1.
Longhouse
–
A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building built by peoples in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often represent the earliest form of permanent structure in many cultures, the Neolithic long house type was introduced with the first farmers of central and western Europe around 5000 BCE—7000 years ago. These were farming settlements built in groups of six to twelve and were home to large extended families. The longhouse is a way of shelter. Located along a slope, a single passage gives access to human and animal shelter under a single roof. The old Frisian Langhuis that developed into the Frisian farmhouse which probably influenced the development of the Gulf house, with these house types the wooden posts originally rammed into the ground were replaced by posts supported on a base. The large and well-supported attic enabled large quantities of hay or grain to be stored in dry conditions and this development may have been driven because the weather became wetter over time. Good examples of houses have been preserved, some dating back to the 16th century. The longhouse was 50 to 60 feet long, the longhouse had a 3 metres -wide central aisle and 2 metres -wide compartments, about 6 to 7 metres long, down each side. The end compartments were used for storage. Hearths were spaced about 6 to 7 metres apart down the aisle and it is possible to infer the population of an Iroquois town from the size and number of longhouses it contained. In South America, the Tucano people of Colombia and northwest Brazil traditionally combine a household in a long house. The Xingu peoples of central Brazil build a series of longhouses in circular formations forming round villages, the ancient Tupi people of Brazilian Coast used to do this as well. The Yanomami people of Brazil and Venezuela build a hut with a thatched roof that has a hole in the middle, called shabono. In Daepyeong, a site of the Mumun pottery period in Korea. Their layout seems to be similar to those of the Iroquois, in these, several fireplaces were arranged along the longitudinal axis of the building. Later, the ancient Koreans started raising their buildings on stilts, so that the inner partitions, the size of the buildings and their placement within the settlements may point to buildings for the nobles of their society or some sort of community or religious buildings. In Igeum-dong, a site in South Korea, the large longhouses,29 and 26 meters long, are situated between the megalithic cemetery and the rest of the settlement
2.
Canada
–
Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
3.
National Historic Sites of Canada
–
Parks Canada, a federal agency, manages the National Historic Sites program. As of 2016, there are 976 National Historic Sites,171 of which are administered by Parks Canada, the sites are located across all ten provinces and three territories, with two sites located in France. There are related federal designations for National Historic Persons and National Historic Events, Sites, Events, and Persons are each typically marked by a federal plaque, but the markers do not indicate which designation a subject has been given. The Rideau Canal is a National Historic Site, while the Welland Canal is a National Historic Event, emerging Canadian nationalist sentiment in the late 19th century and early 20th century led to an increased interest in preserving Canadas historic sites. There were galvanizing precedents in other countries, in the United Kingdom, the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty was created in 1894 to protect that countrys historic and natural heritage. Domestically, Lord Dufferin, the Governor General from 1872 to 1878, initiated some of the earliest, high-profile efforts to preserve Canadas historic sites. He was instrumental in stopping the demolition of the fortifications of Quebec City, at the same time, the federal government was looking for ways to extend the National Park system to Eastern Canada. In 1914, the Parks Branch undertook a survey of sites in Canada. Fort Howe in Saint John, New Brunswick was designated a historic park in 1914. The fort was not a site of significant national historic importance, Fort Anne in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia was also designated in 1917. At the same time, the Department of Militia and Defence was anxious to transfer old forts, harkin, the first Commissioner of Dominion Parks, to develop a departmental heritage policy. On Harkins recommendation, the government created the Advisory Board for Historic Site Preservation in 1919 in order to advise the Minister on a new program of National Historic Sites. Brigadier General Ernest Alexander Cruikshank, an authority on the War of 1812 and the history of Ontario, was chosen as the Boards first chairman. Due to a lack of resources, the HSMBC limited itself to recommending sites for designation, of the 285 National Historic Sites designated by 1943,105 represented military history,52 represented the fur trade and exploration, and 43 represented famous individuals. There was also a strong bias in favour of commemorating sites in Ontario over other parts of the country, at one point, some members of the HSMBC concluded that there were no sites at all in Prince Edward Island worthy of designation. Lawrence, and in Niagara, promoting a loyalist doctrine of unity with Britain. Proposals to designate sites related to the immigration of Jews, Blacks and Ukrainians to Canada were rejected, such was the view of Canadian history by the Board in the first half of the 20th century. As time passed and the system grew, the scope of the program, by the 1930s, the focus of the heritage movement in Canada had shifted from commemoration to preservation and development
4.
Newfoundland (island)
–
Newfoundland is a large Canadian island off the east coast of the North American mainland, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It has 29 percent of the land area. The island is separated from the Labrador Peninsula by the Strait of Belle Isle and it blocks the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River, creating the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the worlds largest estuary. Newfoundlands nearest neighbour is the French overseas community of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, with an area of 108,860 square kilometres, Newfoundland is the worlds 16th-largest island, Canadas fourth-largest island, and the largest Canadian island outside the North. The provincial capital, St. Johns, is located on the southeastern coast of the island, Cape Spear, just south of the capital, is the easternmost point of North America, excluding Greenland. It is common to consider all directly neighbouring islands such as New World, Twillingate, Fogo, by that classification, Newfoundland and its associated small islands have a total area of 111,390 square kilometres. Additionally 6. 1% claimed at least one parent of French ancestry, the islands total population as of the 2006 census was 479,105. Long settled by peoples of the Dorset culture, the island was visited by the Icelandic Viking Leif Eriksson in the 11th century. The next European visitors to Newfoundland were Portuguese, Basque, Spanish, French, the island was visited by the Genoese navigator John Cabot, working under contract to King Henry VII of England on his expedition from Bristol in 1497. In 1501, Portuguese explorers Gaspar Corte-Real and his brother Miguel Corte-Real charted part of the coast of Newfoundland in a attempt to find the Northwest Passage. Newfoundland is considered Britains oldest colony, at the time of English settlement, the Beothuk inhabited the island. While there is evidence of ancient indigenous peoples on the island. LAnse aux Meadows was a Norse settlement near the northernmost tip of Newfoundland, the site is considered the only undisputed evidence of Pre-Columbian contact between the Old and New Worlds, if the Norse-Inuit contact on Greenland is not counted. There is a second suspected Norse site in Point Rosee, the island is a likely location of Vinland, mentioned in the Viking Chronicles, although this has been disputed. The indigenous people on the island at the time of European settlement were the Beothuk, later immigrants developed a variety of dialects associated with settlement on the island, Newfoundland English, Newfoundland French. In the 19th century, it also had a dialect of Irish known as Newfoundland Irish, Scottish Gaelic was spoken on the island during the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in the Codroy Valley area, chiefly by settlers from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The Gaelic names reflected the association with fishing, in Scottish Gaelic, it was called Eilean a Trosg, or literally, similarly, the Irish Gaelic name Talamh an Éisc means Land of the Fish. The first inhabitants of Newfoundland were the Paleo-Eskimo, who have no link to other groups in Newfoundland history
5.
Provinces and territories of Canada
–
Canadas geography is divided into administrative divisions known as provinces and territories that are responsible for delivery of sub-national governance. Over its history, Canadas international borders have changed several times, the ten provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. Several of the provinces were former British colonies, Quebec was originally a French colony, the three territories are Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon, which govern the rest of the area of the former British North America. Together, the provinces and territories make up the worlds second-largest country by area, the powers flowing from the Constitution Act are divided between the federal government and the provincial governments to exercise exclusively. In modern Canadian constitutional theory, the provinces are considered to be co-sovereign divisions, the territories are not sovereign, but simply part of the federal realm, and have a commissioner who represents the federal government. Notes, There are three territories in Canada, unlike the provinces, the territories of Canada have no inherent sovereignty and have only those powers delegated to them by the federal government. They include all of mainland Canada north of latitude 60° north and west of Hudson Bay, the following table lists the territories in order of precedence. Prior to Confederation, Ontario and Quebec were united as the Province of Canada, over the following years, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island were added as provinces. The Hudsons Bay Company controlled large swathes of western Canada referred to as Ruperts Land and the North-Western Territory until 1870, subsequently, the area was re-organized into the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. The remaining Arctic islands were transferred by Britain to Canada in 1880,1898 saw the Yukon Territory, later renamed simply as Yukon, carved from the parts of the Northwest Territories surrounding the Klondike gold fields. On September 1,1905, a portion of the Northwest Territories south of the 60th parallel north became the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1912, the boundaries of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba were expanded northward, Manitobas to the 60° parallel, Ontarios to Hudson Bay, in 1907, Newfoundland acquired dominion status. In the middle of the Great Depression in Canada with Newfoundland facing a period of economic crisis. In 2001, it was officially renamed Newfoundland and Labrador, in 1903, the Alaska Panhandle Dispute fixed British Columbias northwestern boundary. This was one of two provinces in Canadian history to have its size reduced. In 1999, Nunavut was created from the portion of the Northwest Territories. Yukon lies in the portion of The North, while Nunavut is in the east. All three territories combined are the most sparsely populated region in Canada, covering 3,921,739 km2 in land area and they are often referred to as a single region, The North, for organisational and economic purposes
6.
Newfoundland and Labrador
–
Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province of Canada. Situated in the countrys Atlantic region, it comprises the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador to the northwest, in 2013, the provinces population was estimated at 526,702. About 92% of the population lives on the island of Newfoundland. The province is Canadas most linguistically homogeneous, with 97. 6% of residents reporting English as their mother tongue in the 2006 census, historically, Newfoundland was also home to unique varieties of French and Irish, as well as the extinct Beothuk language. In Labrador, local dialects of Innu-aimun and Inuktitut are also spoken, Newfoundland and Labradors capital and largest city, St. Johns, is Canadas 20th-largest census metropolitan area and is home to almost 40 percent of the provinces population. St. Johns is the seat of government, home to the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador and to the highest court in the jurisdiction and it became the tenth province to enter the Canadian Confederation on March 31,1949, as Newfoundland. On December 6,2001, an amendment was made to the Constitution of Canada to change the official name to Newfoundland. The name Newfoundland is a translation of the Portuguese Terra Nova, the influence of early Portuguese exploration is also reflected in the name of Labrador, which derives from the surname of the Portuguese navigator João Fernandes Lavrador. Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province in Canada, and is located at the corner of North America. The Strait of Belle Isle separates the province into two divisions, Labrador, which is a large area of mainland Canada, and Newfoundland. The province also includes over 7,000 tiny islands, each side is about 400 km long, and its area is 108,860 km2. Newfoundland and its small islands have a total area of 111,390 km2. Newfoundland extends between latitudes 46°36′N and 51°38′N, Labrador is an irregular shape, the western part of its border with Quebec is the drainage divide of the Labrador Peninsula. Lands drained by rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean are part of Labrador, most of Labradors southern boundary with Quebec follows the 52nd parallel of latitude. Labradors extreme northern tip, at 60°22′N, shares a border with Nunavut. Together, Newfoundland and Labrador make up 4. 06% of Canadas area, Labrador is the easternmost part of the Canadian Shield, a vast area of ancient metamorphic rock comprising much of northeastern North America. Colliding tectonic plates have shaped much of the geology of Newfoundland, gros Morne National Park has a reputation as an outstanding example of tectonics at work, and as such has been designated a World Heritage Site. The Long Range Mountains on Newfoundlands west coast are the northeasternmost extension of the Appalachian Mountains, the north-south extent of the province, prevalent westerly winds, cold ocean currents and local factors such as mountains and coastline combine to create the various climates of the province
7.
Greenland
–
Greenland is an autonomous constituent country within the Danish Realm between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for more than a millennium. The majority of its residents are Inuit, whose ancestors began migrating from the Canadian mainland in the 13th century, Greenland is the worlds largest island. Three-quarters of Greenland is covered by the permanent ice sheet outside Antarctica. With a population of about 56,480, it is the least densely populated country in the world, the Arctic Umiaq Line ferry acts as a lifeline for western Greenland, connecting the various cities and settlements. Greenland has been inhabited off and on for at least the last 4,500 years by Arctic peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada, Norsemen settled the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century, and Inuit peoples arrived in the 13th century. The Norse colonies disappeared in the late 15th century, soon after their demise, beginning in 1499, the Portuguese briefly explored and claimed the island, naming it Terra do Lavrador. In the early 18th century, Scandinavian explorers reached Greenland again, to strengthen trading and power, Denmark-Norway affirmed sovereignty over the island. Greenland was settled by Vikings more than a thousand years ago, Vikings set sail from Greenland and Iceland, discovering North America nearly 500 years before Columbus reached Caribbean islands. Though under continuous influence of Norway and Norwegians, Greenland was not formally under the Norwegian crown until 1262, the Kingdom of Norway was extensive and a military power until the mid-14th century. Thus, the two kingdoms resources were directed at creating Copenhagen, Norway became the weaker part and lost sovereignty over Greenland in 1814 when the union was dissolved. Greenland became a Danish colony in 1814, and was made a part of the Danish Realm in 1953 under the Constitution of Denmark, in 1973, Greenland joined the European Economic Community with Denmark. However, in a referendum in 1982, a majority of the population voted for Greenland to withdraw from the EEC which was effected in 1985, Greenland contains the worlds largest and most northernly national park, Northeast Greenland National Park. Greenland is divided into four municipalities - Sermersooq, Kujalleq, Qaasuitsup and it also retains control of monetary policy, providing an initial annual subsidy of DKK3.4 billion, which is planned to diminish gradually over time. Greenland expects to grow its economy based on increased income from the extraction of natural resources, the capital, Nuuk, held the 2016 Arctic Winter Games. At 70%, Greenland has one of the highest shares of renewable energy in the world, the early Viking settlers named the island as Greenland. In the Icelandic sagas, the Norwegian-born Icelander Erik the Red was said to be exiled from Iceland for manslaughter, along with his extended family and his thralls, he set out in ships to explore an icy land known to lie to the northwest. After finding an area and settling there, he named it Grœnland
8.
Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories
–
Two classical cases of pre-Columbian contact have widespread support amongst the scientific and scholarly mainstream. There is considerable evidence in support of successful explorations which led to Norse settlement of Greenland, the scientific and scholarly responses to other pre-Columbian contact claims have varied. Some such contact claims are examined in reputable peer-reviewed sources, Norse journeys to Greenland and Canada are supported by historical and archaeological evidence. It was named a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1978 and it is also notable for its possible connection with the attempted colony of Vinland established by Leif Erikson around the same period or, more broadly, with Norse exploration of the Americas. Few sources describing contact between peoples and Norse people exist. Contact between the Thule people and Norse between the 12th or 13th centuries is known, the Norse Greenlanders called these incoming settlers skrælingar. Conflict between the Greenlanders and the skrælings is recorded in the Icelandic Annals, the term skrælings is also used in the Vínland sagas, which relate to events during the 10th century, when describing trade and conflict with native peoples. The sweet potato, which is native to the Americas, was widespread in Polynesia when Europeans first reached the Pacific. Sweet potato has been radiocarbon-dated in the Cook Islands to 1000 CE and it has been suggested that it was brought by Polynesians who had traveled to South America and back, or that South Americans brought it to the Pacific. It is possible that the plant could successfully float across the ocean if discarded from the cargo of a boat, phylogenetic analysis supports the hypothesis of at least two separate introductions of sweet potatoes from South America into Polynesia, including one before and one after European contact. A team of academics headed by the University of Yorks Mummy Research Group and BioArch, while examining a Peruvian mummy at the Bolton Museum, before this it was thought that Peruvian mummies were naturally preserved. The resin, found to be that of an Araucaria conifer related to the monkey puzzle tree, was from a variety found only in Oceania and probably New Guinea. Radiocarbon dating of both the resin and body by the University of Oxfords radiocarbon laboratory confirmed they were essentially contemporary, researchers including Kathryn Klar and Terry Jones have proposed a theory of contact between Hawaiians and the Chumash people of Southern California between 400 and 800 CE. Tomoloo, the Chumash word for such a craft, may derive from kumulaau, the analogous Tongva term, tiiat, is unrelated. If it occurred, this left no genetic legacy in California or Hawaii. In recent years, evidence has emerged suggesting a possibility of contact between the Mapuche people of south-central Chile and Polynesians. Chicken bones found at the site El Arenal in the Arauco Peninsula, the bones found in Chile were radiocarbon-dated to between 1304 and 1424, before the arrival of the Spanish. Chicken DNA sequences taken were matched to those of chickens in American Samoa and Tonga, dutch linguists and specialists in Amerindian languages Willem Adelaar and Pieter Muysken have suggested that two lexical items may be shared by Polynesian languages and languages of South America
9.
Medea
–
In Greek mythology, Medea was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason. In Euripides play Medea, Jason abandons Medea when Creon, king of Corinth, the play tells of Medea avenging her husbands betrayal by killing their children. Medea figures in the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, a known best from a late literary version worked up by Apollonius of Rhodes in the 3rd century BC. Medea is known in most stories as an enchantress, and is depicted as a priestess of the goddess Hecate or a witch. The myth of Jason and Medea is very old, originally written around the time Hesiod wrote the Theogony, Medeas role began after Jason came from Iolcus to Colchis, to claim his inheritance and throne by retrieving the Golden Fleece. In a familiar mythic motif, Aeëtes promised to him the fleece. Next, Jason had to sow the teeth of a dragon in the field, and the teeth sprouted into an army of warriors, Jason was forewarned by Medea, however. Unable to determine where the rock had come from, the attacked and killed each other. Finally, Aeëtes made Jason fight and kill the dragon that guarded the fleece. Jason then took the fleece and sailed away with Medea, as he had promised, Apollonius says that Medea only helped Jason in the first place because Hera had convinced Aphrodite or Eros to cause Medea to fall in love with him. Medea distracted her father as they fled by killing her brother Absyrtus, during the fight, Atalanta, a member of the group helping Jason in his quest for the fleece, was seriously wounded, but Medea healed her. According to some versions, Medea and Jason stopped on her aunt Circes island so that she could be cleansed after murdering her brother, relieving her of blame for the deed. On the way back to Thessaly, Medea prophesied that Euphemus, the helmsman of Jasons ship and this came true through Battus, a descendant of Euphemus. The Argo then reached the island of Crete, guarded by the bronze man, Talos had one vein which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by a single bronze nail. According to Apollodorus, Talos was slain either when Medea drove him mad with drugs, deceived him that she would make him immortal by removing the nail, or was killed by Poeass arrow. In the Argonautica, Medea hypnotized him from the Argo, driving him mad so that he dislodged the nail, ichor flowed from the wound, after Talos died, the Argo landed. Jason, celebrating his return with the Golden Fleece, noted that his father Aeson was too aged, Medea withdrew the blood from Aesons body, infused it with certain herbs, and returned it to his veins, invigorating him. The daughters of king Pelias saw this and wanted the same service for their father, while Jason searched for the Golden Fleece, Hera, who was still angry at Pelias, conspired to make Jason fall in love with Medea, whom Hera hoped would kill Pelias
10.
Jellyfish
–
Jellyfish or jellies are softbodied, free-swimming aquatic animals with a gelatinous umbrella-shaped bell and trailing tentacles. The bell can pulsate to acquire propulsion and locomotion, the tentacles may be utilized to capture prey or defend against predators by emitting toxins in a painful sting. Jellyfish species are classified in the subphylum Medusozoa which makes up a part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are found in ocean, from the surface to the deep sea. Scyphozoans are exclusively marine, but some live in freshwater. Large, often colorful, jellyfish are common in coastal zones worldwide, Jellyfish have roamed the seas for at least 500 million years, and possibly 700 million years or more, making them the oldest multi-organ animal. The popular English name jellyfish has been in use since 1796 and it has traditionally also been applied to other animals sharing a superficial resemblance, for example ctenophores were included as jellyfishes. Even some scientists include the phylum ctenophora when they are referring to jellyfish, other scientists prefer to use the more all-encompassing term gelatinous zooplankton, when referring to these, together with other soft-bodied animals in the water column. As jellyfish are not true fish, which are vertebrates, the jellyfish is considered by some to be a misnomer. Public aquaria often use the terms jellies or sea jellies instead, the term jellies may have become more popular than jellyfish. In scientific literature, jelly and jellyfish are often used interchangeably, some sources may use the term jelly to refer to organisms in this taxon, as jellyfish may be considered inappropriate. Many textbooks and sources refer to only scyphozoans as true jellyfish, a group of jellyfish is sometimes called a bloom or a swarm. Bloom is usually used for a group of jellyfish that gather in a small area. Another collective name for a group of jellyfish is a smack, using swarm usually implies some kind of active ability to stay together, which a few species such as Aurelia, the moon jelly, demonstrate. Medusa jellyfish may be classified as scyphomedusae, stauromedusae, cubomedusae, or hydromedusae, the term medusa was coined by Linnaeus in 1752, alluding to the tentacled head of Medusa in Greek mythology. This term refers exclusively to the non-polyp life-stage which occurs in many cnidarians, all medusa-producing species belong to the sub-phylum Medusozoa. In biology, a medusa is a form of cnidarian in which the body is shaped like an umbrella, medusae vary from bell-shaped to the shape of a thin disk, scarcely convex above and only slightly concave below. The digestive cavity consists of the cavity and radiating canals which extend toward the margin, these canals may be simple or branching
11.
Meadow
–
A meadow is a field habitat vegetated by grass and other non-woody plants. Meadows are of importance because they are open, sunny areas that attract and support flora. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artificially created from cleared shrub or woodland and they often host a multitude of wildlife, providing areas for courtship displays, nesting, food gathering and sometimes sheltering if the vegetation is high enough. Many meadows support an array of wildflowers, which makes them of utmost importance to insects like bees and other pollinating insects. In agriculture, a meadow is grassland which is not regularly grazed by domestic livestock, especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the term meadow is commonly used in its original sense to mean a hay meadow, signifying grassland mown annually in the summer for making hay. Agricultural meadows are typically lowland or upland fields upon which hay or pasture grasses grow from self-sown or hand-sown seed, traditional hay meadows were once common in rural Britain, but are now in decline. Ecologist Professor John Rodwell states that over the past century, England, fewer than 15.000 hectares of lowland meadows remain in the UK and most sites are relatively small and fragmented. 25% of the UKs meadows are found in Worcestershire, with Fosters Green Meadow managed by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust being a major site. A similar concept to the hay meadow is the pasture, which differs from the meadow in that it is grazed through the summer, rather than being allowed to grow out, the term, grassland, is used to describe both hay meadows and grass pastures. The specific agricultural practices in relation to the meadow can take on various expressions, as mentioned, this could be hay production or providing food for grazing cattle and livestock but also to give room for orchards or honey production. A transitional state can be artificially-maintained through a system, in which cultivated soil. For example, some of todays meadows originated thousands of years ago, types of perpetual meadows may include, Alpine meadows occur at high elevations above the tree line and maintained by harsh climatic conditions. Coastal meadows maintained by salt sprays, desert meadows restricted by low precipitation or lack of nutrients and humus. Prairies maintained by periods of drought or subject to wildfires. Wet meadows saturated with water much of the year. Apart from the meadows, meadows are often conceived of as artificial or cultural habitats, since they have emerged from and continually require human intervention to persist. It can be argued however, that meadows are really semi-cultural habitats, the reason is, that in many places the natural, pristine populations of free roaming large grazers are either extinct or very limited due to human activities. This reduces or removes their natural influence on the surrounding ecology, mankind has influenced the ecology and the landscape for millennia in many parts of the world, so it can sometimes be difficult to discern what is natural and what is cultural
12.
Norway
–
The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
.jpg)
National Historic Sites of Canada by location
