1.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
2.
Porto Velho
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Porto Velho is the capital of the Brazilian state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin, and a Catholic Metropolitan Archbishopric. It is on the shore of the Madeira River, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon River. It is also Rondônias largest city, and the largest state capital of Brazil by area, the municipality occupies most of the border between Amazonas and Rondônia, and is both the westernmost and northernmost city in the state. Officially founded on October 2,1914, Porto Velho was founded by pioneers around 1907, during the first sixty years, the citys development was directly connected to the railways activities. The town prospered during the boom, but then when low-cost Malaysian rubber made rubber from the Amazon uncompetitive. Cities like Santo Antônio do Madeira, which had a tram line, only with the beginning of World War II was there another cycle of progress in the region. When the Allied forces lost control over the Malaysian rubber, Amazons was needed due to the war effort and this produced what is known in Brazil as the second rubber boom. But when the war ended, the economy once again came to a halt. Porto Velhos modern history begins with the discovery of cassiterite around the city, in addition, the governments decision to allow large cattle farms in the territory began a trend of migration into the city. Almost one million people moved to Rondônia, and Porto Velhos population increased to three hundred thousand and this intense migration caused much trouble for the city. Among many other problems, the boroughs, for example, are nothing. Porto Velho features a tropical monsoon climate under the Köppen climate classification, the temperatures tend to be relatively consistent throughout the course of the year, with average daily temperatures typically between 25 and 26 degrees Celsius. The dry season is short and covers the months of June, July, Porto Velho is particularly wet from November through April, averaging roughly 200 mm of rain per month in each of these months. The Amazon has over half of the remaining rainforests and is the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world. Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich biome, and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species-rich than wet forests in Africa, as the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity. More than 1/3 of all species in the live in the Amazon Rainforest. The municipality contains what is left of the Rio Madeira Sustainable Yield Forest and and it contains the 55,850 hectares Lago do Cuniã Extractive Reserve, created in 1999. It contains part of the strictly-protected Cuniã Ecological Station, an area of savannah parkland and it holds all of the strictly protected 87,412 hectares Serra dos Três Irmãos Ecological Station
3.
Railroad tie
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A railroad tie/railway tie/crosstie or railway sleeper is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade, hold the rails upright, railroad ties are traditionally made of wood, but pre-stressed concrete is now also widely used, especially in Europe and Asia. Steel ties are common on secondary lines in the UK, plastic composite ties are also employed, as of January 2008, the approximate market share in North America for traditional and wood ties was 91. 5%, the remainder being concrete, steel, azobé and plastic composite. Approximately 3,520 wooden crossties are used per mile of railroad track in the US,2,640 per mile on main lines in the UK. The type of railroad tie used on the predecessors of the first true railway consisted of a pair of stone blocks laid into the ground, one advantage of this method of construction was that it allowed horses to tread the middle path without the risk of tripping. In railway use with heavier locomotives, it was found that it was hard to maintain the correct gauge. The stone blocks were in any case unsuitable on soft ground, such as at Chat Moss, bi-block ties with a tie rod are somewhat similar. Historically wooden rail ties were made by hewing with an axe, a variety of softwood and hardwoods timbers are used as ties, oak, jarrah and karri being popular hardwoods, although increasingly difficult to obtain, especially from sustainable sources. Sometimes non-toxic preservatives are used, such as copper azole or micronized copper, New boron-based wood preserving technology is being employed by major US railroads in a dual treatment process in order to extend the life of wood ties in wet areas. Some timbers are durable enough that they can be used untreated, problems with wooden ties include rot, splitting, insect infestation, plate-cutting, also known as chair shuffle in the UK and spike-pull. For more information on wooden ties the Railway Tie Association maintains a website devoted to wood tie research. Wooden ties can, of course, catch fire, as they age they develop cracks that allow sparks to lodge so that they catch fire more easily, concrete ties are cheaper and easier to obtain than timber and better able to carry higher axle-weights and sustain higher speeds. Their greater weight ensures improved retention of track geometry, especially when installed with continuous-welded rail, concrete ties have a longer service life and require less maintenance than timber due to their greater weight, which helps them remain in the correct position longer. Concrete ties need to be installed on a well-prepared subgrade with a depth on free-draining ballast to perform well. Concrete ties amplify wheel noise, so wooden ties are used in densely populated areas. On the highest categories of line in the UK, pre-stressed concrete ties are the only permitted by Network Rail standards. Steel ties are formed from pressed steel and are trough-shaped in section, the ends of the tie are shaped to form a spade which increases the lateral resistance of the tie. Housings to accommodate the system are welded to the upper surface of the tie
4.
Bolivia
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Bolivia, officially known as the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. It is bordered to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by Argentina, to the southwest by Chile, and to the northwest by Peru. One-third of the country is the Andean mountain range, with one of its largest cities and principal economic centers, El Alto, Bolivia is one of two landlocked countries that lie outside Afro-Eurasia. Bolivia is geographically the largest landlocked country in the Americas, but remains a small country in economic. Before Spanish colonization, the Andean region of Bolivia was part of the Inca Empire, Spanish conquistadors arriving from Cuzco and Asunción took control of the region in the 16th century. During the Spanish colonial period Bolivia was administered by the Royal Audiencia of Charcas, spain built its empire in great part upon the silver that was extracted from Bolivias mines. After the first call for independence in 1809,16 years of war followed before the establishment of the Republic, named for Simón Bolívar, on 6 August 1825. Since independence, Bolivia has endured periods of political and economic instability, including the loss of peripheral territories to its neighbors, such as Acre. The countrys population, estimated at 11 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Mestizos, the racial and social segregation that arose from Spanish colonialism has continued to the modern era. Spanish is the official and predominant language, although 36 indigenous languages also have official status, of which the most commonly spoken are Guarani, Aymara, modern Bolivia is constitutionally a unitary state, divided into nine departments. Its geography varies from the peaks of the Andes in the West, to the Eastern Lowlands and it is a developing country, with a medium ranking in the Human Development Index and a poverty level of 53 percent. Its main economic activities include agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and manufacturing such as textiles, clothing, refined metals. Bolivia is very wealthy in minerals, especially tin, Bolivia is named after Simón Bolívar, a leader in the Spanish American wars of independence. Sucre opted to create a new nation and, with local support. The original name was Republic of Bolívar, some days later, congressman Manuel Martín Cruz proposed, If from Romulus comes Rome, then from Bolívar comes Bolivia. The name was approved by the Republic on 3 October 1825, the region now known as Bolivia had been occupied for over 2,500 years when the Aymara arrived. However, present-day Aymara associate themselves with the ancient civilization of the Tiwanaku culture which had its capital at Tiwanaku, the capital city of Tiwanaku dates from as early as 1500 BC when it was a small, agriculturally based village. The community grew to urban proportions between AD600 and AD800, becoming an important regional power in the southern Andes
5.
Atlantic Ocean
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The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the worlds oceans with a total area of about 106,460,000 square kilometres. It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earths surface and about 29 percent of its surface area. It separates the Old World from the New World, the Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Eurasia and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. The Equatorial Counter Current subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean, in contrast, the term Atlantic originally referred specifically to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and the sea off the Strait of Gibraltar and the North African coast. The Greek word thalassa has been reused by scientists for the huge Panthalassa ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea hundreds of years ago. The term Aethiopian Ocean, derived from Ancient Ethiopia, was applied to the Southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century, many Irish or British people refer to the United States and Canada as across the pond, and vice versa. The Black Atlantic refers to the role of ocean in shaping black peoples history. Irish migration to the US is meant when the term The Green Atlantic is used, the term Red Atlantic has been used in reference to the Marxian concept of an Atlantic working class, as well as to the Atlantic experience of indigenous Americans. Correspondingly, the extent and number of oceans and seas varies, the Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, to the east, the boundaries of the ocean proper are Europe, the Strait of Gibraltar and Africa. In the southeast, the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean, the 20° East meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica defines its border. In the 1953 definition it extends south to Antarctica, while in later maps it is bounded at the 60° parallel by the Southern Ocean, the Atlantic has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas. Including these marginal seas the coast line of the Atlantic measures 111,866 km compared to 135,663 km for the Pacific. Including its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers an area of 106,460,000 km2 or 23. 5% of the ocean and has a volume of 310,410,900 km3 or 23. 3%. Excluding its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers 81,760,000 km2 and has a volume of 305,811,900 km3, the North Atlantic covers 41,490,000 km2 and the South Atlantic 40,270,000 km2. The average depth is 3,646 m and the maximum depth, the bathymetry of the Atlantic is dominated by a submarine mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It runs from 87°N or 300 km south of the North Pole to the subantarctic Bouvet Island at 42°S, the MAR divides the Atlantic longitudinally into two halves, in each of which a series of basins are delimited by secondary, transverse ridges. The MAR reaches above 2000 m along most of its length, the MAR is a barrier for bottom water, but at these two transform faults deep water currents can pass from one side to the other
6.
Amazonas (Brazilian state)
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Amazonas is a state of Brazil, located in the northwestern corner of the country. It is the largest Brazilian State by area and the 9th largest country subdivision in the world, being greater than the areas of Uruguay, Paraguay and it would be the sixteenth largest country in land area, slightly higher than Mongolia. It is larger than the northeast region of Brazil with its nine states, Amazonas is roughly the size of the US state of Alaska and is equivalent to 2.25 times the area of Texas. Neighbouring states are Roraima, Pará, Mato Grosso, Rondônia and it also borders Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. This includes the Departments Amazonas, Vaupés and Guainía in Colombia, as well as the Amazonas State, Venezuela, Amazonas is named after the Amazon River, and was formerly part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, a region called Spanish Guyana. It was settled by the Portuguese in the early 18th century and it became a state of the Brazilian Republic in 1889. Most of the state is tropical jungle, cities are clustered along navigable waterways and are only by boat or plane. The capital and largest city is Manaus, a city of 2.1 million inhabitants in the middle of the jungle on the Amazon River 1,500 km upstream from the Atlantic Ocean. Nearly half the population lives in the city, the other large cities, Parintins, Manacapuru, Itacoatiara, Tefé. The name was given to the Amazon River that runs through the state by the Spaniard Francisco de Orellana in 1541. Claiming to have come across a warlike tribe of Indians, with whom he fought, he likened them to the Amazons of Greek mythology, fifteen million years ago, the Andes were formed by the collision of the South American Plate with the Nazca Plate plate. The rise of the Andes and the linkage of the Brazilian and Guyana bedrock shields, blocked the river, gradually this inland sea became a massive swampy, freshwater lake and the marine inhabitants adapted to life in freshwater. For example, over 20 species of stingray, most closely related to those found in the Pacific Ocean, can be today in the fresh waters of the Amazon. About ten million years ago, waters worked through the sandstone to the west, at this time the Amazon rainforest was born. During the Ice Age, sea levels dropped and the great Amazon lake rapidly drained, three million years later, the ocean level receded enough to expose the Central American isthmus and allow mass migration of mammal species between the Americas. The Ice Ages caused tropical rainforest around the world to retreat, although debated, it is believed that much of the Amazon reverted to savanna and montane forest. Savanna divided patches of rainforest into islands and separated existing species for periods long enough to allow genetic differentiation, about 6,000 years ago, sea levels rose about 130 meters, once again causing the river to be inundated like a long, giant freshwater lake. The pre-Columbian Amazonas was inhabited by peoples whose livelihood mixed occasional agriculture with a fishing
7.
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
8.
Chile
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Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres of Antarctica, the arid Atacama Desert in northern Chile contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, and features a string of volcanoes and lakes, the southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. Spain conquered and colonized Chile in the century, replacing Inca rule in northern and central Chile. After declaring its independence from Spain in 1818, Chile emerged in the 1830s as a relatively stable authoritarian republic, in the 1960s and 1970s the country experienced severe left-right political polarization and turmoil. The regime, headed by Augusto Pinochet, ended in 1990 after it lost a referendum in 1988 and was succeeded by a coalition which ruled through four presidencies until 2010. Chile is today one of South Americas most stable and prosperous nations and it leads Latin American nations in rankings of human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, state of peace, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption. It also ranks high regionally in sustainability of the state, Chile is a founding member of the United Nations, the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile, another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Another origin attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of the warble of a locally known as trile. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas, ultimately, Almagro is credited with the universalization of the name Chile, after naming the Mapocho valley as such. The older spelling Chili was in use in English until at least 1900 before switching over to Chile, stone tool evidence indicates humans sporadically frequented the Monte Verde valley area as long as 18,500 years ago. About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys, settlement sites from very early human habitation include Monte Verde, Cueva del Milodon and the Pali Aike Craters lava tube. They fought against the Sapa Inca Tupac Yupanqui and his army, the result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the Battle of the Maule was that the Inca conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the Maule river. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, the Spanish encountered various cultures that supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarros lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on 12 February 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chiles central valley
9.
War of the Pacific
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The War of the Pacific, took place from 1879 to 1883, with Bolivia and Peru on one side and Chile on the other. The war ended with the victory of Chile, which gained a significant amount of land from Peru, battles were fought in the Pacific Ocean, the Atacama Desert, Perus deserts, and mountainous regions in the Andes. For the first five months the war played out in a naval campaign, Chile protested and solicited to submit it to mediation, but Bolivia refused and considered it a subject of Bolivias courts. Chile insisted and informed the Bolivian government that Chile would no longer consider itself bound to the 1874 Boundary Treaty if Bolivia did not suspend enforcing the law. On February 14,1879 when Bolivian authorities attempted to auction the property of CSFA. On April 5, after Peru refused this, Chile declared war on both nations, the following day, Peru responded by acknowledging the casus foederis. On the other, there was the competition for economic and political hegemony in the region. Afterwards, Chiles land campaign bested the Bolivian and Peruvian armies, Bolivia withdrew after the Battle of Tacna on May 26,1880. Chilean forces occupied Lima in January 1881, Peruvian army remnants and irregulars waged a guerrilla war that did not change the wars outcome. Chile and Peru signed the Treaty of Ancón on October 20,1883, Bolivia signed a truce with Chile in 1884. Chile acquired the Peruvian territory of Tarapacá, the disputed Bolivian department of Litoral, as well as control over the Peruvian provinces of Tacna. In 1904, Chile and Bolivia signed the Treaty of Peace, the 1929 Tacna–Arica compromise gave Arica to Chile and Tacna to Peru. It is also known as the Saltpetre War, as the The Ten Cents War in reference to the controversial ten-centavo tax imposed by the Bolivian government, or as the The Second Pacific War. Not to be confused with the Saltpeter War, a pre-Columbian war nor the Guano War as the Chincha Islands War is sometimes named, wanu is a Quechua word for fertilizer. Potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate are nitrogen-containing compounds collectively referred to as salpeter, saltpetre, salitre, caliche and they are used as fertilizer with also other important uses. Hence the words oficina, or oficina salitrera for saltpeter works, the word Atacama had two meanings. It was and is a Chilean region, then province, South of the Atacama desert, the Atacama desert mostly coincides with the disputed Antofagasta province, also named Litoral in Bolivia. The dry climate of the Peruvian and Bolivian coasts had permitted the accumulation and preservation of vast amounts of high-quality guano deposits, in the 1840s, Europeans knew the guano and nitrates value as fertilizer and saltpeters role in explosives
10.
Natural rubber
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Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds, plus water. Malaysia and Indonesia are two of the leading rubber producers, forms of polyisoprene that are used as natural rubbers are classified as elastomers. Currently, rubber is harvested mainly in the form of the latex from the tree or others. The latex is a sticky, milky colloid drawn off by making incisions in the bark, the latex then is refined into rubber ready for commercial processing. In major areas, latex is allowed to coagulate in the collection cup, the coagulated lumps are collected and processed into dry forms for marketing. Natural rubber is used extensively in many applications and products, either alone or in combination with other materials, in most of its useful forms, it has a large stretch ratio and high resilience, and is extremely waterproof. The major commercial source of rubber latex is the Pará rubber tree. This species is preferred because it grows well under cultivation, a properly managed tree responds to wounding by producing more latex for several years. Congo rubber, formerly a source of rubber, came from vines in the genus Landolphia. These cannot be cultivated, and the drive to collect latex from wild plants was responsible for many of the atrocities committed under the Congo Free State. The latex exhibits the quality as the natural rubber from rubber trees. In the wild types of dandelion, latex content is low, in Nazi Germany, research projects tried to use dandelions as a base for rubber production, but failed. In collaboration with Continental Tires, IME began a pilot facility, many other plants produce forms of latex rich in isoprene polymers, though not all produce usable forms of polymer as easily as the Pará. Some of them require more processing to produce anything like usable rubber. Some produce other desirable materials, for example gutta-percha and chicle from Manilkara species, the term gum rubber is sometimes applied to the tree-obtained version of natural rubber in order to distinguish it from the synthetic version. The first use of rubber was by the cultures of Mesoamerica. The earliest archeological evidence of the use of latex from the Hevea tree comes the Olmec culture. The Pará rubber tree is indigenous to South America, charles Marie de La Condamine is credited with introducing samples of rubber to the Académie Royale des Sciences of France in 1736
