1.
Montes Jura
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Montes Jura is a mountain range in the northwest part of the near side of the Moon. The selenographic coordinates of this range are 47. 1° N34. 0° W and it has a diameter of 422 km, with mountains rising to 6100 m. They were named after the Jura Mountains in eastern France / western Switzerland and this range of mountains form a visually pleasing semi-circular ring around the Sinus Iridum, a bay along the northwestern edge of Mare Imbrium. The blunt, east-facing cape at the end of the range is named Promontorium Heraclides. As the terminator advances near this range two to three nights after the first quarter moon, the peaks of this range catch the sunlight at their tops and this produces a string of bright points that have been described as the jewelled scimitar effect. In the distant past this range once formed the wall of a crater about 260 km in diameter. The southeast face of this crater was then removed and the interior flooded with basaltic lava, as a result the side of the range facing the mare ends in the nearly level plains, which the opposite side merges with a region of rough and irregular terrain. The only crater of note in this range is Bianchini, which lies across the portion of the curve. A little farther to the west is Sharp, and to the northeast is the ruined crater Maupertuis. Peter Grego describes a figurine of The Moon Maiden, seeing her facial profile in Promontorium Heraclides, her hair in the hills to the west and she appears upside down when viewed in binoculars from the Northern Hemisphere
2.
Summit
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A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a maximum in elevation. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak, and zenith are synonymous, the UIAA definition is that a summit is independent if it has a prominence of 30 metres or more, it is a mountain if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres. This can be summarised as follows, A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top, Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the western United States, the term refers to the highest point along a road, highway. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit while the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit, geoid Hill List of highest mountains Maxima and minima Nadir Summit accordance Peak finder
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
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
5.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
6.
Vaud
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The Canton of Vaud is the third largest of Swiss cantons by population and fourth by size. The capital and biggest city is Lausanne, officially designated Olympic Capital by the International Olympic Committee, the canton had 725,944 inhabitants as of 2011. Along the lakes, Vaud was inhabited in prehistoric times, later, the Celtic tribe of the Helvetii inhabited the area. The tribe was defeated by Caesars troops in 58 BC and as a consequence the Romans settled the area, the towns of Vevey and Lausanne are two of the many towns established by the Romans. In 27 BC the state of Civitas Helvetiorum was established around the capital of Avenches, there are still many Roman remains around the town today. Between the 2nd and the 4th century the area was invaded by Alemannic tribes. The Merovingian Franks later replaced the Burgundians and their occupancy did not last long either, and in 888 the area of the canton of Vaud was made part of the Carolingian Empire. In 1032 the Zähringens of Germany defeated the Burgundians, the Zähringens themselves were succeeded in 1218 by the counts of Savoy. It was only under the counts of Savoy that the area was given political unity, a part stretching from Attalens to the River Sarine, in the north, was absorbed by the canton of Fribourg. As the power of the Savoys declined at the beginning of the 15th century the land was occupied by troops from Bern, by 1536 the area was completely annexed. The Bernese occupiers were not popular amongst the population, later, inspired by the French Revolution, the Vaudois drove out the Bernese governor in 1798 and declared the Lemanic Republic. Under Napoleon I, it became the canton of Léman, in 1803, Vaud joined the re-installed Swiss confederation. In spite of Bernese attempts to reclaim Vaud, it has remained a sovereign canton ever since, separation was prevented at the cost of very few lives. The current constitution dates from 14 April 2003, replacing the one from 1885, in the Jura mountains in the west, the canton borders the French departments of Ain, Jura, and Doubs. In the east, it borders the cantons of Fribourg and Bern, the total area is 3,212 square kilometres. Along with the canton of Berne, Vaud is one of the two cantons whose territory extends from the Jura to the Alps, through the three geographic regions of Switzerland. The areas in the south east are mountainous, situated on the side of the Bernese Alps. This region is named the Vaud Alps
7.
Canton of Jura
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The Republic and Canton of the Jura, also known as the canton of Jura or canton Jura, is the newest of the 26 Swiss cantons, located in the northwestern part of Switzerland. It shares borders with the canton of Basel-Landschaft, the canton of Bern, the canton of Neuchatel, the canton of Solothurn, the King of Burgundy donated much of the land that today makes up canton Jura to the Bishop of Basel in 999. The area was a state within the Holy Roman Empire for more than 800 years. After the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 the Jura had close ties with the Swiss Confederation, at the Congress of Vienna, the Jura region became part of the canton of Bern. The Jura was French-speaking and Roman Catholic, whereas the canton of Bern was mostly German-speaking, after World War II, a separatist movement campaigned for a secession of Jura from the canton of Bern. After a long and partly militant struggle, which included some arson attacks by a youth organisation Les Béliers, in 1978 the split was made official when the Swiss people voted in favour, and in 1979 the Jura joined the Swiss Confederation as a full member. The canton celebrated its independence from the canton of Bern on 23 June, the area is now known as Bernese Jura. The word Jura, therefore, may refer either to canton Jura, or to the territory of canton Jura. Switzerland as a whole presents the latter from a touristic standpoint with documentation easily available in French or German. On creation, the canton adopted the title Republic and canton of the Jura, other cantons in Switzerland using the title Republic and Canton are Ticino, canton of Geneva, and canton of Neuchâtel. In each case, the title refers to the autonomy of the canton, since 1994, the question of the Jura region has again been controversial. In 2004, a federal commission proposed that the French-speaking southern Jura be reunited with the canton of Jura, Canton Jura lies in the northwest of Switzerland. It consists of parts of the Jura mountains in the south, the Jura plateau is hilly and almost entirely limestone. The districts of Ajoie and Franches-Montagnes lie in this region, the term Jurassic is derived from the Jura Alps, strata of which date to that era. To the north and the west of the canton lies France, the canton of Solothurn and Basel-Landschaft are to east of the canton, while the canton of Bern bounds the Jura to the south. The rivers Doubs and the Birs drain the lands, the Doubs joins the Saône and then the Rhône, whereas the Birs is a tributary to the Rhine. Jura is divided into 3 districts, Delémont - capital, Delémont Porrentruy - capital, Porrentruy Franches-Montagnes - capital, ^a FDP before 2009, FDP. The Liberals after 2009 ^b * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton. ^c Part of the canton of Bern The population is almost entirely French-speaking, just one municipality is German-speaking, Ederswiler
8.
Basel-Landschaft
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The canton of Basel-Landschaft, is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. It shares borders with the cantons of Basel-Stadt, Solothurn, Jura and Aargau, and with the French région of Alsace, Basel-Landschaft, together with Basel-Stadt, formed the historic Canton of Basel until they separated following the uprising of 1833. In Roman times, the area of Basel was a centre of Roman activity, there are well-preserved remains at the site of Augusta Raurica in the canton of Basel-Landschaft. Around AD200 there were about 20,000 people living in this city, the remains are on display in an open-air museum. The museum attracts over 140,000 visitors per year, many of these visitors are schoolchildren from other parts of Switzerland. The site of Augusta Raurica includes the best-preserved amphitheatre north of the Alps, the lands of the canton Basel-Landschaft are part of the lands acquired by the city of Basel. Until the end of the 16th century, most of the land belonged to the city of Basel. After Napoleon’s visit in 1798, the country achieved equality with the city, the country was economically dependent on the city, most probably because of the low level of education in the agricultural areas at the time. The city of Basel remained the cultural and economic centre of both Basel half cantons until then, castles and residences of Basel merchants dominated much of the landscape in Basel-Landschaft. After 1830 there were political quarrels and armed conflict in the canton of Basel, some of these were concerned with the rights of the population in the agricultural areas. They ultimately led to the separation of the canton Basel-Landschaft from the city of Basel on 26 August 1833, since then, there has been a movement for reunification. This movement gained momentum after 1900 when many parts of Basel-Landschaft became industrialized, the two half cantons agreed in principle to merge, but in 1969 the people of Basel-Landschaft voted down a referendum on this proposal in favour of retaining their independence. It is thought that the economic gap between the two cantons was the main reason why the population changed their attitude. That vote was not the end of a relationship between the two Basels. The two half cantons have since signed a number of agreements to co-operate, the contribution of Basel-Landschaft to the University of Basel since 1976 is just one example. The canton of Basel-Landschaft lies in the north of Switzerland, the Jura mountain chain traverses the canton. The rivers Ergolz and Birs drain the lands of the canton, in 1988 the canton of Basel-Landschaft had this aim written into its constitution. The aim remains to change the Swiss constitution to recognize the two cantons of Basel as full members, ^a FDP before 2009, FDP. The Liberals after 2009 ^b * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton
9.
French language
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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
10.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
11.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
12.
Sub-alpine
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Montane ecosystems refers to any ecosystem found in mountains. These ecosystems are affected by climate, which gets colder as elevation increases. They are stratified according to elevation, dense forests are common at moderate elevations. However, as the elevation increases, the climate becomes harsher, as elevation increases, the climate becomes cooler, due to a decrease in the greenhouse effect. The characteristic flora and fauna in the mountains tend to depend on elevation. This dependency causes life zones to form, bands of similar ecosystems at similar altitude, one of the typical life zones on mountains is the montane forest, at moderate elevations, the rainfall and temperate climate encourages dense forests to grow. Holdridge defines the climate of montane forest as having a biotemperature of between 6 and 12 °C, where biotemperature is the mean temperature considering temperatures below 0 °C to be 0 °C. Above the elevation of the montane forest, the trees thin out in the zone, become twisted krummholz. Therefore, Montane forests often contain trees with twisted trunks and this phenomenon is observed due to the increase in the wind strength with the elevation. The elevation where trees fail to grow is called the tree line. The biotemperature of the zone is between 3 and 6 °C. Above the tree line the ecosystem is called the zone or alpine tundra, dominated by grasses. The biotemperature of the zone is between 1.5 and 3 °C. Many different plant species live in the environment, including perennial grasses, sedges, forbs, cushion plants, mosses. Alpine plants must adapt to the conditions of the alpine environment, which include low temperatures, dryness, ultraviolet radiation. Alpine plants display adaptations such as structures, waxy surfaces. Because of the characteristics of these zones, the World Wildlife Fund groups a set of related ecoregions into the montane grassland and shrubland biome. Climates with biotemperatures below 1.5 °C tend to consist purely of rock, Montane forests occur between the submontane zone and the subalpine zone. The elevation at which one habitat changes to another varies across the globe, the upper limit of montane forests, the forest line or timberline, is often marked by a change to hardier species that occur in less dense stands
13.
Mountain range
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A mountain range is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains. A mountain system or system of ranges, sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically related. Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys, individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earths land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide Belt. The Andes is 7,000 kilometres long and is considered the worlds longest mountain system. The Alpide belt includes Indonesia and southeast Asia, through the Himalaya, the belt also includes other European and Asian mountain ranges. The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, mountain ranges outside of these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a range is stretched to include underwater mountains. The mountain systems of the earth are characterized by a tree structure, the sub-range relationship is often expressed as a parent-child relationship. For example, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Blue Ridge Mountains are sub-ranges of the Appalachian Mountains, equivalently, the Appalachians are the parent of the White Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, and the White Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains are children of the Appalachians. The position of mountains influences climate, such as rain or snow, when air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools producing orographic precipitation. As the air descends on the side, it warms again and is drier. Often, a shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to forces which work to tear them down. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted and long after until the mountains are reduced to low hills, rivers are traditionally believed to be the principle erosive factor on mountain ranges, with their ability of bedrock incision and sediment transport. The rugged topography of a range is the product of erosion. The basins adjacent to a mountain range are filled with sediments which are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example and this mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift
14.
Western Alps
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The name Western Alps refers to the western part of the Alpine range. The term has different meanings according to the classification of the Alps in use, the peaks and mountain passes are higher compared to the Eastern Alps, while the range itself is not so broad and more arched. The Western Alps include the part of France, whole Monaco, the north-western part of Italy. While in the south-east the range is bound by the Italian Padan Plain, in the east the valley of the Rhone river separates it from the Massif Central. The northernmost part of Western Alps - in the meaning of the term - is formed by the Swiss Prealps sub-range. In this traditional subdivision the Western Alps start from the Bocchetta di Altare and end with the Col Ferret
15.
Rhine
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The largest city on the river Rhine is Cologne, Germany, with a population of more than 1,050,000 people. It is the second-longest river in Central and Western Europe, at about 1,230 km, with an average discharge of about 2,900 m3/s. The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the inland frontier of the Roman Empire and, since those days. The many castles and fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance as a waterway in the Holy Roman Empire, in the modern era, it has become a symbol of German nationalism. The variant of the name of the Rhine in modern languages are all derived from the Gaulish name Rēnos, spanish is with French in adopting the Germanic vocalism Rin-, while Italian, Occitan and Portuguese retain the Latin Ren-. The Gaulish name Rēnos belongs to a class of river names built from the PIE root *rei- to move, flow, run, the grammatical gender of the Celtic name is masculine, and the name remains masculine in German, Dutch and French. The Old English river name was variously inflected as masculine or feminine, the length of the Rhine is conventionally measured in Rhine-kilometers, a scale introduced in 1939 which runs from the Old Rhine Bridge at Constance to Hoek van Holland. The river length is shortened from the rivers natural course due to a number of canalisation projects completed in the 19th and 20th century. The total length of the Rhine, to the inclusion of Lake Constance and its course is conventionally divided as follows, The Rhine carries its name without distinctive accessories only from the confluence of the Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein near Tamins-Reichenau. Above this point is the catchment of the headwaters of the Rhine. It belongs almost exclusively to the Swiss Canton of Graubünden, ranging from Gotthard Massif in the west via one valley lying in Ticino, traditionally, Lake Toma near the Oberalp Pass in the Gotthard region is seen as the source of the Vorderrhein and the Rhine as a whole. The Hinterrhein rises in the Rheinwald valley below Mount Rheinwaldhorn, the Vorderrhein, or Anterior Rhine, springs from Lai da Tuma, near the Oberalp Pass and passes the impressive Ruinaulta formed by the largest visible rock slide in the alps, the Flims Rockslide. A multiday trekking route is signposted along the young Rhine called Senda Sursilvana, the Hinterrhein/Rein Posteriur, or Posterior Rhine, starts from the Paradies Glacier, near the Rheinwaldhorn. One of its tributaries, the Reno di Lei, drains the Valle di Lei on politically Italian territory, after three main valleys separated by the two gorges, Roflaschlucht and Viamala, it reaches Reichenau. The Vorderrhein arises from numerous source streams in the upper Surselva, one source is Lai da Tuma with the Rein da Tuma, which is usually indicated as source of the Rhine, flowing through it. Into it flow tributaries from the south, some longer, some equal in length, such as the Reno di Medel, the Rein da Maighels, and the Rein da Curnera. The Cadlimo Valley in the Canton of Ticino is drained by the Reno di Medel, all streams in the source area are partially, sometimes completely, captured and sent to storage reservoirs for the local hydro-electric power plants. In its lower course the Vorderrhein flows through a gorge named Ruinaulta through the Flims Rockslide, the whole stretch of the Vorderrhein to the Rhine confluence near Reichenau-Tamins is accompanied by a long-distance hiking trail called Senda Sursilvana
16.
Drainage divide
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A drainage divide, water divide, divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting, is the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins. In hilly country, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a range of hills or mountains. In flat country—especially where the ground is marshy—the divide may be harder to discern, a valley floor divide is a low drainage divide that runs across a valley, sometimes created by deposition or stream capture. Settlements are often built on valley-floor divides in the Alps, examples are Eben im Pongau, Kirchberg in Tirol and Waidring. Extremely low divides with heights of less than two metres are found on the North German Plain within the Urstromtäler, for example, between Havel and Finow in the Eberswalde Urstromtal. In marsh deltas such as the Okavango, the largest drainage area on earth, or in large areas, such as the Finnish Lakeland. Another case is bifurcation, where the watershed is effectively in the river bed, in pre-industrial times, water divides were crossed at portages. Later, canals connected adjoining drainage basins, a key problem in such canals is ensuring a sufficient water supply, category, Drainage basins List of watershed topics European watershed Scottish watershed River source
17.
Continental Celtic
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Continental Celtic is a geographic, not a linguistic, grouping of the ancient Celtic languages. The Continental Celtic languages were spoken by the known to Roman and Greek writers as Keltoi, Celtae, Galli. These languages were spoken in an arc stretching across from Iberia in the west to the Balkans, even though Breton is spoken in continental Europe, and has been since at least the 6th century AD, it is not considered one of the Continental Celtic languages. It is a Brittonic language closely related to Cornish and Welsh, whilst it has been suggested that there is a Gaulish substratum in the Vannetais dialect the historical and linguistic evidence shows otherwise. It is evidenced in a number of inscriptions as well as place names, Gaulish or Gallic was the main language spoken in greater Gaul. This is often considered to be divided into two dialects, Cisalpine and Transalpine and it is evidenced in a number of inscriptions as well as place names and tribal names in writings of classical authors. It may have been a substratum to Breton, as noted above, classical writers say that the language is similar to that of Gaul. There is also evidence of invasion and settlement of the Ankara area by Celts from Europe, noric, which is the name given sometimes to the Celtic dialects spoken in Central and Eastern Europe. It was spoken in Austria and Slovenia, only two texts are preserved but there are plenty of known personal names and toponyms. Celtiberian or Northeastern Hispano-Celtic is the given to the language in northeast Iberia. It is attested in some 200 inscriptions as well as place names and it is distinct from the Iberian language. Gallaecian also known as Gallaic or Northwestern Hispano-Celtic, attested in a corpus of Latin inscriptions containing isolated words. It was spoken in the north west of the Iberian Peninsula, the modern term Continental Celtic is used in contrast to Insular Celtic. Instead, the group called Continental Celtic is paraphyletic and the term refers simply to non-Insular Celtic languages, since little material has been preserved in any of the Continental Celtic languages, historical linguistic analysis based on the comparative method is difficult to perform. However, other researchers see the Brittonic languages and Gaulish as forming part of a sub-group of the Celtic languages known as P-Celtic, Continental languages are all P-Celtic except for Celtiberian, which is Q-Celtic, and have had a definite influence on all the Romance languages. Italo-Celtic Ball M and Fife J, the origins of the Insular Celtic conjunct and absolute verbal endings. Flexion und Wortbildung, Akten der V. Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft, the PIE stops and syllabic nasals in Celtic. In R. Beekes, A. Lubotsky, J. Weitenberg, rekonstruktion und relative Chronologie, Akten Der VIII
18.
Jura (department)
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Jura is a department in the east of France named after the Jura mountains. Historically, Jura belonged to the Free County of Burgundy, known in French as the Franche-Comté, dole was the capital until the region was conquered by Louis XIV and the capital was moved to Besançon. Dole is now a sous-préfecture of Jura, as early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the southern 2/3 of Jura spoke a dialect of Arpitan language. It continued to be spoken in areas into the 20th century. Jura is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4,1790 and it was created from part of the former province of Franche-Comté. The Jura mountains are wooded and rolling, not craggy and rocky like the Alps, many lakes can be found throughout the Jura - the largest natural lake being Lac de Chalain, measuring 3 km long and 1 km wide. Lac de Vouglans was formed after the building of a hydro-electric dam and it is one of the largest man-made lakes in France. The President of the General Council is Jean Raquin, the climate of the Jura varies greatly by elevation. The lower valleys are temperate and pleasant, but the mountain valleys have bitterly cold winters. The Jura wines are distinctive and unusual wines, such as vin jaune. This is made from the local Savagnin grape variety, other grape varieties include Poulsard, Trousseau, and Chardonnay. The department contains no industrial cities, the few towns function as administrative, in the absence of large-scale industrial enterprises, small artisanal businesses play an important role. The Jura CFA recently recorded 752 current apprenticeships in trades such as building, baking, butchery, hair dressing, car repairing, sales, the Jura mountains provide ample opportunities for hiking, skiing, and other winter sports. Cantons of the Jura department Communes of the Jura department Arrondissements of the Jura department Prefecture website General council website Tourism website Tourism Information
19.
Jurassic
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The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that spans 56.3 million years from the end of the Triassic Period 201.3 million years ago to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period 145 Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic Era, also known as the Age of Reptiles, the start of the period is marked by the major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event. The Jurassic is named after the Jura Mountains within the European Alps, by the beginning of the Jurassic, the supercontinent Pangaea had begun rifting into two landmasses, Laurasia to the north and Gondwana to the south. This created more coastlines and shifted the continental climate from dry to humid, on land, the fauna transitioned from the Triassic fauna, dominated by both dinosauromorph and crocodylomorph archosaurs, to one dominated by dinosaurs alone. The first birds also appeared during the Jurassic, having evolved from a branch of theropod dinosaurs, other major events include the appearance of the earliest lizards, and the evolution of therian mammals, including primitive placentals. Crocodilians made the transition from a terrestrial to a mode of life. The oceans were inhabited by marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, the chronostratigraphic term Jurassic is directly linked to the Jura Mountains. The name Jura is derived from the Celtic root jor, which was Latinised into juria, the Jurassic period is divided into the Early Jurassic, Middle, and Late Jurassic epochs. The Jurassic System, in stratigraphy, is divided into the Lower Jurassic, Middle, the separation of the term Jurassic into three sections goes back to Leopold von Buch. The Jurassic North Atlantic Ocean was relatively narrow, while the South Atlantic did not open until the following Cretaceous period, the Tethys Sea closed, and the Neotethys basin appeared. Climates were warm, with no evidence of glaciation, as in the Triassic, there was apparently no land over either pole, and no extensive ice caps existed. In contrast, the North American Jurassic record is the poorest of the Mesozoic, the Jurassic was a time of calcite sea geochemistry in which low-magnesium calcite was the primary inorganic marine precipitate of calcium carbonate. Carbonate hardgrounds were thus very common, along with calcitic ooids, calcitic cements, the first of several massive batholiths were emplaced in the northern American cordillera beginning in the mid-Jurassic, marking the Nevadan orogeny. Important Jurassic exposures are found in Russia, India, South America, Japan, Australasia. As the Jurassic proceeded, larger and more groups of dinosaurs like sauropods and ornithopods proliferated in Africa. Middle Jurassic strata are well represented nor well studied in Africa. Late Jurassic strata are also poorly represented apart from the spectacular Tendaguru fauna in Tanzania, the Late Jurassic life of Tendaguru is very similar to that found in western North Americas Morrison Formation. During the Jurassic period, the primary living in the sea were fish
20.
Geologic timescale
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The table of geologic time spans, presented here, agrees with the nomenclature, dates and standard color codes set forth by the International Commission on Stratigraphy. Evidence from radiometric dating indicates that Earth is about 4.54 billion years old, the geology or deep time of Earth’s past has been organized into various units according to events which took place in each period. Older time spans, which predate the reliable record, are defined by their absolute age. Some other planets and moons within the Solar System have sufficiently rigid structures to have preserved records of their own histories, for example, Venus, Mars, dominantly fluid planets, such as the gas giants, do not preserve their history in a comparable manner. Apart from the Late Heavy Bombardment, events on other planets probably had little influence on the Earth. Construction of a scale that links the planets is, therefore, of only limited relevance to the Earths time scale. The existence, timing, and terrestrial effects of the Late Heavy Bombardment is still debated, the largest defined unit of time is the supereon, composed of eons. Eons are divided into eras, which are in turn divided into periods, epochs, the terms eonothem, erathem, system, series, and stage are used to refer to the layers of rock that correspond to these periods of geologic time in Earths history. Geologists qualify these units as early, mid, and late when referring to time, and lower, middle, for example, the lower Jurassic Series in chronostratigraphy corresponds to the early Jurassic Epoch in geochronology. The adjectives are capitalized when the subdivision is formally recognized, and lower case when not, thus early Miocene but Early Jurassic. Geologic units from the time but different parts of the world often look different and contain different fossils. For example, in North America the Lower Cambrian is called the Waucoban series that is subdivided into zones based on succession of trilobites. In East Asia and Siberia, the unit is split into Alexian, Atdabanian. A key aspect of the work of the International Commission on Stratigraphy is to reconcile this conflicting terminology, the term Anthropocene is used informally by popular culture and a growing number of scientists to describe the current epoch in which we are living. The term was coined by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000 to describe the current time, others say that humans have not even started to leave their biggest impact on Earth, and therefore the Anthropocene hasnt even started yet. Whatever the case, the ICS has not officially approved the term, leonardo da Vinci concurred with Aristotles interpretation that fossils represented the remains of ancient life. The 11th-century Persian geologist Avicenna and the 13th-century Dominican bishop Albertus Magnus extended Aristotles explanation into a theory of a petrifying fluid. Avicenna also first proposed one of the principles underlying geologic time scales, the Chinese naturalist Shen Kuo also recognized the concept of deep time
21.
Central European uplands
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The Central Uplands is one of the three major natural regions of Germany and covers most of the land area of the country. To the north lies the North German Plain or Northern Lowland, to the south, the Alps, in the Carboniferous, i. e. about 350 million years ago, Variscan mountain ranges were formed in central Europe by the uplifting caused by tectonic plate collision. Immediately after their formation the erosion of the mountains began under the influence of exogenous processes during the Permian period, during the Triassic period, which began about 225 million years ago, what is now central Europe was sometimes above and sometimes below sea level. The Jurassic period primarily saw the formation of limestone, whilst chalk was the deposition from the Cretaceous period. With the beginning of the Cenozoic era, some 70 million years ago, during the Tertiary, alpidic mountain building took place, in the course of which strong forces deformed the stumps of the Hercynian mountains. As these rocks were folded, further tension led to cracks and fractures. These blocks were later uplifted, or downfaulted or thrust over one another, thus the German Central Uplands exhibit the widest variety of forms, something that is also attributable to the erosion of sediments from the Mesozoic. In some ranges the sediments have been relatively well-preserved, in others they have carried away completely. The determining factor is the location and associated intensity of exogenous processes. The following table lists the mountains and hills over 300 m high that are considered to be part of the Central Uplands. The coordinates give the location of the highest point in each case, the ranges are listed in order of height. Geography of Germany Mittelgebirge, generic German term for low mountain or high hill ranges Natural regions of Germany Dickinson, Robert E. Germany, A regional and economic geography
22.
Ain
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Ain is a department named after the Ain River on the eastern edge of France. Being part of the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and bordered by the rivers Saône and Rhône and it has an excellent transport network and benefits from the proximity to the international airports of Lyon and Geneva. Ain is composed of four different areas which – each with its own characteristics – contribute to the diversity. In the Bresse agriculture and agro-industry are dominated by the cultivation of cereals, cattle breeding, milk, in the Dombes, pisciculture assumes greater importance as does wine making in the Bugey. The high diversification of the industry is accompanied by a strong presence of the plastics sector in. Due to its industrial character and the cooperation of small and medium enterprises. Its unemployment rate lies far beneath the national and regional average, besides the export-oriented SMEs, several large enterprises, with a prominent position on national and international markets, have settled in the department. The first inhabitants settled in the territory of todays Ain about 15000 BC, the menhir of Pierrefiche in Simandre-sur-Suran dates from the mid-Neolithic era, in the fourth or third millennium BC, it is the sole standing stone in Burgundy. The late-second century BC Calendar of Coligny bears the longest surviving Gaulish inscription, in the year 58 BC Julius Caesars military action against the Helvetians advancing through Gaul on the territory of todays Ain marked the beginning of the Gallic Wars. Under the Merovingians, the four regions of the modern département belonged to the Kingdom of Burgundy. In the beginning of the 6th century AD the diocese of Belley was created, abbeys of the order of Saint Benedict were established in the valleys. In 843 the Treaty of Verdun assigned the territories that comprise the Ain to the kingdom of Lothar I, the first big fiefdoms emerge between 895 and 900 in Bâgé-le-Châtel, which formed the nucleus of the pays of Bresse, and in Coligny. Numerous castles were erected in a low rolling terrain that was not otherwise easily defended, in the 12th century the Romanesque architecture prospered. In the 11th century the Counts of Savoy and Valromey settled in the region of Belley, in the beginning of the 15th century almost the whole region of Ain is united under the house of Savoy. New monasteries are founded in the cities, churches are constructed or reshaped according to the Gothic style of architecture. In the beginning of the 16th century – the Duchy of Savoy was at the peak of its power – Ain was inherited by Margaret of Habsburg, in Brou she erected a church and a monastery in late-Gothic style. The Treaty of Lyon of 17 January 1601 ends finally the conflict, in the 17th century sculpture, painting and literature prosper. During the 18th century streets and small industries emerge, on 28 March 1762 the Count of Eu, son of the Duke of Maine, cedes the region of Dombes to Louis XV
23.
Savoie
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Savoie is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of the French Alps. For history before 1860, details of the annexation, and modern regionalism and it is widely accepted that Savoie takes its name from the Latin Sapaudia or Sabaudia, meaning land covered in fir trees. Savoie was long part of the states of Savoy, though beginning in the 16th century and it was integrated into the Mont-Blanc department from 1792 to 1815. The province was annexed by France in 1860, the former Duchy of Savoy became the two departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie. Moûtiers, capital of the province of Tarentaise Valley ceased to be the prefecture after a law passed on September 10,1926. Savoie, along with Albertville, hosted the 1992 Winter Olympics, with ski events at Tarentaise and Beaufortain. The other main alpine valley is the Maurienne, connected to the Tarentaise valley by two passes, the col de la Madeleine and the highest pass in Europe, the col de lIseran. The Maurienne valley was through the col du Mont Cenis, the commercial route between France and Italy. It is one of the longest intra-alpine valleys in the Alps, Savoie is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes région. It borders the departments of Haute-Savoie, Ain, Isère and Hautes-Alpes in addition to Italy and its two main lakes are Lac du Bourget and Lac dAiguebelette, one of the least polluted in France due to a 1976 law forbidding any use of motorboats on the lake. According to the Chambéry chamber of commerce, close to 50% of the departments wealth comes from tourism, each year, Savoie hosts over 30 million visitor-nights of tourists. Savoie also profits from its resources with particular strengths in ore processing. Savoie had an exceptionally high export/import ratio of 214% in 2005 and its exports rose to €1.768 billion and €825 million in imports. Its leading exports were steel, aluminum, and electric and electronic components, Savoie is famous for its cows, which produce numerous cheeses, some of them are, Beaufort Savoie Gruyère Reblochon Tamié Tome des Bauges Tomme de Savoie Numerous wine grapes are also grown in Savoie. The most famous wines are made of Gamay, Pinot noir, fruit production is the third largest component of agriculture in Savoie. Apples and pears are also produced in the region and are known for their qualities. Residents of Savoie are known as Savoyards, though they can also be called Savoisiens or Savoyens,8,507 The average population density is not a good indicator, the valleys tend to be much more densely populated, whereas the mountains tend to be near-completely uninhabited. The Catholic Church in Savoie is divided into three dioceses, Chambéry, Maurienne, and Tarentaise, together, they form an archdiocese, in which the bishop of Chambéry is the archbishop
24.
Alsace
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Alsace is a cultural and historical region in eastern France now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Alsace is located on Frances eastern border and on the west bank of the upper Rhine adjacent to Germany, from 1982 until January 2016, Alsace was the smallest of 22 administrative regions in metropolitan France, consisting of the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin departments. Territorial reform passed by the French legislature in 2014 resulted in the merger of the Alsace administrative region with Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine to form Grand Est. The predominant historical language of Alsace is Alsatian, a Germanic dialect also spoken across the Rhine, but today most Alsatians primarily speak French, the political status of Alsace has been heavily influenced by historical decisions, wars, and strategic politics. The economic and cultural capital as well as largest city of Alsace is Strasbourg, the city is the seat of several international organizations and bodies. The name Alsace can be traced to the Old High German Ali-saz or Elisaz, an alternative explanation is from a Germanic Ell-sass, meaning seated on the Ill, a river in Alsace. In prehistoric times, Alsace was inhabited by nomadic hunters, by 1500 BC, Celts began to settle in Alsace, clearing and cultivating the land. It should be noted that Alsace is a surrounded by the Vosges mountains. It creates Foehn winds which, along with irrigation, contributes to the fertility of the soil. In a world of agriculture, Alsace has always been a region which explains why it suffered so many invasions and annexations in its history. By 58 BC, the Romans had invaded and established Alsace as a center of viticulture, to protect this highly valued industry, the Romans built fortifications and military camps that evolved into various communities which have been inhabited continuously to the present day. While part of the Roman Empire, Alsace was part of Germania Superior, with the decline of the Roman Empire, Alsace became the territory of the Germanic Alemanni. The Alemanni were agricultural people, and their Germanic language formed the basis of modern-day dialects spoken along the Upper Rhine, Clovis and the Franks defeated the Alemanni during the 5th century AD, culminating with the Battle of Tolbiac, and Alsace became part of the Kingdom of Austrasia. Under Clovis Merovingian successors the inhabitants were Christianized, Alsace formed part of the Middle Francia, which was ruled by the eldest grandson Lothar I. Lothar died early in 855 and his realm was divided into three parts, the part known as Lotharingia, or Lorraine, was given to Lothars son. The rest was shared between Lothars brothers Charles the Bald and Louis the German, the Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however, becoming the stem duchy of Lorraine in Eastern Francia after the Treaty of Ribemont in 880. Alsace was united with the other Alemanni east of the Rhine into the duchy of Swabia. Alsace experienced great prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries under Hohenstaufen emperors, Frederick I set up Alsace as a province to be ruled by ministeriales, a non-noble class of civil servants
25.
Swiss plateau
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The Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau constitutes one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland alongside the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps. It covers about 30% of the Swiss surface and it comprises the regions between the Jura and the Alps, partly flat but mostly hilly, and lies at an average height between 400 and 700 m AMSL. It is by far the most densely populated region of Switzerland, in the north and northwest, the Swiss Plateau is sharply delimited geographically and geologically by the Jura Mountains. In the south, there is no border with the Alps. Usually, the rising of the terrain to altitudes above 1500 metres AMSL, however, if a division into the three main regions Jura Mountains, Swiss Plateau and Alps is considered, the Alpine foreland belongs clearly to the Swiss Plateau. In the southwest, the Swiss Plateau is confined by Lake Geneva, in the northeast, by Lake Constance, geologically, the Swiss Plateau is part of a larger basin that extends beyond the border of Switzerland. At its southwestern end, in France, the plateau, in the Genevois, ends at Chambéry where Jura, at the other side of the Lake Constance, the plateau continues in the German and Austrian Pre-Alps. Many cantons of Switzerland include a part in the Swiss Plateau, the geological layers of the Swiss Plateau are relatively well known. Around 2500 –3000 metres below the surface, but considerably deeper near the Alps and it is covered by unfolded strata of Mesozoic sediments, which are part of the Helvetic nappes. Its depth gradually decreases from about 2.5 km in the west to 0.8 km in the east and these layers, like the ones of the Jura Mountains, were deposited in a relatively shallow sea, the Tethys Ocean. Above the Mesozoic layers, is the Molasse, consisting of conglomerate, sandstone, marl, the uppermost layer consists of gravel and glacial sediments that have been transported by the glaciers of the ice ages. Geologically the most important layer of the Swiss Plateau is the thick molasse sequence that accumulated at the border of the Alps due to the erosion of the concurrently uplifted mountains. The thickness of the molasse increases from west to east, the former alpine rivers built huge fans of sediment at the foot of the mountains. The eroded material has been sorted by grain size, the coarse material was predominantly deposited near the Alps. In the middle of the plateau, there are sandstones and near the Jura, clays. During the Tertiary orogenic uplift, around 60 –40 millions years ago, through processes of rising and lowering that were brought by the folding of the Alps, the area was twice flooded by a sea. The corresponding sediments are distinguished as sea molasse and freshwater molasse, even though the latter consists rather of fluvial, lower sea molasse, The limestone plateau subsided gradually, and a shallow sea invaded, spreading east to the Carpathian Mountains. The sediments consisted of fine-grained sands, clay and marl, there were no conglomerate fans since the proper Alpine folding began only at the end of that period
26.
Swiss Alps
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The Swiss Alps extend over both the Western Alps and the Eastern Alps, encompassing an area sometimes called Central Alps. The Swiss Alps comprise almost all the highest mountains of the Alps, such as Dufourspitze, the Dom, the Liskamm, the Weisshorn, the other following major summits can be found in this list of mountains of Switzerland. Since the Middle Ages, transit across the Alps played an important role in history, the region north of St Gotthard Pass became the nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the early 14th century. The Alps cover 65% of Switzerlands total 41,285 square kilometres surface area, making it one of the most alpine countries. The glaciers of the Swiss Alps cover an area of 1,220 square kilometres — 3% of the Swiss territory, the Swiss Alps are situated south of the Swiss Plateau and north of the national border. The limit between the Alps and the runs from Vevey on the shores of Lake Geneva to Rorschach on the shores of Lake Constance, passing close to the cities of Thun. The not well defined regions in Switzerland that lie on the margin of the Alps, the Swiss Prealps are mainly made of limestone and they generally do not exceed 2,500 metres. The Alpine cantons are Valais, Bern, Graubünden, Uri, Glarus, Ticino, St. Gallen, Vaud, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Schwyz, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Fribourg, Lucerne and Zug. The countries with which Switzerland shares mountain ranges of the Alps are, France, Italy, Austria, the Alps are usually divided into two main parts, the Western Alps and Eastern Alps, whose division is along the Rhine from Lake Constance to the Splügen Pass. The western ranges occupy the greatest part of Switzerland while the more numerous eastern ranges are smaller and are all situated in the canton of Graubünden. The latter are part of the Central Eastern Alps, except the Ortler Alps which belong to the Southern Limestone Alps, the Pennine, Bernese and Bernina Range are the highest ranges of the country, they contain respectively 38,9 and 1 summit over 4000 metres. The lowest range is the Appenzell Alps culminating at 2,500 metres, Western Alps Eastern Alps The north side of the Swiss Alps is drained by the Rhône, Rhine and Inn while the south side is mainly drained by the Ticino. The rivers on the empty into the Mediterranean, North and Black Sea. The major triple watersheds in the Alps are located within the country, they are, Piz Lunghin, Witenwasserenstock, between the Witenwasserenstock and Piz Lunghin runs the European Watershed separating the basin of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. The European watershed lies in fact only partially on the main chain, Switzerland possesses 6% of Europes fresh water, and is sometimes referred to as the water tower of Europe. Since the highest dams are located in Alpine regions, many mountain lakes are artificial and are used as hydroelectric reservoirs. Some large artificial lakes can be found above 2,300 m, the melting of low-altitude glaciers can generate new lakes, such as the 0.25 km² large Triftsee which formed between 2002–2003. The following table gives the area above 2000 m and 3000 m
27.
Cantons of Switzerland
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The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte, with the Napoleonic period of the Helvetic Republic the term canton/cantone/Kanton was fully established. From 1833, there were 25 cantons, which became 26 after the secession of the canton of Jura from Bern in 1979. The term canton, now used as English term for administrative subdivisions of other countries, originates in French usage in the late 15th century, from a word for edge. After 1490, canton was increasingly used in French and Italian documents to refer to the members of the Swiss Confederacy, English use of canton in reference to the Swiss Confederacy dates to the early 17th century. It was increasingly replaced by Stand after 1550, the French term canton was not adopted into German usage prior to 1648, and after that only in occasional use. The prominent usage of Ort and Stand only gradually disappeared in German-speaking Switzerland with the Helvetic Republic, only with the Act of Mediation of 1803 did German Kanton become an official designation, retained in the Swiss Constitution of 1848. The term Stand remains in usage and is reflected in the name of the upper chamber of the Swiss Parliament. Republic Some cantonal constitutions provide for a formal name of the state. Most of Romandys cantons and Ticino call themselves république/Repubblica officially, at least within their constitutions, for example, the canton of Geneva refers to itself formally as the République et canton de Genève. Though they were part of the Holy Roman Empire, they had become de facto independent when the Swiss defeated Emperor Maximillian in 1499 in Dornach. The old system was abandoned with the formation of the Helvetic Republic following the French invasion of Switzerland in 1798, the cantons of the Helvetic Republic had merely the status of an administrative subdivision with no sovereignty. The Helvetic Republic collapsed within five years, and cantonal sovereignty was restored with the Act of Mediation of 1803, the status of Switzerland as a federation of states was restored, at the time including 19 cantons. Three additional western cantons, Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva, acceded in 1815, the process of Restoration, completed by 1830, returned most of the former feudal rights to the cantonal patriciates, leading to rebellions among the rural population. The Liberal Radical Party embodied these democratic forces calling for a new federal constitution and this tension, paired with religious issues escalated into armed conflict in the 1840s, with the brief Sonderbund War. The victory of the party resulted in the formation of Switzerland as a federal state in 1848. The cantons retained far-reaching sovereignty, but were no longer allowed to maintain standing armies or international relations. Each canton has its own constitution, legislature, government and courts, most of the cantons legislatures are unicameral parliaments, their size varying between 58 and 200 seats
28.
Canton of Solothurn
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The Canton of Solothurn is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the northwest of Switzerland, the territory of the canton comprises land acquired by the city. Between 1798 and 1803 the canton was part of the Helvetic Republic, in 1803 Solothurn was one of the 19 Swiss cantons that were reconstituted by Napoleon. Even though the population was strictly Roman Catholic, Solothurn did not join the Catholic separatist movement in 1845, similarly, the federal constitutions of 1848 and 1874 were approved. The current constitution of the dates from 1987. The canton is located in the north-west of Switzerland, to the west and south lies the cantons of Jura and Bern, to the east is Aargau. To the north the canton is bounded by the canton of Basel-Landschaft, parts of two of the districts are exclaves and are located along the French border. The lands are drained by the Aare river and its tributaries, the landscape is mostly flat, but it includes the foothills of the Jura massif. Part of this, the massif of the Weissenstein, overlooks Solothurn, the flat lands are a plain created by the Aare river. The total area of the canton is 791 km², from 2005, Solothurns ten districts are merged pairwise into five electoral districts, termed Amtei. From 2005, the districts have only a statistical significance, the population is mostly German speaking. About 44% of the population are Roman Catholic, with most of the remainder being Protestants, the population of the canton is 266,418. As of 2007, the population included 46,898 foreigners, up to the 19th century agriculture was the main economic activity in the canton. Agriculture is still of importance, but manufacturing and the industry are now more significant. The industries of the canton are specialized in watches, jewellery, textiles, paper, cement, until recently the manufacturing of shoes was an important economic activity, but global competition thought that the Swiss canton was not competitive enough. The canton is home to the Gösgen Nuclear Power Plant near Däniken which started operation in 1979, ^a FDP before 2009, FDP. The Liberals after 2009 ^b * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton. The canton has good connections with other parts of Switzerland, both by rail and by road, there is a railway junction at Olten with direct trains to Geneva, Zurich, Basel and the Ticino via Lucerne
29.
Canton of Bern
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The canton of Bern is the second largest of the 26 Swiss cantons by both surface area and population. Located in west-central Switzerland, it borders the canton of Jura, to the west lie the canton of Neuchâtel, the canton of Fribourg and Vaud. To the south lies the canton of Valais, east of the canton of Bern lie the cantons of Uri, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Lucerne and Aargau. The canton of Bern is bilingual and has a population of 1,017,483, as of 2007, the population included 119,930 foreigners. The cantonal capital, also the capital of Switzerland, is Bern. Bern joined the Swiss Confederation in 1353 and was between 1803 and 1814 one of the six directorial cantons of the Napoleonic Swiss Confederation and these caves were used at various times during the last ice age. The first open-air settlement in the area is an upper paleolithic settlement at Moosbühl in Moosseedorf, during the warmer climate of the mesolithic period, increasing forest cover restricted the movement of hunters, fishers and gatherers. Their temporary settlements were built along lake and marsh edges, which remained free of trees due to fluctuations in water level, important mesolithic sites in the Canton are at Pieterlenmoos and Burgäschisee lake along with alpine valleys at Diemtig and Simmental. During the neolithic period, there were a number of settlements on the shores of Lake Biel, several of these sites are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the best explored neolithic sites is at Twann, in the Twannbach delta there were about 25 Cortaillod culture and Horgen culture villages that existed between 3800 and 2950 BC. One of the oldest examples of bread from Switzerland, a sourdough from 3560–3530 BC, simple copper objects were already in use in the 4th millennium BC, including a copper pin from Lattrigen from 3170 BC and a knife blade from Twann. Shortly before 2000 BC bronze production entered the area and brought about a surge in development, settlements began to spread into the pre-Alpine and Alpine areas. The area between Lake Thun and the Niedersimmental were densely settled, Late Bronze Age settlements along Lake Biel have yielded up a wealth of items. During the early Iron Age changes in climate forced them to settlements along many waterways and in the valley floors and move to the plateaus. With increased trade contacts across the Alps, the influence of the Mediterranean grew in the area. Evidence of this include a hydria which was discovered in Grächwil. Burial rituals and social classes became more developed during this time, the so-called princely graves became more common, many of the burial mounds were over 30 m in diameter and 4 m high and richly outfitted with grave goods. In a grave mound in Bützberg the first burial in the mound was followed by later burials
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Bernese Jura
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Bernese Jura is the name for the French-speaking area of the Swiss canton of Bern, and from 2010 one of ten administrative divisions of the canton. Comprising the three French-speaking districts in the part of the canton, it contains 40 municipalities with an area of 541.71 km2. More than 90% of the population of the three districts speak French, the Bernese Jura of today comprises only three out of a total of seven districts which were known as the Bernese Jura during the period of 1815–1979. Of the remaining four, three seceded as the canton of Jura in 1979, while the fourth, the Laufen district, most of the territory of the Bernese Jura was passed from the County of Burgundy to the Bishopric of Basel in AD999. It was annexed by France during the Napoleonic period, 1798-1814, in 1814, the Congress of Vienna accorded it to the canton of Bern to compensate for the loss of the new canton of Vaud. From 1815 to 1979, the term Bernese Jura also included the territory now forming the canton of Jura and its administrative capital was Biel/Bienne from 1815 to 2009. Since 2010, Biel/Bienne has been made the capital of a separate district. According to the constitution, one of the seven members of the Executive Council of Bern has to be a French-speaking citizen of this area. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Diesse, Lamboing and Prêles merged into the new municipality of Plateau de Diesse and Plagne, on 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Péry and La Heutte merged to form the new municipality of Péry-La Heutte. The former municipalities of Bévilard, Malleray and Pontenet merged to form Valbirse, finally, Châtelat, Monible, Sornetan and Souboz merged to form Petit-Val. Radio Bernese Jura Italian Graubünden Bernese Jura in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
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Early Modern Switzerland
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The early modern history of the Old Swiss Confederacy and its constituent Thirteen Cantons encompasses the time of the Thirty Years War until the French invasion of 1798. The early modern period was characterized by an aristocratic and oligarchic ruling class as well as frequent economic or religious revolts. This period came to be referred to as the Ancien Régime retrospectively, the loosely organized Confederation remained generally disorganized and crippled by the religious divisions created by the Swiss Reformation. During this period the Confederation gained formal independence from the Holy Roman Empire with support from France, the early modern period also saw the growth of French-Swiss literature, and notable authors of the Age of Enlightenment such as the mathematicians of the Bernoulli family and Leonhard Euler of Basel. The Old Swiss Confederacy between phases of expansion consisted of Eight Cantons during 1352–1481, and of Thirteen Cantons from 1513 until its collapse in 1798, the Thirteen Cantons thus correspond to the sovereign territories of Early Modern Switzerland. The Reformation in Switzerland left the Old Swiss Confederacy divided between two hostile factions, but still, Switzerland remained a relative oasis of peace and prosperity while Europe was torn by the Thirty Years War. The cities generally lay low and watched the destruction from afar, the cantons had concluded numerous mercenary contracts and defence alliances with partners on all sides. At the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, the Swiss Confederacy attained legal independence from the Holy Roman Empire, during the Thirty Years War, the Drei Bünde had been caught in the middle of internal and external conflict. Because the Leagues were very decentralized, conflicts over religion and foreign policy broke out during the war, following the war the League took steps to strengthen itself. The Valtellina, which had broken from the Three Leagues, became a dependency once again after the Treaty, following the Thirty Years War, as France grew into a great power in Europe, the newly independent Confederation turned to France for trade and protection. In 1663 the Confederation agreed to a new treaty with France which granted Swiss mercenaries certain rights, however, as a consequence of this treaty Switzerland could do nothing when Louis XIV took Alsace, Franche-Comté and Strasbourg. While Louis XIV promoted a number of French pretenders to the title, in a victory for the Protestant half of the Confederation, Frederick I, who claimed his entitlement in a rather complicated fashion through the Houses of Orange and Nassau, was selected. In 1715 the Catholic cantons, to regain prestige following their defeat during the Second Battle of Villmergen, renewed the Confederations treaty with France with several major and unpopular changes. France was placed in the position of the guarantor of their freedom rights of interfering in case of attack from forces within or without the Confederation. France also promised to procure restitution for the lands lost by the Catholic cantons to the Protestant cantons and this agreement removed much of the independence that the Confederation had enjoyed. In 1777 the unpopular clause was dropped from an agreement between the Confederation and France and the independence of Switzerland was explicitly stated. Political power congealed around the 13 cantons of the old confederation, during this era, the patrician families decreased in number but increased in power. Some patrician families were drawn from leadership in the guilds or trading groups within the town, while other families grew from successful mercenary captains, the trend toward increasing authoritarianism conflicted with the history of public expression that grew out of the Swiss Reformation
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Jurassic separatism
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Jurassic separatism is a regionalist independence movement in the Bernese Jura in Switzerland. Historically, the conflict originates with the Congress of Vienna, where the Jurassic territories of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel were given to Berne, the Jurassic question was a topic in Swiss politics between 1947 and 1974. In 1947, a separatist Comité de Moutier was formed, by 1949, the separatist movement was officially constituted as the Rassemblement jurassien. In 1952, the opposing anti-separatist side was constituted as the Union des patriotes jurassiens, a group of militant young separatists known as the Béliers was formed in 1963, which by 1973 received its anti-separatist counterpart in the group Sangliers. The cantonal government of Berne formed a commission charged with the resolution of the conflict in 1967. On 23 June 1974, a poll was held resulting in the decision to form a new canton of Jura. In 1977, the population of what was going to be the new canton ratified the cantonal constitution, Laufon was now a Bernese exclave, wedged between the new canton, Solothurn and Basel-Landschaft. In a 1980 vote, the population of Laufon voted to join Basel-Landschaft, the three Bernese districts of Courtelary, La Neuveville and Moutier were united as the single district Jura bernois in 2001. With the creation of the canton of Jura, militant activism declined, in particular, the municipality of Vellerat found itself in the canton of Berne, but it could only be reached via roads from the canton of Jura. Vellerat proclaimed itself a municipality and campaigned to join the new canton. In 1994, the Mouvement autonomiste jurassien was formed from a fusion of the Rassemblement jurassien, another separatist group is Mouvement Indépendantiste Jurassien, formed in 1990. Due to the remaining separatist faction in Moutier, another poll was held in 1998, but in 2006, the autonomist parties gained a majority in the regional elections. In the same year, a Conseil du Jura bernois was formed, a new suggestion was published in 2007 by the Assemblée InterJurassienne, to the effect that two half-cantons should be formed from the existing canton of Jura and the Bernese Jura. Michel Bassand, Le séparatisme jurassien, International Political Science Association,1973, adolf Gasser, Berne et le Jura,1978. Claude Hauser, Aux origines intellectuelles de la question jurassienne, culture et politique entre la France et la Suisse romande, alain Pichard, La Question jurassienne, avant et après la création du 23e canton suisse, collection Le savoir suisse, vol. 16, Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes,2004
33.
Watchmaker
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A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts. The term clockmaker refers to an equivalent occupation specializing in clocks, most practising professional watchmakers service current or recent production watches. Instead they obtain and fit factory spare parts applicable to the brand being serviced. The majority of modern watchmakers, particularly in Switzerland and Europe, work directly for the Watchmaking Industry and they also receive in-house brand training at the factory or service center where they are employed. However, some factory service centers have an approach allows them to use non-watchmakers who perform only one aspect of the repair process. If genuine watchmakers are employed in environments, they are usually employed to service the watch movement. One major Swiss watch brand now pre-qualifies independent watchmakers before they provide them with spare parts, the Omega brand has the same approach. However, the vast majority of modern, Swiss brands do not sell parts to independent watchmakers, irrespective of the watchmakers expertise, training or credentials. In modern times watchmakers undergo training courses such as the ones offered by the BHI, in Denmark the apprenticeship lasts 4 years, with 6 terms at the Danish School of Watchmaking in Ringsted. The education covers both clocks and watches, as a watchmaker in Denmark also is a clockmaker. In France, one can find 3 diplomas, the lowest is the fr, Certificat daptitude professionnelle en fr, Horlogerie, then the fr, and optionally, the fr, Diplôme des métiers dart/ DMA Horlogerie. William Paley and others used the watchmaker in his famous analogy to imply the existence of God, richard Dawkins later applied this analogy in his book The Blind Watchmaker, arguing that evolution is blind in that it cannot look forward. Alan Moore in his graphic novel Watchmen, uses the metaphor of the watchmaker as a part of the backstory of his heroic character Dr. Manhattan. In the NBC television series Heroes, the villain Sylar is a watchmaker by trade and his ability to know how watches work corresponds to his ability to gain new superpowers by examining the brains of people he has murdered. Vermont, Echo Point Books & Media, LLC
34.
La Chaux-de-Fonds
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La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss city of the district of La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, after Geneva and Lausanne, it is the third largest city located completely in the Romandie, the French-speaking part of the country, with a population of 38,957. The city was founded in 1656 and its growth and prosperity is mainly bound up with the watch making industry. It is the most important centre of the watch making industry in the known as the Watch Valley. Completely destroyed by a fire in 1794 La Chaux-de-Fonds was rebuilt following a street plan. Karl Marx said about the special urban design of the city that it was a city-factory. The famous architect Le Corbusier, the writer Blaise Cendrars and the car maker Louis Chevrolet were born there, La Chaux-de-Fonds is a renowned centre of Art nouveau. In 2009, La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle, its city, have jointly been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status for their exceptional universal value. The watch making cities of La Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle have jointly received recognition from UNESCO for their exceptional universal value, the Sites planning consists of two small cities located close to each other in the mountainous environment of the Swiss Jura. Due to the altitude and the lack of water the land is ill suited to farming, planning and buildings reflect the watch-making artisans need of rational organization. Both agglomerations present outstanding examples of mono-industrial manufacturing-towns, which are still well-preserved, the urban planning has accommodated the transition from the artisans’ production of a cottage industry to the more concentrated factory production of the late 19th and 20th centuries. In 1867 Karl Marx was already describing La Chaux-de-Fonds as a “huge factory-town” in Das Kapital, where he analyzed the division of labour in the watch making industry of the Jura. It is the tenth Swiss Site to be awarded World Heritage status, joining others such as the Old City of Bern, the Rhaetian Railway, the region was first inhabited around 10,000 years ago. A skull and other traces have been found in caves nearby, in the middle of the 14th century, the region was colonized from the southern Val-de-Ruz. La Chaux-de-Fonds is first mentioned in 1350 as la Chaz de Fonz, in 1378 it was mentioned as Chault de Font. The region was under the authority of the lords of Valangin, in the 15th and 16th centuries, a second wave of colonization came from the so-called Clos de la Franchise. Agriculture was the activity but the village remained small. In 1531 there were only about 35 people living there, the first church was built in 1528
35.
Le Locle
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Le Locle is a municipality in Le Locle District in the Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It is situated in the Jura Mountains, a few kilometers from the city of La Chaux-de-Fonds and it is the third smallest city in Switzerland. Le Locle is known as a center of Swiss watchmaking, even cited as the birthplace of the industry, with roots dating back to the 1600s. The municipality has been home to such as Mido, Zodiac, Tissot, Ulysse Nardin, Zenith, Montblanc, Certina as well as Universal Genève. The name of the town derives from the word for lake or trou d´eau, Le Locle, as well as La Chaux-de-Fonds, owes its survival to the manufacturing and exports of watches. In the 20th century, the industry was added. The watchmaking cities of Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds have jointly received recognition from UNESCO for their exceptional universal value, due to the altitude and the lack of water the land is ill suited to farming. Planning and buildings reflect the watch-making artisans need for rational organization and they were rebuilt in the early 19th Century, after extensive fires. Both towns present outstanding examples of mono-industrial manufacturing towns, which are still well-preserved and their urban planning has accommodated the transition from the artisans’ production of a cottage industry to the more concentrated factory production of the late 19th and 20th centuries. Karl Marx described La Chaux-de-Fonds as a “huge factory-town” in Das Kapital and it is the tenth Swiss site to be awarded World Heritage status, joining others such as the Old City of Bern, the Rhaetian Railway, and the Abbey and Convent of St. Gall. Le Locle is first mentioned in 1332 as dou Locle, the earliest traces of human settlements come from the end of the Mesolithic period in shelter in the Col des Roches. The site includes the oldest pottery found in the Canton of Neuchâtel, along with many tools, the shelter was discovered in 1926 by a customs official and was the first site of its kind studied in Switzerland. However, between 4000 BC and the Middle Ages nothing is known about the Le Locle area, in 1150 the valley, in which Le Locle would later be built, was granted by Renaud and William Valanginian to the abbey of Fontaine-André. In 1360, John II of Aarberg, the Lord of Valanginian, the heavily wooded portion of the Jura Mountains around Le Locle, were cleared by colonists who later received the status of free peasants. These first free farmers received a charter in 1372 which codified their rights, at the beginning of the 15th century, this charter was reconfirmed during the foundation of the Mairie or town government. The inhabitants of Le Locle were given the right to own land that they had cleared, as long as they continued to farm it, the feudal lords granted them these freedoms to encourage settlements in the mountains. Beginning in the 14th Century Le Locle and La Sagne formed a parish together, the Church of Mary Magdalene in Le Locle was built in 1351. As a result of increasing cross-border conflicts, in 1476, Le Locle entered into an alliance with Bern
36.
Sainte-Croix, Switzerland
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Sainte-Croix is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. Sainte-Croix is first mentioned in 1177 as Sancta Crux, in 1317 it was mentioned as Saint Crueyz. Previously it was known by its German name Heilig Kreuz, Sainte-Croix has an area, as of 2009, of 39.42 square kilometers. Of this area,16.21 km2 or 41. 1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 19.57 km2 or 49. 6% is forested. Of the rest of the land,2.74 km2 or 7. 0% is settled,0.1 km2 or 0. 3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.69 km2 or 1. 8% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3. 6%, out of the forested land,45. 9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3. 8% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land,1. 0% is used for growing crops and 21. 2% is pastures and 18. 9% is used for alpine pastures, all the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality was part of the Grandson District until it was dissolved on 31 August 2006 and it is located between Yverdon in Vaud, Fleurier in Neuchâtel, and Pontarlier in France. The village of Sainte Croix is situated at an altitude of 1,086 meters in the Jura Mountains at the foot of the Chasseron, the municipal area stretches over two valleys, Sainte Croix and Les Granges and includes 27 villages. Some of the most notable include Sainte Croix, L Auberson, La Gitte Dessous, La Chaux, La Vraconne, La Sagne, the blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure, a Latin Cross Or issuant from a Coupeaux Vert. Sainte-Croix has a population of 4,785, as of 2008,14. 6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has changed at a rate of 7. 5% and it has changed at a rate of 14. 3% due to migration and at a rate of -5. 8% due to births and deaths. Most of the population speaks French, with German being second most common, There are 2 people who speak Romansh. Of the population in the municipality 1,734 or about 40. 0% were born in Sainte-Croix and lived there in 2000. There were 885 or 20. 4% who were born in the canton, while 618 or 14. 3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland. In 2008 there were 43 live births to Swiss citizens and 9 births to non-Swiss citizens, ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 6 while the foreign population increased by 7. There were 7 Swiss men who immigrated back to Switzerland and 2 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland, at the same time, there were 25 non-Swiss men and 22 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 was an increase of 3 and this represents a population growth rate of 1. 0%
37.
Musical box
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A music box or musical box is an automatic musical instrument that produces sounds by the use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to pluck the tuned teeth of a steel comb. They were developed from musical snuff boxes of the 18th century, some of the more complex boxes also have a tiny drum and/or bells, in addition to the metal comb. The original snuff boxes were tiny containers which could fit into a waistcoat pocket. The music boxes could have any size from that of a hat box to a piece of furniture. They were usually powered by clockwork and originally produced by artisan watchmakers, for most of the 19th century, the bulk of music box production was concentrated in Switzerland, building upon a strong watchmaking tradition. The first music box factory was opened there in 1815 by Jérémie Recordon, there were also a few manufacturers in Bohemia and Germany. By the end of the 19th century, some of the European makers had opened factories in the United States, the cylinders were normally made of metal and powered by a spring. In some of the models, the cylinders could be removed to change melodies, thanks to an invention by Paillard in 1862. In some exceptional models, there were four springs, to provide continuous play for up to three hours, the very first boxes at the end of the 18th century made use of metal disks. The switchover to cylinders seems to have been complete after the Napoleonic wars, in the last decades of the 19th century, however, mass-produced models such as the Polyphon and others all made use of interchangeable metal disks instead of cylinders. The cylinder-based machines rapidly became a minority, instead, the cylinder worked by actuating bellows and levers which fed and opened pneumatic valves which activated a modified wind instrument or plucked the chords on a modified string instrument. Some devices could do both at the time and were often combinations of player pianos and music boxes, such as the Orchestrion. There were many variations of large machines, usually built for the affluent of the pre-phonograph 19th century. Some were called the Symphonium, others were called the Concert Regina Music Box machine, both variations were as tall as a grandfather clock and both used interchangeable large disks to play different sets of tunes. Both were spring-wound and driven and both had a bell-like sound, the machines were often made in England, Italy, and the US, with additional disks made in Switzerland, Austria, and Prussia. Early juke-box pay versions of them existed in places also. Marshs free Museum and curio shop in Long Beach, Washington has several still-working versions of them on public display, the Musical Museum, Brentford, London has a number of machines. The Morris Museum in Morristown, NJ, USA has a notable collection, in addition to video and audio footage of each piece, the actual instruments are demonstrated for the public daily on a rotational basis
38.
Aargau
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The canton of Aargau is one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland. It is situated by the course of the Aare, which is why the canton is called Aar-gau. It is one of the most densely populated regions of Switzerland, the Romans built a major settlement called Vindonissa, near the present location of Brugg. In early medieval times, the Aargau was a border region between the duchies of Alamannia and Burgundy. A line of the von Wetterau intermittently held the countship of Aargau from 750 until about 1030, from the extinction in 1254 of the Hohenstaufen dynasty until 1415, the area was ruled by the Habsburgs, and many castles from that time still stand. The Habsburgs founded a number of monasteries, the closing of which by the government in 1841 was a factor to the outbreak of the Swiss civil war – the Sonderbund War – in 1847. When Frederick IV of Habsburg sided with Antipope John XXIII at the Council of Constance, in July 1414, the Pope visited Bern and received assurances from them, that they would move against the Habsburgs. A few months later the Swiss Confederation denounced the Treaty of 1412, shortly thereafter in 1415, Bern and the rest of the Swiss Confederation used the ban as a pretext to invade the Aargau. The Confederation was able to conquer the towns of Aarau, Lenzburg, Brugg. Bern kept the southwest portion, northward to the confluence of the Aare, the important city of Baden was taken by a united Swiss army and governed by all 8 members of the Confederation. Some districts, named the Freie Ämter – Mellingen, Muri, Villmergen, shortly after the conquest of the Aargau by the Swiss, Frederick humbled himself to the Pope. The Pope reconciled with him and ordered all of the lands to be returned. The Swiss refused and years later after no serious attempts at re-acquisition, berns portion of the Aargau came to be known as the Unteraargau, though can also be called the Berner or Bernese Aargau. In 1514 Bern expanded north into the Jura and so came into possession of several strategically important mountain passes into the Austrian Fricktal and this land was added to the Unteraargau and was directly ruled from Bern. It was divided into seven rural bailiwicks and four cities, Aarau, Zofingen, Lenzburg. While the Habsburgs were driven out, many of their nobles were allowed to keep their lands and offices. The bailiwick administration was based on a small staff of officials, mostly made up of Bernese citizens. When Bern converted during the Protestant Reformation in 1528, the Unteraargau also converted, at the beginning of the 16th century a number of anabaptists migrated into the upper Wynen and Rueder valleys from Zürich
39.
Canton of Schaffhausen
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The Canton of Schaffhausen is a canton of Switzerland. The principal city and capital of the canton is Schaffhausen, Schaffhausen was a city-state in the Middle Ages, it is documented that it struck its own coins starting in 1045. It was then documented as Villa Scafhusun, around 1049 Count Eberhard von Nellenburg founded a Benedictine monastery which led to the development of a community. This community achieved independence in 1190, in 1330 the town lost not only all its lands but also its independence to the Habsburgs. In 1415 the Habsburg Duke Frederick IV of Austria sided with the Antipope John XXIII at the Council of Constance, as a result of the ban and Fredericks need of money, Schaffhausen was able to buy its independence from the Habsburgs in 1418. The city allied with six of the Swiss confederates in 1454, Schaffhausen became a full member of the Old Swiss Confederation in 1501. The first railroad came to Schaffhausen in 1857, in 1944 Schaffhausen suffered from a bombing raid by United States Army Air Forces planes that accidentally strayed from Germany into neutral Switzerland. The cantonal constitution was written in 1876 and revised in 1895, the distinctive coat of arms bears the Schaffhauser Bock. Schaffhausen is the northernmost canton of Switzerland and lies almost entirely on the bank of the Rhine. It lies west of Lake Constance and has an area of 298 km2, much of the canton is productive agricultural land, with 134.4 km2 of the canton used for agriculture while an additional 128.7 km2 is wooded. Most of the rest of the canton,31.8 km2, is developed, the cantons territory is divided into three non-contiguous segments where German territory reaches the Rhine. The large central part, which includes the capital Schaffhausen, in turn separates the German exclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein from the rest of Germany, the small exclave of Rüdlingen-Buchberg lies to the southwest, and the third part contains Ramsen and Stein am Rhein to the east. With the exception of Vor der Brugg, part of Stein am Rhein, the canton of Schaffhausen is bordered by the Swiss cantons of Zurich and Thurgau, as well as the German districts of Waldshut, Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis and Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg. Most of the lies on a plateau dominated by the Hoher Randen. The summit of mountain is at 912 m. The slopes of the mountain are gentle towards the south where it reaches the Rhine valley, short and narrow valleys intersect these gentle slopes. The Klettgau is one such valley, the Rhine Falls are the largest waterfalls in Europe and lie on the border of the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zürich. There are 27 municipalities in the canton as of January 2009, the population of the canton is 79,836
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Swabian Jura
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The Swabian Jura, sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending 220 km from southwest to northeast and 40 to 70 km in width. It is named after the region of Swabia, the Swabian Jura occupies the region bounded by the Danube in the southeast and the upper Neckar in the northwest. In the southwest it rises to the mountains of the Black Forest. The highest mountain of the region is the Lemberg, the areas profile resembles a high plateau, which slowly falls away to the southeast. The northwestern edge is an escarpment, while the top is flat or gently rolling. In economic and cultural terms, the Swabian Jura includes regions just around the mountain range and it is a popular recreation area. The geology of the Swabian Jura is mostly limestone, which formed the seabed during the Jurassic period, the sea receded 50 million years ago. Three layers of different limestones are stacked over each other to form the range, Black Jurassic, Brown Jurassic, White Jurassic may be as pure as 99% calcium carbonate. Since limestone is soluble in water, rain seeps through cracks everywhere, thus there are hardly any rivers, lakes or other forms of surface water on the plateau. In some places, former volcanic activity has left traces, such as maars, in the west, the Zollerngraben sometimes causes mild earthquakes. The Nördlinger Ries is a meteorite crater. Tertiary relicts can be found at the part of Swabian Jura. Famous locations are known in the Ulm area, constant rain and other weather influences are slowly dissolving the entire range. Each year, it recedes approximately 2 mm, some millions of years ago, the mountains reached as far as Stuttgart. In some places, the limestone was more resistant to decay, the omnipresent caves are great tourist spots, beautiful and not very crowded. Many different types can be found, from dry dripstone caves to caves that can only be entered by boat, sometimes the discharge of the water from subterranean rivers can be spectacular, too, e. g. the Blautopf, a source for a tributary of the Danube. Also because of the limestone, the Danube nearly disappears near Immendingen. Most of the water lost by the Danube resurfaces in the Aachtopf, the soil is not very fertile, the humus is often as thin as 10 cm
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Franconian Jura
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The Franconian Jura is an upland in Bavaria, Germany. Located between two rivers, the Danube in the south and the Main in the north, its peaks reach elevations of up to 600 metres, large portions of the Franconian Jura are part of the Altmühl Valley Nature Park. The scenic meanders and gorges formed by the Altmühl River draw tourists to visit the region, geologically, the Franconian Jura is the eastern continuation of the Swabian Jura. Both are part of the Jura Mountains, the mountain chains are separated from each other by the impact crater of the Nördlinger Ries. The northern part of the Franconian Jura is known as Little Switzerland
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Creux du Van
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The Creux du Van is a natural rocky cirque approximately 1,400 metres wide and 150 metres deep, on the north side of Le Soliat. It is located in the Val de Travers district, in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel, a very well known, amphitheatre-shaped natural attraction of the area, it is located at the heart of a nature reservation area of 15.5 km². It was created by water erosion from a local glacier that was linked to the Rhone glacier. Ibex were introduced in the area in 1965, as of 2009, there are 17. The summit area can be reached on foot or by car, a paved road from Saint-Aubin-Sauges or Couvet climbs to la ferme du Soliat, which is located a few minutes walk away from the summit of the rocky cirque. Some hiking paths are indicated, via les petites Fauconnières, notable trails in the areas include, Le sentier des quatorze contours is a reputed itinerary that starts in Noiraigue. Le sentier du Single leads to the summit directly from the area called La ferme Robert, other paths, however unmarked, allow the access to the summit via la crête du Dos dAne or also from la Fontaine Froide via le Pertuis de Bise
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Lithological
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It may be either a detailed description of these characteristics or be a summary of the gross physical character of a rock. It is the basis of subdividing rock sequences into individual lithostratigraphic units for the purposes of mapping, in certain applications, such as site investigations, lithology is described using a standard terminology such as in the European geotechnical standard Eurocode 7. The naming of a lithology is based on the rock type, the three major rock types are sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic. Sedimentary rocks are classified by whether they are siliciclastic or carbonate. Siliciclastic sedimentary rocks are then subcategorized based on their size distribution and the relative proportions of quartz, feldspar. Carbonate rocks are classified with the Dunham or Folk classification schemes according to the constituents of the carbonate rock, the name of an igneous rock requires information on crystal size and mineralogy. This classification can often be performed with a QAPF diagram, metamorphic rock naming can be based on texture, protolith, metamorphic facies, and/or the locations in which they are found. Naming based on texture and a pelite protolith can be used to slate and phyllite. Texture-based names are schist and gneiss and these textures, from slate to gneiss, define a continually-increasing extent of metamorphism. Metamorphic facies are defined by the fields in which particular minerals form. In igneous and metamorphic rocks, grain size is a measure of the sizes of the crystals in the rock. In igneous rock, this is used to determine the rate at which the material cooled, large crystals typically indicate intrusive igneous rock, as metamorphic reactions progress, the grains in metamorphic rocks can often be broken down into smaller grains. In clastic sedimentary rocks, grain size is the diameter of the grains and/or clasts that constitute the rock and these are used to determine which rock naming system to use. In the case of sandstones and conglomerates, which cover a range of grain sizes. Examples are pebble conglomerate and fine quartz arenite, in rocks in which mineral grains are large enough to be identified using a hand lens, the visible mineralogy is included as part of the description. The mineralogical composition of a rock is one of the ways in which it is classified. In general, igneous rocks can be categorized by increasing silica content as ultramafic, mafic, intermediate, or felsic, the fabric of a rock describes the spatial and geometric configuration of all the elements that make it up. In sedimentary rocks the main fabric is normally bedding and the scale
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Early Jurassic
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The Early Jurassic epoch is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event,201.3 Ma, certain rocks of marine origin of this age in Europe are called Lias and that name was used for the period, as well, in 19th century geology. In southern Germany rocks of this age are called Black Jurassic, there are extensive Liassic outcrops around the coast of the United Kingdom, in particular in Glamorgan, North Yorkshire and Dorset. The Jurassic Coast of Dorset is often associated with the work of Mary Anning of Lyme Regis. The facies of the Lower Jurassic in this area are predominantly of clays, thin limestones and siltstones, Lias Group strata form imposing cliffs on the Vale of Glamorgan coast, in southern Wales. There has been debate over the actual base of the Hettangian stage. If this biostratigraphical indicator is used, then technically the Lias Group—a lithostratigraphical division—spans the Jurassic / Triassic boundary, during this period, ammonoids, which had almost died out at the end-of-Triassic extinction, radiated out into a huge diversity of new forms with complex suture patterns. Ammonites evolved so rapidly, and their shells are so often preserved, there were several distinct waves of ammonite evolution in Europe alone. The Early Jurassic was an important time in the evolution of the marine reptiles, all these plesiosaurs had medium-sized necks and large heads. In the Toarcian, at the end of the Early Jurassic, accompanying them as small carnivores were the sphenosuchian and protosuchid crocodilians. In the air, new types of pterosaurs replaced those that had died out at the end of the Triassic, but in the undergrowth were various types of early mammals, as well as tritylodont mammal-like reptiles, lizard-like sphenodonts, and early Lissamphibians. Late Triassic Toarcian turnover Davies, A. M, an Introduction to Palaeontology, Thomas Murby & Co. Geology of The Dorset Coast, The Geologists Association, simms, M. J. Chidlaw, N. Morton, N. and Page, K. N. British Lower Jurassic Stratigraphy, Geological Conservation Review Series, No,30, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough. Early Jurassic Period – The Lias epoch, informative lecture notes by Dr. Paul Olsen
Media related to Jura mountains at Wikimedia Commons
