quauhcapolca and the cacique leaders name was Macuilmiquiztli. The Pipil migrated to Nicaragua from central Mexico after 500 BC, meanwhile, the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua was inhabited by other peoples, mostly Chibcha language groups. They had coalesced in Central America and migrated also to present-day northern Colombia and they lived a life based primarily on hunting and gathering. In 1502, Christopher Columbus became the first European known to have reached what is now Nicaragua as he sailed southeast toward the Isthmus of Panama, on his fourth voyage, Columbus explored the Miskito Coast on the Atlantic side of Nicaragua. The Spanish attempted to convert all three tribes to Christianity, Nicaragua and Nicarao and their people converted, but Dirangen, however, did not, the first attempt to conquer what is now known as Nicaragua was by Gil González Dávila, who arrived in Panama in January 1520. The first Spanish permanent settlements were founded in 1524, conquistador Francisco Hernández de Córdoba founded two of Nicaraguas principal towns in 1524, Granada on Lake Nicaragua was the first settlement, followed by León at a location west of Lake Managua. Córdoba soon built defenses for the cities and fought against incursions by other conquistadors, Córdoba was later publicly beheaded following a power struggle with Pedro Arias Dávila. His tomb and remains were discovered in 2000 in the ruins of León Viejo, the clashes among Spanish forces did not impede their destruction of the indigenous people and their culture. The series of battles came to be known as the War of the Captains, Pedro Arias Dávila was a winner, although he had lost control of Panama, he moved to Nicaragua and successfully established his base in León. Through adroit diplomatic machinations, he became the first governor of the colony, many indigenous people died as a result of new infectious diseases, compounded by neglect by the Spaniards, who controlled their subsistence. In 1610, the Momotombo volcano erupted, destroying the capital and it was rebuilt northwest of what is now known as the ruins of Old León
2.
Departments of Nicaragua
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The department was divided into two autonomous regions. The Charter of Autonomy is largely based on the used by Spain. The communities are governed by a Governor and a Regional Council, ISO 3166-2, NI Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales. Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions
3.
Tropical savanna climate
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Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a type of climate that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories Aw and As. This latter fact is in direct contrast to a monsoon climate. In essence, a savanna climate tends to either see less rainfall than a tropical monsoon climate or have more pronounced dry seasons. There are generally four types of tropical climate,1. Distinct wet and dry seasons of relatively equal duration, most of the regions annual rainfall is experienced during the wet season and very little precipitation falls during the dry season. A lengthy dry season and a short wet season. This version features seven or more dry season months and five or less wet season months, there are variations within this version, On one extreme, the region receives just enough precipitation during the short wet season to preclude it from a semi-arid climate classification. This drier variation of the savanna climate is typically found adjacent to regions with semi-arid climates. On the other extreme, the features a lengthy dry season followed by a short. However, regions with this variation of the climate do not experience enough rainfall during the wet season to qualify as a monsoon climate. A lengthy wet season and a short dry season. This version features seven or more wet season months and five or less dry season months, a dry season with a noticeable amount of rainfall followed by a rainy wet season. Tropical savanna climates are most commonly found in Africa, Asia, the climate is also prevalent in sections of Central America, northern Australia and southern North America, specifically in sections of Mexico and the state of Florida in the United States. Most places that have this climate are found at the margins of the tropical zone. Similarly, the Caribbean coast, eastward from the Gulf of Urabá on the Colombia – Panamá border to the Orinoco river delta and this condition extends to the Lesser Antilles and Greater Antilles forming the Circumcaribbean dry belt. The length and severity of the dry season diminishes inland, at the latitude of the Amazon river—which flows eastward, East from the Andes, between the arid Caribbean and the ever-wet Amazon are the Orinoco river llanos or savannas, from where this climate takes its name. Sometimes As is used in place of Aw if the dry season occurs during the time of higher sun and this is the case in parts of Hawaii, East Africa, Sri Lanka and coastal regions of Northeastern Brazil, for instance. The difference between summer and winter in such locations is usually so slight that a distinction between an As and Aw climate is a quibble
4.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
5.
Granada
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Granada is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of four rivers, the Beiro, the Darro, the Genil and the Monachil. It sits at an elevation of 738 m above sea level, yet is only one hour by car from the Mediterranean coast. Nearby is the Sierra Nevada Ski Station, where the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1996 were held, about 3. 3% of the population did not hold Spanish citizenship, the largest number of these people coming from South America. Its nearest airport is Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén Airport, the Alhambra, a Moorish citadel and palace, is in Granada. It is the most renowned building of the Andalusian Islamic historical legacy with its cultural attractions that make Granada a popular destination among the touristic cities of Spain. The Almohad influence on architecture is preserved in the Granada neighborhood called the Albaicín with its fine examples of Moorish. Granada is also well-known within Spain for the University of Granada which has about 80,000 students spread over five different campuses in the city, the pomegranate is the heraldic device of Granada. The region surrounding what today is Granada has been populated since at least 5500 BC and experienced Roman, the most ancient ruins found in the city belongs to an Iberian oppidum called Ilturir, in the region known as Bastetania. This oppidum eventually changed its name to Iliberri, and after the Roman conquest of Iberia, the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, starting in AD711, brought large parts of the Iberian Peninsula under Moorish control and established Al-Andalus. In the early 11th century, after a war that ended the Caliphate, the Berber, Zawi ben Ziri, established an independent kingdom for himself. Jewish people were established in another close to Illiberis, called Gárnata or Gárnata al-Yahūd. Granadas historical name in the Arabic language was غرناطة, the word Gárnata possibly means hill of strangers. Because the city was situated on a low plain and, as a result, difficult to protect from attacks, in a short time this town was transformed into one of the most important cities of Al-Andalus. By the end of the 11th century, the city had spread across the Darro to reach the hill of the future Alhambra, the Almoravids ruled Granada from 1090 and the Almohad dynasty from 1166. With the Reconquista in full swing after the conquest of Córdoba in 1236, according to some historians, Granada was a tributary state to the Kingdom of Castile since that year. It provided connections with Muslim and Arab trade centers, particularly for gold from sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb, the Nasrids also supplied troops from the Emirate and mercenaries from North Africa for service to Castile. Ibn Battuta, a traveler and an authentic historian, visited the Kingdom of Granada in 1350
6.
Moorish
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Moors are not a distinct or self-defined people, and mainstream scholars observed in 1911 that The term Moors has no real ethnological value. Medieval and early modern Europeans variously applied the name to Arabs, Berber North Africans and Muslim Europeans. The term has also used in Europe in a broader, somewhat derogatory sense to refer to Muslims in general, especially those of Arab or Berber descent. During the colonial era, the Portuguese introduced the names Ceylon Moors and Indian Moors in Sri Lanka, in 711, troops mostly formed by Moors from North Africa led the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The Iberian peninsula then came to be known in classical Arabic as Al-Andalus, in 827, the Moors occupied Mazara on Sicily, developing it as a port. They eventually consolidated the rest of the island and some of southern Italy, in 1224 the Muslims were expelled from Sicily to the settlement of Lucera, which was destroyed by European Christians in 1300. The fall of Granada in 1492 marked the end of Muslim rule in Iberia, the Berber tribes of the region were noted in Classical literature as Mauri, which was subsequently rendered as Moors in English and in related variations in other European languages. Mauri is recorded as the name by Strabo in the early 1st century. This appellation was also adopted into Latin, whereas the Greek name for the tribe was Maurusii, in medieval Romance languages, variations of the Latin word for the Moors developed different applications and connotations. During the context of the Crusades and the Reconquista, the term Moors included the suggestion of infidels. Apart from these associations and context, Moor and Moorish designate a specific ethnic group speaking Hassaniya Arabic. They inhabit Mauritania and parts of Algeria, Western Sahara, Tunisia, Morocco, Niger, in Niger and Mali, these peoples are also known as the Azawagh Arabs, after the Azawagh region of the Sahara. Some authors have pointed out that in modern colloquial Spanish use of the term moro is derogatory for Moroccans in particular, however, this designation has gained more acceptance in the south. In the Philippines, a former Spanish colony, many modern Filipinos call the large, local Muslim minority concentrated in Mindanao, the word is a catch-all term, as Moro may come from several distinct ethno-linguistic groups such as the Maranao people. The term was introduced by Spanish colonisers, and has since been appropriated by Filipino Muslims as an endonym, moreno can mean dark-skinned in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, and the Philippines. Also in Spanish, morapio is a name for wine, especially that which has not been baptized or mixed with water. Among Spanish speakers, moro came to have a broader meaning, Moro refers to all things dark, as in Moor, moreno, etc. It was also used as a nickname, for instance, the Milanese Duke Ludovico Sforza was called Il Moro because of his dark complexion, in Portugal, mouro may refer to supernatural beings known as enchanted moura, where moor implies alien and non-Christian
7.
Antigua Guatemala
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Antigua Guatemala is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spanish Baroque-influenced architecture as well as a number of ruins of colonial churches. It served as the capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala and it has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Antigua Guatemala serves as the seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It also serves as the capital of Sacatepéquez Department. The city had a population of some 60,000 in the 1770s. Despite significant population growth in the late 20th century, the city had reached half that number by the 1990s. According to the 2007 census, the city has some 34,685 inhabitants, Antigua Guatemala means Ancient Guatemala and was the third capital of Guatemala. Naturally, St. James became the saint of the city. After several Kaqchikel uprisings, the capital was moved to a suitable site in the Valley of Almolonga on November 22,1527. This new city was located on the site of present-day San Miguel Escobar and this city was destroyed on September 11,1541 by a devastating lahar from the Volcán de Agua. As a result, the authorities decided to move the capital once more. So, on March 10,1543 the Spanish conquistadors founded present-day Antigua, during its development and splendor, it was known as one of the three most beautiful cities of the Spanish Indies. The city was out in a square pattern, with streets running north to south and from east to west. Both church and government buildings were designated important places around the central plaza, the original building was small and paneled with portal, tile roof and adobe walls. The city is surrounded by three enormous volcanoes and mountains, plains and hills and this territory was called Valley of Guatemala and had 73 villages, two towns and the city of Santiago de los Caballeros. Due to constant problems between the conquerors and the representatives of the crown sent by the king of Spain, the Audiencia de los Confines was abolished in 1565. In 1570 the hearing was restored, this time independent of the viceroy of Mexico and this primitive chapel was destroyed in 1575 by an earthquake and during the next ten years collections were made to build the new complex, two blocks from the previous one. Notable students included Cristóbal de Villalpando, Thomas Merlo and Alonso de Paz, the city was the final resting place of the great Spanish chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo, and his remains were interred in one of the churches that was eventually ruined by earthquakes
8.
Guatemala
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With an estimated population of around 15.8 million, it is the most populated state in Central America. Guatemala is a democracy, its capital and largest city is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción. The territory of modern Guatemala once formed the core of the Maya civilization, most of the country was conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century, becoming part of the viceroyalty of New Spain. Guatemala attained independence in 1821 as part of the Federal Republic of Central America, from the mid to late 19th century, Guatemala experienced chronic instability and civil strife. Beginning in the early 20th century, it was ruled by a series of dictators backed by the United Fruit Company, in 1944, authoritarian leader Jorge Ubico was overthrown by a pro-democratic military coup, initiating a decade-long revolution that led to sweeping social and economic reforms. A U. S. -backed military coup in 1954 ended the revolution, from 1960 to 1996, Guatemala endured a bloody civil war fought between the US-backed government and leftist rebels, including genocidal massacres of the Maya population perpetrated by the military. As of 2014, Guatemala ranks 31st of 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries in terms of the Human Development Index, Guatemalas abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems includes a large number of endemic species and contributes to Mesoamericas designation as a biodiversity hotspot. The country is known for its rich and distinct culture. The name Guatemala comes from the Nahuatl word Cuauhtēmallān, or place of many trees and this was the name the Tlaxcaltecan soldiers who accompanied Pedro de Alvarado during the Spanish Conquest gave to this territory. The first evidence of habitation in Guatemala dates back to 12,000 BC. Evidence, such as obsidian arrowheads found in parts of the country. There is archaeological proof that early Guatemalan settlers were hunters and gatherers, pollen samples from Petén and the Pacific coast indicate that maize cultivation had been developed by 3500 BC. Sites dating back to 6500 BC have been found in the Quiché region in the Highlands, archaeologists divide the pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica into the Preclassic period, the Classic period, and the Postclassic period. Until recently, the Preclassic was regarded as a period, with small villages of farmers who lived in huts. This period is characterized by urbanisation, the emergence of independent city-states and this lasted until approximately 900 AD, when the Classic Maya civilization collapsed. The Maya abandoned many of the cities of the lowlands or were killed off by a drought-induced famine. The cause of the collapse is debated, but the Drought Theory is gaining currency, supported by such as lakebeds, ancient pollen. A series of prolonged droughts, among other such as overpopulation, in what is otherwise a seasonal desert is thought to have decimated the Maya
9.
Atlantic Ocean
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The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the worlds oceans with a total area of about 106,460,000 square kilometres. It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earths surface and about 29 percent of its surface area. It separates the Old World from the New World, the Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Eurasia and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. The Equatorial Counter Current subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean, in contrast, the term Atlantic originally referred specifically to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and the sea off the Strait of Gibraltar and the North African coast. The Greek word thalassa has been reused by scientists for the huge Panthalassa ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea hundreds of years ago. The term Aethiopian Ocean, derived from Ancient Ethiopia, was applied to the Southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century, many Irish or British people refer to the United States and Canada as across the pond, and vice versa. The Black Atlantic refers to the role of ocean in shaping black peoples history. Irish migration to the US is meant when the term The Green Atlantic is used, the term Red Atlantic has been used in reference to the Marxian concept of an Atlantic working class, as well as to the Atlantic experience of indigenous Americans. Correspondingly, the extent and number of oceans and seas varies, the Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, to the east, the boundaries of the ocean proper are Europe, the Strait of Gibraltar and Africa. In the southeast, the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean, the 20° East meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica defines its border. In the 1953 definition it extends south to Antarctica, while in later maps it is bounded at the 60° parallel by the Southern Ocean, the Atlantic has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas. Including these marginal seas the coast line of the Atlantic measures 111,866 km compared to 135,663 km for the Pacific. Including its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers an area of 106,460,000 km2 or 23. 5% of the ocean and has a volume of 310,410,900 km3 or 23. 3%. Excluding its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers 81,760,000 km2 and has a volume of 305,811,900 km3, the North Atlantic covers 41,490,000 km2 and the South Atlantic 40,270,000 km2. The average depth is 3,646 m and the maximum depth, the bathymetry of the Atlantic is dominated by a submarine mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It runs from 87°N or 300 km south of the North Pole to the subantarctic Bouvet Island at 42°S, the MAR divides the Atlantic longitudinally into two halves, in each of which a series of basins are delimited by secondary, transverse ridges. The MAR reaches above 2000 m along most of its length, the MAR is a barrier for bottom water, but at these two transform faults deep water currents can pass from one side to the other
10.
Lake Nicaragua
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Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada is a freshwater lake in Nicaragua. With an elevation of 32.7 metres above sea level and it is intermittently joined by the Tipitapa River to Lake Managua. The Pacific is near enough to be seen from the mountains of Ometepe, the lake has a history of Caribbean pirates who assaulted Granada on three occasions. Plans were made to take advantage of this route to build a canal, the Nicaragua Canal. In order to quell competition with the Panama Canal, the U. S. secured all rights to a canal along this route in the Bryan-Chamorro Treaty of 1916. However, since this treaty was mutually rescinded by the United States and Nicaragua in 1970, protests against the ecological and social effects of the canal as well as questions about financing have led to doubts about the project. Lake Nicaragua, despite being a lake, has sawfish, tarpon. Initially, scientists thought the sharks in the lake belonged to an endemic species, in 1961, following comparisons of specimens, the Lake Nicaragua Shark was synonymized with the widespread bull shark, a species also known for entering freshwater elsewhere around the world. As evidence of these movements, bull sharks tagged inside the lake have later been caught in the open ocean, numerous other species of fish live in the lake, including at least 16 cichlids that are endemic to the general region. A non-native cichlid, a tilapia, is used widely in aquaculture within the lake, nicaraguans call the Lake Lago Cocibolca or Mar Dulce. It is the nations largest source of freshwater, the lake has sizeable waves driven by the easterly winds blowing west to the Pacific Ocean. The lake holds Ometepe and Zapatera, which are volcanic islands, as well as the archipelago of the Solentiname Islands. The lake has a reputation for powerful, unnavigable storms. In the past 37 years, considerable concern has been expressed about the condition of Lake Nicaragua. It was found that 32 tons of raw sewage were being released into Lake Nicaragua daily, industry located along the lakes shore had been dumping effluent for an extended period of time. Pennwalt Chemical Corporation was found to be the worst polluter, nicaraguas economic situation has hampered the building of treatment facilities nationwide. The countrys worst drought in 32 years is taking its toll on the lake, also, plans for the Nicaragua canal through the lake could lead to saltwater and other contamination during construction and operation of the canal. According to the plans and geography, the lake is 32 meters above sea level, Nicaragua Canal Piracy on Lake Nicaragua Zapatera Archipelago JPL NASA, Perspective View with Landsat Overlay, Lakes Managua and Nicaragua
11.
San Juan River (Nicaragua)
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The San Juan, also known as El Desaguadero, is a 192-kilometre river that flows east out of Lake Nicaragua into the Caribbean Sea. A large section of the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica runs on the bank of the river. It was part, with the lake, of a route for a Nicaragua Canal in the 19th century. The idea of the project has been revived in the last decade, the Ecocanal project has obtained a Concession from the National Assembly of Nicaragua to re-open the San Juan River to commercial barge traffic. The Cañas–Jerez Treaty states that Nicaragua owns the waters of the river, prior to the Panama Canal, the San Juan River was frequently used as a major part of the route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Many people, including African slaves, were transported via this route, the boat travelled up the San Juan River and across Lake Nicaragua, a stagecoach completed the connection to the Pacific coast. The San Juan River is home to freshwater bull sharks that also go into Lake Nicaragua in addition to an array of marine life
12.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
13.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
14.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
15.
Piracy on Lake Nicaragua
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Piracy on Lake Nicaragua refers to an era in Nicaraguan history from 1665 to 1857, when Caribbean pirates and filibusters operated in the lake and the surrounding shores. Lake Nicaragua, then called the Sweet Sea, is the largest freshwater lake in Central America and is connected to the Caribbean Sea by the San Juan River. Due to the burning of León in 1610, by a volcano, by 1650 the Golden Age of Piracy had begun in which buccaneers from several races and nations infested the West Indies. The lake is known to have been controlled by pirates as early as 1665 when Henry Morgan led six shallow draft canoes up the San Juan for an attack on Granada. The canoes were twelve metres long and acquired during an attack on Villahermosa, Mexico, in June Morgan led his band up the river by night while hiding in the day and when they reached the lake the pirates stealthily crossed it and landed outside town. A general assault was made on Granada and the Spanish were found completely off guard. After the hostilities had ceased Morgan went after the treasury of silver and his men set fire to the buildings. Pirates also founded their own towns at the time, among them Pueblo Viejo and Bluefields. Soon after Morgan left, the pirate Captain Gallardito began operating on Lake Nicaragua, following that incident the Spanish resorted to fortifying their territory. At one area southeast of Granada the Spanish Army Captain Fernando Francisco de Escobedo began building the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception in 1673 next to a rapid in the San Juan River. Dampier then went on to attack Granada after marching overland and he burned the colony down again on September 8, soon after the city of Leon was attacked and destroyed as well. Since the founding of British colonies in the West Indies, most notably Jamaica, pirates and Miskito Sambu filibusters attacked the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception repeatedly during the 18th century. Perhaps the most famous battle occurred in 1762 during the Seven Years War, eventually a force of 2,000 Britons and Sambus sailed up the San Juan in more than fifty boats and canoes where they laid siege to about 100 Spaniards in the fortress on July 26. The garrison commander had died only recently leaving his daughter, the nineteen-year-old Rafaela Herrera, Herrera killed the British commander herself on the first day of the battle and for six days afterward the two sides duelled with cannons. Occasionally the British and Sambus would charge forward for a close quarters engagement though they were beaten every time with heavy losses. A second British expedition was launched in 1780 and it captured the fort. Filibustering became popular in the 19th century, primarily in Latin America, perhaps the most famous filibustering expedition was William Walkers Conquest of Nicaragua in 1855, by which time the country was independent from Spanish rule. A civil war had broken out in 1854 between liberal and conservative forces, the conservatives, or Legitimists, held Granada while the liberals held Leon
16.
William Walker (filibuster)
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Walker usurped the presidency of the Republic of Nicaragua in 1856 and ruled until 1857, when he was defeated by a coalition of Central American armies. He was executed by the government of Honduras in 1860, Walker was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1824 to James Walker and his wife Mary Norvell. His father was a son of a Scottish immigrant and his mother was a daughter of Lipscomb Norvell, an American Revolutionary War officer from Virginia. One of Walkers maternal uncles was John Norvell, a US Senator from Michigan, William Walker was engaged to Helen Martin, but they never married, and he died without any children. William Walker graduated summa cum laude from the University of Nashville at the age of fourteen and he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and University of Heidelberg before receiving his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania at the age of 19. He practiced briefly in Philadelphia before moving to New Orleans to study law and he practiced law for a short time, and then quit to become co-owner and editor of the New Orleans Crescent. In 1849, he moved to San Francisco, where he was a journalist, Walker then conceived the idea of conquering vast regions of Latin America and creating new slave states to join those already part of the United States. These campaigns were known as filibustering or freebooting, William Walker first gained national attention after his duel with William Hicks Graham on January 12,1851 in San Francisco. At that time, Walker was the editor of the San Francisco Herald while Graham was a clerk in the employ of Judge R. N. Morrison. The conflict started after Walker criticized Graham and his colleagues in the newspapers, Graham was a notorious gunman and duellist in his time, having taken part in a number of duels and shootouts in the Old West. Walker on the hand, had experience duelling with single-shot pistols at one time. The combatants met at Mission Dolores and each were given Colt Dragoons with 5 shots and they stood face-to-face at ten paces, and with the signal of a referee, quickly aimed and tried to fire their revolvers. Graham managed to fire two bullets, hitting Walker in his pantaloons and his thigh, seriously wounding him, Walker, though he tried a number of times to shoot his weapon during the duel, failed to fire even a single shot and Graham was left unscathed. The duel ended after the wounded Walker finally conceded, and afterwards Graham was arrested but was quickly released, the duel was recorded in the Alta California. Mexico refused, and Walker returned to San Francisco determined to obtain his colony and he began recruiting from amongst American supporters of slavery and the Manifest Destiny Doctrine, mostly inhabitants of Kentucky and Tennessee. His intentions then changed from forming a colony to establishing an independent Republic of Sonora. He funded his project by selling scrips which were redeemable in lands of Sonora, on October 15,1853, Walker set out with 45 men to conquer the Mexican territories of Baja California Territory and Sonora State. Although he never gained control of Sonora, less than three months later, he pronounced Baja California part of the larger Republic of Sonora, lack of supplies and strong resistance by the Mexican government quickly forced Walker to retreat
17.
Filibuster (military)
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A filibuster or freebooter, in the context of foreign policy, is someone who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country or territory to foment or support a revolution. The term is used to describe United States citizens who fomented insurrections in Latin America in the mid-19th century. Filibuster expeditions have also occasionally used as cover for government-approved deniable operations. A notable late 20th Century example of this would be the Argentinian scrap metal merchants who landed on South Georgia at the outset of the Falklands War. Filibusters are irregular soldiers who act without official authority from their own government, the freewheeling actions of the filibusters of the 1850s led to the name being applied figuratively to the political act of filibustering in the United States Congress. Unlike a mercenary, a filibuster leader/commander works for himself, whilst a mercenary leader works for others, the English term filibuster derives from the Spanish filibustero, itself deriving originally from the Dutch vrijbuiter, privateer, pirate, robber. The Spanish form entered the English language in the 1850s, as applied to military adventurers from the United States then operating in Central America and the Spanish West Indies. The Spanish term was first applied to persons raiding Spanish colonies and ships in the West Indies, with the end of the era of Caribbean piracy in the early 18th century filibuster fell out of general currency. The term was revived in the century to describe the actions of adventurers who tried to take control of various Caribbean, Mexican. In Sonora, there were the French Marquis Charles de Pindray and Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon, the three most prominent filibusters of that era were Narciso López and John Quitman in Cuba and William Walker in Baja California, Sonora, and lastly Nicaragua. The term returned to American parlance to refer to López 1851 Cuban expeditions, gregor MacGregor was a Scottish filibuster in Florida, Central and South America. She has shown that, left to herself, she is incapable of organizing and sustaining any permanent form of government. The Indians on her northern frontier are making continual predatory incursions into her territory and her mixed population has all the vices of civilization, with none of its virtues, all the ignorance of barbarism, with none of its hardihood, enterprise, and self-reliance. It is enervate, effeminate, treacherous, false, and fickle, like the savage and beasts of the forest, its love of liberty is but impatience of control, and hatred of law and government. After effecting so much good, shall we cease from our labors while so much remains to be done, shall we be deterred by the epithet of filibustering, or the cant, fanaticism, and mistaken or pretended philanthropy of a part of the North. …. Unless we can all the convenient transit across the Isthmus to California and Oregon. Filibustering, whether by nations or individuals, is not like avarice—selfish, sordid and it proceeds from ambition, and ambition, rightly directed, is the noblest of human passions. This surely was filibustering, but the most needful of filibustering and it is time to define what we mean by the term filibustering
18.
Charles Frederick Henningsen
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Charles Frederick Henningsen was a writer, mercenary, filibuster, and munitions expert. He participated in wars and independence movements in Spain, Nicaragua, Hungary. He was born either in Brussels or in England of Swedish ancestry, one of his sisters was Josephine Amelie de Henningsen, who later became a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Assumption, who established the order in South Africa in 1849. He fought in the First Carlist War, after entering as a volunteer in the service of Don Carlos in 1834, Henningsen rose to be captain of bodyguard to the Carlist general Tomás de Zumalacárregui. After the signing of the Lord Eliot Convention in April 1835, at which he was present, however, Henningsen soon returned to Spain with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and joined the Carlist expedition that threatened Madrid from Aragon. He fought at the Battle of Villar de los Navarros, a Carlist victory and he headed the Carlist lancers and was attacked outside of Madrid by Liberal forces. He led a column against these forces, capturing the outer fortifications of Madrid and he held them for several hours, until notified that Don Carlos could send him no reinforcements. However, he was taken prisoner, and released on parole. He did not serve again in this war and he later recorded his experiences in Spain in the book The Most Striking Events of a Twelvemonths Campaign with Zumalacarregui, which he dedicated to Lord Eliot. The work created controversy in Britain because it glorified Zumalacárregui and supported the Carlist position, Henningsen subsequently fought against the Russian army in Circassia during the Russian-Circassian War, and wrote up a military report on Russia, also later writing the book Revelations of Russia. This was translated into French by Cyprien Robert and published in Paris and he then became involved in the revolution in Hungary led by Lajos Kossuth, and was also involved in the planning of the military campaign against enemy Austrian forces. However, the Hungarian Revolution was suppressed, and Henningsen later visited Kossuth at Kütahya in 1850, Henningsen then traveled from Constantinople to Albania, and then crossed the Adriatic Sea to Italy. In 1851, Henningsen traveled to the United States shortly after Kossuth arrived in that country and he remained in the United States as a representative of Hungarian interests. Henningsen served under William Walker in Nicaragua from October 1856, and was appointed major-general and he directed the defense of Rivas on 23 March 1856 and during the Second Battle of Rivas. He was second in command at the Battle of the Transit and he commanded the Battle of Obraje and was second in command at the 3rd and 4th battles of San Jorge. Henningsen was responsible for burning Granada, Nicaragua, at the time the capital of Nicaragua, during this incident, he had taken refuge at Granada with 416 persons,140 of whom were women, children, and wounded. Nothing of the city was left but a ruin, when Henningsen withdrew, he left an inscription on a lance reading, in Spanish. At the lake, he was joined by a reinforcement of 130 men, on 1 May 1857 Henningsen, along with Walker, surrendered to Commander Charles Henry Davis of the United States Navy and was repatriated
19.
Conservatism
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Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes retaining traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. The term, historically associated with right-wing politics, has since used to describe a wide range of views. There is no set of policies that are universally regarded as conservative, because the meaning of conservatism depends on what is considered traditional in a given place. Thus conservatives from different parts of the world—each upholding their respective traditions—may disagree on a range of issues. In contrast to the definition of conservatism, political theorists such as Corey Robin define conservatism primarily in terms of a general defense of social. In Great Britain, conservative ideas emerged in the Tory movement during the Restoration period, Toryism supported a hierarchical society with a monarch who ruled by divine right. Tories opposed the idea that sovereignty derived from the people, and rejected the authority of parliament, Robert Filmers Patriarcha, or the Natural Power of Kings, published posthumously in 1680 but written before the English Civil War of 1642–1651, became accepted as the statement of their doctrine. However, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 destroyed this principle to some degree by establishing a government in England. Faced with defeat, the Tories reformed their movement, now holding that sovereignty was vested in the three estates of Crown, Lords, and Commons rather than solely in the Crown, Toryism became marginalized during the long period of Whig ascendancy in the 18th century. Conservatives typically see Richard Hooker as the father of conservatism, along with the Marquess of Halifax, David Hume. Halifax promoted pragmatism in government, whilst Hume argued against political rationalism and utopianism, Burke served as the private secretary to the Marquis of Rockingham and as official pamphleteer to the Rockingham branch of the Whig party. Together with the Tories, they were the conservatives in the late 18th century United Kingdom, Burkes views were a mixture of liberal and conservative. He supported the American Revolution of 1765–1783 but abhorred the violence of the French Revolution and he insisted on standards of honor derived from the medieval aristocratic tradition, and saw the aristocracy as the nations natural leaders. That meant limits on the powers of the Crown, since he found the institutions of Parliament to be better informed than commissions appointed by the executive and he favored an established church, but allowed for a degree of religious toleration. Burke justified the order on the basis of tradition, tradition represented the wisdom of the species and he valued community. Burke was a leading theorist in his day, finding extreme idealism an endangerment to broader liberties, despite their influence on future conservative thought, none of these early contributors were explicitly involved in Tory politics. Hooker lived in the 16th century, long before the advent of toryism, whilst Hume was an apolitical philosopher, Burke described himself as a Whig. Shortly after Burkes death in 1797, conservatism revived as a political force as the Whigs suffered a series of internal divisions
20.
Liberalism
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Liberalism is a political philosophy or worldview founded on ideas of liberty and equality. Liberalism first became a political movement during the Age of Enlightenment. Liberalism rejected the social and political norms of hereditary privilege, state religion, absolute monarchy. The 17th-century philosopher John Locke is often credited with founding liberalism as a philosophical tradition. Locke argued that man has a natural right to life, liberty and property. Liberals opposed traditional conservatism and sought to replace absolutism in government with representative democracy, prominent revolutionaries in the Glorious Revolution, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution used liberal philosophy to justify the armed overthrow of what they saw as tyrannical rule. Liberalism started to spread rapidly especially after the French Revolution, the 19th century saw liberal governments established in nations across Europe, South America, and North America. During the 20th century, liberal ideas spread even further as liberal democracies found themselves on the side in both world wars. In Europe and North America, the establishment of social liberalism became a key component in the expansion of the welfare state, today, liberal parties continue to wield power and influence throughout the world. Words such as liberal, liberty, libertarian, and libertine all trace their history to the Latin liber, which means free. One of the first recorded instances of the word occurs in 1375. The words early connection with the education of a medieval university soon gave way to a proliferation of different denotations and connotations. In 16th century England, liberal could have positive or negative attributes in referring to someones generosity or indiscretion, in Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare wrote of a liberal villaine who hath. confest his vile encounters. With the rise of the Enlightenment, the word acquired decisively more positive undertones, being defined as free from narrow prejudice in 1781, in 1815, the first use of the word liberalism appeared in English. In Spain, the Liberales, the first group to use the label in a political context. From 1820 to 1823, during the Trienio Liberal, King Ferdinand VII was compelled by the liberales to swear to uphold the Constitution, by the middle of the 19th century, liberal was used as a politicised term for parties and movements worldwide. Over time, the meaning of the word began to diverge in different parts of the world. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, In the United States, liberalism is associated with the policies of the New Deal programme of the Democratic administration of Pres
21.
Managua
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Managua is the capital city of Nicaragua as well as of the department of the same name. The city was declared the capital in 1852. Prior, the capital alternated between the cities of León and Granada, the 1972 Nicaragua earthquake and years of civil war in the 1980s severely disrupted and stunted Managuas growth. It was not until the mid-1990s that Managua began to see a resurgence, the name Managua originates from the term Mana-ahuac, which in the indigenous Nahuatl language translates to adjacent to the water or site surrounded by water. Residents of the city are called managüenses or capitalinos, Nicaragua was inhabited by Paleo-Americans as far back as 6,000 years ago. The ancient footprints of Acahualinca are 2, 100-year-old fossils discovered along the shores of Lake Managua, founded by a pre-Columbian fishing town, the city was incorporated in 1819 and given the name Leal Villa de Santiago de Managua. Efforts to make Managua the capital of Nicaragua began in 1824, Managuas location between the rival cities of León and Granada made it a logical compromise site. After Granada was destroyed by an army led by William Walker in 1857. Between 1852 and 1930, Managua underwent extensive urbanization, becoming a base of governance, infrastructure, the city was hampered by major floods in 1876 and 1885. A disastrous earthquake in 1931 and large fire in 1936 destroyed much of the city, under the rule of dictator Anastasio Somoza García and his family, the city was rebuilt and began to grow rapidly. New government buildings were erected, industry developed, and universities were established, Managua had become Central Americas most developed city. Todays references differentiate the pre-1970s Managua by labeling it as La Antigua Ciudad, Managuas progress came to a sudden halt after it suffered a second major earthquake on December 23,1972, which destroyed 90% of the citys downtown and killed more than 19,120 people. Infrastructure was severely damaged and rehabilitation or restoration of buildings was nearly impossible, at the time, Managuas limited resources had to be directed to other disaster relief purposes. Managuas ability to cope with the disaster was also limited, surviving fire squadrons and ambulance companies were not able to handle the skyrocketing demand for their services. Some buildings burned to the ground, while the foundations of others simply gave way, not able to rebuild quickly, the city directed emergency workers to clear away much of the citys ruins quickly while burying the deceased in mass graves. Residences, government buildings and entire avenues were demolished, escaping the city center, earthquake victims found refuge in the outskirts of the city. The Nicaraguan Civil War of 1979 to overthrow the Somoza regime, to make matters worse, a series of natural disasters, including Hurricane Mitch in 1998, made economic recovery more difficult. After winning the elections of 1990, UNO the reconstruction of Managua began in earnest, in 2006, after the FSLN came back into power, literacy, health and reconstruction programs were expanded
22.
Sandinista
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The Sandinista National Liberation Front is now a democratic socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas in both English and Spanish, the party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s. The FSLN overthrew Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, ending the Somoza dynasty, following their seizure of power, the Sandinistas ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as part of a Junta of National Reconstruction. Following the resignation of centrist members from this Junta, the FSLN took exclusive power in March 1981, a militia, known as the Contras, was formed in 1981 to overthrow the Sandinista government and was funded and trained by the US Central Intelligence Agency. In 1984 elections were held but were boycotted by opposition parties. The FSLN won the majority of the votes, and those who opposed the Sandinistas won approximately a third of the seats, the civil war between the Contras and the government continued until 1989. The FSLN remains one of Nicaraguas two leading parties, the FSLN often polls in opposition to the Constitutionalist Liberal Party, or PLC. Ortega and the FSLN were re-elected again in the election of November 2011. The Sandinistas took their name from Augusto César Sandino, the leader of Nicaraguas nationalist rebellion against the US occupation of the country during the early 20th century. The FSLN originated in the milieu of various organizations, youth and student groups in the late 1950s. The University of Léon, and the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua in Managua were two of the centers of activity. Inspired by the Revolution and the FLN in Algeria, the FSLN itself was founded in 1961 by Carlos Fonseca, Silvio Mayorga, Tomás Borge, only Tomás Borge lived long enough to see the Sandinista victory in 1979. The term Sandinista, was added two years later, establishing continuity with Sandinos movement, and using his legacy in order to develop the movements ideology and strategy. By the early 1970s, the FSLN was launching limited military initiatives, on December 23,1972, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake leveled the capital city, Managua. The earthquake killed 10,000 of the citys 400,000 residents, about 80% of Managuas commercial buildings were destroyed. The president gave reconstruction contracts preferentially to family and friends, thereby profiting from the quake, by some estimates, his personal wealth rose to US$400 million in 1974. The siege was carefully timed to take place after the departure of the US ambassador from the gathering, at 10,50 pm, a group of 15 young guerrillas and their commanders, Pomares and Contreras, entered the house. They killed the Minister, who tried to shoot them, during the takeover, the guerrillas received US$2 million ransom, and had their official communiqué read over the radio and printed in the newspaper La Prensa
23.
Mombacho
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Mombacho is a stratovolcano in Nicaragua, near the city of Granada. The Mombacho Volcano Nature Reserve is one of 78 protected areas of Nicaragua, Mombacho is not an extinct volcano but the last eruption occurred in 1570. There is no knowledge of earlier eruptions. The highest regions of the volcano are home to a cloud forest and dwarf forest, an increasingly popular tourist attraction, the volcano has fantastic views of Lake Nicaragua and the city of Granada. The volcano also has two hiking trails, a one that circles the main crater, and another, more difficult trail. The more difficult trail is the way to see some features such as the dwarf forest. The trail is almost completely 45° inclines and declines for about two miles, more than 700 different plants are registered around Mombacho, including many species of orchids
24.
Fauna
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Fauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora, flora, fauna and other forms of life such as fungi are collectively referred to as biota. Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a collection of animals found in a specific time or place. Paleontologists sometimes refer to a sequence of stages, which is a series of rocks all containing similar fossils. Fauna comes from the Greek names Fauna, a Roman goddess of earth and fertility, the Roman god Faunus, all three words are cognates of the name of the Greek god Pan, and panis is the Greek equivalent of fauna. Fauna is also the word for a book that catalogues the animals in such a manner, the term was first used by Carl Linnaeus from Sweden in the title of his 1745 work Fauna Suecica. Cryofauna are animals that live in, or very close to, cryptofauna are the fauna that exist in protected or concealed microhabitats. Infauna are benthic organisms that live within the substratum of a body of water, especially within the bottom-most oceanic sediments. Bacteria and microalgae may also live in the interstices of bottom sediments, epifauna, also called epibenthos, are aquatic animals that live on the bottom substratum as opposed to within it, that is, the benthic fauna that live on top of the sediment surface at the seafloor. Macrofauna are benthic or soil organisms which are retained on a 0.5 mm sieve, studies in the deep sea define macrofauna as animals retained on a 0.3 mm sieve to account for the small size of many of the taxa. Megafauna are large animals of any region or time. Meiofauna are small invertebrates that live in both marine and fresh water environments. The term Meiofauna loosely defines a group of organisms by their size, larger than microfauna but smaller than macrofauna, one environment for meiofauna is between grains of damp sand. In practice these are metazoan animals that can pass unharmed through a 0.5 –1 mm mesh but will be retained by a 30–45 μm mesh, but the exact dimensions will vary from researcher to researcher. Whether an organism passes through a 1 mm mesh also depends upon whether it is alive or dead at the time of sorting, mesofauna are macroscopic soil invertebrates such as arthropods or nematodes. Mesofauna are extremely diverse, considering just the springtails, as of 1998, microfauna are microscopic or very small animals. Other terms include avifauna, which means bird fauna and piscifauna, which means fish fauna
25.
Fauna of Nicaragua
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₪ The fauna of Nicaragua is characterized by a very high level of biodiversity. Much of Nicaraguas wildlife lives in protected areas, there are currently 78 protected areas in Nicaragua, covering more than 22,000 square kilometers, or about 17% of its landmass. These protected areas encompass a variety of habitats, including rainforests, lakes, mountains. For example, Bosawás Biosphere Reserve in state of Jinotega, covers 7,300 square kilometers, the jaguar is the largest felid that is indigenous to Nicaragua. Other species include the cougar, jaguarundi, margay, and ocelot, there are a number of unusual mammals found in Nicaragua, including the three-toed sloth, northern tamandua, and two species of armadillo. The birds of Nicaragua includes a total of 698 species, eight of these species, including the golden-cheeked warbler and the great green macaw, are currently listed by the IUCN as threatened species. Many of Nicaraguas birds are colored, including various species of parrots, toucans, trogons. Guardabarranco is the bird of Nicaragua. Natural range for the scarlet macaw has been reduced by the pet trade. Most of the Pacific region of Nicaragua no longer is inhabited by the species, Nicaragua is home to many nesting populations of sea turtles, including the hawksbill sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, olive ridley sea turtle, and the Pacific green turtle. All of these are endangered or critically endangered species, with declining global populations, extensive efforts are currently underway to preserve them as much as possible. The bull shark is a species of shark that can survive for a period of time in fresh water. It can be found in Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River, Nicaragua has recently banned freshwater fishing of the Nicaragua shark and the sawfish in response to the declining populations of these animals. Five species from a Lake Apoyo, a crater lake, have been described recently. Many species of molluscs are indigenous to Nicaragua, including at least 79 species of terrestrial snails, there are currently 78 protected areas in Nicaragua, covering more than 22,000 square kilometers, or about 17% of its landmass. These include wildlife refuges and nature reserves that shelter a wide range of ecosystems, there are more than 1,400 animal species classified thus far in Nicaragua. WCS Adopt-a-turtle fund CentralAmerica. com Information about National Parks More info on reserves Wildlife of Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, Nicaragua Illegal Traffic in Scarlet Macaws
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Bull shark
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The bull shark is known for its aggressive nature, predilection for warm shallow water, and presence in brackish and freshwater systems including estuaries and rivers. Bull sharks can thrive in both salt and fresh water and can travel far up rivers and they have been known to travel as far up the Mississippi River as Illinois, although few freshwater human-shark interactions have been recorded. They are probably responsible for the majority of shark attacks. Unlike the river sharks of the genus Glyphis, bull sharks are not true freshwater sharks, the name bull shark comes from the sharks stocky shape, broad, flat snout, and aggressive, unpredictable behavior. In India, the shark may be confused with the Sundarbans or Ganges shark. In Africa, it is commonly called the Zambezi River shark or just Zambi. Some of the bull sharkss closest living relatives do not have the capabilities of osmoregulation and its genus, Carcharhinus, also includes the sandbar shark, which is not capable of osmoregulation. The bull shark shares numerous similarities with river sharks of the genus Glyphis, and other species in the genus Carcharhinus, Bull sharks are large and stout, with females being larger than males. The bull shark can be up to 81 cm in length at birth, adult female bull sharks average 2.4 m long and typically weigh 130 kg, whereas the slightly smaller adult male averages 2.25 m and 95 kg. While a maximum size of 3.5 m is commonly reported, the maximum recorded weight of a bull shark was 315 kg, but may be larger. Bull sharks are wider and heavier than other sharks of comparable length. The second dorsal fin is smaller than the first, the bull sharks caudal fin is longer and lower than that of the larger sharks, and it has a small snout, and lacks an interdorsal ridge. Bull sharks have a force up to 5,914 newtons. The bull shark is found worldwide in coastal areas of warm oceans, in rivers and lakes. It is found to a depth of 150 m, but does not usually swim deeper than 30 m, in the Atlantic, it is found from Massachusetts to southern Brazil, and from Morocco to Angola. In the Indian Ocean, it is found from South Africa to Kenya, India, populations of bull sharks are also found in several major rivers, with more than 500 bull sharks thought to be living in the Brisbane River. One was reportedly seen swimming the flooded streets of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, several were sighted in one of the main streets of Goodna, Queensland, shortly after the peak of the January 2011, floods. A large bull shark was caught in the canals of Scarborough, still greater numbers are in the canals of the Gold Coast, Queensland
27.
Mojarra
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The mojarras are a family, Gerreidae, of fishes in the order Perciformes. The family includes about 53 species and these species tend to be difficult to identify in the field and often require microscopic examination. Most species exhibit a behavior and tend to exploit the shallow water refugia associated with coastal areas presumably to avoid large-bodied predators. Mojarra is also used in Latin American countries as a name for various species of the cichlid family. The seven genera currently assigned to this family are, Deckertichthys Diapterus Eucinostomus Eugerres Gerres Parequula Pentaprion Ulaema Silver biddy Sepkoski, a compendium of fossil marine animal genera
28.
Sardine
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Sardine and pilchard are common names used to refer to various small, oily fish within the herring family of Clupeidae. The term sardine was first used in English during the early 15th century and may come from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, the terms sardine and pilchard are not precise, and what is meant depends on the region. The United Kingdoms Sea Fish Industry Authority, for example, classifies sardines as young pilchards, one criterion suggests fish shorter in length than 15 cm are sardines, and larger fish are pilchards. Typically, sardines are caught with encircling nets, particularly purse seines, many modifications of encircling nets are used, including traps or weirs. The latter are stationary enclosures composed of stakes into which schools of sardines are diverted as they swim along the coast, the fish are caught mainly at night, when they approach the surface to feed on plankton. After harvesting, the fish are submerged in brine while they are transported to shore, sardines are commercially fished for a variety of uses, for bait, for immediate consumption, for drying, salting, or smoking, and for reduction into fish meal or oil. The chief use of sardines is for consumption, but fish meal is used as animal feed, while sardine oil has many uses, including the manufacture of paint, varnish. Sardines are commonly consumed by human beings, fresh sardines are often grilled, pickled or smoked, or preserved in cans. Sardines are rich in vitamins and minerals, a small serving of sardines once a day can provide 13 percent of vitamin B2, roughly one-quarter of niacin, and about 150 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin B12. All B vitamins help to support proper nervous system function and are used for energy metabolism, also, sardines are high in the major minerals such as phosphorus, calcium, potassium, and some trace minerals including iron and selenium. Sardines are also a source of marine omega-3 fatty acids. Recent studies suggest that consumption of omega-3 fatty acids reduces the likelihood of developing Alzheimers disease. These fatty acids can also lower blood sugar levels and they are also a good source of vitamin D, calcium, vitamin B12, and protein. Because they are low in the chain, sardines are very low in contaminants such as mercury. Pilchard fishing and processing became an industry in Cornwall from around 1750 to around 1880. Catches varied from year to year and, in 1871 the catch was 47,000 hogsheads while in 1877 only 9,477 hogsheads, a hogshead contained 2,300 to 4,000 pilchards and, when filled with pressed pilchards, weighed 476 lbs. The pilchards were exported to Roman Catholic countries such as Italy. The chief market for the oil was Bristol where it is used on machinery, as of 2007, however, stocks are improving
29.
Sawfish
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Several species of sawfishes can grow to about 7 m. The family as a whole is unknown and little studied. The Pristidae are the living family within the order Pristiformes, whose name comes from the Ancient Greek, πρίστης prístēs saw. Sawfishes should not be confused with sawsharks, or the extinct sclerorhynchids which have a similar appearance, all species of sawfishes are listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered by the IUCN, and face the threat of extinction as a result of habitat loss and overfishing. Global populations of species of sawfishes are estimated to have fallen to less than 10% of their historic levels. The sawfishs most distinctive feature is the rostrum, covered with electrosensitive pores that allow the sawfish to detect slight movements of prey hiding in the muddy sea floor. The rostrum also serves as a tool to unearth buried crustaceans. Should suitable prey try to swim past, the normally lethargic sawfish springs from the bottom and this generally stuns or impales the prey sufficiently for the sawfish to devour it. Sawfish also defend themselves with their rostrum against intruding divers and predators such as sharks, the teeth protruding from the rostrum are not real teeth, but modified tooth-like structures called denticles. The body and head of a sawfish are flat, and they spend most of their lying on the sea floor. Like rays, a mouth and nostrils are on its flat underside. The mouth is lined with small, dome-shaped teeth for eating small fish and crustaceans, Sawfish breathe with two spiracles just behind the eyes that draw water to the gills. The skin is covered with dermal denticles that give the fish a rough texture. Sawfish are usually grey or brown, the smalltooth sawfish, Pristis pectinata. Like other elasmobranchs, sawfish lack a swim bladder and use a large and their skeleton is made of cartilage. The eyes of the sawfish are underdeveloped due to their muddy habitats, the rostrum is the main sensory device. Their small intestines contain an internal partition shaped like a corkscrew, called a spiral valve, the smallest sawfish is the dwarf sawfish, which grows to 1.4 m, much smaller than the others. The largest species seem to be the large-tooth sawfish, the Leichhardts sawfish, and the common sawfish, one southern sawfish was recorded as weighing 2,455 kg
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Ometepe
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Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes rising out of Lake Nicaragua in the Republic of Nicaragua. Its name derives from the Nahuatl words ome and tepetl, meaning two mountains and it is the largest island in Lake Nicaragua. The two volcanoes of Concepción and Maderas are joined by a low isthmus to form one island in the shape of an hourglass, Ometepe has an area of 276 km2. It is 31 km long and 5 to 10 km wide, the island has an economy based on livestock, agriculture, and tourism. The island first became inhabited during the Dinarte phase, although evidence is questionable, the first known inhabitants were Nahua Indians from Mexico. In their footsteps came the Niquirano Indians who established an important settlement on the island, traces of this past can still be found in petroglyphs and stone idols on the northern slopes of Maderas volcano. The oldest date from 300 BC, after the Spaniards conquered the Central American region in the 16th century, pirates began prowling Lake Nicaragua. They came in from the Caribbean Sea via the San Juan River, the inhabitants of Ometepe were hard hit. The pirates kidnapped women, stole the animals, possessions, and harvest. This made the local population move to higher grounds on the volcanoes in search of shelter, the island was finally settled by the Spanish conquistadors at the end of the 16th century. The most important villages on the island are Altagracia, on the eastern side and these two villages are the centers of the two municipalities and the island is divided between the two. Many traditions have been alive, thus inhabitants of Ometepe celebrate more religious. Today, Ometepe is developing tourism and ecotourism, with the archaeological past and the bounty of its nature sanctuary, a new airport opened in 2014. Volcán Concepción is on the northwest half of the island, Concepcion has a symmetrical cone and is an active volcano. The volcano is believed to have risen in the early Holocene epoch and, through continual eruptions, Concepcion is considered the most perfectly formed volcano cone in Central America. Although it went through a quiet period, on December 8,1880. This eruption was extensive, and the volcano remained active for a year, more eruptions followed in 1883,1889,1902,1907, and 1924. In 2005, an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale occurred as a result of increasing pressure within the volcano, cracks appeared on roads throughout the island and an advisory to leave the island was issued
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Pre-Columbian era
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For this reason the alternative terms of Precontact Americas, Pre-Colonial Americas or Prehistoric Americas are also in use. In areas of Latin America the term used is Pre-Hispanic. Other civilizations were contemporary with the period and were described in European historical accounts of the time. A few, such as the Maya civilization, had their own written records, because many Christian Europeans of the time viewed such texts as heretical, men like Diego de Landa destroyed many texts in pyres, even while seeking to preserve native histories. Only a few documents have survived in their original languages, while others were transcribed or dictated into Spanish, giving modern historians glimpses of ancient culture. Indigenous American cultures continue to evolve after the pre-Columbian era, many of these peoples and their descendants continue traditional practices, while evolving and adapting new cultural practices and technologies into their lives. Now, the study of pre-Columbian cultures is most often based on scientific. Asian nomads are thought to have entered the Americas via the Bering Land Bridge, now the Bering Strait, genetic evidence found in Amerindians maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA supports the theory of multiple genetic populations migrating from Asia. Over the course of millennia, Paleo-Indians spread throughout North and South America, exactly when the first group of people migrated into the Americas is the subject of much debate. One of the earliest identifiable cultures was the Clovis culture, with sites dating from some 13,000 years ago, however, older sites dating back to 20,000 years ago have been claimed. Some genetic studies estimate the colonization of the Americas dates from between 40,000 and 13,000 years ago, the chronology of migration models is currently divided into two general approaches. The first is the short chronology theory with the first movement beyond Alaska into the New World occurring no earlier than 14, 000–17,000 years ago, followed by successive waves of immigrants. The second belief is the long chronology theory, which proposes that the first group of people entered the hemisphere at an earlier date, possibly 50. In that case, the Eskimo peoples would have arrived separately and at a later date, probably no more than 2,000 years ago. The North American climate was unstable as the ice age receded and it finally stabilized by about 10,000 years ago, climatic conditions were then very similar to todays. Within this timeframe, roughly pertaining to the Archaic Period, numerous archaeological cultures have been identified, the unstable climate led to widespread migration, with early Paleo-Indians soon spreading throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct tribes. The paleo-indians were hunter-gatherers, likely characterized by small, mobile bands consisting of approximately 20 to 50 members of an extended family and these groups moved from place to place as preferred resources were depleted and new supplies were sought. During much of the Paleo-Indian period, bands are thought to have subsisted primarily through hunting now-extinct giant land animals such as mastodon, Paleo-Indian groups carried a variety of tools
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Spanish colonization of the Americas
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The Colonial expansion under the crown of Castile was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Catholic faith through indigenous conversions and it is estimated that during the colonial period, a total of 18.6 million Spaniards settled in the Americas and a further 3.5 million immigrated during the post-colonial era. Spains loss of these last territories politically ended the Spanish rule in the Americas, the Catholic Monarchs Isabella of Castile, Queen of Castile and her husband King Ferdinand, King of Aragon, pursued a policy of joint rule of their kingdoms and created a single Spanish monarchy. Even though Castile and Aragon were ruled jointly by their respective monarchs, the Catholic Monarchs gave official approval for the plans of Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus for a voyage to reach India by sailing West. The funding came from the queen of Castile, so the profits from Spanish expedition flowed to Castile, in the extension of Spanish sovereignty to its overseas territories, authority for expeditions of discovery, conquest, and settlement resided in the monarchy. Columbus made four voyages to the West Indiesas the monarchs granted Columbus the governorship of the new territories and he founded La Navidad on the island later named Hispaniola, in what is present day Haiti on his first voyage. After its destruction by the indigenous Taino people, the town of Isabella was begun in 1493, in 1496 his brother, Bartholomew, founded Santo Domingo. By 1500, despite a death rate, there were between 300 and 1000 Spanish settled in the area. The local Taíno people continued to resist, refusing to plant crops, the first mainland explorations were followed by a phase of inland expeditions and conquest. In 1500 the city of Nueva Cádiz was founded on the island of Cubagua, Venezuela, the Spanish founded San Sebastian de Uraba in 1509 but abandoned it within the year. There is indirect evidence that the first permanent Spanish mainland settlement established in the Americas was Santa María la Antigua del Darién, the Spanish conquest of Mexico is generally understood to be the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire which was the base for later conquests of other regions. Later conquests were protracted campaigns with less spectacular results than conquest of the Aztecs, but not until the Spanish conquest of Peru was the conquest of the Aztecs matched in scope by the victory over the Inca empire in 1532. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire was led by Hernán Cortés, the victory over the Aztecs was relatively quick, from 1519 to 1521, and aided by his Tlaxcala and other allies from indigenous city-states or altepetl. These polities allied against the Aztec empire, to which they paid tribute following conquest or threat of conquest, leaving the political hierarchy. The Spanish conquest of Yucatán was a longer campaign, from 1551 to 1697, against the Maya peoples in the Yucatán Peninsula of present-day Mexico. When Hernán Cortés landed ashore at present day Veracruz and founded the Spanish city there on April 22,1519, Spain colonized and exerted control of Alta California through the Spanish missions in California until the Mexican secularization act of 1833. It was the first step in a campaign that took decades of fighting to subdue the mightiest empire in the Americas. In the following years Spain extended its rule over the Empire of the Inca civilization, in the following years the conquistadors and indigenous allies extended control over Greater Andes Region
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Holy Week
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Holy Week in Christianity is the week just before Easter. In the West, it is also the last week of Lent, and includes Palm Sunday, Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. It does not include Easter Sunday, although traditions observing the Easter Triduum may overlap or displace part of Holy Week or Easter itself within that additional liturgical period, Holy Week in the Christian year is the week immediately before Easter. In this text, abstinence from flesh is commanded for all the days, dionysius Alexandrinus in his canonical epistle, refers to the 91 fasting days implying that the observance of them had already become an established usage in his time. The Codex Theodosianus, however, is explicit in ordering that all actions at law should cease, of the particular days of the great week the earliest to emerge into special prominence was naturally Good Friday. Next came the Sabbatum Magnum with its vigil, which in the church was associated with an expectation that the second advent would occur on an Easter Sunday. Other writings that refer to related traditions of the early Church include, most notably, The Pilgrimage of Etheria, today, in the Western Christian Church, among Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics, the liturgies used for Holy Week are nearly identical. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, which may also be known as Passion Sunday in some denominations, traditionally, Palm Sunday commemorates the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, one of the few events described in all four canonical gospels. As described in the accounts, Jesuss entry into Jerusalem was noted by the present who shouted praises. In the Roman Rite, before 1955 it was simply as Palm Sunday. From 1955 to 1971 it was called Second Sunday in Passiontide or Palm Sunday, among Lutherans and Anglicans, the day is known as the Sunday of the Passion, Palm Sunday. In many liturgical denominations, to commemorate the Messiahs entry into Jerusalem to accomplish his paschal mystery, immediately following this great time of celebration over the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, he begins his journey to the cross. The blessing is followed by a procession or solemn entrance into the church. The Mass or service of worship includes a reading of the Passion. The palms were then blessed with five prayers, and a procession went out of the church and on its return included a ceremony for the reopening of the doors, after this the normal Mass was celebrated. The days between Palm Sunday and Holy Thursday are known as Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, and Holy Wednesday. Among them On Monday, some observe the anointing of Jesus at Bethany, other events which the Gospels tell of which may have occurred on this day include cursing the fig tree and the Cleansing of the Temple. On Tuesday, some observe Jesus predictions of his own death, as described in, on Wednesday, some observe the story of Judas arranging his betrayal of Jesus with the high priests
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Tourism in Nicaragua
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Tourism in Nicaragua has grown considerably recently, and it is now the second largest industry in the nation. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has stated his intention to use tourism to combat poverty throughout the country, the growth in tourism has positively affected the agricultural, commercial, and finance industries, as well as the construction industry. The results for Nicaraguas tourism-driven economy have been significant, with the nation welcoming one million tourists in a year for the first time in its history in 2010. During the Nicaraguan Revolution in the 1980s, Nicaragua was not regarded as a place to travel, however, rapid expansion of the tourist industry over the last decade has made it the nations second largest industry. Over the last 7 years tourism has grown about 70% nationwide with rates of 10%-16% annually, Nicaragua is mostly famous for its landscapes, flora and fauna, wildlife, culture, beaches, lakes, and volcanoes. By 2010, the nation welcomed one million visitors—the most in its history for a calendar year. Nicaraguas tourism industry in 2010 raked in approximately 360 million dollars for the nations economy, in 2013, more than 1.2 million tourists visited Nicaragua, representing an increase of nearly a third from 2009. Two-thirds of these tourists were from other Central American countries,290,000 were from North America and 80,000 from Europe, of those that come for recreation, their principal activities include surfing, hiking volcanoes and getting to know the countrys nature trails. According to the Ministry of Tourism of Nicaragua the colonial city of Granada is the spot for tourists. Venturing outside of the city limits, one can explore the verdant islets of Granada by a guided boat ride or by kayak. The Apoyo Lagoon is also a destination for those visiting Granada. Also, the cities of León, Masaya, Rivas and the likes of San Juan del Sur, San Juan River, Ometepe, Mombacho Volcano, ecotourism and surfing also attract many tourists. Another popular destination are the Corn Islands located about 70 km east off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua near Bluefields and they have been regarded as a tropical paradise by the Los Angeles Times. Nicaragua was ranked with the lowest crime rate in Latin America by Interpol and many other sources, Nicaragua also holds the largest lake in Central America, about 700 species of birds, and unspoiled natural beauty. Despite all this, it is still the least visited country in the region, however, the lower number of tourists help Nicaragua keep low prices, and an off-the-beaten-track feel. CECOCAFEN is an organization of cooperatives in Northern Nicaragua that manage a rural and community-based tourism project. Tourism allows farmers to new opportunities in alternative markets, harvest coffee. CECOCAFEN offers visitors the opportunity to visit a farm, learn about coffee craftsmanship
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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
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Gold
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Gold is a chemical element with symbol Au and atomic number 79. In its purest form, it is a bright, slightly yellow, dense, soft, malleable. Chemically, gold is a metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions, Gold often occurs in free elemental form, as nuggets or grains, in rocks, in veins, and in alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the element silver and also naturally alloyed with copper. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium, golds atomic number of 79 makes it one of the higher numbered, naturally occurring elements. It is thought to have produced in supernova nucleosynthesis, from the collision of neutron stars. Because the Earth was molten when it was formed, almost all of the present in the early Earth probably sank into the planetary core. Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regia, a mixture of acid and hydrochloric acid. Gold also dissolves in solutions of cyanide, which are used in mining and electroplating. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, but this is not a chemical reaction, as a precious metal, gold has been used for coinage, jewelry, and other arts throughout recorded history. A total of 186,700 tonnes of gold is in existence above ground, the world consumption of new gold produced is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry. Gold is also used in infrared shielding, colored-glass production, gold leafing, certain gold salts are still used as anti-inflammatories in medicine. As of 2014, the worlds largest gold producer by far was China with 450 tonnes, Gold is cognate with similar words in many Germanic languages, deriving via Proto-Germanic *gulþą from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-. The symbol Au is from the Latin, aurum, the Latin word for gold, the Proto-Indo-European ancestor of aurum was *h₂é-h₂us-o-, meaning glow. This word is derived from the root as *h₂éu̯sōs, the ancestor of the Latin word Aurora. This etymological relationship is presumably behind the frequent claim in scientific publications that aurum meant shining dawn, Gold is the most malleable of all metals, a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of 1 square meter, and an avoirdupois ounce into 300 square feet. Gold leaf can be thin enough to become semi-transparent
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Silver
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Silver is a metallic element with symbol Ag and atomic number 47. The symbol Ag stems from Latin argentum, derived from the Greek ὰργὀς, a soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. The metal is found in the Earths crust in the pure, free form, as an alloy with gold and other metals. Most silver is produced as a byproduct of copper, gold, lead, Silver is more abundant than gold, but it is much less abundant as a native metal. Its purity is measured on a per mille basis, a 94%-pure alloy is described as 0.940 fine. As one of the seven metals of antiquity, silver has had a role in most human cultures. Silver has long valued as a precious metal. Silver metal is used in many premodern monetary systems in bullion coins, Silver is used in numerous applications other than currency, such as solar panels, water filtration, jewelry, ornaments, high-value tableware and utensils, and as an investment medium. Silver is used industrially in electrical contacts and conductors, in specialized mirrors, window coatings, Silver compounds are used in photographic film and X-rays. Dilute silver nitrate solutions and other compounds are used as disinfectants and microbiocides, added to bandages and wound-dressings, catheters. Silver is similar in its physical and chemical properties to its two neighbours in group 11 of the periodic table, copper and gold. This distinctive electron configuration, with an electron in the highest occupied s subshell over a filled d subshell. Silver is a soft, ductile and malleable transition metal. Silver crystallizes in a cubic lattice with bulk coordination number 12. Unlike metals with incomplete d-shells, metallic bonds in silver are lacking a covalent character and are relatively weak and this observation explains the low hardness and high ductility of single crystals of silver. Silver has a brilliant white metallic luster that can take a polish. Protected silver has greater optical reflectivity than aluminium at all wavelengths longer than ~450 nm, at wavelengths shorter than 450 nm, silvers reflectivity is inferior to that of aluminium and drops to zero near 310 nm. The electrical conductivity of silver is the greatest of all metals, greater even than copper, during World War II in the US,13540 tons of silver were used in electromagnets for enriching uranium, mainly because of the wartime shortage of copper
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Matagalpa, Nicaragua
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Matagalpa is a city in Nicaragua, the capital of the department of Matagalpa. The city has a population of 150,643, while the population of the department is more than 542,000, Matagalpa is Nicaraguas fourth largest city, the largest in the countrys interior and one of the most commercially active outside of Managua. Matagalpa is the second most important city in Nicaragua and is known as the Pearl of the North, there have been other descriptions of the word Matagalpa, -Here next to the water, and -Among Mountains. These descriptions are believed to be related to the location of the city, which is next to the Grand River of Matagalpa. Matagalpa was originally an indigenous village, the Matagalpa Indians had their own language, which has been extinct since 1875. A document from the year 1855 with 97 words and phrases from the Matagalpa language can be found in the Daniel G. Brinton section of the American Philosophical Library in Philadelphia. The Matagalpa made ceramics of a known as Ceramica Negra and Naranja Segovia, they also built stone statues representing their chieftain. They were feared by the Spanish because they were brave and effective with their bows. It took 300 years for the Spanish to submit them, even at the time of Nicaragua Independence in 1821 there were many Matagalpa Indians free in the mountains of Nicaragua. Matagalpa was an existing Indian town when the first Spaniards came to this region by 1528 during an attempt to find a passage to the Northern Sea. (Nicaraguas Spanish colonization originated from the direction of the Pacific Ocean, Matagalpa is located in the continental divide between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Many stories are preserved from colonial times about the British-controlled Mosquito Coast, gold was discovered around Matagalpa by 1840. Along with many Spaniards and Mestizos, it attracted German, American, coffee agriculture attracted more than 120 European immigrants, many of whom married Matagalpan women, and many of their descendants still live in the area. In 1923 some Danish immigrants also came to Matagalpa, and settled in the highlands as well, most of the Danish families went back to Denmark. Three families stayed, the Gröns, the Möllers, and the Petersens, Matagalpa was also the city of refuge for many Nicaraguans escaping the invasion of Tennessean filibuster William Walker who took over much of the country and government in 1856. Currently the department of Matagalpa is the second most populous in Nicaragua after the capital. Over the past few years Matagalpa has experienced an influx of migrants from other departments, causing stress on infrastructure. Matagalpa has a beautiful panoramic highway that starts in the city of Matagalpa, scenic views extend up to 140 kilometres away, to the volcanic range near the Pacific coast
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Corinto, Nicaragua
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Corinto is a town of 16,624 on the northwest Pacific coast of Nicaragua in the province of Chinandega. The municipality was founded in 1863 and it was a railroad terminus and is Nicaraguas largest and only Pacific port for the import and export of goods. It has its own Container terminal and is able to manage a variety of cargo, liquid, bulk, containers, cars. When Nicaragua refused to pay Britain an indemnity for the annexation of the Mosquito Reserve, however the British stay was limited by the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty with the US and was forced to withdraw on May 15 without adequate compensation. Marines landed in Corinto to protect American interests during political unrest, on January 25,1922 the USS Galveston landed a detachment of U. S. Marines at Corinto, to reinforce the Managua legation guard during a period of political tension, while supporting the Contra war against the Sandinista government in the 1980s, U. S. Forces mined the Port of Corinto, on October 10,1983, an attack destroyed 3.2 million US gallons of fuel. It is believed that this attack was directed by the CIA, Corinto Photos https, //www. facebook. com/groups/CorintoChinandegaOfficial/ Picture of Isla El Cardon Lighthouse
Nicaragua
