1.
Ice hockey
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Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponents net to score points. Ice hockey teams usually consist of six each, one goaltender. A fast-paced, physical sport, ice hockey is most popular in areas of North America, Ice hockey is the official national winter sport of Canada, where the game enjoys immense popularity. In North America, the National Hockey League is the highest level for mens hockey, the Kontinental Hockey League is the highest league in Russia and much of Eastern Europe. The International Ice Hockey Federation is the governing body for international ice hockey. The IIHF manages international tournaments and maintains the IIHF World Ranking, worldwide, there are ice hockey federations in 74 countries. Ice hockey is believed to have evolved from simple stick and ball games played in the 18th and 19th century United Kingdom and these games were brought to North America and several similar winter games using informal rules were developed, such as shinny and ice polo. The contemporary sport of ice hockey was developed in Canada, most notably in Montreal, some characteristics of that game, such as the length of the ice rink and the use of a puck, have been retained to this day. Amateur ice hockey began in the 1880s, and professional ice hockey originated around 1900. The Stanley Cup, emblematic of ice hockey club supremacy, was first awarded in 1893 to recognize the Canadian amateur champion, in international competitions, the national teams of six countries predominate, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Of the 69 medals awarded all-time in mens competition at the Olympics, in the annual Ice Hockey World Championships,177 of 201 medals have been awarded to the six nations. In Russia and the Ukraine, where hockey can also refer to bandy, the name hockey has no clear origin. The English historian and biographer John Strype did not use the word hockey when he translated the proclamation in 1720, the 1573 Statute of Galway banned a sport called hokie—the hurling of a little ball with sticks or staves. A form of this word was thus being used in the 16th century, though much removed from its current usage. According to the Austin Hockey Association, the word derives from the Scots Gaelic puc or the Irish poc. The blow given by a hurler to the ball with his caman or hurley is always called a puck. Stick-and-ball games date back to pre-Christian times, in Europe, these games included the Irish game of hurling, the closely related Scottish game of shinty and versions of field hockey. IJscolf, a game resembling colf on a surface, was popular in the Low Countries between the Middle Ages and the Dutch Golden Age. It was played with a curved bat, a wooden or leather ball
2.
Dragons de Rouen
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Rouen Hockey Élite 76 is a French ice hockey team based in Rouen playing in the Ligue Magnus. The team is known as Dragons de Rouen. The team was founded in 1982 and plays games at the Île Lacroix. Rouen won its first French league title in 1990 and then appeared in 7 consecutive finals, during that era, the club enjoyed much success, participating in European tournament, and winning the Cup of the European Leagues in 1996 and the Atlantic league in 1995 and 1996. Rouen had less success in the part of the 1990s. The team won another 8 French league titles in 2001,2003,2006,2008,2010,2011,2012 and 2013. During the 2005-2006 season, the team achieved the feat of being unbeaten, winning all of their regular season matches except one tie. With 14 titles, Rouen is the city with most elite championship titles trailing only Chamonix and Paris
3.
Chamonix HC
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Chamonix Hockey Club is a French ice hockey team based in Chamonix that last played in the Ligue Magnus in 2015. The team is known as Chamois de Chamonix. With 30 championship titles, Chamonix is the most successful French club, the team was founded in 1910. In the 2010, the club celebrated its 100th birthday, in 2016 the team merged with Pingouins de Morzine-Avoriaz to form the Pionniers De Chamonix-Morzine
4.
International Ice Hockey Federation
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The International Ice Hockey Federation is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey and in-line hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 74 members and it manages international ice hockey tournaments and maintains the IIHF World Ranking. The Hockey Canada and USA Hockey federations have their own rulebooks, decisions of the IIHF can be appealed through the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. The IIHF museum was located within the International Hockey Hall of Fame Museum located in Kingston, after terminating the partnership with the International Hockey Hall of Fame, the IIHF signed an agreement with the NHL to house their museum within the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1998, the IIHF museum relocated to Toronto, Ontario, as part of the centennial celebrations of the IIHFs founding, the 2008 IIHF World Championship was held in Canada. This was the first time the championships were hosted in Canada, Russia won the 2008 Championship, with Canada as the runner-up. The main functions of the IIHF are to govern, develop, another duty is to promote friendly relations among the member national associations and to operate in an organized manner for the good order of the sport. The IIHF is the body responsible with arranging the sponsorships, license rights, another purpose of the federation is to provide aid in the young players development and in the development of coaches and game officials. On the other hand, all the events of IIHF are organized by the federation along with establishing and maintaining contact with any sport federations or sport groups. The IIHF is responsible for processing the international players transfers and it is also the body that presides over ice hockey in the Olympic Games as well as over all levels of the IIHF World Championships. The federation works in collaboration with local committees when organizing its 25 World Championships, even though the IIHF runs the world championships, it is also responsible for the organization of several European club competitions such as the Champions Hockey League or the Continental Cup. The federation is governed by the body of the IIHF which is the General Congress along with the executive body. The Congress is entitled to make decisions with regard of the games rules and it is also the body that elects the president and the council or otherwise known as board. The president of the IIHF is basically the representative of the federation and he represents the federations interests in all external matters and he is also responsible that the decisions are made according to the federations statutes and regulations. The president is assisted by the General Secretary who is also the highest ranked employee of the IIHF, the International Ice Hockey Federation was founded on May 15,1908 at 34 Rue de Provence in Paris, France, as Ligue International de Hockey sur Glace. The founders of the federation were representatives from Belgium, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, Louis Magnus, the French representative, was the fifth member to sign the founding document and also the first president of the LIHG. The second congress was held from January 22–25,1909 in Chamonix, playing and competitions rules were established, and an agreement was reached for an annual European Championship to be contested, beginning in 1910. The 1909 Coupe de Chamonix was contested during the congress and it was won by Princes Ice Hockey Club, representing Great Britain
5.
Round-robin tournament
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A round-robin tournament is a competition in which each contestant meets all other contestants in turn. It contrasts with an elimination tournament, the term round-robin is derived from the French term ruban, meaning ribbon. Over a long period of time, the term was corrupted and idiomized to robin, in a single round-robin schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is called a double round-robin. The term is used when all participants play one another more than twice. In the United Kingdom, a tournament is often called an American tournament in sports such as tennis or billiards which usually have knockout tournaments. In Italian it is called girone allitaliana, in Serbian it is called the Berger system, after chess player Johann Berger. A round-robin tournament with four players is sometimes called quad or foursome, in sports with a large number of competitive matches for season, double round-robins are common. Most association football leagues in the world are organized on a double round-robin basis, in every team plays all others in its league once at home. This system is used during qualification for major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup. There are also round-robin chess, draughts, go, curling, the World Chess Championship decided in 2005 and in 2007 on an eight-player double round-robin tournament where each player faces every other player once as white and once as black. Group tournaments rankings usually go by number of matches won and drawn, frequently, pool stages within a wider tournament are conducted on a round-robin basis. In theory, a tournament is the fairest way to determine the champion among a known. Each participant, player or team, has equal chances against all other opposites, the element of luck is seen to be reduced as compared to a knockout system since bad performances need not cripple a competitors chance of ultimate victory. Final records of participants are, thus, seen to be accurate as they represent the results over a longer period against equal competition. This can also be used to determine which teams are the poorest performers and this is also helpful to determine the final rank of all competitors from strongest to weakest for purposes of qualification for another stage or competition as well as for prize money. In team sport the major league champions is generally regarded as the best team in the land, the top one, two, or occasionally three teams in these groups then proceed to a straight knockout stage for the remainder of the tournament. The main disadvantage of a round robin tournament is the time needed to complete it, for instance, a tournament of 16 teams can be completed in just 4 rounds in a knockout format, a round-robin would require 15 rounds to finish
6.
Promotion and relegation
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In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between two divisions based on their performance for the completed season. In some leagues, playoffs or qualifying rounds are used to determine rankings. This process can continue through several levels of divisions, with teams being exchanged between levels 1 and 2, levels 2 and 3, levels 3 and 4, the number of teams exchanged between the divisions is almost always identical. Such variations will almost inevitably cause an effect through the lower divisions. Even in the absence of such circumstances, the pyramid-like nature of most European football league systems can still create knock-on effects at the regional level. The system is said to be the characteristic of the European form of professional sports league organization. Promotion and relegation have the effect of allowing the maintenance of a hierarchy of leagues and divisions and they also maintain the importance of games played by many low-ranked teams near the end of the season, which may be at risk of relegation. In contrast, a low-ranked US or Canadian teams final games serve little purpose, although not intrinsic to the system, problems can occur due to the differing monetary payouts and revenue-generating potential that different divisions provide to their clubs. For example, financial hardship has sometimes occurred in leagues where clubs do not reduce their wage bill once relegated, some leagues offer parachute payments to its relegated teams for the following year. The payouts are higher than the money received by some non-relegated teams and are designed to soften the financial hit that clubs take whilst dropping out of the Premier League. However, in many cases these parachute payments just serve to inflate the costs of competing for promotion among the lower division clubs as newly relegated teams retain a financial advantage. If these are not satisfied, a team may be promoted in their place. While the primary purpose of the system is to maintain competitive balance. On several occasions, the Italian Football Federation has relegated clubs found to have involved in match-fixing. This occurred most recently in 2006, when the initial champions Juventus were relegated to Serie B. An exception is the proposed UEFA Nations League, which will feature promotion and relegation across four levels, in tennis, the Davis Cup has promotion and relegation where each group uses a knockout tournament format in which first-round losers play off to avoid relegation. In the United States, Canada, and Australia, teams are not promoted or relegated. The USL set up two leagues, now known as the United Soccer League and the Premier Development League, although the system is now in place, it is not compulsory and is rarely used
7.
French nationality law
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The 1993 Méhaignerie Law required children born in France of foreign parents to request French nationality at adulthood, rather than being automatically accorded citizenship. This manifestation of will requirement was subsequently abrogated by the Guigou Law of 1998, children born in France to tourists or other short-term visitors do not acquire French citizenship by virtue of birth in France, residency must be proven. French nationality and citizenship were concepts that existed even before the French Revolution, there are three key dates in the legal history of naturalization, Military service and state education were two processes central to the creation of a common national culture. Military conscription brought inhabitants of the states regions together for the first time, creating bonds of friendship, universal education brought the whole of the population into contact with state-sanctioned version of French history and identity. State teachers, the Black hussars of the Republic, conveyed the national language to the people of the regions, the attribution of French nationality can be due to filiation. The attribution of French nationality can be given by birth in France if other requirements are also met, plenary adoption is the only act of filiation which carries direct effects on nationality. Unlike the process of adoption, a child adopted according to the procedure of plenary adoption breaks any bond with his family of origin. Filiation must be established while the child is a minor to take effect, consequently, the recognition of a child older than the age of majority has no effect on his or her nationality. Children born in France to at least one parent who is born in France automatically acquire French citizenship at birth. A child born in France to foreign parents may acquire French citizenship, at birth, at 18, if resident in France with at least 5 years residence since age 11. Between 16 and 18 upon request by the child and if resident in France with at least 5 years residence since age 11, between 13 and 16 upon request by the childs parents and if resident in France continuously since age 8. If born in France of parents born before independence in a colony/territory in the past under French sovereignty, at birth, if born in France before January 1,1994. At age 18, if born in France on or after January 1,1994, a person aged 18 or above may apply for French citizenship by naturalization after five years habitual and continuous residence in France. In addition, it is required that the applicant has his/her primary source of income in France during the five-year period and those applying who are not European Union, European Economic Area or Swiss nationals are required to be in possession of a titre de séjour. The residence period may be waived for those who have served in the French military, for refugees. The residence period is counted backwards from the date on which the applicant lodged his/her naturalization application, the applicant must show that he/she has been residing legally in France during the 5 or 2 year residence period. Any periods of residence in France before the 5 or 2 year residence period will not be taken into account when the application is considered. Naturalization will only be successful for those who are judged to have integrated into French society, the applicant must also be of good character
8.
Austrian Hockey League
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The Austrian Hockey League, called the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Austria. The roots of the EBEL league go back to 1923 and various Championships, there was no Austrian competition between 1939 and 1945. During World War II, a number of Austrian teams competed in the German Ice Hockey Championship, the league exists in todays form since the 1965–66 season. Until 2005–06 the league consisted solely of Austrian teams, since then the league has added teams from Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Italy. The non-Austrian teams are competing for the EBEL Champion title, only Austrian teams in this league are additionally eligible for the Austrian Champion title. The league has had different sponsors, and the current naming rights have been held by Sparkasse Bank, in 2013–14, Italys Bolzano Foxes became the first non-Austrian team to win the EBEL title when they beat the Salzburg Red Bulls 3 games to 2 in their best-of-five final. With their victory in the 2013/2014 season, HC Bolzano is the first non-Austrian team to claim the league title
9.
GET-ligaen
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GET-ligaen is the premier Norwegian ice hockey league, organised by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association. The Norwegian Ice Hockey Association was founded on 16 September 1934, the same season also saw the debut of a national league for ice hockey. Divisjon, a name it held until 1990, when the elite clubs broke away and formed a new top league, in 2004, telecommunications company UPC bought the naming rights for the league. UPC Norway changed its name to GET in 2006 and hence the name of the league was also altered
10.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
11.
Arcade game
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An arcade game or coin-op is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games. While exact dates are debated, the age of arcade video games is usually defined as a period beginning sometime in the late 1970s. The old Midways of 1920s-era amusement parks provided the inspiration and atmosphere for later arcade games, in the 1930s the first coin-operated pinball machines emerged. These early amusement machines differed from their later electronic cousins in that they were made of wood and they lacked plungers or lit-up bonus surfaces on the playing field, and used mechanical instead of electronic scoring-readouts. By around 1977 most pinball machines in production switched to using solid-state electronics both for operation and for scoring, another Sega 1969 release, Missile, a shooter and vehicle-combat simulation, featured electronic sound and a moving film strip to represent the targets on a projection screen. In 1970 Midway released the game in North America as S. A. M. I, in the course of the 1970s, following the release of Pong in 1972, electronic video-games gradually replaced electro-mechanical arcade games. In 1972, Sega released a game called Killer Shark. In 1974, Nintendo released Wild Gunman, a shooter that used full-motion video-projection from 16 mm film to display live-action cowboy opponents on the screen. The 1978 video game Space Invaders, however, dealt a yet more powerful blow to the popularity of electro-mechanical games, in 1971 students at Stanford University set up the Galaxy Game, a coin-operated version of the Spacewar video game. This ranks as the earliest known instance of a video game. Later in the year, Nolan Bushnell created the first mass-manufactured game, Computer Space. In 1972, Atari was formed by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, Atari essentially created the coin-operated video game industry with the game Pong, the first successful electronic ping pong video game. Pong proved to be popular, but imitators helped keep Atari from dominating the fledgling coin-operated video game market, taitos Space Invaders, in 1978, proved to be the first blockbuster arcade video game. Its success marked the beginning of the age of arcade video games. Space Invaders, Galaxian, Pac-Man, Battlezone, Defender, by 1981, the arcade video game industry was worth $8 billion. By the late 1980s, the video game craze was beginning to fade due to advances in home video game console technology. By 1991, US arcade video game revenues had fallen to $2.1 billion, the pseudo-3D sprite/tile scaling was handled in a similar manner to textures in later texture-mapped polygonal 3D games of the 1990s
12.
Mobile game
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A mobile game is a video game played on a feature phone, smartphone, smartwatch, PDA, tablet computer, portable media player or calculator. The earliest known game on a phone was a Tetris variant on the Hagenuk MT-2000 device from 1994. In 1997, Nokia launched the very successful Snake, Snake, that was preinstalled in most mobile devices manufactured by Nokia, has since become one of the most played video games and is found on more than 350 million devices worldwide. A variant of the Snake game for the Nokia 6110, using the port, was also the first two-player game for mobile phones. However, mobile games distributed by mobile operators and third party portals remained a form of gaming until Apples iOS App Store was launched in 2008. As a result of explosion, technological advancement by handset manufacturers became rapid. Preloaded games on mobile phones were usually limited to crude monochrome dot matrix graphics. Commands would be input via the devices keypad buttons, with the advent of feature phones more hardware power became available even in bottom-of-the-range devices. Colour screens, multi-channel sound and most importantly the ability to download, some early companies utilized the camera phone technology for mobile games such as Namco and Panasonic. That same year Panasonic released a virtual pet game in which the pet is fed by photos of foods taken with the camera phone, in the early 2000s, mobile games gained popularity in Japans mobile phone culture, years before the United States or Europe. Older arcade-style games became popular on mobile phones, which were an ideal platform for arcade-style games designed for shorter play sessions. In the present day, Japan is the worlds largest market by revenue for mobile games, the Japanese gaming market today is becoming increasingly dominated by mobile games, which generated $5.1 billion in 2013, more than traditional console games in the country. The N-Gage brand was retained for a few years as a service included on Nokias general-purpose phones. In Europe, downloadable games were introduced by the “Les Games” portal from Orange France, run by In-fusio. Whereas before mobile games were commissioned directly by handset manufacturers. The launch of Apples App Store in 2008 radically changed the market, the Apple users, however, can only use the Apple App Store, since Apple forbids the distribution of apps via any other distribution channel. Thirdly, the integration of the App Store with the device itself led many consumers to try out apps. Consequently, the number of highly successful mobile games proliferated soon after the launch of the App Store
13.
Android (operating system)
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Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google, based on the Linux kernel and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. In addition to devices, Google has further developed Android TV for televisions, Android Auto for cars. Variants of Android are also used on notebooks, game consoles, digital cameras, beginning with the first commercial Android device in September 2008, the operating system has gone through multiple major releases, with the current version being 7.0 Nougat, released in August 2016. Android applications can be downloaded from the Google Play store, which features over 2.7 million apps as of February 2017, Android has been the best-selling OS on tablets since 2013, and runs on the vast majority of smartphones. In September 2015, Android had 1.4 billion monthly active users, Android is popular with technology companies that require a ready-made, low-cost and customizable operating system for high-tech devices. The success of Android has made it a target for patent, Android Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California in October 2003 by Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Nick Sears, and Chris White. Rubin described the Android project as tremendous potential in developing smarter mobile devices that are aware of its owners location. The early intentions of the company were to develop an operating system for digital cameras. Despite the past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretly and that same year, Rubin ran out of money. Steve Perlman, a friend of Rubin, brought him $10,000 in cash in an envelope. In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc. for at least $50 million and its key employees, including Rubin, Miner and White, joined Google as part of the acquisition. Not much was known about Android at the time, with Rubin having only stated that they were making software for mobile phones, at Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel. Google marketed the platform to handset makers and carriers on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system, Google had lined up a series of hardware components and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation. Speculation about Googles intention to enter the communications market continued to build through December 2006. In September 2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony, the first commercially available smartphone running Android was the HTC Dream, also known as T-Mobile G1, announced on September 23,2008. Since 2008, Android has seen numerous updates which have improved the operating system, adding new features. Each major release is named in order after a dessert or sugary treat, with the first few Android versions being called Cupcake, Donut, Eclair. In 2010, Google launched its Nexus series of devices, a lineup in which Google partnered with different device manufacturers to produce new devices and introduce new Android versions
14.
IOS
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IOS is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the system that presently powers many of the companys mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPad. It is the second most popular operating system globally after Android. IPad tablets are also the second most popular, by sales, originally unveiled in 2007 for the iPhone, iOS has been extended to support other Apple devices such as the iPod Touch and the iPad. As of January 2017, Apples App Store contains more than 2.2 million iOS applications,1 million of which are native for iPads and these mobile apps have collectively been downloaded more than 130 billion times. The iOS user interface is based upon direct manipulation, using multi-touch gestures, interface control elements consist of sliders, switches, and buttons. Internal accelerometers are used by applications to respond to shaking the device or rotating it in three dimensions. Apple has been praised for incorporating thorough accessibility functions into iOS, enabling users with vision. Major versions of iOS are released annually, the current version, iOS10, was released on September 13,2016. In iOS, there are four layers, the Core OS, Core Services, Media. In 2005, when Steve Jobs began planning the iPhone, he had a choice to either shrink the Mac, forstall was also responsible for creating a software development kit for programmers to build iPhone apps, as well as an App Store within iTunes. The operating system was unveiled with the iPhone at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 9,2007, and released in June of that year. At the time of its unveiling in January, Steve Jobs claimed, iPhone runs OS X and runs applications, but at the time of the iPhones release. Initially, third-party native applications were not supported, Steve Jobs reasoning was that developers could build web applications through the Safari web browser that would behave like native apps on the iPhone. In October 2007, Apple announced that a native Software Development Kit was under development, on March 6,2008, Apple held a press event, announcing the iPhone SDK. The iOS App Store was opened on July 10,2008 with an initial 500 applications available.2 million in January 2017, as of March 2016,1 million apps are natively compatible with the iPad tablet computer. These apps have collectively been downloaded more than 130 billion times, App intelligence firm Sensor Tower has estimated that the App Store will reach 5 million apps by the year 2020. On September 5,2007, Apple released the iPod Touch, Apple also sold more than one million iPhones during the 2007 holiday season
15.
Stade des Alpes
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The Stade des Alpes is a rugby and football stadium in Grenoble, France. The stadium seats 20,068 and hosts the games of Grenoble Foot 38. Situated in Paul Mistral Park, it replaced their stadium Stade Lesdiguières and it was built while GF38 played in the top divisions of French football, and had become somewhat of a white elephant now that the club plays in the 4th division and attracts few fans. However, the stadium gained greater viability once FC Grenoble earned their most recent promotion to the Top 14 in 2012. Since 2014–15, with FC Grenoble now consolidated in Top 14 and this stadium uses solar panels and produces more than 70,000 kWh per year. The first goal scored there was by Ivorian striker Franck Dja Djedje, then at Grenoble on loan from Paris Saint-Germain F. C
16.
Ligue 1
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Ligue 1, is a French professional league for mens association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the primary football competition. Administrated by the Ligue de Football Professionnel, Ligue 1 is contested by 20 clubs, seasons run from August to May. Teams play 38 matches each, totaling 380 matches in the season, most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekday evenings. Play is regularly suspended the last weekend before Christmas for two weeks before returning in the week of January. The name lasted until 2002 before switching to its current name, AS Saint-Étienne is the most successful club with ten league titles in France while Olympique Lyon is the club that has won the most consecutive titles. With the presence of 67 seasons in Ligue 1, Olympique de Marseille hold the record for most seasons among the elite, the current champions are Paris Saint-Germain, who won their sixth title in the 2015–16 season. Prior to 1930, professionalism in French football was non-existent, in July 1930, the National Council of the French Football Federation voted 128–20 in support of professionalism in French football. The founding fathers of professionalism in French football are Georges Bayrou, Emmanuel Gambardella, professionalism was officially implemented in 1932. In order to create a professional football league in the country. In order to participate in the competition, clubs were subjected to three important criteria, The incoming club must have had positive results in the past, the incoming club must be able to pull in enough revenue to balance its finances. The incoming club must be able to recruit at least eight professional players. Jooris feared his league would fold and proposed it become the division of the new league. The leagues inaugural season of the league, called National, was held in 1932–1933. The 20 clubs were inserted into two groups of 10 with the three of each group suffering relegation to Division 2. The two winners of each group would face each other in a final held at a neutral venue. The first final was held on 14 May 1933 and it matched the winner of Group A, Olympique Lillois, against the runner-up of Group B, Cannes. Antibes, the winner of Group B, was supposed to take part in the final but was suspected of bribery by the French Football Federation and was forced into disqualification, in the first final, Lillois were crowned the inaugural champions following the clubs 4–3 victory
17.
Grenoble Foot 38
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Grenoble Foot 38, commonly referred to as simply GF38, is a French association football club based in Grenoble, a city situated at the foot of the French Alps. The original incarnation of the club was founded in 1892 and, Grenoble currently plays in CFA, the fourth level of French football, after having gone into bankruptcy and relegation to the fifth level of French football in 2011. Grenoble plays its matches at the Stade des Alpes, a recently built complex based in the heart of the city. The team is managed by Jean-Louis Garcia, the club was founded in 1892 as Football Club de Grenoble. In 1997, a merger of Olympique Grenoble Isère and Norcap Olympique led to the Grenoble Foot 38 incarnation, Olympique Grenoble Isère played in Ligue 1 in the 1960–61 and 1962–63 seasons. However, after losing their first eleven games of the season, note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, below are the notable former players who have represented Grenoble and its predecessors in league and international competition since the clubs foundation in 1997. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 80 official matches for the club, geraldes Bernard Simondi Alain Michel M. Westerloppe A. Michel Thierry Goudet Yvon Pouliquen Mehmed Baždarević Yvon Pouliquen Olivier Saragaglia Jean-Louis Garcia Official website
18.
LHC Les Lions
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Lyon Hockey Club is the ice hockey team of Lyon, France. The team currently competes in the French Ligue Magnus, on July 13,2014, it was announced that The Lions would be an official partner of the NHLs Tampa Bay Lightning and the AHLs Syracuse Crunch. Ice hockey was played in Lyon as early as 1898 on a rink located on the Boulevard des Belges where today the Guimet Museum stands. The Sporting Club de Lyon won the national Coupe Magnus title in 1905 and 1908 but the rink was converted to a museum in 1909 and Lyon was without a rink and a team for the next 44 years. In 1953 the Club des Patineurs Lyonnais was founded and in 1956 the Lyon team won Frances Division 1 ice hockey championship, in 1963 CPL built the Patinoire Charlemagne that still today serves as the home of Lyon ice sports. In their new home CPL won Frances Division 2 ice hockey championship in both 1972 and 1989, Christophe Geoffroys management forces the CPL to the liquidation in 1997 Following the collapse of CPL local businessman Christophe Geoffroy founded Hockey sur glace lyonnais Elite. Teamed with the Lyon Hockey Club Association, an association charged with developing junior ice hockey, the new team experienced quick success and twice finished third in Frances Ligue Magnus in 1997 and 1998. LHC qualified for Europes Continental Cup in 1999 and reached the finals before being eliminated. By 2000 LHC had been relegated to Frances Division 3 championship, in the 2001 season Lyon reached and won the Division 2 championship and earned a place in Division 1 for season 2002. A poor season in 2002 saw the return to the second division once again and, despite reaching the final in 2007. The logo of the LHC features a red head of a lion in profile on a background with the name of the team above. Red, white and blue are both the colours of France and the colours of the city of Lyon, the LHC play in red, blue, black and white jerseys. The jersey has changed in recent years from a white jersey in season 2006 to predominantly red in season 2007. The front of the features a stylised image of a lion and bears the logo of the LHCs major sponsor. The jerseys are provided by equipment sponsor Nike Bauer, LHC media partners include Télé Lyon Métropole, the Tribune de Lyon and Virgin Radio. LHC matches are a feature on Télé Lyon Métropoles Sunday sports review. LHC players are also interviewed frequently for other TLM programs including Lundi Sport, the Tribune de Lyon produces a pre-season guide to the LHC each year and reports on matches each week. As well as reporting on LHC matches Virgin Radio provides the music for matches
19.
Parc Olympique Lyonnais
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The Parc Olympique Lyonnais, nicknamed the Grand Stade and the Stade des Lumières, is a 59, 186-seat stadium in Lyon and is the home of French football club Olympique Lyonnais. It replaced its previous stadium, Stade de Gerland, in January 2016 and it is a scheduled venue for the 2019 FIFA Womens World Cup. The stadium would also include state-of-the-art sporting facilities, two hotels, a center, and commercial and business offices. The project is proceeding, with an estimate that the stadium will be completed by 2015, the FFF officially made their selections on 11 November 2009 and the city of Lyon was selected as a site to host matches during the tournament. After the landscaping in 2012, the construction started in summer 2013. Lyon played their first game in the new stadium on 9 January 2016, winning 4–1 against Troyes in Ligue 1, the venue is scheduled to host an outdoor Ligue Magnus ice hockey game between Lyon and Grenoble on 30 December 2016. As one of the venues for UEFA Euro 2016, the Parc Olympique Lyonnais has held the following matches, Parc Olympique Lyonnais
20.
Olympique Lyonnais
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Olympique Lyonnais is a French football club based in Lyon. It plays in Frances highest football division, Ligue 1, the club was formed as Lyon Olympique Universitaire in 1899, according to many supporters and sport historians, but was nationally established as a club in 1950. The clubs most successful period has been the 21st century, the club won its first Ligue 1 championship in 2002, starting a national record-setting streak of seven successive titles. Lyon has also won a record seven Trophée des Champions, five Coupe de France titles, Olympique Lyonnais plays its home matches at the 59, 186-seat Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Décines-Charpieu, a suburb of Lyon. The clubs home colours are white, red and blue, Lyon was a member of the G14 group of leading European football clubs and are founder members of its successor, the European Club Association. Olympique Lyonnais is one of the clubs in France. A2009 survey found that about 11% of the football fans support the club. The clubs nickname, Les Gones, means The Kids in Lyons regional dialect of Arpitan, the chairman of Lyon is Jean-Michel Aulas and the club is managed by Bruno Génésio. Olympique Lyonnais also has a womens football team having won its league a record nine times. The womens team has won three Challenge de France titles and the UEFA Womens Champions League in 2011 and 2012. Olympique Lyonnais was initially formed under the multisports club Lyon Olympique Universitaire, on 3 August 1950, Louots plan came to fruition when Olympique Lyonnais was officially founded by Dr. Albert Trillat and numerous others. The clubs first manager was Oscar Heisserer and, on 26 August 1950, in just the clubs second year of existence, Lyon was crowned champion of the second division, securing promotion to the first division. The club maintained its first division place for the remainder of the decade, Lyon achieved moderate success during the 1960s and 1970s with the likes of Fleury Di Nallo, Néstor Combin, Serge Chiesa, Bernard Lacombe and Jean Djorkaeff playing major roles. Under manager Lucien Jasseron, Lyon won its first-ever Coupe de France title defeating Bordeaux 2–0 in the 1963–64 season, the club also performed respectably in the league under Jasserons reign until the 1965–66 season, when Lyon finished 16th, which ultimately led to Jasserons departure. His replacement was Louis Hon, who helped Lyon win their second Coupe de France title after defeating Sochaux 3–1 in the 1966–67 season, Lyon was managed by former Lyon legend Aimé Mignot heading into the 1970s. Under Mignots helm, Lyon won its third Coupe de France title in 1972–73, in June 1987, Lyon was bought by Rhône businessman Jean-Michel Aulas who took control of the club aiming to turn Lyon into an established Ligue 1 side. His ambitious plan, titled OL – Europe, was designed to develop the club at the European level, the first manager under the new hierarchy was Raymond Domenech. The aspiring chairman gave Domenech carte blanche to recruit whoever he saw fit to help the team reach the first division and they went on to accomplish this in Domenechs first season in charge
21.
Amiens
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Amiens is a city and commune in northern France,120 km north of Paris and 100 km south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Hauts-de-France, the city had a population of 136,105 according to the 2006 census. It has one of the biggest university hospitals in France with a capacity of 1,200 beds, Amiens Cathedral, the tallest of the large, classic, Gothic churches of the 13th century and the largest in France of its kind, is a World Heritage Site. The author Jules Verne lived in Amiens from 1871 until his death in 1905, during December, the town hosts the largest Christmas market in northern France. The first known settlement at this location was Samarobriva, the settlement of the Ambiani. The town was given the name Ambianum by the Romans, meaning settlement of the Ambiani people, the town has been much fought over, being attacked by barbarian tribes, and later by the Normans. In 1113 the city was recognized by King Louis VI of France, in 1597, Spanish soldiers held the city during the six-month Siege of Amiens, before Henry IV regained control. During the 18th and 19th century, the tradition of Amiens became famous for its velours. In 1789 the provinces of France were dismantled and the territory was organised into departments, much of Picardy became the newly created department of Somme, with Amiens as the departmental capital. During the industrial revolution the city walls were demolished, opening up space for large boulevards around the town centre, the Henriville neighbourhood in the south of the city was developed around this time. In 1848, the first railway arrived in Amiens, linking the city to Boulogne-sur-Mer, during the 1870 Battle of Amiens, when the Somme was invaded by Prussian forces, Amiens was occupied. The town was fought over during both the First and Second World Wars, suffering damage, and being occupied several times by both sides. The 1918 Battle of Amiens, was the phase of the Hundred Days Offensive. It was heavily bombed by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, the city was rebuilt according to Pierre Dufaus plans, with a focus on widening the streets to ease traffic congestion. These newer structures were built of brick, concrete and white stone with slate roofs. The architect Auguste Perret designed the Gare dAmiens train station and nearby Tour Perret, Amiens, the regional prefecture of Picardy, is also the prefecture of the Somme, one of the three departments in the region. Located in the Paris Basin, across the country the city benefits from a geographical position. At the crossroads of major European routes of movement, the city is also at the heart of a major rail star
22.
Ducs d'Angers
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The Association des Sports de Glisse dAngers is a French ice hockey team based in Angers playing in the Ligue Magnus. The team currently use the name of Les Ducs dAngers, the teams mascot is an eagle-owl, or grand duc in French, but its name is primarily intended as a reference to the prestigious Dukes of Anjou lineage. The team was founded in 1982 and plays games at the Patinoire du Haras. The Team has never been French champion, but won the French cup in 2007 and 2014, saturday, April 3,2010 - Angers defeated the Briançon Red Devils on the road,3 games out of 2, in the Best of 5 game semifinal series. Angers reached the Magnus League Championship for the first time in team history, Angers and Rouen set to face each other in the Finals. Angers had a chance at redemption after losing at Rouen 7-0 in the Quarterfinals of the French Cup, on Tuesday, monday, April 6,2010 - Angers, on the road, won at Rouen 2-1. Tuesday, April 7,2010 - Angers took a 2-0 lead in the 2nd Period of the game, Rouen started the 3rd Period with a quick goal to bring them within one. Angers quickly responded and scored again, putting themselves up 3-1, and desperation set in for Rouen as they too responded quickly scoring, making it 3-2 Angers. Angers responded several minutes later making it 4-2, Angers never looked back from there. Friday, April 9,2010 - Les Ducs looked tired and were down 3-0 and they battled back and made it 3-2 but would eventually fall 4-2. Saturday, April 10,2010 - Angers did not show up to match and lost their second. Tuesday, April 13,2010 - It was 1-1 after two periods of play, Rouen went on to score 3 more in the third period and Angers added one more. The Ducs ended their bid to be champions of France, failing to win it all with their three opportunities to bring the Cup home, formidable foe Rouen, who ousted the Ducs in the 09-10 Magnus League Championship in three consecutive games. On January 30,2011, the Ducs would travel to Bercy to face the Dragons, Rouen took an early lead going up 2-0 after 1 period of play. In the 2nd period, Rouen would add two more and Angers adding one, after 2 the score was 4-1. The Ducs mounted a comeback, scoring 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd period, however Angers once again fell victim to the Dragons in overtime, losing 5-4
23.
Angers
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Angers is a city in western France, about 300 km southwest of Paris. It is chef-lieu of the Maine-et-Loire department and was, before the French Revolution, the inhabitants of both the city and the province are called Angevins. The commune of Angers proper, without the area, is the third most populous in northwestern France after Nantes and Rennes. Angers is the capital of Anjou and was for centuries an important stronghold in northwestern France. It is the cradle of the Plantagenet dynasty and was during the reign of René of Anjou one of the centers of Europe. Angers developed at the confluence of three rivers, the Mayenne, the Sarthe, and the Loir, all coming from the north and their confluence, just north of Angers, creates the Maine, a short but wide river that flows into the Loire several kilometers south. The Angers metropolitan area is an economic center in western France, particularly active in the industrial sector, horticulture. Angers proper covers 42.70 square kilometers and has a population of 147,305 inhabitants, the Angers Loire Métropole is made up of 33 communes covering 540 square kilometers with 287,000 inhabitants. Angers enjoys a cultural life, made possible by its universities. The old medieval center is dominated by the massive château of the Plantagenêts, home of the Apocalypse Tapestry. Angers is also both at the edge of the Val de Loire, a World Heritage Site, and the Loire-Anjou-Touraine regional natural park, the city is first mentioned by Ptolemy around AD150 in his Geography. It was then known as Juliomagus, a name by which it appears in the Tabula Peutingeriana. The name is a compound of the Latin name Julius and the Celtic magos, similar town dedications were common in Roman Gaul, and toponyms often kept a Gallic element. When the location needed to be distinguished from other Juliomagi, it was known as Juliomagus Andecavorum, in reference to the principal Gallic tribe in, around AD400, the city came to be referred to as the civitas Andecavorum. This was a change in Gaul, also seen in the names of Paris, Tours. During the Middle Ages, the late Latin name gradually developed into the modern one and it is successively mentioned as Andecava civitas, Andecavis, Andegavis, Angieus and Angeus. The form Angiers appeared during the 12th century and was corrupted to Angers. The Latin Andecavum gave also Anjou its name and this double formation is quite common in France and is also seen in Poitiers & Poitou and Bourges & Berry
24.
Bordeaux
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Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France. The municipality of Bordeaux proper has a population of 243,626, together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Bordeaux is the centre of the Bordeaux Métropole. With 749,595 inhabitants and 1,178,335 in the area, it is the fifth largest in France, after Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Lille. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department and its inhabitants are called Bordelais or Bordelaises. The term Bordelais may also refer to the city and its surrounding region, Bordeaux is the worlds major wine industry capital. It is home to the main wine fair, Vinexpo. Bordeaux wine has been produced in the region since the 8th century, the historic part of the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble of the 18th century. After Paris, Bordeaux has the highest number of preserved buildings of any city in France. In historical times, around 300 BC it was the settlement of a Celtic tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci, the name Bourde is still the name of a river south of the city. In 107 BC, the Battle of Burdigala was fought by the Romans who were defending the Allobroges, a Gallic tribe allied to Rome, the Romans were defeated and their commander, the consul Lucius Cassius Longinus, was killed in the action. The city fell under Roman rule around 60 BC, its importance lying in the commerce of tin, later it became capital of Roman Aquitaine, flourishing especially during the Severan dynasty. In 276 it was sacked by the Vandals, further ravage was brought by the same Vandals in 409, the Visigoths in 414 and the Franks in 498, beginning a period of obscurity for the city. In the late 6th century, the city re-emerged as the seat of a county and an archdiocese within the Merovingian kingdom of the Franks, the city started to play a regional role as a major urban center on the fringes of the newly founded Frankish Duchy of Vasconia. Around 585, a certain Gallactorius is cited as count of Bordeaux, the city was plundered by the troops of Abd er Rahman in 732 after storming the fortified city and overwhelming the Aquitanian garrison. After Duke Eudess defeat, the Aquitanian duke could still save part of its troops, the following year, the Frankish commander descended again over Aquitaine, but clashed in battle with the Aquitanians and left to take on hostile Burgundian authorities and magnates. In 745, Aquitaine faced yet another expedition by Charles sons Pepin and Carloman against Hunald, Hunald was defeated, and his son Waifer replaced him, who in turn confirmed Bordeaux as the capital city. During the last stage of the war against Aquitaine, it was one of Waifers last important strongholds to fall to King Pepin the Shorts troops. Next to Bordeaux, Charlemagne built the fortress of Fronsac on a hill across the border with the Basques, in 778, Seguin was appointed count of Bordeaux, probably undermining the power of the Duke Lupo, and possibly leading to the Battle of Roncevaux Pass that very year
25.
Chamonix
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Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924, the communes population of around 8,900 ranks 1, 089th within the country of France. The north side of the summit of Mont Blanc, and therefore the summit itself are part of the village of Chamonix, to the south side, the situation is different depending on the country. Italy considers that the passes through the top. France considers that the runs along the rocky Tournette under the summit cap. The south side was in France, assigned to the commune of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains sharing the summit with its neighbor Chamonix and it is this situation for France, which is found on the French IGN maps. With an area of 245 km2, Chamonix is the fourth largest commune in mainland France, however, in 1786 the inhabitants bought their freedom from the canons of Sallanches, to whom the priory had been transferred in 1519. In 1530, the inhabitants obtained from the Count of the Genevois the privilege of holding two fairs a year, while the valley was visited by the civil officials and by the bishops of Geneva. But travellers for pleasure were very rare, the first party to publish an account of their visit was that of Dr. Richard Pococke, Mr. William Windham and others, such as the Englishmen who visited the Mer de Glace in 1741. In 1742 came P. Martel and several other Genevese, in 1760 H. B. de Saussure, the commune successfully lobbied to change its name from Chamonix to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in 1916. The holding of the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix in 1924 further raised Chamonixs profile as an international tourist destination, during the Second World War, a Childrens Home operated in Chamonix, in which several dozens of Jewish children were hidden from the Nazis. Some of their saviors were recognised as Righteous Among the Nations, the commune of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc includes 16 villages and hamlets. Chamonix has a climate, between oceanic and humid continental climate, with an average annual precipitation of 1,275 mm. Summers are mild and winters are cold and snowy, Population Change Sources, Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 · Population Over Time Chamonix is a winter sports resort town. As the highest European mountain west of Russia, Mont Blanc attracts mountain climbers, there is a cable car up to the 3,842 m Aiguille du Midi. Constructed in 1955, it was then the highest cable car in the world, the town of Chamonix is served by French Route Nationale 205, nicknamed the Route blanche, or white route, due to its snowiness. This is an extension of French autoroute 40, similarly nicknamed the autoroute blanche, which ends at Le Fayet, the 11. 6-km Mont Blanc Tunnel originates here, linking Chamonix to Courmayeur in Italy. Chamonix is linked to Switzerland by what used to be RN 506a, in 2006, it was converted to a Route Départementale 1506, with a part of it integrated into RN205
26.
Gap, Hautes-Alpes
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Gap is a commune in southeastern France, the capital and largest town of the Hautes-Alpes department. At 750 m above sea level, it is Frances highest prefecture, together with other Alpine towns, Gap engages in the Alpine Town of the Year Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention to achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc. Gap was awarded Alpine Town of the Year in 2002, in 2013 Gap was named the sportiest city in France by the national sports newspaper LÉquipe. With its 40,761 inhabitants, it is the town of an urban area of 62,072 inhabitants. The region around Gap is known as Gapençais, the commune of Gap is almost entirely located in the Sillon de Gap, a wide valley bottom located about 735 metres above sea level and including the western slopes almost 2,000 metres. This valley was shaped by the Glacier de la Durance during the last ice age, thus, soils are very often formed by moraine deposits. No less than five levels of lateral and frontal moraines are observable and these are clearly visible, especially on the southern slopes of the Col Bayard, where they were formed in places of the terraces used by agriculture. In retreating, the glacier also left erratics of several metres high, examples include, among others, the erratic boulders of Peyre-Ossel and Justice. The cover of debris is omnipresent in the Sillon de Gap but is not the only vestige of the Quaternary glaciation. There is also the typical topography of glacial valleys, the location of the town of Gap corresponds to an Ombilic glaciaire, where large quantities of clay were deposited. Upstream lies the Verrou glaciaire of Pont-Sarrazin and downstream of Tourronde, the mechanical action of the glacier de la Durance was facilitated by the presence of relatively friable layers. The part which is central and south-east of the town consists mainly of soft rocks and they consist of soft schist of bluish or brown colors. In the northwestern part are the rocks of lighter colours, Tithonian limestone. The geology and terrain of Gap The town of Gap is crossed by the Luye River, during its passage through the commune, the Luye receives several torrents. It merges on the bank with the 5.1 kilometres long Buzon, the Bonne and the torrent du Cristaye, and on the left bank, the La Magdeleine Canal, the Riotord. In the northwest of the commune lie the Petit Buëch sources, around 1,700 metres above sea level, they are formed by several streams which converge at the old village of Chaudun. Waters around Gap Its temperate climate is influenced by a Mediterranean climate, thus the main feature of the local climate is the importance of the sunshine enjoyed by the city. Furthermore, snowfall underscores the mountain character of the city, thunderstorms are frequent in summer, fog is rather rare
2017–18 Ligue Magnus season
