1.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
2.
Piedmont
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Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.6 million, the capital of Piedmont is Turin. The name Piedmont comes from medieval Latin Pedemontium or Pedemontis, i. e. ad pedem montium, meaning “at the foot of the mountains”. Other towns of Piedmont with more than 20,000 inhabitants sorted by population and it borders with France, Switzerland and the Italian regions of Lombardy, Liguria, Aosta Valley and for a very small fragment with Emilia Romagna. The geography of Piedmont is 43. 3% mountainous, along with areas of hills. Piedmont is the second largest of Italys 20 regions, after Sicily and it is broadly coincident with the upper part of the drainage basin of the river Po, which rises from the slopes of Monviso in the west of the region and is Italy’s largest river. The Po collects all the waters provided within the semicircle of mountains which surround the region on three sides, from the highest peaks the land slopes down to hilly areas, and then to the upper, and then to the lower great Padan Plain. 7. 6% of the territory is considered protected area. There are 56 different national or regional parks, one of the most famous is the Gran Paradiso National Park located between Piedmont and the Aosta Valley, Piedmont was inhabited in early historic times by Celtic-Ligurian tribes such as the Taurini and the Salassi. They were later subdued by the Romans, who founded several colonies there including Augusta Taurinorum, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region was repeatedly invaded by the Burgundians, the Goths, Byzantines, Lombards, Franks. In the 9th–10th centuries there were incursions by the Magyars. At the time Piedmont, as part of the Kingdom of Italy within the Holy Roman Empire, was subdivided into several marks, in 1046, Oddo of Savoy added Piedmont to their main territory of Savoy, with a capital at Chambéry. Other areas remained independent, such as the powerful comuni of Asti and Alessandria, the County of Savoy was elevated to a duchy in 1416, and Duke Emanuele Filiberto moved the seat to Turin in 1563. In 1720, the Duke of Savoy became King of Sardinia, founding what evolved into the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Republic of Alba was created in 1796 as a French client republic in Piedmont. A new client republic, the Piedmontese Republic, existed between 1798 and 1799 before it was reoccupied by Austrian and Russian troops, in June 1800 a third client republic, the Subalpine Republic, was established in Piedmont. It fell under full French control in 1801 and it was annexed by France in September 1802, in the congress of Vienna, the Kingdom of Sardinia was restored, and furthermore received the Republic of Genoa to strengthen it as a barrier against France. Piedmont was a springboard for Italys unification in 1859–1861, following earlier unsuccessful wars against the Austrian Empire in 1820–1821 and this process is sometimes referred to as Piedmontisation. However, the efforts were countered by the efforts of rural farmers
3.
Ferrero SpA
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Ferrero SpA is an Italian manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products and it is the third biggest chocolate producer and confectionery company in the world. The company saw a period of growth and success under Pietros son Michele Ferrero. His son Pietro, who oversaw global business, died on April 18,2011, in a cycling accident in South Africa at the age of 47. The Ferrero Group worldwide – now headed by CEO Giovanni Ferrero – includes 38 trading companies,18 factories, Ferrero International SAs headquarters is in Luxembourg. Ferrero SpA is a company owned by the Ferrero family and has been described as one of the worlds most secretive firms. Reputation Institutes 2009 survey ranks Ferrero as the most reputable company in the world, the recently announced financial results for 2015/2016 show a +8. 2% increment from the previous year. In 1946, Pietro Ferrero invented a cream of hazelnuts and cocoa, derived from Gianduja and called it Giandujot, the initial product came in solid loaves wrapped in aluminium foil, which had to be sliced with a knife, and was succeeded by a spreadable version Supercrema. With assistance from his brother Giovanni Ferrero, Pietro Ferrero created his new company to produce, following his work, Pietro was succeeded by his son Michele Ferrero as chief executive. Michele and his wife Maria Franca relaunched his fathers recipe as Nutella, after World War II, they opened production sites and offices abroad and Nutella eventually became the worlds leading chocolate-nut spread brand. Ferrero is the worlds largest consumer of hazelnuts, buying up 25% of global production in 2014, the company is currently run by Giovanni Ferrero, grandson of Pietro and son to Michele Ferrero. The company places emphasis on secrecy, reportedly to guard against industrial espionage. It has never held a conference and does not allow media visits to its plants. Ferreros products are made with machines designed by an engineering department. Ferrero produces several lines of goods under various brand names, as well as the chocolate-hazelnut spread. The company has produced Nutella since 1964, the production of Nutella uses one-quarter of the worlds annual hazelnut supply. In 2014, Ferrero acquired Oltan Group, the largest hazelnut supplier in the world. Ferreros Kinder brand line of products include Kinder Surprise, Kinder Joy, Kinder Chocolate, Kinder Happy Hippo, Kinder Maxi, Kinder Duplo, Kinder Country, Kinder Délice. Ferrero has been producing Thorntons products since the company acquired the British chocolate retailer in June 2015 for £112 million, the company also produces Tic Tac candy, available in mint, cinnamon, and fruit flavors, along with sugar free versions
4.
Sugar
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Sugar is the generic name for sweet, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. There are various types of derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose, fructose, the table sugar or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide of glucose and fructose. Sugar is used in prepared foods and it is added to some foods, in the body, sucrose is hydrolysed into the simple sugars fructose and glucose. Other disaccharides include maltose from malted grain, and lactose from milk, longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides or polysaccharides. Some other chemical substances, such as glycerol may also have a sweet taste, low-calorie food substitutes for sugar, described as artificial sweeteners, include aspartame and sucralose, a chlorinated derivative of sucrose. Sugars are found in the tissues of most plants and are present in sufficient concentrations for efficient commercial extraction in sugarcane, the world production of sugar in 2011 was about 168 million tonnes. The average person consumes about 24 kilograms of sugar each year, equivalent to over 260 food calories per person, since the latter part of the twentieth century, it has been questioned whether a diet high in sugars, especially refined sugars, is good for human health. Sugar has been linked to obesity, and suspected of, or fully implicated as a cause in the occurrence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, macular degeneration, the etymology reflects the spread of the commodity. The English word sugar ultimately originates from the Sanskrit शर्करा, via Arabic سكر as granular or candied sugar, the contemporary Italian word is zucchero, whereas the Spanish and Portuguese words, azúcar and açúcar, respectively, have kept a trace of the Arabic definite article. The Old French word is zuchre and the contemporary French, sucre, the earliest Greek word attested is σάκχαρις. The English word jaggery, a brown sugar made from date palm sap or sugarcane juice, has a similar etymological origin – Portuguese jagara from the Sanskrit शर्करा. Sugar has been produced in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times and it was not plentiful or cheap in early times and honey was more often used for sweetening in most parts of the world. Originally, people chewed raw sugarcane to extract its sweetness, sugarcane was a native of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. Different species seem to have originated from different locations with Saccharum barberi originating in India and S. edule, one of the earliest historical references to sugarcane is in Chinese manuscripts dating back to 8th century BC that state that the use of sugarcane originated in India. Sugar was found in Europe by the 1st century AD, but only as an imported medicine and it is a kind of honey found in cane, white as gum, and it crunches between the teeth. It comes in lumps the size of a hazelnut, sugar is used only for medical purposes. Sugar remained relatively unimportant until the Indians discovered methods of turning sugarcane juice into granulated crystals that were easier to store, crystallized sugar was discovered by the time of the Imperial Guptas, around the 5th century AD
5.
Palm oil
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Palm oil is naturally reddish in color because of a high beta-carotene content. It is not to be confused with palm oil derived from the kernel of the same fruit. The differences are in color, and in saturated fat content, palm oil is 49% saturated, while palm kernel oil and coconut oil are 81% and 86% saturated fats. Along with coconut oil, palm oil is one of the few highly saturated vegetable fats and is semisolid at room temperature, Palm oil is a common cooking ingredient in the tropical belt of Africa, Southeast Asia and parts of Brazil. Its use in the food industry in other parts of the world is widespread because of its lower cost. In 2004, a group called the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil was formed to work with the palm oil industry to address these concerns. It is believed that traders brought the oil palm to Egypt, Palm oil from E. guineensiss has long been recognized in West and Central African countries, and is widely used as a cooking oil. European merchants trading with West Africa occasionally purchased palm oil for use as an oil in Europe. Palm oil became a highly sought-after commodity by British traders, for use as a lubricant for machinery during Britains Industrial Revolution. Palm oil formed the basis of soap products, such as Lever Brothers Sunlight soap, by around 1870, palm oil constituted the primary export of some West African countries, such as Ghana and Nigeria, although this was overtaken by cocoa in the 1880s. Palm oil, like all fats, is composed of fatty acids, Palm oil has an especially high concentration of saturated fat, specifically, of the 16-carbon saturated fatty acid palmitic acid, to which it gives its name. Monounsaturated oleic acid is also a constituent of palm oil. Unrefined palm oil is a significant source of tocotrienol, part of the vitamin E family. The approximate concentration of fatty acids in palm oil is, Red palm oil is rich in carotenes, such as alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lycopene, many processed foods either contain palm oil or various ingredients derived from it. After milling, various oil products are made using refining processes. First is fractionation, with crystallization and separation processes to obtain solid, then melting and degumming removes impurities. Then the oil is filtered and bleached, RBDPO is the basic palm oil product sold on the worlds commodity markets. Many companies fractionate it further to produce palm olein for cooking oil, since the mid-1990s, red palm oil has been cold-pressed and bottled for use as cooking oil, and blended into mayonnaise and salad oil
6.
Hazelnut
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Hazelnut is the nut of the hazel and therefore, includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus Corylus, especially the nuts of the species Corylus avellana. It also is known as cobnut or filbert nut according to species, a cob is roughly spherical to oval, about 15–25 mm long and 10–15 mm in diameter, with an outer fibrous husk surrounding a smooth shell. A filbert is more elongated, being twice as long as its diameter. The nut falls out of the husk when ripe, about 7 to 8 months after pollination, the kernel of the seed is edible and used raw or roasted, or ground into a paste. The seed has a thin, dark skin, which sometimes is removed before cooking. Hazelnuts are used in confectionery to make praline, and also used in combination with chocolate for chocolate truffles and products such as Nutella, hazelnut oil, pressed from hazelnuts, is strongly flavoured and used as a cooking oil. Turkey is the worlds largest producer of hazelnuts, hazelnuts are rich in protein, monounsaturated fat, vitamin E, manganese, and numerous other essential nutrients. In 1995, evidence of large-scale Mesolithic nut processing, some 9,000 years old, was found in a pit on the island of Colonsay in Scotland. The evidence consists of a large, shallow pit full of the remains of hundreds of thousands of burned hazelnut shells, hazelnuts have been found on other Mesolithic sites, but rarely in such quantities or concentrated in one pit. The nuts were radiocarbon dated to 7720+/-110BP, which calibrates to circa 7000 BC, similar sites in Britain are known only at Farnham in Surrey and Cass ny Hawin on the Isle of Man. This discovery gives an insight into communal activity and planning in the period, the nuts were harvested in a single year, and pollen analysis suggests the hazel trees were all cut down at the same time. The pit was originally on a close to the shore. Because hazelnuts do not generally need to be toasted, indeed, traditionally, ostensibly toasting was done to make them more digestible for children. Toasting the nuts was thought to increase how long they would keep, well documented throughout history, hazel has been grown in coppices for use in wattle and daub buildings and in hedges. The Romans cultivated hazelnuts, including in Britain, although no evidence indicates they spread specific cultivars, cultivated varieties have been grown since at least the sixteenth century, with a great increase in varieties during the nineteenth century. In particular, the first widespread cultivar, the Kentish Cobnut, was introduced in 1830, the traditional term for an area of cultivated hazelnuts is a plat. Some of these are grown for specific qualities of the nut, including large nut size and early– and late–fruiting cultivars, the majority of commercial hazelnuts are propagated from root sprouts. Some cultivars are of hybrid origin between common hazel and filbert, one cultivar grown in Washington, the DuChilly, has an elongated appearance, a thinner and less bitter skin, and a distinctly sweeter flavor than other varieties
7.
Powdered milk
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Powdered milk or dried milk is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it, milk powder has a far longer shelf life than milk and does not need to be refrigerated. Another purpose is to reduce its bulk for economy of transportation, powdered milk and dairy products include such items as dry whole milk, nonfat dry milk, dry buttermilk, dry whey products and dry dairy blends. Many dairy products exported conform to standards laid out in Codex Alimentarius, many forms of milk powder are traded on exchanges. Powdered milk is used for food and health, and also in biotechnology, the first commercial production of dried milk was organized by the Russian chemist M. Dirchoff in 1832. In 1855, T. S. Grimwade took a patent on a dried milk procedure, in modern times, powdered milk is usually made by spray drying nonfat skimmed milk, whole milk, buttermilk or whey. Pasteurized milk is first concentrated in an evaporator to approximately 50% milk solids, the resulting concentrated milk is then sprayed into a heated chamber where the water almost instantly evaporates, leaving fine particles of powdered milk solids. Alternatively, the milk can be dried by drum drying, milk is applied as a thin film to the surface of a heated drum, and the dried milk solids are then scraped off. However, powdered milk made this way tends to have a cooked flavor, another process is freeze drying, which preserves many nutrients in milk, compared to drum drying. The drying method and the treatment of the milk as it is processed alters the properties of the milk powder, such as its solubility in cold water, its flavor. Powdered milk is widely used in various sweets such as the famous Indian milk balls known as gulab jamun. Powdered milk is also an item in UN food aid supplies, fallout shelters, warehouses. It is widely used in developing countries because of reduced transport. Like other dry foods, it is considered nonperishable, and is favored by survivalists, hikers, because of its resemblance to cocaine and other drugs, powdered milk is sometimes used in filmmaking as a non-toxic prop that may be insufflated. The weight of nonfat dry milk to use is about 10% of the water weight, alternatively, one cup of potable fluid milk from powdered milk requires one cup of potable water and one-third cup of powdered milk. Milk powders contain all twenty-one standard amino acids, the blocks of proteins. According to USAID, the typical amounts of major nutrients in the unreconstituted nonfat dry milk are 36% protein, 52% carbohydrates, calcium 1. 3%. Whole milk powder, on the hand, contains on average 25-27% protein, 36-38% carbohydrates, 26-40% fat
8.
Alba, Piedmont
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Alba is a town and comune of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Cuneo. It is considered the capital of the UNESCO Human Heritage hilly area of Langhe, the confectionery group Ferrero is based there. Alba was the birthplace of Publius Helvius Pertinax, briefly Roman emperor in 193, after the fall of the Western Empire, the city was repeatedly sacked by Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Byzantines, Lombards, Franks, Hungarians and Saracens. In the 11th century it became a commune and was a member of the Lombard League. Montferrat and the Visconti fought over the town, later it became a possession of the Gonzaga, charles Emmanuel I of Savoy conquered it twice, while later France and Spain battled for its possession. The Treaty of Cherasco assigned Alba definitively to Savoy, during Napoleonic Wars, it was part of the Republic of Alba and of the Subalpine Republic, both French clients, before being annexed to the French Empire in 1802. It was an arrondissement center in firstly Tanaro department between 1802-1805, later in Stura one between 1805-1814 before liberation by Austrian troops and it was returned to Kingdom of Sardinia in 1814. Alba won a Gold Medal for Military Valour for the activity of its citizens in the Italian resistance movement during the course of World War II. On 10 October 1944, the town was liberated by partisans who established a Republic of Alba which for a few weeks was able to maintain its independence from the Fascist Republic of Salò, the republic lasted to 2 November 1944, when Republic of Salo retook it. It was finally liberated by French troops on 2 May 1945, of the Roman city, which had a polygonal form, parts of the fortified gate and remains of some edifices with marble and mosaics can still be seen. Other attractions include, The Palazzo Comunale and the Bishops Palace, some towers of the 14th and 15th centuries, Alba was once known as the City with hundred towers. The Romanesque Alba Cathedral of San Lorenzo, built in the 12th century and it was restructured in the 15th century, by bishop Andrea Novelli, and again in the following centuries. The current appearance is from the restoration of the 19th century. The church is known for its wood-carved chorus made in 1512 by Bernardino Fossati. The current belfry, from the 12th century, includes entirely the original bell tower, the Gothic church of San Domenico, the most artistically relevant church in town. It has a portal with a triple arch within a pointed arch. During the Napoleonic Wars it was used a stable, and was reconsecrated on 22 June 1827, the Baroque church of St. John the Baptist, housing a Madonna of the Graces by Barnaba da Modena and a Madonna with Saints by Macrino dAlba. The city museums include the F. Eusebio Municipal Museum of Archaeology, in addition to traditional agriculture, Alba is a very important center of wine
9.
Commemorative stamp
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A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The subject of the stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike definitive stamps which normally depict the subject along with the denomination. Many postal services issue several commemorative stamps each year, sometimes holding first day of ceremonies at locations connected with the subjects. Commemorative stamps can be used alongside ordinary stamps, there are several candidates for the title of first commemorative. A 17-cent stamp issued in 1860 by New Brunswick, showing the Prince of Wales in anticipation of his visit is one possibility. The United States 15-cent black stamp of 1866 depicts Abraham Lincoln, and was the first stamp issued after his assassination in 1865, the U. S. also issued a 5-cent stamp in 1882 showing the recently murdered President James A. Garfield. In addition, the United States issued stamped envelopes for the Centennial Exposition in 1876, although technically these are postal stationery and not stamps. In 1870 Peru issued a 5¢ scarlet Locomotive and Arms stamp and is regarded as the first commemorative postage stamp, other premier commemorative stamps were issued by New South Wales in 1888 to mark its 100th anniversary, the six types all include the inscription ONE HUNDRED YEARS. Commemoratives followed in 1891 for Hong Kong and Romania, in 1892 and 1893 a half-dozen nations of America and Spain issued commemoratives for the 400th anniversary of the Wests discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. The organization broke up after attempts at getting collectors at large to comply with their wishes. Today the early commemoratives are still prized by collectors, definitive stamp Airmail stamp Stamp collecting Postage stamp Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps Territories of the United States on stamps
10.
Brantford
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Brantford is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River. It is the seat of Brant County, but it is politically separate with a government independent of the county, Brantford is sometimes known as the Telephone City, former city resident Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone at his fathers home, the Bell Homestead. In 1876 he conducted the first long-distance telephone call, making it from Brantford to Paris, Brantford is also the birthplace of hockey player Wayne Gretzky, comedian Phil Hartman, as well as Group of Seven member Lawren Harris. Brantford is named after Joseph Brant, an important Mohawk chief during the American Revolutionary War and later, many of his and other First Nations citizens live on the neighbouring reserve of Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, the most populous reserve in Canada. This town, like the rest of their settlements, was destroyed when the Iroquois declared war in 1650 over the fur trade, in 1784, Captain Joseph Brant and the Six Nations Indians of the Iroquois Confederacy left New York State for Canada. As a reward for their loyalty to the British Crown, they were given a land grant, referred to as the Haldimand Tract. The original Mohawk settlement was on the edge of the present-day city at a location favourable for landing canoes. Brants crossing of the river gave the name to the area. By 1847, European settlers began to further up the river at a ford in the Grand River. The Mohawk Chapel, built in the original Mohawk settlement, is Ontarios oldest Protestant church, Brantford was incorporated as a city in 1877. The history of the Brantford region from 1793 to 1920 is described at length in the book At The Forks of The Grand, decades later and particularly since the late 20th century, numerous scholarly and artistic works have explored the detrimental effects of the schools in destroying Native cultures. Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools, a number of historic monuments have been erected within the city marking those events and Brantfords contributions to the Commonwealths defense of the realm. Her Majestys Royal Chapel of the Mohawks is located in Brantford and is an important reminder of the agreements made with Queen Anne in 1710. After the American Revolution, in 1784, Sir Frederick Haldimond granted the Six Nations their land treaty which was six miles on side of the river from the mouth to the source. Joseph Brant led a group of Six Nations members to new settlement called the Mohawk Village, the Mohawk Chapel was built in 1785 as a reminder of the original agreements made with the British. In 1904 the Mohawk Chapel received Royal status for the alliance between the British and Six Nations. He developed early improvements to it in 1876, as part of the invention and development of the telephone, Canadas first telephone factory was built here, and the city was called Brantford, The Telephone City. These buildings constituted one of the longest blocks of pre-Confederation architecture in Canada, included in the list of demolitions were one of Ontarios first grocery stores and an early 1890s office of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada, now Bell Canada
11.
Guanajuato
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Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, are the 32 Federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato, the largest city in the state is León. It is located in North-Central Mexico and it is bordered by the states of Jalisco to the west, Zacatecas to the northwest, San Luis Potosí to the north, Querétaro to the east and Michoacán to the south. It covers an area of 30,608 km2, Guanajuato is located between the arid north of the country and the lusher south, and it is geographically part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the Mexican Plateau and the Sierra Madre Oriental. This route begins at Dolores Hidalgo, and passes though the Sanctuary of Atotonilco, San Miguel de Allende, Celaya, other important cities in the state include León, the most populous, and Irapuato. Guanajuato is located in the center of Mexico, north-west of Mexico City, bordering the states of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Michoacán, Querétaro and it covers an area of 30,589 km² and is ranked 20th out of 31 states. The Sierra Madre Oriental in Guanajuato consists of the Sierra Gorda, the Mexican Plateau extends through the center of the state. Within, it subdivides into various regions parted by low-lying mountain chains such as the Sierra de la Cuatralba, the Trans Mexican Volcanic Belt crosses the state in the south and includes the Bajío area, the Altos de Jalisco and the valleys area in the far south. The state is crossed by several ranges which have mountains between 2,300 and 3,000 meters high. Mountain ranges average 2,305 meters and flat areas lie at around 1,725 meters above sea level. The other important mountain ranges include the Sierra Gorda to the north, the Sierra de Guanjuato in the southeast, the Comanja in the northwest, the state is divided into five regions, taking into consideration geography and climate. These are called Altos de Guanajuato, La Sierra Central, Bajío, La Sierra Gorda, the Altos de Guanajuato, located in the north of the state, are a chain of forested mountains interspersed with pastures, small fields and areas with cacti and other desert plants. They begin near the border with San Luis Potosí, and extend south to Dolores Hidalgo and then to San Miguel de Allende, then to the Querétaro border. The altitude of this varies from 1,800 to peaks over 2,900 meters such as the La Giganta. The climate is semiarid with a rainy season in the summer. However, lows in the winter frequently reach 0 °C or lower with frosts, wildlife is found mostly in the most rugged and inaccessible areas and includes deer, coyotes, eagles and rattlesnakes. La Sierra Gorda is shared between Guanajuato and Querétaro and is considered to be an important biosphere and this area is the most rugged in the state where most of the natural areas and small villages are remain intact due to their inaccessibility. The Sierra Gorda is part of the Sierra Madre Occidental, with variations in its geography
12.
Lithgow, New South Wales
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Lithgow is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and is the administrative centre of the City of Lithgow local government area. It is located in a valley named Lithgows Valley by John Oxley in honour of William Lithgow. Lithgow is on the Great Western Highway, about 150 km or two hours drive west of Sydney, or via the old route, Bells Line of Road. Geographically, it is situated on the far side of the Sydney basin. At June 2015 Lithgow had an urban population of 13,035. Lithgow is surrounded by a landscape which includes national parks, one of which. The Wollemi National Park is home to the Jurassic-age tree the Wollemi Pine, the city sits on the western edge of the sandstone country of the Blue Mountains and is usually considered the first true country town west of Sydney. The next city to the West is Bathurst,60 km away, Lithgow is in the NSW State electorate of Bathurst, while federally it is part of electorate of Calare. Lithgow benefits from being the terminus for the electric section of the Main Western railway line from Sydney. Lithgow is home to the iconic zig-zag railway, the mountainous terrain of the Blue Mountains and the expense of building long tunnels required the construction of The Great Zig Zag railway between 1866 and 1869. The line was opened as far as Bowenfels, just to the west, in 1869, although it was superseded in 1910 by more modern engineering methods, including ten tunnels, parts of the Zig Zag have been developed into a popular tourist attraction. Following a period of industrialisation in the late 1860s and 1870s, the town of Lithgow boomed during the 1880s, the town is the centre of a coal mining district and there are two coal-powered power stations nearby. It is the site of Australias first commercially viable steel mill, due to the abundance of coal and relative proximity to Sydney, in the areas surrounding Lithgow are two of the largest power stations in NSW, the Mount Piper and Wallerawang power stations. Both are operated by Energy Australia NSW, the Lithgow Power Station was in use from 1928 to 1964. Lithgow features a subtropical climate with warm summers, cool to cold winters. Despite its location on highlands, Lithgow manages to have 90.3 clear days annually, Lithgow is one of the few Australian cities to see snow. One major event was the late season snowfall in October 2014, in 1848, iron smelting began in Mittagong, Australia. It proved unprofitable for the remainder of the 19th century and this situation remained until the early 20th century when no iron ore was being smelted
