1.
Port Louis
–
Port Louis is the capital city of Mauritius, located in the Port Louis District, the western part also lies in the Black River District. Port Louis is the economic, cultural, political centre. It is administered by the Municipal City Council of Port Louis, according to the 2012 census conducted by Statistics Mauritius, the population was 149,194. Port Louis was already in use as a harbor in 1638, the Port is named in honor of King Louis XV. During this period of French colonization, Mauritius was known as Ile de France, the French governor at that time, Bertrand-François Mahé de Labourdonnais, contributed to the development of the city. Since Port Louis was relatively well-protected from strong winds during cyclones by the Moka Mountain Range, value of the port continued during the British occupation of the island during the Napoleonic Wars, and helped Britain control the Indian Ocean. However, port calls of ships fell drastically following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, activity in the port increased during the seven-year closure of the Suez Canal. Modernization of the port in the late 1970s has helped it maintain its role as the point for all imports and exports from Mauritius. Port Louis features a hot semi-arid climate under Köppens climate classification and its wettest months are from December through April where on average 60 mm of rain falls during each of these months. The remaining months forms Port Louis dry season, the city also shows a noticeable range of average temperatures. Port Louis’ coolest temperatures are seen mid-year where average temperatures are around 24 °C. Port Louis is home to the biggest port facility in the Indian Ocean region, Port Louis is home to the nations main harbor, and is the only official port of entry and exit for sea vessels in Mauritius. Ships must cleared in the port before visiting any other anchorage in the island nation, the Mauritius Ports Authority, established by law in 1998, is the port authority responsible for Port Louis. The harbor adjoins the city, with the port currently comprising three terminals. Terminal I contains a total of 1180 meters of quay, with six berthing positions for cargo, passengers, Terminal II contains 986 meters of quays with six berthing positions, and includes specialized facilities for handling and storing sugar, fish, tallow, and caustic soda. In particular, the Bulk Sugar Terminal can handle vessels with up to 11 meters of draft, can load sugar at a rate of 1450 tones per hours, and can store 175,000 tons of cargo. Also present in Terminal II is a dedicated 124-meter cruise ship jetty, Terminal III has two 280-meter quays with a depth of 14 meters, and is specialized for handling container ships, having five post-Panamax gantry cranes. Also present are storage facilities for bulk ethanol and tie-in points for reefer containers, vessels too large to dock at the quays can anchor at the Outer Anchorage, which is still within the official boundaries of the port
Port Louis
–
Aerial view of Port Louis
Port Louis
–
Jardin de la Compagnie (Company Gardens in English). Originally the vegetable patch of the
French East India Company
Port Louis
–
Aerial view of the city, including the port, at night
Port Louis
–
The skyline of Port Louis, dominated by the
Bank of Mauritius Tower
2.
Mauritius
–
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres off the southeast coast of the African continent. The country includes the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, and the outer islands, the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues form part of the Mascarene Islands, along with nearby Réunion, a French overseas department. The area of the country is 2,040 km², the capital and largest city is Port Louis. Mauritius was a British colonial possession from 1810 to 1968, the year of its independence, the government uses English as the main language. The sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago is disputed between Mauritius and the United Kingdom, the UK excised the archipelago from Mauritian territory in 1965, three years prior to Mauritian independence. The UK gradually depopulated the archipelagos indigenous population and leased its biggest island, Diego Garcia, access to the archipelago is prohibited to casual tourists, the media, and its former inhabitants. Mauritius also claims sovereignty over Tromelin Island from France, the people of Mauritius are multiethnic, multi-religious, multicultural and multilingual. The islands government is modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system. Along with the other Mascarene Islands, Mauritius is known for its flora and fauna. The island is known as the only known home of the dodo. Mauritius is the country in Africa where Hinduism is the largest religion. The first historical evidence of the existence of an island now known as Mauritius is on a map produced by the Italian cartographer Alberto Cantino in 1502. From this, it appears that Mauritius was first named Dina Arobi around 975 by Arab sailors, in 1507 Portuguese sailors visited the uninhabited island. The island appears with a Portuguese name Cirne on early Portuguese maps, another Portuguese sailor, Dom Pedro Mascarenhas, gave the name Mascarenes to the Archipelago. In 1598 a Dutch squadron under Admiral Wybrand van Warwyck landed at Grand Port and named the island Mauritius, in honour of Prince Maurice van Nassau, later the island became a French colony and was renamed Isle de France. On 3 December 1810 the French surrendered the island to Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, under British rule, the islands name reverted to Mauritius /məˈrɪʃəs/. Mauritius is also known as Maurice and Île Maurice in French. The island of Mauritius was uninhabited before its first recorded visit during the Middle Ages by Arab sailors, in 1507 Portuguese sailors came to the uninhabited island and established a visiting base
Mauritius
–
The
Battle of Grand Port between the French and British navies, 1810.
Mauritius
–
Flag
Mauritius
–
Champ de Mars, Port Louis, 1880.
Mauritius
–
Postage stamp with portrait of
Queen Elizabeth II, 1954
3.
Comoros
–
Other countries near the Comoros are Tanzania to the northwest and the Seychelles to the northeast. Its capital is Moroni, on Grande Comore, the Union of the Comoros has three official languages – Comorian, Arabic and French. The religion of the majority of the population is Islam, at 1,660 km2, excluding the contested island of Mayotte, the Comoros is the third-smallest African nation by area. The population, excluding Mayotte, is estimated at 798,000, as a nation formed at a crossroads of different civilisations, the archipelago is noted for its diverse culture and history. The archipelago was first inhabited by Bantu speakers who came from East Africa, supplemented by Arab, the country consists of three major islands and numerous smaller islands, all in the volcanic Comoros archipelago. The major islands are known by their French names, northwestern-most Grande Comore, Mohéli. France has vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions that would affirm Comorian sovereignty over the island, in addition, Mayotte became an overseas department and a region of France in 2011 following a referendum passed overwhelmingly. It became part of the French colonial empire in the 19th century before becoming independent in 1975, since declaring independence, the country has experienced more than 20 coups détat or attempted coups, with various heads of state assassinated. As of 2008 about half the population lived below the poverty line of US$1.25 a day. The Comoros is the state to be a member of the African Union, Francophonie, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League. The name Comoros derives from the Arabic word قمر qamar, the first human inhabitants of the Comoro Islands are thought to have been Polynesian and Melanesian settlers, Malays and Indonesians, travelling by boat. The islands of the Comoros were populated by a succession of peoples from the coast of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf, the Malay Archipelago, and Madagascar. Bantu-speaking settlers reached the islands as a part of the greater Bantu expansion that took place in Africa throughout the first millennium, according to pre-Islamic mythology, a jinni dropped a jewel, which formed a great circular inferno. This became the Karthala volcano, which created the island of the Comoros, development of the Comoros was divided into phases. The earliest reliably recorded phase is the Dembeni phase, during each island maintained a single. From the eleventh to the centuries, trade with the island of Madagascar and merchants from the Middle East flourished, smaller villages emerged. Many Comorians can trace their genealogies to ancestors from Yemen, mainly Hadhramaut, and Oman. According to legend, in 632, upon hearing of Islam, islanders are said to have dispatched an emissary, Mtswa-Mwindza, to Mecca—but by the time he arrived there, the Islamic prophet Muhammad had died
Comoros
–
A large
dhow with
lateen sail rigs.
Comoros
–
Flag
Comoros
–
A
vanilla plantation.
Comoros
–
An 1808 map refers to the islands as "Camora".
4.
Madagascar
–
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, and previously known as the Malagasy Republic, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Southeast Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar, and numerous smaller peripheral islands, consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot, over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The islands diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the growing human population. The first archaeological evidence for human foraging on Madagascar dates to 2000 BC, human settlement of Madagascar occurred between 350 BC and AD550 by Austronesian peoples arriving on outrigger canoes from Borneo. These were joined around AD1000 by Bantu migrants crossing the Mozambique Channel from East Africa, other groups continued to settle on Madagascar over time, each one making lasting contributions to Malagasy cultural life. The Malagasy ethnic group is divided into 18 or more sub-groups of which the largest are the Merina of the central highlands. Until the late 18th century, the island of Madagascar was ruled by an assortment of shifting sociopolitical alliances. Beginning in the early 19th century, most of the island was united and ruled as the Kingdom of Madagascar by a series of Merina nobles, the monarchy collapsed in 1897 when the island was absorbed into the French colonial empire, from which the island gained independence in 1960. The autonomous state of Madagascar has since undergone four major constitutional periods, since 1992, the nation has officially been governed as a constitutional democracy from its capital at Antananarivo. However, in an uprising in 2009, president Marc Ravalomanana was made to resign. Constitutional governance was restored in January 2014, when Hery Rajaonarimampianina was named president following a 2013 election deemed fair, Madagascar is a member of the United Nations, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and the Southern African Development Community. Madagascar belongs to the group of least developed countries, according to the United Nations, Malagasy and French are both official languages of the state. The majority of the population adheres to traditional beliefs, Christianity, ecotourism and agriculture, paired with greater investments in education, health, and private enterprise, are key elements of Madagascars development strategy. As of 2017, the economy has been weakened by the 2009-2013 political crisis, in the Malagasy language, the island of Madagascar is called Madagasikara and its people are referred to as Malagasy. The islands appellation Madagascar is not of origin, but rather was popularized in the Middle Ages by Europeans. On St. Laurences Day in 1500, Portuguese explorer Diogo Dias landed on the island, polos name was preferred and popularized on Renaissance maps. At 592,800 square kilometres, Madagascar is the worlds 47th largest country, the country lies mostly between latitudes 12°S and 26°S, and longitudes 43°E and 51°E. Neighboring islands include the French territory of Réunion and the country of Mauritius to the east, as well as the state of Comoros, the nearest mainland state is Mozambique, located to the west
Madagascar
–
The terraced paddy fields of the
central highlands of Madagascar (left) give way to tropical rainforest along the eastern coast (center) bordered by the shores of the
Indian Ocean (right).
Madagascar
–
Flag
Madagascar
Madagascar
–
The grassy plains that dominate the western landscape are dotted with stony massifs (left), patches of deciduous forest, and
baobab trees (center), while the south is characterized by desert and
spiny forests (right).
5.
France
–
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
France
–
One of the
Lascaux paintings: a horse –
Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC
France
–
Flag
France
–
The
Maison Carrée was a temple of the
Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day
Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the
Roman Empire.
France
–
With
Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the
Frankish monarchy,
elective and
secular until then, became
hereditary and of
divine right.
6.
Seychelles
–
Seychelles, officially the Republic of Seychelles, is an archipelago and country in the Indian Ocean. The 115-island country, whose capital is Victoria, lies 1,500 kilometres east of mainland East Africa, other nearby island countries and territories include Comoros, Mayotte, Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius to the south. Seychelles is a member of the African Union, the Southern African Development Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, since 1976, per capita output has increased nearly sevenfold. In recent years, the government has encouraged investment in order to upgrade these sectors. Today, Seychelles boasts the highest nominal per capita GDP in Africa and it is one of only a handful of countries in Africa with high Human Development Index. Despite the countrys economic prosperity, poverty remains widespread due to very high level of income inequality, one of the highest in the world. The Seychelles were uninhabited throughout most of recorded history, some scholars assume that Austronesian seafarers and later Maldivian and Arab traders were the first to visit the uninhabited Seychelles. This assumption is based on the discovery of tombs in 1910, the earliest recorded sighting by Europeans took place in 1502 by the Portuguese Admiral Vasco da Gama, who passed through the Amirantes and named them after himself. The earliest recorded landing was in January 1609, by the crew of the Ascension under Captain Alexander Sharpeigh during the voyage of the British East India Company. The islands were named after Jean Moreau de Séchelles, Louis XVs Minister of Finance, the British controlled the islands between 1794 and 1810. Jean Baptiste Quéau de Quincy, French administrator of Seychelles during the years of war with the United Kingdom, instead, he successfully negotiated the status of capitulation to Britain which gave the settlers a privileged position of neutrality. Britain eventually assumed full control upon the surrender of Mauritius in 1810, Seychelles became a crown colony separate from Mauritius in 1903. Elections were held in 1966 and 1970, independence was granted in 1976 as a republic within the Commonwealth. In the 1970s Seychelles was the place to be seen, a playground for film stars, in 1977, a coup détat by France Albert René ousted the first president of the republic, James Mancham. René discouraged over-dependence on tourism and declared that he wanted to keep the Seychelles for the Seychellois, the 1979 constitution declared a socialist one-party state, which lasted until 1991. In the 1980s there were a series of attempts against President René. In 1981, Mike Hoare led a team of 43 South African mercenaries masquerading as holidaying rugby players in the 1981 Seychelles coup détat attempt, there was a gun battle at the airport, and most of the mercenaries later escaped in a hijacked Air India plane. The leader of this hijacking was German mercenary D. Clodo, Clodo later stood trial in South Africa as well as in his home country Germany for air-piracy
Seychelles
–
Victoria, the capital of Seychelles.
Seychelles
–
Flag
Seychelles
–
President
James Michel in his office in
Victoria, 2009.
Seychelles
–
Dense forests on
Mahé Island.
7.
French language
–
French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
French language
–
The
"arrêt" signs (French for "stop") are used in
Canada while the international stop, which is also a valid French word, is used in France as well as other French-speaking countries and regions.
French language
–
Regions where French is the main language
French language
–
Town sign in
Standard Arabic and French at the entrance of
Rechmaya in
Lebanon.
French language
–
An obsolete 100
Lebanese pound note with the French language inscriptions "Banque du Liban" and "Cent livres".
8.
Port-Louis
–
Port Louis is the capital city of Mauritius, located in the Port Louis District, the western part also lies in the Black River District. Port Louis is the economic, cultural, political centre. It is administered by the Municipal City Council of Port Louis, according to the 2012 census conducted by Statistics Mauritius, the population was 149,194. Port Louis was already in use as a harbor in 1638, the Port is named in honor of King Louis XV. During this period of French colonization, Mauritius was known as Ile de France, the French governor at that time, Bertrand-François Mahé de Labourdonnais, contributed to the development of the city. Since Port Louis was relatively well-protected from strong winds during cyclones by the Moka Mountain Range, value of the port continued during the British occupation of the island during the Napoleonic Wars, and helped Britain control the Indian Ocean. However, port calls of ships fell drastically following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, activity in the port increased during the seven-year closure of the Suez Canal. Modernization of the port in the late 1970s has helped it maintain its role as the point for all imports and exports from Mauritius. Port Louis features a hot semi-arid climate under Köppens climate classification and its wettest months are from December through April where on average 60 mm of rain falls during each of these months. The remaining months forms Port Louis dry season, the city also shows a noticeable range of average temperatures. Port Louis’ coolest temperatures are seen mid-year where average temperatures are around 24 °C. Port Louis is home to the biggest port facility in the Indian Ocean region, Port Louis is home to the nations main harbor, and is the only official port of entry and exit for sea vessels in Mauritius. Ships must cleared in the port before visiting any other anchorage in the island nation, the Mauritius Ports Authority, established by law in 1998, is the port authority responsible for Port Louis. The harbor adjoins the city, with the port currently comprising three terminals. Terminal I contains a total of 1180 meters of quay, with six berthing positions for cargo, passengers, Terminal II contains 986 meters of quays with six berthing positions, and includes specialized facilities for handling and storing sugar, fish, tallow, and caustic soda. In particular, the Bulk Sugar Terminal can handle vessels with up to 11 meters of draft, can load sugar at a rate of 1450 tones per hours, and can store 175,000 tons of cargo. Also present in Terminal II is a dedicated 124-meter cruise ship jetty, Terminal III has two 280-meter quays with a depth of 14 meters, and is specialized for handling container ships, having five post-Panamax gantry cranes. Also present are storage facilities for bulk ethanol and tie-in points for reefer containers, vessels too large to dock at the quays can anchor at the Outer Anchorage, which is still within the official boundaries of the port
Port-Louis
–
Aerial view of Port Louis
Port-Louis
–
Jardin de la Compagnie (Company Gardens in English). Originally the vegetable patch of the
French East India Company
Port-Louis
–
Aerial view of the city, including the port, at night
Port-Louis
–
The skyline of Port Louis, dominated by the
Bank of Mauritius Tower
9.
Tourism
–
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business, also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. Tourism may be international, or within the travellers country, Tourism can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a countrys balance of payments. Today, tourism is a source of income for many countries. International tourism receipts grew to US$1.03 trillion in 2011, the ITB Berlin is the worlds leading tourism trade fair. The word tourist was used by 1772 and tourism by 1811. It is formed from the tour, which is derived from Old English turian, from Old French torner, from Latin tornare, to turn on a lathe. Tourism is an important, even vital, source of income for many regions and it also creates opportunities for employment in the service sector of the economy associated with tourism. This is in addition to goods bought by tourists, including souvenirs, in 1936, the League of Nations defined a foreign tourist as someone traveling abroad for at least twenty-four hours. Its successor, the United Nations, amended this definition in 1945 and it includes movements for all purposes. In 1981, the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined tourism in terms of particular activities chosen and undertaken outside the home, in this context, travel has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey. The terms tourism and tourist are sometimes used pejoratively, to imply a shallow interest in the cultures or locations visited, by contrast, traveler is often used as a sign of distinction. The sociology of tourism has studied the values underpinning these distinctions. International tourist arrivals reached 1.035 billion in 2012, up from over 996 million in 2011, the World Tourism Organization reports the following ten destinations as the most visited in terms of the number of international travellers in 2016. International tourism receipts grew to US$1.2 trillion in 2014, based upon air traffic, the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index reports the following cities as the top ten most popular destinations of international tourism worldwide. MasterCard reports the following cities as the top ten biggest earners on international tourism worldwide in 2015, as early as Shulgi, however, kings praised themselves for protecting roads and building waystations for travelers. During the Roman Republic, spas and coastal resorts such as Baiae were popular among the rich, pausanias wrote his Description of Greece in the 2nd century AD. In ancient China, nobles sometimes made a point of visiting Mount Tai and, on occasion, the Islamic hajj is still central to its faith and Chaucers Canterbury Tales and Wu Chengens Journey to the West remain classics of English and Chinese literature. The 10th- to 13th-century Song dynasty also saw secular travel writers such as Su Shi, under the Ming, Xu Xiake continued the practice
Tourism
–
A tourist taking photographs and video at archaeological site
Tourism
–
Backpacking tourists in Vienna
Tourism
–
1922 postcard of tourists in the
High Tatras,
Slovakia.
Tourism
–
Strandkorb chairs on
Usedom Island, Germany. Not only the service sector grows thanks to tourism, but also local
manufacturers (like those producing the strandkorb),
retailers, the
real estate sector and the general
image of a location can benefit a lot.
10.
Sea cucumber
–
Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea. They are marine animals with a skin and an elongated body containing a single. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide, the number of holothurian species worldwide is about 1,717 with the greatest number being in the Asia Pacific region. Many of these are gathered for consumption and some species are cultivated in aquaculture systems. The harvested product is referred to as trepang, bêche-de-mer or balate. Sea cucumbers serve a role in the marine ecosystem as they help recycle nutrients, breaking down detritus. Like all echinoderms, sea cucumbers have an endoskeleton just below the skin, in some species these can sometimes be enlarged to flattened plates, forming an armour. In pelagic species such as Pelagothuria natatrix, the skeleton is absent, the sea cucumbers are named after their resemblance to the fruit of the cucumber plant. Most sea cucumbers, as their name suggests, have a soft and cylindrical body, more or less lengthened, rounded off and occasionally fat in the extremities, and generally without solid appendages. Their shape ranges from almost spherical for sea apples to serpent-like for Apodida or the classic sausage-shape, the mouth is surrounded by tentacles, which can be pulled back inside the animal. Holothurians measure generally between 10 and 30 centimeters long, with extremes of some millimeters for Rhabdomolgus ruber and up to more than 3 meters for Synapta maculata. The largest American species, Holothuria floridana, which abounds just below low-water mark on the Florida reefs, has a volume of well over 500 cubic centimeters, and 25–30 cm long. Most possess five rows of feet, but Apodida lacks these and moves by crawling. The podia on the dorsal surface generally have no locomotive role, at one of the extremities opens a rounded mouth, generally surrounded with a crown of tentacles which can be very complex in some species, the anus is postero-dorsal. Holothurians do not look like other echinoderms at first glance, because of their tubular body, furthermore, the fivefold symmetry, classical for echinoderms, although preserved structurally, is doubled here by a bilateral symmetry which makes them look like chordates. However, a symmetry is still visible in some species through five radii. There is thus no oral or aboral face as for sea stars and other echinoderms, but the stands on one of its sides. A remarkable feature of animals is the catch collagen that forms their body wall
Sea cucumber
–
Sea cucumber
Sea cucumber
–
Thelenota ananas, a giant sea cucumber from the Indo-Pacific tropics.
Sea cucumber
–
Details of the mouth with its tentacles.
Sea cucumber
–
Synaptula lamperti lives on sponges (here in
Indonesia).
11.
Seaweed
–
Seaweed refers to several species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of red, brown, and green algae, seaweed can also be classified by use. Seaweed is a term and lacks a formal definition. A seaweed may belong to one of groups of multicellular algae, the red algae, green algae. As these three groups do not have a common ancestor, the seaweed are in a polyphyletic group. In addition, some tuft-forming bluegreen algae are sometimes considered to be seaweed, seaweeds appearance somewhat resembles non-arboreal terrestrial plants. Two specific environmental requirements dominate seaweed ecology and these are the presence of seawater and the presence of light sufficient to drive photosynthesis. Another common requirement is an attachment point, although some genera such as Sargassum. As a result, seaweed most commonly inhabit the part of a sea that is close to the shore, seaweed occupy a wide range of ecological niches. The highest elevation is only wetted by the tops of sea spray, in some areas, littoral seaweed can extend several miles out to sea. The limiting factor in such cases is sunlight availability, the deepest living seaweed are some species of red algae. Others have adapted to live in rock pools. In this habitat seaweed must withstand rapidly changing temperature and salinity, seaweed has a variety of purposes, for which it is farmed or foraged from the wild. At the beginning of 2011, Indonesia produced 3 million tonnes of seaweed and surpassed the Philippines as the worlds largest seaweed producer, by 2011, the production was estimated to have reached 10 million tonnes. Seaweed is consumed by people, particularly in East Asia, e. g. Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan. In Asia, Gim, nori, zicai are sheets of dried Porphyra used in soups, chondrus crispus is another red alga used in producing food additives, along with Kappaphycus and gigartinoid seaweed. Porphyra is a red alga used in Wales to make laver, laverbread, made from oats and the laver, is a popular dish there. In northern Belize, edible seaweed are mixed with milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, seaweed are also harvested or cultivated for the extraction of alginate, agar and carrageenan, gelatinous substances collectively known as hydrocolloids or phycocolloids
Seaweed
–
Ascophyllum nodosum exposed to the sun in
Nova Scotia,
Canada
Seaweed
–
Dead man's fingers (
Codium fragile) off the
Massachusetts coast in the United States
Seaweed
–
The top of a
kelp forest in
Otago, New Zealand
Seaweed
–
Seaweeds cover this rocky seabed on the east coast of Australia
12.
Integrated Authority File
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The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly also by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It also comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format
Integrated Authority File
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GND screenshot
Comoros
Madagascar
Mauritius
Réunion (France)
Seychelles
