Guajira Peninsula, is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean. It is the northernmost peninsula in South America and has an area of 25,000 km2 extending from the Manaure Bay to the Calabozo Ensenada in the Gulf of Venezuela, from the Caribbean to the Serranía del Perijá mountains range, it was the subject of a historic dispute between Venezuela and Colombia in 1891, on arbitration was awarded to the latter and joined to its Magdalena Department. Nowadays, most of the territory is part of Colombia; the remaining strip is part of the Venezuelan Zulia State. The northernmost part of the peninsula is called Punta Gallinas and is considered the northernmost part of mainland South America; the scenery of Guajira is picturesque, with wide desert plains and green, foggy mountains. The daytime temperature in the plains is high, but it is more temperate in the mountains; the region receives the flow of the trade winds from the northern hemisphere. The northeastern coast of Venezuela and the Antilles have Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub.

The trade winds cause a resurgence of the deep littoral waters and make the sea more rich in living species on the western side of the peninsula. The northeastern flank of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range acts as a barrier that generates abundant rainfall in its steppes, forming the headwaters of the Ranchería River, the only major river in the area. Climate and vegetation varies from south to north, presenting hyper-humid jungle weather in the southern part to the desertic areas in the north. In the northern area, a small range of mountains known as the Macuira reaches 900 m above sea level. Most of the mountain range is a protected area called National Natural Park of Macuira. Nearby there is the 80 km² Flamingos Fauna and Flora Sanctuary; the peninsula is inhabited by members of the native tribe of the Wayuu, who use the plains to raise cattle, sheep and horses. The descendants of Spanish colonists settled in the southeastern part of the peninsula; this has more fertile land, due to the proximity to other river basins, such as the Cesar river basin.

It has been developed for large plantations of cotton and sorghum, for cattle ranching. Since the 1980s the central area of the peninsula was subject to the exploration and exploitation of coal and natural gas in the area of Cerrejón and of oil in the littoral. A popular ecotourism destination in the area is Cabo de la Vela, a headland and village on the peninsula on the Colombia side; the mission of Goajira was carried out since the 1880s by Capuchin friars. It was elevated by Pope Pius X on 17 January 1905, into a vicariate Apostolic, dependent on the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. Mgr Attanasio Maria Vincenzo Soler-Royo, O. F. M. Cap. was appointed to the vicariate, as titular Bishop of Citharizum, on 18 April 1907. The early 20th-century missionaries described the inhabitants of the area as "tall and well made, they were intractable, but the Capuchins, who were in charge of the Catholic missions, have had a great influence over them, large numbers have been converted.

The chief towns are Paraguaipoa, Maricha and Soldado." The Capuchins established three major orphanages, where they educated Wayuu children in Catholicism and European culture. In the 21st century, the government no longer requires Catholic education for the indigenous peoples, they are allowed to educate their children in the Wayuu traditions and language (Wayuunaiki. In the novel Papillon, Henri Charrière writes: "The Goajira Indians are seafarers who fish for pearls, their primary diet is said to consist of fish, turtle meat, turtle eggs and big green lizards, most Iguanas. Men and women are dressed only in a loincloth which covers their crotch."The women wear dresses of woven cotton. Distocyclus goajira, an electric fish T-63 Goajira, a ship of the navy of Venezuela Guajira Department, Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub and La Guajira Desert Henri Candelier. 1892. Riohacha y los Indios Guajiros. Crónica de un viajero y explorador francés quien durante tres años, 1889–1892, recorrió La Guajira.

Martha Ligia Castellanos, Luis Carlos Pardo L. 2000. "Caracterización y primera aproximación a la determinación del índice de biodiversidad en los suelos de la cuenca del arroyo Mekijanao, Serranía de la Macuira, Alta Guajira." En: Juan Carlos Pérez X Congreso Nacional de la Ciencia del Suelo. Programa y resúmenes. El suelo un componente del medio natural. Medellín, Octubre 11 al 13 de 2000 Edith González, Gabriel Guillot, Néstor Miranda, Diana Pombo. 1990. Perfil Ambiental de Colombia. Colciencias. Escala. Bogotá. Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi. 1996. Diccionario Geográfico de Colombia. Edición en CD-ROM. Bogotá, Colombia. Thomas Stadtmüller. 1987. Cloud Forests in the Humid Tropics. A Bibliographic Review; the United Nations University, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza. Turrialba, Costa Rica. 82 pp

The Cuban warblers are a genus and family, Teretistridae, of birds endemic to Cuba and its surrounding cays. Until 2002 they were thought to be New World warblers, but DNA studies have shown that they are not related to that family; the family consists of the yellow-headed warbler and the Oriente warbler. Both species are found in forest and scrub, with the yellow-headed warbler ranging in the west of the island and the Oriente warbler in the east; the Cuban warblers have similar yellow and grey plumage. The Cuban warblers are insectivores, with beetles forming a large part of the diet. Small reptiles and fruit are taken, they feed in bushes and trees, in pairs or in small flocks during the non-breeding season, are the nucleus species for mixed-species feeding flocks with other birds migrants from North America. The genus Teretistris was long thought to sit in the New World warbler family Parulidae, until a 2002 study examined 25 genera of New World warbler using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA found that six genera were best placed outside the family, including Teretistris.

Five of the genera had long been suspected to not sit comfortably inside Parulidae, but before this study there had never been a suggestion that Teretistris did not belong in the New World warbler family. A follow up study published in 2013 supported the separation of the genus from Parulidae but found it difficult to resolve where it sat with the other nine-primaried songbirds, their closest relatives may be the wrenthrush, genus Zeledonia, now treated as a monotypic family, Zeledoniidae. The study's authors recommended separating the genus into its own family, Teretistridae; the family was included in the 58th supplement of the American Ornithological Society checklist in 2017, the family has been accepted by the International Ornithological Congress' Birds of the World: Recommended English Names, the Handbook of the Birds of the World's HBW Alive and The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. These four authorities have adopted the common name of Cuban warblers for the family; the 2013 Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World took a different approach and placed the two Cuban warblers with the wrenthrush in the family Zeledoniidae.

The family contains two related species treated as a species pair: Yellow-headed warbler Oriente warbler The yellow-headed warbler is monotypic, meaning it has no described subspecies. In 2000 a subspecies of the Oriente warbler, was described from Pico Turquino, a mountain in the south of the island; the subspecies has been accepted by some authorities, but one has suggested that further research is required. The Cuban warblers are, as their name suggests, endemic to Cuba and its surrounding islands and cays, they have an allopatric distribution, with the yellow-headed warbler living in the west of the island and the Oriente warbler living in the east. The yellow-headed warbler is found on the northern coast of the west of the island, as well as the Zapata Peninsula, Guanahacabibes Peninsula and Isla de la Juventud to the south of Cuba; the Oriente warbler has a more discontinuous range along the northern coast of the east of the island, a more continuous presence in the south of the island in the Oriente region.

The described subspecies turquinensis is found in the eastern mountains of Oriente. The species is found on the cays to the north of Cuba, but not any cays to the south; the disjunct populations are thought to be due to a lack of suitable habitat in the east. Where the two species co-occur in the Matanzas Province the Oriente warbler is found along the coast whereas the yellow-headed warbler is found inland. Both species of Cuban warbler inhabit a range of natural forest with good understory and drier scrubbier habitat, from sea-level up into the mountains of Cuba; the Oriente warbler is more to live in scrub nearer the coasts, humid forests higher in hills and mountains. The Cuban warblers are around 13 cm long and weigh between 6–18 g. Both are similar in appearance to New World warblers, have similar plumage to each other, they have grey backs and tails, yellow faces and throats. Both species have a yellow eye-ring; the sexes are identical, but females have shorter tails. The bills are robust and curved, blackish-grey to grey.

Insects form a large part of the diet of the Cuban warblers. Stomach-content analysis of the Oriente warbler showed that beetles formed a large part of its diet, with a smaller part of its diet being composed of true bugs and moths and butterflies. Both species are reported to take small lizards; the yellow-headed warbler feeds in the understorey and mid canopy parts of the forest, a form of niche partitioning with the olive-capped warbler which more forages in the higher canopy, whereas the Oriente warbler feeds at higher levels in the canopy, above 5 m in the morning, before moving to feed closer to the ground in the evening. It has been suggested; the Cuban warblers are found in flocks of up to six birds in the non-breeding season. These small flocks serve as the nucleus of mixed-species feeding flocks of native species and in particular overwintering

Coëtivy Island is a small coral island in the Seychelles 290 km south of Mahé, at 07°08′S 56°16′E. Along with Île Platte, the nearest neighbor 171 km northwest, it comprises the Southern Coral Group and therefore belongs to the Outer Islands, it was named after Chevalier de Coëtivy, commander of the Ile de France who first sighted the island in 1771. In 1908 it was transferred from Mauritius to Seychelles. In 1970 the island was purchased by the parastatal Seychelles Marketing Board. In 1989, SMB began producing shrimp. Coëtivy Island became famous for its shrimp farms and shrimp processing plant that operated on the island. Large scale production began on August 1992. However, in 2008, due to hard financial times, the plant closed. In 2009, the island became the site of an active prison for low security prisoners and a rehabilitation center for drug abusers. Visitation is controlled and access is only possible by private airplane charter. By 2020, the Prison should be increased to capacity of 600 inmates.

By 2020, the island is expected to have more residential apartments. The island has an area of 9.33 km2, is low and wooded. The island has a population of 260. There are plans of making a Chinese Army base at north point, which will double the islands population; the islanders are farmers. They produce vegetables which are sold in markets on Mahé; the main production activities on the island include farming, charcoal production, salted fish production and coconut processing which include production of copra and coconut oil. The island belongs to Outer Islands District. Being an island with a small population, there are not any government services. For many services, people have to go to Victoria, a difficult task; the island is bisected by a 1,400 metres airfield. The island is serviced by an Island Development Company aircraft from Mahé; the inhabitants on the island are engaged in small scale farming and fishing which are for the island consumption. The island is known for its rich fish life. Island guide 1 Island guide 2 National Bureau of Statistics Info on the island