1.
Winter
–
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates, between autumn and spring. Winter is caused by the axis of the Earth in that hemisphere being oriented away from the Sun, different cultures define different dates as the start of winter, and some use a definition based on weather. When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, in many regions, winter is associated with snow and freezing temperatures. The moment of winter solstice is when the elevation with respect to the North or South Pole is at its most negative value, meaning this day will have the shortest day. The English word winter comes from the Proto-Indo-European root wend, relating to water, the tilt of the Earths axis relative to its orbital plane plays a large role in the formation of weather. The Earth is tilted at an angle of 23. 44° to the plane of its orbit, when it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the Southern Hemisphere faces the Sun more directly and thus experiences warmer temperatures than the Northern Hemisphere. Conversely, winter in the Southern Hemisphere occurs when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted more toward the Sun, from the perspective of an observer on the Earth, the winter Sun has a lower maximum altitude in the sky than the summer Sun. During winter in either hemisphere, the altitude of the Sun causes the sunlight to hit that hemisphere at an oblique angle. In regions experiencing winter, the amount of solar radiation is spread out over a larger area. This effect is compounded by the distance that the light must travel through the atmosphere. Compared with these effects, the changes in the distance of the earth from the sun are negligible, the manifestation of the meteorological winter in the northerly snow–prone parallels is highly variable depending on elevation, position versus marine winds and the amount of precipitation. A case in point is Canada, a country associated with tough winters. Winnipeg on the Great Plains at a distance from large bodies of water has a January high of −11.3 °C. In comparison, Vancouver on the coast with an influence from moderating Pacific winds has a January low of 1.4 °C with days well above freezing at 6.9 °C. Both areas are on the 49th parallel north and in the western half of the continent. Winter is often defined by meteorologists to be the three months with the lowest average temperatures. This corresponds to the months of December, January and February in the Northern Hemisphere, the coldest average temperatures of the season are typically experienced in January or February in the Northern Hemisphere and in June, July or August in the Southern Hemisphere. Blizzards often develop and cause many transportation delays, diamond dust, also known as ice needles or ice crystals, forms at temperatures approaching −40 °F due to air with slightly higher moisture from aloft mixing with colder, surface based air
Winter
–
A
snow -covered park in front of the
Cathedral of Learning in
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania during winter
Winter
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Conifer forest in the
Pillapalu,
Estonia, in January 2014
Winter
–
The Old Town of
Tallinn,
Estonia, full of snow on 1 January 2010
Winter
–
Tierra del Fuego,
Argentina
2.
Temperature
–
A temperature is an objective comparative measurement of hot or cold. It is measured by a thermometer, several scales and units exist for measuring temperature, the most common being Celsius, Fahrenheit, and, especially in science, Kelvin. Absolute zero is denoted as 0 K on the Kelvin scale, −273.15 °C on the Celsius scale, the kinetic theory offers a valuable but limited account of the behavior of the materials of macroscopic bodies, especially of fluids. Temperature is important in all fields of science including physics, geology, chemistry, atmospheric sciences, medicine. The Celsius scale is used for temperature measurements in most of the world. Because of the 100 degree interval, it is called a centigrade scale.15, the United States commonly uses the Fahrenheit scale, on which water freezes at 32°F and boils at 212°F at sea-level atmospheric pressure. Many scientific measurements use the Kelvin temperature scale, named in honor of the Scottish physicist who first defined it and it is a thermodynamic or absolute temperature scale. Its zero point, 0K, is defined to coincide with the coldest physically-possible temperature and its degrees are defined through thermodynamics. The temperature of zero occurs at 0K = −273. 15°C. For historical reasons, the triple point temperature of water is fixed at 273.16 units of the measurement increment, Temperature is one of the principal quantities in the study of thermodynamics. There is a variety of kinds of temperature scale and it may be convenient to classify them as empirically and theoretically based. Empirical temperature scales are historically older, while theoretically based scales arose in the middle of the nineteenth century, empirically based temperature scales rely directly on measurements of simple physical properties of materials. For example, the length of a column of mercury, confined in a capillary tube, is dependent largely on temperature. Such scales are only within convenient ranges of temperature. For example, above the point of mercury, a mercury-in-glass thermometer is impracticable. A material is of no use as a thermometer near one of its phase-change temperatures, in spite of these restrictions, most generally used practical thermometers are of the empirically based kind. Especially, it was used for calorimetry, which contributed greatly to the discovery of thermodynamics, nevertheless, empirical thermometry has serious drawbacks when judged as a basis for theoretical physics. Theoretically based temperature scales are based directly on theoretical arguments, especially those of thermodynamics, kinetic theory and they rely on theoretical properties of idealized devices and materials
Temperature
–
Annual mean temperature around the world
Temperature
–
Body temperature variation
Temperature
–
A typical Celsius thermometer measures a winter day temperature of -17 °C.
Temperature
–
Plots of pressure vs temperature for three different gas samples extrapolated to absolute zero.
3.
Humid continental climate
–
Precipitation is usually well distributed through the year. Some climatologists prefer to use the 0 °C isotherm as it is commonly used. In addition, the location in question must not be semi-arid or arid, humid continental climates tend to be found between latitudes 40° N and 60° N, within the central and northeastern portions of North America, Europe, and Asia. They are much less commonly found in the Southern Hemisphere due to the ocean area at that latitude. More extreme humid continental climates found in southern Siberia and the American Midwest combine hotter summer maxima, climatological averages are used to determine which locations are within a certain climate regime. The World Meteorological Organization has defined this average as through a 30 year period, the version from 1936 utilized a mean temperature of the coldest month of below −3 °C and there must be at least four months whose mean temperatures are at or above 10 °C. In Europe, the −3 °C average temperature isotherm was near the extent of winter snowpack. Many climatologists in the U. S. prefer to use 0 °C as the standard because they feel it better reflects consistency in regional landscapes, the 10 °C average temperature was found to be the minimum temperature necessary for the tree growth. Large temperature ranges are common within this climate zone, in addition, the location in question must not be semi-arid or arid. This is from an update to the climate regime definition introduced by Trewartha & Horn in 1980, despite the 1980 update, climate regimes are essentially the same within the Southern Hemisphere. The largest changes are seen in North America, Europe, under Köppen, the following variants of this climate are possible. The climate regime uses a three letter code, beginning with the letter D. Otherwise, The second letter f , s , A dry summer — the driest summer month has at most 30 millimetres of rainfall and has at most 1⁄3 the precipitation of the wettest winter month. W , A dry winter — the driest winter month has at most one‑tenth of the found in the wettest summer month. The third letter a , Warmest month averages above 22 °C b , Does not meet the requirements for a, within North America, moisture within this climate regime is supplied by the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent western subtropical Atlantic. Snowfall occurs in all areas with a continental climate and in many such places is more common than rain during the height of winter. In places with sufficient wintertime precipitation, the cover is often deep. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms, and in North America, though humidity levels are often high in locations with humid continental climates, the humid designation means that the climate is not dry enough to be classified as semi-arid or arid. By definition, forests thrive within this climate, biomes within this climate regime include temperate woodlands, temperate grasslands, temperate deciduous, temperature evergreen forests, and coniferous forests
Humid continental climate
–
The snowy city of
Sapporo, Japan.
Humid continental climate
–
Dsa
Humid continental climate
–
Deciduous forest in autumn
4.
Subarctic climate
–
The subarctic climate is a climate characterised by long, usually very cold winters, and short, cool to mild summers. It is found on large landmasses, away from the effects of an ocean. These climates represent Köppen climate classification Dfc, Dwc, Dsc, Dfd, Dwd and Dsd. This type of climate offers some of the most extreme seasonal temperature variations found on the planet, in winter, temperatures can drop to −40 °C and in summer, record low temperatures can be as cold as −60 °C. With 5–7 consecutive months where the temperature is below freezing. Summer warmth is insufficient to thaw more than a few surface feet, seasonal thaw penetrates from 2 to 14 ft, depending on latitude, aspect, and type of ground. Some northern areas with subarctic climates located near oceans, have milder winters and no permafrost, the frost-free season is very short, varying from about 45 to 100 days at most, and a freeze can occur during any month in many areas. Most subarctic climates have very little precipitation, typically no more than 380 mm over an entire year, a notable exception to this pattern is that subarctic climates occurring at high altitudes in otherwise temperate regions have extremely high precipitation due to orographic lift. Mount Washington, with temperatures typical of a climate, receives an average rain-equivalent of 101.91 inches of precipitation per year.5 metres that does not melt until June. Vegetation in regions with subarctic climates is generally of low diversity, as only hardy species can survive the long winters, trees are mostly limited to conifers, as few broadleaved trees are able to survive the very low temperatures in winter. This type of forest is known as taiga, a term which is sometimes applied to the climate found therein as well. Even though the diversity may be low, numbers are high, the process by which plants become acclimated to cold temperatures is called hardening. In some areas, ice has scoured rock surfaces bare, entirely stripping off the overburden, elsewhere rock basins have been formed and stream courses dammed, creating countless lakes. The Tatra Mountains in Poland, above 800m, the Eastern Anatolia, between 1,600 and 2,100 meters – Turkey. The Pyrenees, between 1,600 and 2,100 meters – Andorra, France and Spain, further north in Siberia, continentality increases so much that winters can be exceptionally severe, averaging below −38 °C, even though the hottest month still averages more than 10 °C. This creates Dfd, Dwd and Dsd climates, one example is parts of the Snowy Mountains in Australia, although theyre more alpine than true subarctic. In China and Mongolia, as one moves southwestwards or towards lower altitudes, temperatures increase, Boreal ecology Boreal forest Plants of continental subarctic climate Köppen climate classification Subantarctic
Subarctic climate
–
Dsc
5.
Precipitation (meteorology)
–
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel, Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and precipitates. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated, Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers, moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain is occurring. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain, provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy, thundersnow is possible within a cyclones comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, on the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the trough, or intertropical convergence zone. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 cubic kilometres of it over the oceans and 107,000 cubic kilometres over land. Given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on celestial bodies, e. g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 km3 of it over the oceans, given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall, Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice
Precipitation (meteorology)
–
A thunderstorm with heavy precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
–
Long-term mean precipitation by month
Precipitation (meteorology)
–
Late-summer
rainstorm in
Denmark
Precipitation (meteorology)
–
Lenticular cloud forming due to mountains over Wyoming
6.
Western Europe
–
Western Europe, or West Europe, is the region comprising the western part of Europe. Below, some different geographic and geopolitical definitions of the term are outlined, prior to the Roman conquest, a large part of Western Europe had adopted the newly developed La Tène culture. This cultural and linguistic division was reinforced by the later political east-west division of the Roman Empire. The division between these two was enhanced during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages by a number of events, the Western Roman Empire collapsed, starting the Early Middle Ages. By contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire, mostly known as the Greek or Byzantine Empire, survived, in East Asia, Western Europe was historically known as taixi in China and taisei in Japan, which literally translates as the Far West. The term Far West became synonymous with Western Europe in China during the Ming dynasty, the Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci was one of the first writers in China to use the Far West as an Asian counterpart to the European concept of the Far East. In his writings, Ricci referred to himself as Matteo of the Far West, the term was still in use in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Post-war Europe would be divided into two spheres, the West, influenced by the United States, and the Eastern Bloc. With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain, behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Although some countries were neutral, they were classified according to the nature of their political. This division largely defined the popular perception and understanding of Western Europe, the world changed dramatically with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. The Federal Republic of Germany peacefully absorbed the German Democratic Republic, COMECON and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved, and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Several countries which had part of the Soviet Union regained full independence. Although the term Western Europe was more prominent during the Cold War, it remains much in use, in 1948 the Treaty of Brussels was signed between Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It was further revisited in 1954 at the Paris Conference, when the Western European Union was established and it was declared defunct in 2011, after the Treaty of Lisbon, and the Treaty of Brussels was terminated. When the Western European Union was dissolved, it had 10 member countries, six member countries, five observer countries. The CIA divides Western Europe into two smaller subregions, regional voting blocs were formed in 1961 to encourage voting to various UN bodies from different regional groups. The European Union is an economic and political union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe, some Western and Northern European countries of Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are members of EFTA, though cooperating to varying degree with the European Union
Western Europe
–
The Great Schism in
Christianity, the predominant religion in Western Europe at the time.
Western Europe
Western Europe
–
Geopolitical Occident of Europe
7.
Pacific Northwest
–
The Pacific Northwest, sometimes referred to as Cascadia, is a geographic region in western North America bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Though no agreed boundary exists, a common conception includes the U. S. states of Oregon and Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia. Broader conceptions reach north into Alaska and Yukon, south into far northern California and east to the Continental Divide, thus including Idaho, Western Montana, narrower conceptions may be limited to the northwestern US or to the coastal areas west of the Cascade and Coast mountains. The variety of definitions can be attributed to partially overlapping commonalities of the history, geography, society. The Northwest Coast is the region of the Pacific Northwest. The term Pacific Northwest should not be confused with the Northwest Territory or the Northwest Territories of Canada. The border — in two sections, along the 49th parallel south of British Columbia and the Alaska Panhandle west of northern British Columbia — has had an effect on the region. According to Canadian historian Ken Coates, the border has not merely influenced the Pacific Northwest—rather, definitions of the Pacific Northwest region vary, and there is no commonly agreed-upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common conception of the Pacific Northwest includes the U. S. states of Oregon and Washington as well as the Canadian province of British Columbia. Broader definitions of the region may include the U. S. state of Alaska, the Canadian territory of Yukon, the portion of the state of California. Definitions based on the historic Oregon Country reach east to the Continental Divide, thus including all of Idaho and parts of western Montana. Sometimes the Pacific Northwest is defined as being the Northwestern United States, often these definitions are made by government agencies whose scope is limited to the United States. Some definitions include, in addition to Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia, Southeast Alaska, western Montana, the coast of northern California, the Pacific Northwest has been occupied by a diverse array of indigenous peoples for millennia. The Pacific Coast is seen by scholars as a major coastal migration route in the settlement of the Americas by late Pleistocene peoples moving from northeast Asia into the Americas. Other evidence for human occupation dating back as much as 14,500 years ago is emerging from Paisley Caves in south-central Oregon, however, despite such research, the coastal migration hypothesis is still subject to considerable debate. Due in part to the richness of Pacific Northwest Coast and river fisheries, in the interior of the Pacific Northwest, the indigenous peoples, at the time of European contact, had a diversity of cultures and societies. Some areas were home to mobile and egalitarian societies, others, especially along major rivers such as the Columbia and Fraser, had very complex, affluent, sedentary societies rivaling those of the coast. In British Columbia and Southeast Alaska, the Tlingit and Haida erected large, throughout the Pacific Northwest, thousands of indigenous people live, and some continue to practice their rich cultural traditions, organizing their societies around cedar and salmon
Pacific Northwest
–
The Pacific Northwest from
outer space.
Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
–
US Navy Admiral
Charles Wilkes ' 1841 Map of the
Oregon Territory from "Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition." Philadelphia: 1845
Pacific Northwest
–
CenturyLink Field, home of Seattle Seahawks and Sounders FC
8.
South America
–
South America is a continent located in the western hemisphere, mostly in the southern hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the northern hemisphere. It may also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas, which is the used in nations that speak Romance languages. The reference to South America instead of other regions has increased in the last decades due to changing geopolitical dynamics. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean, North America and it includes twelve sovereign states, a part of France, and a non-sovereign area. In addition to this, the ABC islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, South America has an area of 17,840,000 square kilometers. Its population as of 2005 has been estimated at more than 371,090,000, South America ranks fourth in area and fifth in population. Brazil is by far the most populous South American country, with more than half of the population, followed by Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela. In recent decades Brazil has also concentrated half of the regions GDP and has become a first regional power, most of the population lives near the continents western or eastern coasts while the interior and the far south are sparsely populated. Most of the continent lies in the tropics, the continents cultural and ethnic outlook has its origin with the interaction of indigenous peoples with European conquerors and immigrants and, more locally, with African slaves. Given a long history of colonialism, the majority of South Americans speak Portuguese or Spanish. South America occupies the portion of the Americas. The continent is delimited on the northwest by the Darién watershed along the Colombia–Panama border. Almost all of mainland South America sits on the South American Plate, South Americas major mineral resources are gold, silver, copper, iron ore, tin, and petroleum. These resources found in South America have brought high income to its countries especially in times of war or of rapid growth by industrialized countries elsewhere. However, the concentration in producing one major export commodity often has hindered the development of diversified economies and this is leading to efforts to diversify production to drive away from staying as economies dedicated to one major export. South America is one of the most biodiverse continents on earth, South America is home to many interesting and unique species of animals including the llama, anaconda, piranha, jaguar, vicuña, and tapir. The Amazon rainforests possess high biodiversity, containing a proportion of the Earths species. Brazil is the largest country in South America, encompassing around half of the land area
South America
–
A composite relief image of South America.
South America
–
South America
South America
–
Cuernos del Paine in Chile (left) and
Morro do Chapéu in Brazil (right) serve to illustrate the diversity of landscapes in South America. Click to enlarge.
South America
9.
Australia
–
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
Australia
–
Aboriginal rock art in the
Kimberley region of Western Australia
Australia
Australia
–
Portrait of Captain
James Cook, the first European to map the eastern coastline of Australia in 1770
Australia
–
Tasmania's
Port Arthur penal settlement is one of eleven UNESCO World Heritage-listed
Australian Convict Sites.
10.
Tasmania
–
Tasmania is an island state of the Commonwealth of Australia. It is located 240 km to the south of the Australian mainland, the state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, and the surrounding 334 islands. The state has a population of around 519,100, just over forty percent of which resides in the Greater Hobart precinct, Tasmanias area is 68,401 km2, of which the main island covers 64,519 km2. Though an island state, due to an error the state shares a land border with Victoria at its northernmost terrestrial point, Boundary Islet. The Bishop and Clerk Islets, about 37 km south of Macquarie Island, are the southernmost terrestrial point of the state of Tasmania, the island is believed to have been occupied by Aboriginals for 40,000 years before British colonisation. It is thought Tasmanian Aboriginals were separated from the mainland Aboriginal groups about 10,000 years ago when the sea rose to form Bass Strait. The conflict, which peaked between 1825 and 1831 and led to more than three years of law, cost the lives of almost 1100 Aboriginals and settlers. The near-destruction of Tasmanias Aboriginal population has been described by historians as an act of genocide by the British. The island was part of the Colony of New South Wales. In 1854 the present Constitution of Tasmania was passed and the year the state received permission to change its name to Tasmania. In 1901 it became a state through the process of the Federation of Australia, the state is named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who made the first reported European sighting of the island on 24 November 1642. Tasman named the island Anthony van Diemens Land after his sponsor Anthony van Diemen, the name was later shortened to Van Diemens Land by the British. It was officially renamed Tasmania in honour of its first European discoverer on 1 January 1856, Tasmania was sometimes referred to as Dervon, as mentioned in the Jerilderie Letter written by the notorious Australian bushranger Ned Kelly in 1879. The colloquial expression for the state is Tassie, Tasmania is also colloquially shortened to Tas, especially when used in business names and website addresses. TAS is also the Australia Post abbreviation for the state, the reconstructed Palawa kani language name for Tasmania is Lutriwita. The island was adjoined to the mainland of Australia until the end of the last glacial period about 10,000 years ago, much of the island is composed of Jurassic dolerite intrusions through other rock types, sometimes forming large columnar joints. Tasmania has the worlds largest areas of dolerite, with many distinctive mountains, the central plateau and the southeast portions of the island are mostly dolerite. Mount Wellington above Hobart is an example, showing distinct columns known as the Organ Pipes
Tasmania
–
Tasmania from space
Tasmania
–
Flag
Tasmania
–
Tessellated pavement, a rare rock formation on the
Tasman Peninsula
Tasmania
–
Autumn on the
Derwent River in Tasmania
11.
New Zealand
–
New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
New Zealand
–
The Waitangi sheet from the
Treaty of Waitangi
New Zealand
–
Flag
New Zealand
–
Painting of
Mount Earnslaw by John Turnbull Thomson, oil on canvas, 1888
New Zealand
–
John Key,
Prime Minister of New Zealand since 2008
12.
Latitude
–
In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north–south position of a point on the Earths surface. Latitude is an angle which ranges from 0° at the Equator to 90° at the poles, lines of constant latitude, or parallels, run east–west as circles parallel to the equator. Latitude is used together with longitude to specify the location of features on the surface of the Earth. Without qualification the term latitude should be taken to be the latitude as defined in the following sections. Also defined are six auxiliary latitudes which are used in special applications, there is a separate article on the History of latitude measurements. Two levels of abstraction are employed in the definition of latitude and longitude, in the first step the physical surface is modelled by the geoid, a surface which approximates the mean sea level over the oceans and its continuation under the land masses. The second step is to approximate the geoid by a mathematically simpler reference surface, the simplest choice for the reference surface is a sphere, but the geoid is more accurately modelled by an ellipsoid. The definitions of latitude and longitude on such surfaces are detailed in the following sections. Lines of constant latitude and longitude together constitute a graticule on the reference surface, latitude and longitude together with some specification of height constitute a geographic coordinate system as defined in the specification of the ISO19111 standard. This is of importance in accurate applications, such as a Global Positioning System, but in common usage, where high accuracy is not required. In English texts the latitude angle, defined below, is denoted by the Greek lower-case letter phi. It is measured in degrees, minutes and seconds or decimal degrees, the precise measurement of latitude requires an understanding of the gravitational field of the Earth, either to set up theodolites or to determine GPS satellite orbits. The study of the figure of the Earth together with its field is the science of geodesy. These topics are not discussed in this article and this article relates to coordinate systems for the Earth, it may be extended to cover the Moon, planets and other celestial objects by a simple change of nomenclature. The primary reference points are the poles where the axis of rotation of the Earth intersects the reference surface, the plane through the centre of the Earth and perpendicular to the rotation axis intersects the surface at a great circle called the Equator. Planes parallel to the plane intersect the surface in circles of constant latitude. The Equator has a latitude of 0°, the North Pole has a latitude of 90° North, the latitude of an arbitrary point is the angle between the equatorial plane and the radius to that point. The latitude, as defined in this way for the sphere, is termed the spherical latitude
Latitude
–
A graticule on the Earth as a
sphere or an
ellipsoid. The lines from pole to pole are lines of constant
longitude, or meridians. The circles parallel to the
equator are lines of constant latitude, or parallels. The graticule determines the latitude and longitude of points on the surface. In this example meridians are spaced at 6° intervals and parallels at 4° intervals.
13.
Mediterranean climate
–
A Mediterranean climate /ˌmɛdɪtəˈreɪniən/ or dry summer climate, is the climate typical of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin. The Mediterranean climate is characterised by dry summers and mild, moist winters, the Azores High is associated with the Mediterranean climate found in southern Europe and north Africa and the Sahara Desert with France and England both bordering this climate, France especially. The South Atlantic High is similarly associated with the Namib Desert, under the Köppen climate classification, hot dry-summer climates and cool dry-summer climates are often referred to as mediterranean. Under the Köppen climate system, the first letter indicates the climate group, temperate climates or C zones have an average temperature above 0 °C, but below 18 °C, in their coolest months. The second letter indicates the precipitation pattern, Köppen has defined a dry summer month as a month with less than 30 mm of precipitation and with less than one-third that of the wettest winter month. Some, however, use a 40 mm level, the third letter indicates the degree of summer heat, a represents an average temperature in the warmest month above 22 °C, while b indicates the average temperature in the warmest month below 22 °C. Under the Köppen classification, dry-summer climates usually occur on the sides of continents. Under Trewarthas system, at least eight months must have average temperatures of 10 °C or higher, during summer, regions of mediterranean climate are dominated by subtropical high pressure cells, with dry sinking air capping a surface marine layer of varying humidity and making rainfall unlikely. In many Mediterranean climates there is a strong character to daily temperatures in the warm months. The majority of the regions with mediterranean climates have relatively mild winters, however winter and summer temperatures can vary greatly between different regions with a mediterranean climate. Or to consider summer, Athens experiences rather high temperatures in that season, in contrast, San Francisco has cool summers with daily highs around. In North America, areas with Csc climate can be found in the Olympic, Cascade, Klamath and these locations are found at high altitude nearby lower altitude regions characterized by a warm-summer mediterranean climate or hot-summer mediterranean climate. A rare instance of this occurs in the tropics, on Haleakalā Summit in Hawaii. In South America, Csc regions can be found along the Andes in Chile, the town of Balmaceda is one of the few towns confirmed to have this climate. Small areas with a Csc climate can also be found at elevations in Corsica. Mediterranean climate Explanation of Mediterranean Climate
Mediterranean climate
–
Mediterranean climate distribution in the Americas
Mediterranean climate
–
Hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa)
14.
Humid subtropical
–
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterised by hot, usually humid summers and mild to cool winters. It normally lies on the southeast side of all continents, generally between latitudes 25° and 40° and it tends to be located at coastal or near coastal locations. However, in cases it extends inland, most notably in China. Under the Köppen climate classification, subtropical climates are found in the warmest parts of his Warm Temperate climates or Cfa and this climate features mean temperatures in the coldest month between 0 °C and 18 °C and mean temperatures in the warmest month 22 °C or higher. However, while some climatologists have opted to describe this type as a humid subtropical climate Köppen himself never used this term. The humid subtropical climate classification was created under the Trewartha Climate classification. The Trewartha system was a 1966 update of the Köppen climate classification and this was seen to effectively separate temperate climates like London or New York City from true subtropical locations like Brisbane or Savannah for example. Rainfall often shows a peak, especially where monsoons are well developed, as in Southeast Asia. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms that build up due to the surface heating and strong subtropical sun angle. Weak tropical lows that move in from adjacent warm tropical oceans, winter rainfall is often associated with large storms in the westerlies that have fronts that reach down into subtropical latitudes. However, many subtropical climates such as southeast Asia or Florida have very dry winters, with frequent brush fires, in Africa, the humid subtropical climates are found in two separate areas on the southern hemisphere of the continent. The Cwa climate is found over a portion of the interior of the Middle. Some lower portions of the Ethiopian Highlands also have this climate, the climate is also found in the narrow coastal sections of southern and eastern South Africa, primarily in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces. South Africas version of this climate features heavy oceanic influences resulting in milder temperatures. This is particularly evident in its winters when temperatures do not drop as low as in other regions within the humid subtropical category. Locations in Asia with a subtropical climate differ from those in other continents in that they often have marked seasonal differences in precipitation. Cities near the boundary of this zone include Hong Kong, Hanoi. At Hainan Island and in Taiwan, the transitions from subtropical into fully tropical
Humid subtropical
–
Cfa
15.
Europe
–
Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
Europe
–
Reconstruction of
Herodotus ' world map
Europe
Europe
–
A medieval
T and O map from 1472 showing the three continents as domains of the sons of
Noah — Asia to Sem (
Shem), Europe to Iafeth (
Japheth), and Africa to Cham (
Ham)
Europe
–
Early modern depiction of
Europa regina ('Queen Europe') and the mythical
Europa of the 8th century BC.
16.
Seattle
–
Seattle is a seaport city on the west coast of the United States and the seat of King County, Washington. With an estimated 684,451 residents as of 2015, Seattle is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. In July 2013, it was the major city in the United States. The city is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 100 miles south of the Canada–United States border, a major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling as of 2015. The Seattle area was inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived from Illinois via Portland, the settlement was moved to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay and named Seattle in 1852, after Chief Siahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. Logging was Seattles first major industry, but by the late-19th century, growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The Seattle area developed as a technology center beginning in the 1980s, in 1994, Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, Seattle has a noteworthy musical history. From 1918 to 1951, nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs existed along Jackson Street, from the current Chinatown/International District, to the Central District, the jazz scene developed the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock musician Jimi Hendrix and the alternative rock subgenre grunge, archaeological excavations suggest that Native Americans have inhabited the Seattle area for at least 4,000 years. By the time the first European settlers arrived, the people occupied at least seventeen villages in the areas around Elliott Bay, the first European to visit the Seattle area was George Vancouver, in May 1792 during his 1791–95 expedition to chart the Pacific Northwest. In 1851, a party led by Luther Collins made a location on land at the mouth of the Duwamish River. Thirteen days later, members of the Collins Party on the way to their claim passed three scouts of the Denny Party, members of the Denny Party claimed land on Alki Point on September 28,1851. The rest of the Denny Party set sail from Portland, Oregon, after a difficult winter, most of the Denny Party relocated across Elliott Bay and claimed land a second time at the site of present-day Pioneer Square, naming this new settlement Duwamps. For the next few years, New York Alki and Duwamps competed for dominance, david Swinson Doc Maynard, one of the founders of Duwamps, was the primary advocate to name the settlement after Chief Sealth of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. The name Seattle appears on official Washington Territory papers dated May 23,1853, in 1855, nominal land settlements were established. On January 14,1865, the Legislature of Territorial Washington incorporated the Town of Seattle with a board of managing the city
Seattle
–
Downtown Seattle from
Queen Anne Hill
Seattle
–
Seal
Seattle
–
The
Battle of Seattle (1856)
Seattle
–
Seattle's first
streetcar, at the corner of Occidental and Yesler, 1884. All of the buildings visible in this picture were destroyed by fire five years later.
17.
Snowfall
–
Snowstorms organize and develop by feeding on sources of atmospheric moisture and cold air. Snowflakes nucleate around particles in the atmosphere by attracting supercooled water droplets, snowflakes take on a variety of shapes, basic among these are platelets, needles, columns and rime. As snow accumulates into a snowpack, it may blow into drifts, over time, accumulated snow metamorphoses, by sintering, sublimation and freeze-thaw. Where the climate is cold enough for year-to-year accumulation, a glacier may form, otherwise, snow typically melts seasonally, causing runoff into streams and rivers and recharging groundwater. Major snow-prone areas include the regions, the upper half of the Northern Hemisphere and mountainous regions worldwide with sufficient moisture. In the Southern Hemisphere, snow is confined primarily to mountainous areas, Snow affects ecosystems, as well, by providing an insulating layer during winter under which plants and animals are able to survive the cold. Snow develops in clouds that themselves are part of a weather system. The physics of snow crystal development in clouds results from a set of variables that include moisture content. The resulting shapes of the falling and fallen crystals can be classified into a number of shapes and combinations. Occasionally, some plate-like, dendritic and stellar-shaped snowflakes can form under clear sky with a cold temperature inversion present. Two additional and locally productive sources of snow are lake-effect storms and elevation effects, miid-latitude cyclones are low pressure areas which are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild snow storms to heavy blizzards. During a hemispheres fall, winter, and spring, the atmosphere over continents can be cold enough through the depth of the troposphere to cause snowfall, in the Northern Hemisphere, the northern side of the low pressure area produces the most snow. For the southern mid-latitudes, the side of a cyclone that produces the most snow is the southern side, a cold front, the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, can produce frontal snowsqualls—an intense frontal convective line, when temperature is near freezing at the surface. The strong convection that develops has enough moisture to produce whiteout conditions at places which line passes over as the wind causes intense blowing snow. This type of snowsquall generally lasts less than 30 minutes at any point along its path, in cases where there is a large amount of vertical growth and mixing the squall may develop embedded cumulonimbus clouds resulting in lightning and thunder which is dubbed thundersnow. A warm front can produce snow for a period, as warm, moist air overrides below-freezing air, often, snow transitions to rain in the warm sector behind the front. The same effect occurs over bodies of salt water, when it is termed ocean-effect or bay-effect snow. The effect is enhanced when the air mass is uplifted by the orographic influence of higher elevations on the downwind shores
Snowfall
–
Snow on the
Carpathian Mountains, Romania
Snowfall
–
Snow on the mountains of
Southern California
Snowfall
–
Satellite photo of sea-effect snow bands near the
Korean Peninsula
Snowfall
–
Road and trees covered in snow,
Bârnova
18.
Iceland
–
Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of 332,529 and an area of 103,000 km2, the capital and largest city is Reykjavík. Reykjavík and the areas in the southwest of the country are home to over two-thirds of the population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active, the interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence still keeps summers chilly, with most of the archipelago having a tundra climate. According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in the year 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island. In the following centuries, Norwegians, and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, emigrated to Iceland, the island was governed as an independent commonwealth under the Althing, one of the worlds oldest functioning legislative assemblies. Following a period of strife, Iceland acceded to Norwegian rule in the 13th century. The establishment of the Kalmar Union in 1397 united the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, Iceland thus followed Norways integration to that Union and came under Danish rule after Swedens secession from that union in 1523. In the wake of the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars, Icelands struggle for independence took form and culminated in independence in 1918, until the 20th century, Iceland relied largely on subsistence fishing and agriculture, and was among the poorest in Europe. Industrialisation of the fisheries and Marshall Plan aid following World War II brought prosperity, in 1994, it became a part of the European Economic Area, which further diversified the economy into sectors such as finance, biotechnology, and manufacturing. Iceland has an economy with relatively low taxes compared to other OECD countries. It maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. Iceland ranks high in economic, political and social stability and equality, in 2013, it was ranked as the 13th most-developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index. Iceland runs almost completely on renewable energy, some bankers were jailed, and the economy has made a significant recovery, in large part due to a surge in tourism. Icelandic culture is founded upon the nations Scandinavian heritage, most Icelanders are descendants of Germanic and Gaelic settlers. Icelandic, a North Germanic language, is descended from Old Norse and is related to Faroese
Iceland
–
Norsemen Landing in Iceland – a 19th Century depiction by
Oscar Wergeland.
Iceland
–
Flag
Iceland
–
Ingólfr Arnarson (modern Icelandic: Ingólfur Arnarson), the first permanent Scandinavian settler in Iceland
Iceland
–
Ósvör, a replica of an old fishing outpost outside
Bolungarvík
19.
Northern Hemisphere
–
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earths North pole. Due to the Earths axial tilt, winter in the Northern Hemisphere lasts from the December solstice to the March Equinox, the dates vary each year due to the difference between the calendar year and the astronomical year. Its surface is 60. 7% water, compared with 80. 9% water in the case of the Southern Hemisphere, the Arctic is the region north of the Arctic Circle. Its climate is characterized by cold winters and cool summers, precipitation mostly comes in the form of snow. The Arctic experiences some days in summer when the Sun never sets, the duration of these phases varies from one day for locations right on the Arctic Circle to several months near the North Pole, which is the middle of the Northern Hemisphere. Between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer lies the Northern Temperate Zone, the changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold. However, a temperate climate can have very unpredictable weather, tropical regions are generally hot all year round and tend to experience a rainy season during the summer months, and a dry season during the winter months. In the Northern Hemisphere, objects moving across or above the surface of the Earth tend to turn to the right because of the coriolis effect, as a result, large-scale horizontal flows of air or water tend to form clockwise-turning gyres. These are best seen in circulation patterns in the North Atlantic. For the same reason, flows of air down toward the surface of the Earth tend to spread across the surface in a clockwise pattern. Thus, clockwise air circulation is characteristic of high pressure weather cells in the Northern Hemisphere, conversely, air rising from the northern surface of the Earth tends to draw air toward it in a counterclockwise pattern. Hurricanes and tropical storms spin counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, the shadow of a sundial moves clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. When viewed from the Northern Hemisphere, the Moon appears inverted compared to a view from the Southern Hemisphere, the North Pole faces away from the galactic center of the Milky Way. The Northern Hemisphere is home to approximately 6.57 billion people which is around 90% of the total human population of 7.3 billion people
Northern Hemisphere
–
Northern Hemisphere highlighted in blue
20.
Chile
–
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
Chile
–
The
Mapuche people were the original inhabitants of southern and central Chile.
Chile
–
Flag
Chile
–
Pedro de Valdivia
Chile
–
Bernardo O'Higgins, The Supreme Director of Chile.
21.
Argentina
–
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a federal republic in the southern half of South America. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system, Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The earliest recorded presence in the area of modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century, Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with waves of European immigration radically reshaping its cultural. The almost-unparalleled increase in prosperity led to Argentina becoming the seventh wealthiest developed nation in the world by the early 20th century, Argentina retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs, and is a prominent regional power in the Southern Cone and Latin America. Argentina has the second largest economy in South America, the third-largest in Latin America and is a member of the G-15 and it is the country with the second highest Human Development Index in Latin America with a rating of very high. Because of its stability, market size and growing high-tech sector, the description of the country by the word Argentina has to be found on a Venice map in 1536. In English the name Argentina probably comes from the Spanish language, however the naming itself is not Spanish, Argentina means in Italian of silver, silver coloured, probably borrowed from the Old French adjective argentine of silver > silver coloured already mentioned in the 12th century. The French word argentine is the form of argentin and derives of argent silver with the suffix -in. The Italian naming Argentina for the country implies Argentina Terra land of silver or Argentina costa coast of silver, in Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said lArgentina. The name Argentina was probably first given by the Venitian and Genoese navigators, in Spanish and Portuguese, the words for silver are respectively plata and prata and of silver is said plateado and prateado. Argentina was first associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin. The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced to La Argentina, a 1602 poem by Martín del Barco Centenera describing the region, the 1826 constitution included the first use of the name Argentine Republic in legal documents. The name Argentine Confederation was also used and was formalized in the Argentine Constitution of 1853. In 1860 a presidential decree settled the name as Argentine Republic
Argentina
–
The
Cave of the Hands in
Santa Cruz province, with indigenous artwork dating from 13,000–9,000 years ago
Argentina
Argentina
–
The surrender of Beresford to
Santiago de Liniers during the
British invasions of the Río de la Plata
Argentina
–
Portrait of General
José de San Martin,
Libertador of Argentina,
Chile and
Peru
22.
Southern Hemisphere
–
The Southern Hemisphere is the half sphere of Earth which is south of the equator. It contains all or parts of five continents, four oceans and its surface is 80. 9% water, compared with 60. 7% water in the case of the Northern Hemisphere, and it contains 32. 7% of Earths land. Due to the tilt of Earths rotation relative to the Sun, September 22 or 23 is the vernal equinox and March 20 or 21 is the autumnal equinox. The South Pole is in the middle of the southern hemispherical region, Southern Hemisphere climates tend to be slightly milder than those at similar latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, except in the Antarctic which is colder than the Arctic. This is because the Southern Hemisphere has significantly more ocean and much land, water heats up. In the Southern Hemisphere the sun passes from east to west through the north, sun-cast shadows turn anticlockwise throughout the day and sundials have the hours increasing in the anticlockwise direction. Cyclones and tropical storms spin clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Coriolis effect, the southern temperate zone, a subsection of the Southern Hemisphere, is nearly all oceanic. Forests in the Southern Hemisphere have special features which set apart from those in the Northern Hemisphere. Both Chile and Australia share, for example, unique species or Nothofagus. The eucalyptus is native to Australia but is now planted in Southern Africa and Latin America for pulp production and, increasingly. Approximately 800,000,000 humans live in the Southern Hemisphere and this is due to the fact that there is significantly less land in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere. Africa Antarctica Asia Australia South America Zealandia Media related to Southern Hemisphere at Wikimedia Commons
Southern Hemisphere
–
A famous photo of Earth from
Apollo 17 (
Blue Marble) originally had the south pole at the top; however, it was turned upside-down to fit the traditional perspective
Southern Hemisphere
–
Aurora australis appearing in the night sky of Swifts Creek, 100 km (62 mi) north of
Lakes Entrance,
Victoria,
Australia
Southern Hemisphere
–
Aurora australis appearing from
Stewart Island / Rakiura at the southern point of the
South Island of
New Zealand
23.
Ushuaia
–
Ushuaia is the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. It is commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia is located in a wide bay on the southern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, bounded on the north by the Martial mountain range, and on the south by the Beagle Channel. It is the municipality in the Department of Ushuaia, which has an area of 9,390 km2. It was founded October 12 of 1884 by Augusto Lasserre and is located on the shores of the Beagle Channel surrounded by the range of the Martial Glacier. Besides being a center, it is a light industrial port. The word Ushuaia comes from the language, ush and waia. The act of creation of the Subprefecture, in 1884, cites the name Oshovia, the name is often pronounced u-sua-ia / uswa ja /, an exception to the orthographic rules of Castilian, since the form s syllables with the following u in spite of the h. Considering that an erroneous pronunciation could be given Usuaía, it is worth to clarify that the word Ushuaia has no tilde, and that the prosodic accent is in the first a. Shield The municipality carried out a contest for the election of the image of the City Shield, approving by decree nº28, in 1971, the design of Vicente Gómez. Motto Ushuaia, end of the world, beginning of everything The Selk’nam Indians, also called the Ona, the southern group of the Selk’nam, the Yaghan, occupied what is now Ushuaia, living in continual conflict with the northern inhabitants of the island. Ushuaia was founded informally by British missionaries, following previous British surveys, the British ship HMS Beagle, under the command of Captain Robert FitzRoy, first reached the channel on January 29,1833, during its maiden voyage surveying Tierra del Fuego. The city was named by early British missionaries using the native Yámana name for the area. Much of the history of the city and its hinterland is described in Lucas Bridges’s book Uttermost Part of the Earth. The name Ushuaia first appears in letters and reports of the South American Mission Society in England, the British missionary Waite Hockin Stirling became the first European to live in Ushuaia when he stayed with the Yámana people between 18 January and mid-September 1869. In 1870 more British missionaries arrived to establish a small settlement, the following year the first marriage was performed. During 1872,36 baptisms and 7 marriages and the first European birth in Tierra del Fuego were registered, the first house constructed in Ushuaia was a pre-assembled 3 room home prepared in the Falkland Islands in 1870 for Reverend Thomas Bridges. One room was for the Bridges family, a second was for a Yámana married couple, while the third served as the chapel, during 1873, Juan and Clara Lawrence, the first Argentine citizens to visit Ushuaia, arrived to teach school. But only after the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina did formal efforts get under way to establish the township and its prison, during the 1880s, many gold prospectors came to Ushuaia following rumors of large gold fields, which proved to be false
Ushuaia
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(From top to bottom; from left to right) View of Ushuaia from the harbor; Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse; Malvinas War Memorial; Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atántico Sur government building and the port.
Ushuaia
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Building of the Government of the province in the city of Ushuaia, with typical local architecture.
Ushuaia
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Southern Fuegian Railway
Ushuaia
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Satellite view of Ushuaia and its bay
24.
Punta Arenas
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Punta Arenas is the capital city of Chiles southernmost region, Magallanes and Antartica Chilena. The city was renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to Punta Arenas. It is the largest city south of the 46th parallel south, as of 1977 Punta Arenas has been one of only two free ports in Chile. During the remainder of the 1800s, Punta Arenas grew in size and importance due to the maritime traffic. This period of growth resulted from the waves of European immigrants, mainly from Croatia and Russia attracted to the gold rush and sheep farming boom in the 1880s. The largest sheep company, controlling 10,000 square kilometres in Chile and Argentina, was based in Punta Arenas, since its founding Chile has used Punta Arenas as a base to defend its sovereignty claims in the southernmost part of South America. This led, among other things, to the Strait of Magellan being recognized as Chilean territory in the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina. The geopolitical importance of Punta Arenas has remained high in the 20th, the English 18th-century explorer John Byron is sometimes credited with naming this area, calling it Sandy Point. But it was not until 1843 that the government tried to establish a fort, the name Punta Arenas was derived from the Spanish term Punta Arenosa, a literal translation of the English name Sandy Point. The city has also known as Magallanes. Today that term is used to describe the administrative region which includes the city. Punta Arenas has been nicknamed the city of the red roofs for the metal roofs that characterized the city for many years. Since about 1970 the availability of colors in protective finishes has resulted in greater variety in the characteristic metal roofs. Located on the Brunswick Peninsula, Punta Arenas is among the largest cities in the entire Patagonian Region, in 2012, it had a population of 127,454. It is roughly 1,418.4 km from the coast of Antarctica, the Magallanes region is considered part of Chilean Patagonia. Magallanes is Spanish for Magellan, and was named for Ferdinand Magellan, while circumnavigating the earth for Spain, he passed close to the present site of Punta Arenas in 1520. Early English navigational documents referred to this site as Sandy Point, the city proper is located on the northeastern shore of Brunswick Peninsula. Except for the shore, containing the settlements of Guairabo, Rio Amarillo and Punta San Juan
Punta Arenas
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Collage of Punta Arenas
Punta Arenas
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Memorial to
Ferdinand Magellan in Punta Arenas.
Punta Arenas
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Panoramic view of northern Punta Arenas
Punta Arenas
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Ice breaker
RV Laurence M. Gould in Punta Arenas. Punta Arenas is an important point in the supply of
Antarctic bases in
West Antarctica
25.
Jet stream
–
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents found in the atmosphere of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds. Their paths typically have a meandering shape, Jet streams may start, stop, split into two or more parts, combine into one stream, or flow in various directions including opposite to the direction of the remainder of the jet. The strongest jet streams are the jets, at 9–12 km above sea level. The Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere each have a polar jet, the Coriolis force is caused by the planets rotation on its axis. On other planets, internal heat rather than solar heating drives their jet streams, the Polar jet stream forms near the interface of the Polar and Ferrel circulation cells, while the subtropical jet forms near the boundary of the Ferrel and Hadley circulation cells. During the Northern Hemisphere summer, easterly jets can form in tropical regions, low-level jets also are typical of various regions such as the central United States. Meteorologists use the location of some of the jet streams as an aid in weather forecasting, often, the airlines work to fly with the jet stream for this reason. Clear-air turbulence, a hazard to aircraft passenger safety, is often found in a jet streams vicinity. After the 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, weather watchers tracked and mapped the effects on the sky over several years and they labelled the phenomenon the equatorial smoke stream. In the 1920s, a Japanese meteorologist, Wasaburo Oishi, detected the jet stream from a site near Mount Fuji and he tracked pilot balloons, also known as pibals, as they rose into the atmosphere. Oishis work largely went unnoticed outside Japan because it was published in Esperanto, American pilot Wiley Post, the first man to fly around the world solo in 1933, is often given some credit for discovery of jet streams. Post invented a suit that let him fly above 6,200 metres. In the year before his death, Post made several attempts at a high-altitude transcontinental flight, german meteorologist Heinrich Seilkopf is credited with coining a special term, Strahlströmung, for the phenomenon in 1939. Many sources credit real understanding of the nature of jet streams to regular, flyers consistently noticed westerly tailwinds in excess of 100 mph in flights, for example, from the US to the UK. Similarly in 1944 a team of American meteorologists in Guam, including Reid Bryson, had enough observations to forecast very high west winds that would slow bombers going to Japan. Polar jet streams are located near the 250 hPa pressure level, or 7 to 12 kilometres above sea level, while the weaker subtropical jet streams are much higher. Jet streams wander laterally dramatically, and have large changes in their altitude, the Polar jets, at lower altitude, and often intruding into mid-latitudes, strongly affects weather and aviation
Jet stream
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Clouds along a jet stream over Canada.
Jet stream
Jet stream
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General configuration of the polar and subtropical jet streams
Jet stream
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Cross section of the subtropical and polar jet streams by latitude
26.
Gulf Stream
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The process of western intensification causes the Gulf Stream to be a northward accelerating current off the east coast of North America. At about 40°0′N 30°0′W, it splits in two, with the stream, the North Atlantic Drift, crossing to Northern Europe and the southern stream. The Gulf Stream influences the climate of the east coast of North America from Florida to Newfoundland, and it is part of the North Atlantic Gyre. Its presence has led to the development of strong cyclones of all types, the Gulf Stream is also a significant potential source of renewable power generation. The Gulf Stream may be slowing down as a result of climate change, the Gulf Stream is typically 100 kilometres wide and 800 metres to 1,200 metres deep. The current velocity is fastest near the surface, with the maximum speed typically about 2.5 metres per second. European discovery of the Gulf Stream dates to the 1512 expedition of Juan Ponce de León and its existence was also known to Peter Martyr dAnghiera. Benjamin Franklin became interested in the North Atlantic Ocean circulation patterns, Franklin asked Timothy Folger, his cousin twice removed, a Nantucket Island whaling captain, for an answer. Franklin worked with Folger and other experienced ship captains, learning enough to chart the Gulf Stream and he offered this information to Anthony Todd, secretary of the British Post Office, but it was ignored by British sea captains. Franklins Gulf Stream chart was published in 1770 in England, where it was mostly ignored, subsequent versions were printed in France in 1778 and the U. S. in 1786. The Gulf Stream proper is a current, driven largely by wind stress. The North Atlantic Drift, in contrast, is largely thermohaline circulation–driven, in 1958 the oceanographer Henry Stommel noted that very little water from the Gulf of Mexico is actually in the Stream. By carrying warm water northeast across the Atlantic, it makes Western, a river of sea water, called the Atlantic North Equatorial Current, flows westward off the coast of Central Africa. When this current interacts with the northeastern coast of South America, one passes into the Caribbean Sea, while a second, the Antilles Current, flows north and east of the West Indies. These two branches north of the Straits of Florida. The trade winds blow westward in the tropics, and the westerlies blow eastward at mid-latitudes and this wind pattern applies a stress to the subtropical ocean surface with negative curl across the north Atlantic Ocean. The resulting Sverdrup transport is equatorward, the conservation of potential vorticity also causes bends along the Gulf Stream, which occasionally break off due to a shift in the Gulf Streams position, forming separate warm and cold eddies. This overall process, known as western intensification, causes currents on the boundary of an ocean basin, such as the Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream
–
Surface temperature in the western North Atlantic. North America is black and dark blue (cold), the Gulf Stream red (warm). Source:
NASA
Gulf Stream
–
Benjamin Franklin 's map of the Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream
–
Evolution of the Gulf Stream to the west of Ireland continuing as the
North Atlantic Current
Gulf Stream
–
Hurricane Alex formed and moved along the axis of the Gulf Stream in 2004.
27.
North Carolina
–
North Carolina is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west, Virginia to the north, North Carolina is the 28th most extensive and the 9th most populous of the U. S. states. The state is divided into 100 counties, the most populous municipality is Charlotte, which is the second largest banking center in the United States after New York City. The state has a range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to 6,684 feet at Mount Mitchell. The climate of the plains is strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. More than 300 miles from the coast, the western, mountainous part of the state has a highland climate. North Carolina is bordered by South Carolina on the south, Georgia on the southwest, Tennessee on the west, Virginia on the north, the United States Census Bureau places North Carolina in the South Atlantic division of the southern region. So many ships have been lost off Cape Hatteras that the area is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, the most famous of these is the Queen Annes Revenge, which went aground in Beaufort Inlet in 1718. The coastal plain transitions to the Piedmont region along the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, the Piedmont region of central North Carolina is the states most populous region, containing the six largest cities in the state by population. It consists of rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low mountain ridges. The Piedmont ranges from about 300 feet in elevation in the east to about 1,500 feet in the west, the western section of the state is part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Among the subranges of the Appalachians located in the state are the Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, the Black Mountains are the highest in the eastern United States, and culminate in Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet, the highest point east of the Mississippi River. North Carolina has 17 major river basins, the five basins west of the Blue Ridge Mountains flow to the Gulf of Mexico, while the remainder flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 17 basins,11 originate within the state of North Carolina, but only four are contained entirely within the states border – the Cape Fear, the Neuse, the White Oak, and the Tar-Pamlico basin. Elevation above sea level is most responsible for temperature change across the state, the climate is also influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream, especially in the coastal plain. These influences tend to cause warmer winter temperatures along the coast, the coastal plain averages around 1 inch of snow or ice annually, and in many years, there may be no snow or ice at all. North Carolina experiences severe weather in summer and winter, with summer bringing threat of hurricanes, tropical storms, heavy rain
North Carolina
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North Carolina topographic map
North Carolina
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Flag
North Carolina
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The
Blue Ridge Mountains as seen from the
Blue Ridge Parkway.
North Carolina
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Deer in the
Eno River as it flows through the Piedmont region of North Carolina
28.
Dresden
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Dresden is the capital city and, after Leipzig, the second-largest city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the border with the Czech Republic, Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendour. The city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its baroque, the controversial American and British bombing of Dresden in World War II towards the end of the war killed approximately 25,000, many of whom were civilians, and destroyed the entire city centre. After the war restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of the inner city, including the Katholische Hofkirche, the Zwinger. Since German reunification in 1990 Dresden is again a cultural, educational and political centre of Germany, the Dresden University of Technology is one of the 10 largest universities in Germany and part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative. The economy of Dresden and its agglomeration is one of the most dynamic in Germany and it is dominated by high-tech branches, often called as “Silicon Saxony”. The city is one of the most visited in Germany with 4,3 million overnight stays per year. The royal buildings are among the most impressive buildings in Europe, main sights are also the nearby National Park of Saxon Switzerland, the Ore Mountains and the countryside around Elbe Valley and Moritzburg Castle. The most prominent building in the city of Dresden is the Frauenkirche, built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed during World War II. The remaining ruins were left for 50 years as a war memorial, the church was rebuilt from 1994 to 2005. Although Dresden is a relatively recent city of Germanic origin followed by settlement of Slavic people, Dresdens founding and early growth is associated with the eastward expansion of Germanic peoples, mining in the nearby Ore Mountains, and the establishment of the Margraviate of Meissen. Its name etymologically derives from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the forest, Dresden later evolved into the capital of Saxony. Around the late 12th century, a Slavic settlement called Drežďany had developed on the southern bank, another settlement existed on the northern bank, but its Slavic name is unknown. It was known as Antiqua Dresdin by 1350, and later as Altendresden, dietrich, Margrave of Meissen, chose Dresden as his interim residence in 1206, as documented in a record calling the place Civitas Dresdene. After 1270, Dresden became the capital of the margraviate and it was given to Friedrich Clem after death of Henry the Illustrious in 1288. It was taken by the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1316 and was restored to the Wettin dynasty after the death of Valdemar the Great in 1319, from 1485, it was the seat of the dukes of Saxony, and from 1547 the electors as well. The Elector and ruler of Saxony Frederick Augustus I became King Augustus II the Strong of Poland in personal union and he gathered many of the best musicians, architects and painters from all over Europe to the newly named Royal-Polish Residential City of Dresden. His reign marked the beginning of Dresdens emergence as a leading European city for technology, during the reign of Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland the Zwinger Royal Palace, the Hofkirche and the Frauenkirche were built
Dresden
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Clockwise: Dresden at night,
Dresden Frauenkirche,
Schloss Pillnitz,
Dresden Castle and
Zwinger.
Dresden
–
The
Fürstenzug —the Saxon sovereigns depicted in
Meissen porcelain
Dresden
–
Dresden in 1521
Dresden
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Image of Dresden during the 1890s, before extensive World War II destruction. Landmarks include
Dresden Frauenkirche,
Augustus Bridge, and
Katholische Hofkirche.
29.
Prague
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Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the 14th largest city in the European Union and it is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters. Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its history and it was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The city has more than ten major museums, along with theatres, galleries, cinemas. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city, also, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an Alpha- global city according to GaWC studies, Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city more than 6.4 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Istanbul, the region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes, around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map of Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the following century, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in Levý Hradec, Butovice and in the Šárka valley. The construction of what came to be known as the Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, the first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied, I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars. She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c.1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia, under Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973
Prague
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Montage of Prague, clockwise from top: Panorama of
Prague Castle and
Charles Bridge,
Dancing House,
Star Villa,
Old Town Square,
Wenceslas Square,
Wallenstein Palace, Royal Garden at Prague Castle,
St. Vitus Cathedral and
Municipal House.
Prague
–
The mythological princess
Libuše prophesies the glory of Prague.
Prague
–
The
Prague astronomical clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still working.
Prague
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A view of one of the bridge towers of the Charles Bridge
