1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Sovereign state
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A sovereign state is, in international law, a nonphysical juridical entity that is represented by one centralized government that has sovereignty over a geographic area. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined territory, one government, and it is also normally understood that a sovereign state is neither dependent on nor subjected to any other power or state. The existence or disappearance of a state is a question of fact, States came into existence as people gradually transferred their allegiance from an individual sovereign to an intangible but territorial political entity, of the state. States are but one of political orders that emerged from feudal Europe, others being city states, leagues. Westphalian sovereignty is the concept of sovereignty based on territoriality. It is a system of states, multinational corporations. Sovereignty is a term that is frequently misused and that position was reflected and constituted in the notion that their sovereignty was either completely lacking, or at least of an inferior character when compared to that of civilised people. Lassa Oppenheim said There exists perhaps no conception the meaning of which is more controversial than that of sovereignty. It is a fact that this conception, from the moment when it was introduced into political science until the present day, has never had a meaning which was universally agreed upon. In the opinion of H. V. Evatt of the High Court of Australia, sovereignty is neither a question of fact, nor a question of law, but a question that does not arise at all. The right of nations to determine their own status and exercise permanent sovereignty within the limits of their territorial jurisdictions is widely recognized. The Westphalian model of sovereignty has increasingly come under fire from the non-west as a system imposed solely by Western Colonialism. What this model did was make religion a subordinate to politics and this system does not fit in the Islamic world because concepts such as separation of church and state and individual conscience are not recognised in the Islamic religion as social systems. Nation denotes a people who are believed to or deemed to share common customs, religion, language, origins, however, the adjectives national and international are frequently used to refer to matters pertaining to what are strictly sovereign states, as in national capital, international law. State refers to the set of governing and supportive institutions that have sovereignty over a definite territory, State recognition signifies the decision of a sovereign state to treat another entity as also being a sovereign state. Recognition can be expressed or implied and is usually retroactive in its effects. It does not necessarily signify a desire to establish or maintain diplomatic relations, There is no definition that is binding on all the members of the community of nations on the criteria for statehood. In actual practice, the criteria are mainly political, not legal, in international law, however, there are several theories of when a state should be recognised as sovereign
3.
Kingdom of the Netherlands
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The Kingdom of the Netherlands, commonly known as the Netherlands, is a country and constitutional monarchy with territory in western Europe and in the Caribbean. The four parts of the kingdom—the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, in practice, however, most of the Kingdom affairs are administered by the Netherlands—which comprises roughly 98% of the Kingdoms land area and population—on behalf of the entire Kingdom. The constituent countries of Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten are located in the Caribbean as well, the Kingdom of the Netherlands originated in the aftermath of Napoleon’s defeat in 1815. In that year, the Netherlands regained its independence from France, in March 1815, amidst the turmoil of the Hundred Days, the Sovereign Prince adopted the style of King of the Netherlands. Following Napoleons second defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, the Vienna Congress supplied international recognition of Williams unilateral move. The new King of the Netherlands was also made Grand Duke of Luxembourg, a part of the Kingdom that was, at the same time, in 1830, Belgium seceded from the Kingdom, a step that was recognised by the Netherlands only in 1839. At that point, Luxembourg became an independent country in a personal union with the Netherlands. Luxembourg also lost more than half of its territory to Belgium and that status was reversed when the German Confederation ceased to exist in 1867, and, at that point, Limburg reverted to its status as an ordinary Dutch province. The origin of the reform of 1954 was the 1931 Westminster Statute and the 1941 Atlantic Charter. Changes were proposed in the 7 December 1942 radio speech by Queen Wilhelmina, in this speech, the Queen, on behalf of the Dutch government in exile in London, expressed a desire to review the relations between the Netherlands and its colonies after the end of the war. After liberation, the government would call a conference to agree on a settlement in which the territories could participate in the administration of the Kingdom on the basis of equality. After Indonesia became independent, a construction was considered too heavy, as the economies of Suriname. Delegates of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles could participate in sessions of the First, an overseas member could be added to the Council of State when appropriate. According to the Charter, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles were also allowed to alter their Basic Laws, the right of the two autonomous countries to leave the Kingdom, unilaterally, was not recognised, yet it also stipulated that the Charter could be dissolved by mutual consultation. Suriname was a constituent country within the Kingdom from 1954 to 1975, Netherlands New Guinea was a dependent territory of the Kingdom until 1962, but was not an autonomous country, and was not mentioned in the Charter. In 1955, Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard visited Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, the visit was a great success. The royal couple were welcomed enthusiastically by the population. Several other royal visits were to follow, in 1969, an unorganised strike on the Antillean island of Curaçao resulted in serious disturbances and looting, during which a part of the historic city centre of Willemstad was destroyed by fire
4.
Sint Maarten
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Sint Maarten is an island country in the Caribbean. It is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, before 10 October 2010, Sint Maarten was known as the Island Territory of Sint Maarten, and was one of five island territories that constituted the Netherlands Antilles. However, though he claimed it as a Spanish territory, Columbus never landed there, the French and Dutch, on the other hand, both coveted the island. While the French wanted to colonize the islands between Trinidad and Bermuda, the Dutch found San Martín a convenient halfway point between their colonies in New Amsterdam and Brazil. With few people inhabiting the island, the Dutch easily founded a settlement there in 1631, jan Claeszen Van Campen became its first governor, and soon thereafter the Dutch West India Company began its salt mining operations. French and British settlements sprang up on the island as well, taking note of these successful colonies and wanting to maintain their control of the salt trade, the Spanish now found St. Martin much more appealing. The Eighty Years War which had been raging between Spain and the Netherlands provided further incentive to attack, Spanish forces captured Saint Martin from the Dutch in 1633, seizing control and driving most or all of the colonists off the island. At Point Blanche, they built what is now Old Spanish Fort to secure the territory, although the Dutch retaliated in several attempts to win back St. Martin, they failed. Fifteen years after the Spanish conquered the island, the Eighty Years War ended, since they no longer needed a base in the Caribbean and St. Martin barely turned a profit, the Spanish lost their inclination to continue defending it. In 1648, they deserted the island, with St. Martin free again, both the Dutch and the French jumped at the chance to re-establish their settlements. Dutch colonists came from St. Eustatius, while the French came from St. Kitts, after some initial conflict, both sides realized that neither would yield easily. Preferring to avoid a war, they signed the Treaty of Concordia in 1648. During the treatys negotiation, the French had a fleet of ships off shore. In spite of the treaty, relations between the two sides were not always cordial, between 1648 and 1816, conflicts changed the border sixteen times. The entire island came under effective French control from 1795 when Netherlands became a state under the French Empire until 1815. In the end, the French came out ahead with 53 km2 against 34 km2 on the Dutch side, with the new cultivation of cotton, tobacco, and sugar, the French and the Dutch imported a massive number of slaves to work on the plantations. The slave population grew larger than that of the land owners. Subjected to cruel treatment, slaves staged rebellions, and their overwhelming numbers made it impossible to ignore their concerns, in 1848, the French abolished slavery in their colonies including the French side of St. Martin
5.
Saint Martin
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Saint Martin is an island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 300 km east of Puerto Rico. It is the smallest inhabited island divided between two nations, the southern Dutch part comprises Sint Maarten and is one of four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The northern French part comprises the Collectivité de Saint-Martin and is an overseas collectivity of France. On 1 January 2009, the population of the island was 77,741 inhabitants, with 40,917 living on the Dutch side. Collectively, the two territories are known as St-Martin / St Maarten, sometimes SXM, the IATA identifier for Princess Juliana International Airport, is used to refer to the island. St. Martin received the ISO 3166-1 code MF in October 2007, the Dutch part changed in status to a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 2010 and was given the code SX. Saint Martin has an area of 87 km2,53 km2 of which is under the sovereignty of France. This is the land border shared by France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands anywhere on Earth. The main cities are Philipsburg and Marigot, the Dutch side is more heavily populated. The largest settlement on the island is Lower Princes Quarter. The highest hilltop is the Pic Paradis in the center of a chain on the French side. Both sides are hilly with large mountain peaks and this forms a valley where many houses are located. There are no rivers on the island, but many dry guts, hiking trails give access to the dry forest covering tops and slopes. The island is located south of Anguilla, separated from the British territory by the Anguilla Channel, Saint Martin is northwest of Saint Barthélemy, separated from the French territory by the Saint-Barthélemy Channel. It is one of the Renaissance Islands, under the Köppen climate classification, the island has a tropical monsoon climate with a dry season from January to April and a rainy season from August to December. The precipitation patterns are due to the movement of the Azores high during the year, with the wind direction predominantly from the east or the northeast, temperatures remain stable throughout the year and temperatures rarely exceed 34 °C or fall below 20 °C. Temperatures remain steady throughout the year with a mean temperature of 27.2 °C. The average sea temperature is 27.2 °C ranging from a low of 25.9 °C in February to a high of 28.4 °C in October, the total average yearly rainfall is 1,047 mm, with 142 days of measurable rainfall
6.
Tropical savanna climate
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Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a type of climate that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories Aw and As. This latter fact is in direct contrast to a monsoon climate. In essence, a savanna climate tends to either see less rainfall than a tropical monsoon climate or have more pronounced dry seasons. There are generally four types of tropical climate,1. Distinct wet and dry seasons of relatively equal duration, most of the regions annual rainfall is experienced during the wet season and very little precipitation falls during the dry season. A lengthy dry season and a short wet season. This version features seven or more dry season months and five or less wet season months, there are variations within this version, On one extreme, the region receives just enough precipitation during the short wet season to preclude it from a semi-arid climate classification. This drier variation of the savanna climate is typically found adjacent to regions with semi-arid climates. On the other extreme, the features a lengthy dry season followed by a short. However, regions with this variation of the climate do not experience enough rainfall during the wet season to qualify as a monsoon climate. A lengthy wet season and a short dry season. This version features seven or more wet season months and five or less dry season months, a dry season with a noticeable amount of rainfall followed by a rainy wet season. Tropical savanna climates are most commonly found in Africa, Asia, the climate is also prevalent in sections of Central America, northern Australia and southern North America, specifically in sections of Mexico and the state of Florida in the United States. Most places that have this climate are found at the margins of the tropical zone. Similarly, the Caribbean coast, eastward from the Gulf of Urabá on the Colombia – Panamá border to the Orinoco river delta and this condition extends to the Lesser Antilles and Greater Antilles forming the Circumcaribbean dry belt. The length and severity of the dry season diminishes inland, at the latitude of the Amazon river—which flows eastward, East from the Andes, between the arid Caribbean and the ever-wet Amazon are the Orinoco river llanos or savannas, from where this climate takes its name. Sometimes As is used in place of Aw if the dry season occurs during the time of higher sun and this is the case in parts of Hawaii, East Africa, Sri Lanka and coastal regions of Northeastern Brazil, for instance. The difference between summer and winter in such locations is usually so slight that a distinction between an As and Aw climate is a quibble
7.
Capital city
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A capital city is the municipality exercising primary status in a country, state, province, or other region, usually as its seat of government. A capital is typically a city that encompasses the offices and meeting places of its respective government. In some jurisdictions, including countries, the different branches of government are located in different settlements. In some cases, a distinction is made between the capital and the seat of government, which is in another place. The word capital derives from the Latin caput, meaning head, in several English-speaking states, the terms county town, county seat, and borough seat are also used in lower subdivisions. In unitary states, subnational capitals are known as administrative centres. The capital is often, but not necessarily, the largest city of its constituent, historically, the major economic centre of a state or region often becomes the focal point of political power, and becomes a capital through conquest or federation. Examples are Ancient Babylon, Abbasid Baghdad, Ancient Athens, Rome, Constantinople, Changan, Ancient Cusco, Madrid, Paris, London, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Vienna, and Berlin. Some of these cities are or were also religious centres, e. g. Constantinople, Rome, Jerusalem, Ancient Babylon, Moscow, Belgrade, Paris, and Peking. A capital city that is also the economic, cultural. The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal, traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals, e. g. Nanking by Shanghai, Quebec City by Montreal, and numerous US state capitals. The decline of a dynasty or culture could also mean the extinction of its city, as occurred at Babylon. Although many capitals are defined by constitution or legislation, many long-time capitals have no legal designation as such, for example Bern, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London, Paris, are located in or near them. In Canada, there is a capital, while the ten provinces. The states of such countries as Mexico, Brazil, and Australia all have capital cities, for example, the six state capitals of Australia are Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. In Australia, the capital cities is regularly used, to refer to the aforementioned state capitals plus the federal capital Canberra and Darwin. Abu Dhabi is the city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In unitary states which consist of multiple constituent countries, such as the United Kingdom or the Kingdom of Denmark, the national capitals of Germany and Russia, the Stadtstaat of Berlin and the Federal City of Moscow, are also constituent states of both countries in their own right
8.
Christopher Columbus
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Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer, and citizen of the Republic of Genoa. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean and those voyages and his efforts to establish permanent settlements on the island of Hispaniola initiated the European colonization of the New World. Western imperialism and economic competition were emerging among European kingdoms through the establishment of routes and colonies. During his first voyage in 1492, he reached the New World instead of arriving at Japan as he had intended, landing on an island in the Bahamas archipelago that he named San Salvador. Over the course of three voyages, he visited the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Central America. These voyages had, therefore, an impact in the historical development of the modern Western world. He spearheaded the transatlantic trade and has been accused by several historians of initiating the genocide of the Hispaniola natives. Columbus himself saw his accomplishments primarily in the light of spreading the Christian religion, Columbus never admitted that he had reached a continent previously unknown to Europeans, rather than the East Indies for which he had set course. He called the inhabitants of the lands that he visited indios, the name Christopher Columbus is the Anglicisation of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. His name in Italian is Cristoforo Colombo and, in Spanish and he was born before 31 October 1451 in the territory of the Republic of Genoa, though the exact location remains disputed. His father was Domenico Colombo, a wool weaver who worked both in Genoa and Savona and who also owned a cheese stand at which young Christopher worked as a helper. Bartolomeo, Giovanni Pellegrino, and Giacomo were his brothers, Bartolomeo worked in a cartography workshop in Lisbon for at least part of his adulthood. He also had a sister named Bianchinetta, Columbus never wrote in his native language, which is presumed to have been a Genoese variety of Ligurian. In one of his writings, he says he went to sea at the age of 10, in 1470, the Columbus family moved to Savona, where Domenico took over a tavern. In the same year, Christopher was on a Genoese ship hired in the service of René of Anjou to support his attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Naples. Some modern historians have argued that he was not from Genoa but, instead and these competing hypotheses have generally been discounted by mainstream scholars. In 1473, Columbus began his apprenticeship as business agent for the important Centurione, Di Negro, later, he allegedly made a trip to Chios, an Aegean island then ruled by Genoa. In May 1476, he took part in a convoy sent by Genoa to carry valuable cargo to northern Europe
9.
Arawak
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The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of South America, Florida, and historically of the Caribbean. The term Arawak originally applied specifically to the South American group who self-identified as Arawak and their language, the Arawak language, gives its name to the Arawakan language family. Arawakan speakers in the Caribbean were also known as the Taíno. In 1871, ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton proposed calling the Caribbean populace Island Arawak due to their cultural, subsequent scholars shortened this convention to Arawak, creating confusion between the island and mainland groups. In the 20th century, scholars such as Irving Rouse resumed using Taíno for the Caribbean group to emphasize their distinct culture, the Arawakan languages may have emerged in the Orinoco River valley. The group that self-identified as the Arawak, also known as the Lokono, settled the areas of what is now Guyana, Suriname, Grenada and parts of the island of Trinidad. At some point, the Arawakan-speaking Taíno culture emerged in the Caribbean, however, contact with Europeans exposed the Taino to diseases, particularly smallpox, influenza, measles, and typhus, that they no prior contact with, and thus no natural immunity. By 1504, the Spanish had overthrown the last of the Taino cacique chiefdoms on Hispaniola, and firmly established the supreme authority of the Spanish colonists over the now-subjugated Taino. The population of Hispanoila at the point of first European contact is estimated at several hundred thousand, to over a million people, but by 1514, it had dropped to a mere 35,000. By 1509, the Spanish had successfully conquered Puerto Rico and subjugated the ~30,000 Taino inhabitants, by 1530 there were 1148 Taino left alive in Puerto Rico. Taíno influence has survived even today, though, as can be seen in the religions, languages. The Lokono and other South American groups resisted colonization for a period. In the early 17th century, they allied with the Spanish against the neighboring Kalina and their population declined until the 20th century, when it began to increase again. The Spaniards who arrived in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola in 1492, the explorers mated with the Taíno women, who bore mestizo children as a result. While the Taíno have been extinct as a distinct population since the 16th century, a 2003 mitochondrial DNA study under the Taíno genome project determined that 62% of people in Puerto Rico have direct-line maternal ancestry to Taíno/Arawakan ancestors. There are about 10,000 Lokono living primarily in the areas of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. Unlike many indigenous groups in South America, the Lokono population is growing, john P. Bennett -, first Amerindian ordained as an Anglican priest in Guyana, linguist and author of An Arawak-English Dictionary. George Simon -, artist and archaeologist from Guyana, st. Lucia, Archaeological and Historical Society
10.
Fort Amsterdam (Sint Maarten)
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Fort Amsterdam is a historic fort on the island of Saint Martin, near the Sint Maarten town of Philipsburg. The fort was built by the Dutch in 1631, located near Great Bay and Little Bay, it was soon captured by the Spanish who occupied it as a military post until 1648. In that year the agreement was signed by the Dutch Republic. The island, and therefore the Fort, changed many times between the Dutch Republic, England and France. Today, the fort is small, and in a state of repair. There are several rusting 19th century cannon in place, and several informational signs, the fort is on a peninsula about 2.5 km long and is a registered historical site, consisting of several ruins. There is a colony of brown pelicans, of up to 60 nests, on the west side of the point. The 278 ha site has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International, the vegetation is characterised by thorny scrubland of Acacia macracantha and A. tortuosa, reaching over 2 m in height. History of St. Martin Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint Martin border controls Treaty of Concordia Fort Amsterdam
11.
Rain shadow
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A rain shadow is a dry area on the leeward side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems and cast a shadow of dryness behind them, wind and moist air is drawn by the prevailing winds towards the top of the mountains, where it condenses and precipitates before it crosses the top. The air, without much moisture left, advances behind the mountains creating a side called the rain shadow. The condition exists because warm moist air rises by orographic lifting to the top of a mountain range, as atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing altitude, the air has expanded and adiabatically cooled to the point that the air reaches its adiabatic dew point. At the adiabatic dew point, moisture condenses onto the mountain and it precipitates on the top, the air descends on the leeward side, but due to the precipitation it has lost much of its moisture. There are regular patterns of prevailing winds found in round the Earths equatorial region. The zone designated the trade winds is the zone between about 30° N and 30° S, blowing predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere, the strongest westerly winds in the middle latitudes can come in the Roaring Forties between 30 and 50 degrees latitude. The Dasht-i-Lut in Iran is in the shadow of the Elburz. The Ordos Desert is rain shadowed by mountain chains including the Kara-naryn-ula, the Sheitenula, and the Yin Mountains, which link on to the south end of the Great Khingan Mountains. The Thar desert is bounded and rain shadowed by the Aravalli ranges to the south-east, the Himalaya to the northeast, Eastern Side of Sahyadri ranges on Deccan e. g. Northern Karnataka & Solapur, Beed, Osmanabad and Vidharba Plateau of India. The central region of Myanmar is in the shadow of the Arakan Mountains and is almost semi-arid with only 750 millimetres of rain as against as much as 5.5 metres on the Rakhine State coast. The High Peaks of Mount Lebanon rain-shadow the northern parts of the Beqaa Valley, the Judean Desert, the Dead Sea and the western slopes of the Moab Mountains on the opposite side are rain-shadowed by the Judean Hills. The Atacama Desert in Chile is the driest non-polar desert on Earth because it is blocked from moisture on both sides, Cuyo and Eastern Patagonia is rain shadowed from the prevailing westerly winds by the Andes range and is arid. The Argentinian wine region of Cuyo and Northern Patagonia is almost completely dependent on irrigation, on the largest scale, the entirety of the North American Interior Plains are shielded from the prevailing Westerlies carrying moist Pacific weather by the North American Cordillera. More pronounced effects are observed, however, in valley regions within the Cordillera. Most rainshadows in the western United States are due to the Sierra Nevada, champlain Valley in upstate New York. It is protected by the Adirondack Mountains, hawaii also has rain shadows, with some areas being desert. Orographic lifting produces the worlds second-highest annual precipitation record,12.7 meters, on the island of Kauai, the entire island of Kahoolawe lies in the rain shadow of Mauis East Maui Volcano
12.
Trade winds
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Trade winds also transport African dust westward across the Atlantic Ocean into the Caribbean Sea, as well as portions of southeastern North America. Shallow cumulus clouds are seen within trade wind regimes, and are capped from becoming taller by a trade wind inversion, the weaker the trade winds become, the more rainfall can be expected in the neighboring landmasses. The term trade winds originally derives from the fourteenth century late Middle English word trade. The Portuguese recognized the importance of the winds in navigation in both the north and south Atlantic ocean as early as the 15th century. From West Africa, the Portuguese had to sail away from continental Portugal and they could then turn northeast, to the area around the Azores islands, and finally east to mainland Europe. They also learned that to reach South Africa, they needed to go far out in the ocean, head for Brazil, following the African coast southbound means upwind in the Southern hemisphere. In the Pacific ocean, the wind circulation, which included both the trade wind easterlies and higher-latitude Westerlies, was unknown to Europeans until Andres de Urdanetas voyage in 1565. The captain of a sailing ship seeks a course along which the winds can be expected to blow in the direction of travel, for example, Manila galleons could not sail into the wind at all. Between 1847 and 1849, Matthew Fontaine Maury collected enough information to create wind, as part of the Hadley cell circulation, surface air flows toward the equator while the flow aloft is towards the poles. A low-pressure area of calm, light winds near the equator is known as the doldrums, near-equatorial trough, intertropical front. When located within a region, this zone of low pressure. Around 30° in both hemispheres, air begins to descend toward the surface in subtropical high-pressure belts known as subtropical ridges. The subsident air is dry because as it descends, the temperature increases, but the absolute humidity remains constant. This warm, dry air is known as an air mass. An increase of temperature with height is known as a temperature inversion, when it occurs within a trade wind regime, it is known as a trade wind inversion. The surface air flows from these subtropical high-pressure belts toward the Equator is deflected toward the west in both hemispheres by the Coriolis effect. These winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere, the trade winds of both hemispheres meet at the doldrums. As they blow across tropical regions, air masses heat up over lower latitudes due to direct sunlight
13.
Tropical cyclone
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Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane, typhoon /taɪˈfuːn/, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone. A hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Tropical cyclones typically form over large bodies of relatively warm water. They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the ocean surface and this energy source differs from that of mid-latitude cyclonic storms, such as noreasters and European windstorms, which are fueled primarily by horizontal temperature contrasts. The strong rotating winds of a tropical cyclone are a result of the conservation of momentum imparted by the Earths rotation as air flows inwards toward the axis of rotation. As a result, they form within 5° of the equator. Tropical cyclones are typically between 100 and 2,000 km in diameter, Tropical refers to the geographical origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively over tropical seas. Cyclone refers to their nature, with wind blowing counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. The opposite direction of circulation is due to the Coriolis effect, in addition to strong winds and rain, tropical cyclones are capable of generating high waves, damaging storm surge, and tornadoes. They typically weaken rapidly over land where they are cut off from their energy source. For this reason, coastal regions are vulnerable to damage from a tropical cyclone as compared to inland regions. Heavy rains, however, can cause significant flooding inland, though their effects on human populations are often devastating, tropical cyclones can relieve drought conditions. They also carry heat away from the tropics and transport it toward temperate latitudes. Tropical cyclones are areas of low pressure in the troposphere. On Earth, the pressures recorded at the centers of tropical cyclones are among the lowest ever observed at sea level, the environment near the center of tropical cyclones is warmer than the surroundings at all altitudes, thus they are characterized as warm core systems. The near-surface wind field of a cyclone is characterized by air rotating rapidly around a center of circulation while also flowing radially inwards. At the outer edge of the storm, air may be nearly calm, however, due to the Earths rotation, as air flows radially inward, it begins to rotate cyclonically in order to conserve angular momentum. At an inner radius, air begins to ascend to the top of the troposphere and this radius is typically coincident with the inner radius of the eyewall, and has the strongest near-surface winds of the storm, consequently, it is known as the radius of maximum winds. Once aloft, air flows away from the center, producing a shield of cirrus clouds
14.
Princess Juliana Airport
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Princess Juliana International Airport is the main airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, located on the Dutch side of the island in the country of Sint Maarten. In 2010, the airport handled 1,645,105 passengers and 60,870 aircraft movements. The airport serves as a hub for Windward Islands Airways and is the gateway for the smaller Leeward Islands, including Anguilla, Saba, St. Barthélemy. It is named after Juliana of the Netherlands, who as crown princess landed here in 1944, there is also an airport on the French side of the island, called Aéroport de Grand Case or LEspérance Airport. The airport is perhaps best known for very low-altitude flyover landing approaches due to one end of its runway being extremely close to the shore, the airport was started as a military airstrip in 1942. It was converted to an airport in 1943. In 1964 the airport was remodeled and relocated, with a new terminal building, the facilities were upgraded in 1985 and 2001. Phase I was a program in order to upgrade existing facilities. This included widening, strengthening and renovating the runway, increasing the capacity of the taxiways, construction of a new apron. Phase I was completed in 2001, the new air traffic control tower and the radar station commenced operations on 29 March 2004, while the new terminal opened in late October 2006. The terminal has 4 jetways for large aircraft like 747s, if traffic develops as forecast, Phase III of the masterplan will be executed, consisting of an extension of the new terminal building and the construction of a full parallel taxiway system. The new terminal building also have more jetways and services etc. In 1994, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and France signed the Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint Martin border controls, after some delay, the treaty was ratified in November 2006 in the Netherlands, and subsequently entered into force on 1 August 2007. In July 2016, KLM announced to serve the airport with flights from Amsterdam instead by a triangle route via Curaçao from October 2016. Due to this change, the airport lost its last regular Boeing 747 service - which was a photo opportunity on the nearby beach - as KLM uses Airbus A330s for the changed schedule. Because the approach to Runway 10 is over water, pilots can become disoriented regarding their perceived altitude when operating under visual flight rules, normal instrument checks, coupled with experience and situational awareness, mitigate potential problems. The departure from Runway 10 presents more difficulties than the approach, arriving aircraft approach the island on the last section of the final approach for Runway 10, following a 3° glide slope flying low over the famous Maho Beach. Pictures of low flying aircraft were published in news magazines worldwide in early 2000
15.
Relative humidity
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Relative humidity is the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor to the equilibrium vapor pressure of water at a given temperature. Relative humidity depends on temperature and the pressure of the system of interest and it requires less water vapor to attain high relative humidity at low temperatures, more water vapour is required to attain high relative humidity in warm or hot air. Humans are sensitive to high humidity because the body uses evaporative cooling, enabled by perspiration. Perspiration evaporates from the more slowly under humid conditions than under arid. For example, if the air temperature is 24 °C and the humidity is zero percent. If the relative humidity is 100 percent at the air temperature. In other words, if the air is 24 °C and contains saturated water vapor, then the human body cools itself at the rate as it would if it were 27 °C. The heat index and the humidex are indices that reflect the effect of temperature. In cold climates, the temperature causes lower capacity for water vapour to flow about. Dry cracked skin can result from dry air, low humidity causes tissue lining nasal passages to dry, crack and become more susceptible to penetration of Rhinovirus cold viruses. Low humidity is a cause of nosebleeds. The use of a humidifier in homes, especially bedrooms, can help with these symptoms, indoor relative humidities should be kept above 30% to reduce the likelihood of the occupants nasal passages drying out. Humans can be comfortable within a range of humidities depending on the temperature—from thirty to seventy percent—but ideally between 50% and 60%. Very low humidity can create discomfort, respiratory problems, and aggravate allergies in some individuals, in the winter, it is advisable to maintain relative humidity at 30 percent or above. Extremely low relative humidities may also cause eye irritation, wooden furniture can shrink, causing the paint that covers these surfaces to fracture. When the temperature is low and the humidity is high. When relative humidity approaches 100 percent, condensation can occur on surfaces, leading to problems with mold, corrosion, decay, condensation can pose a safety risk as it can promote the growth of mold and wood rot as well as possibly freezing emergency exits shut. The basic principles for buildings, above, also apply to vehicles, in addition, there may be safety considerations
16.
Sunshine duration
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It is a general indicator of cloudiness of a location, and thus differs from insolation, which measures the total energy delivered by sunlight over a given period. Sunshine duration is usually expressed in hours per year, or in hours per day, the first measure indicates the general sunniness of a location compared with other places, while the latter allows for comparison of sunshine in various seasons in the same location. Another often-used measure is percentage ratio of recorded bright sunshine duration, an important use of sunshine duration data is to characterize the climate of sites, especially of health resorts. This also takes account the psychological effect of strong solar light on human well-being. It is often used to promote tourist destinations, if the Sun were to be above the horizon 50% of the time for a standard year consisting of 8,760 hours, apparent maximal daytime duration would be 4,380 hours for any point on Earth. However, there are physical and astronomical effects that change that picture, namely, atmospheric refraction allows the Sun to be still visible even when it physically sets below the horizon. For that reason, average daytime is longest in polar areas, places on the Arctic Circle have the longest total annual daytime,4,647 hours, while the North Pole receives 4,575. Because of elliptic nature of the Earths orbit, the Southern Hemisphere is not symmetrical, the Equator has a total daytime of 4,422 hours per year. Given the theoretical maximum of daytime duration for a given location, bright sunshine hours represent the total hours when the sunlight is stronger than a specified threshold, as opposed to just visible hours. Visible sunshine, for example, occurs around sunrise and sunset, measurement is performed by instruments called sunshine recorders. For the specific purpose of sunshine duration recording, Campbell–Stokes recorders are used, when the intensity exceeds a pre-determined threshold, the tape burns. The total length of the trace is proportional to the number of bright hours. Another type of recorder is the Jordan sunshine recorder, newer, electronic recorders have more stable sensitivity than that of the paper tape. In 2003, the duration was finally defined as the period during which direct solar irradiance exceeds a threshold value of 120 W/m². The sky is clear in these regions, and fair weather is virtually perpetual, the descending branch of the Hadley cell and the long-term lack of atmospheric disturbances helps to explain the seemingly endless supply of sunny, cloud-free days in the deserts. Low clouding conditions are associated with rainfall shortage, as seen in these dry regions. In the belt encompassing northern Chad and the Tibesti Mountains, northern Sudan, southern Libya, some places in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula receive 3, 600–3,800 hours of bright sunshine annually. The largest sun-baked region in the world is North Africa, the sunniest month in the world is December in Eastern Antarctica, with almost 23 hours of bright sun daily
17.
Celebrity Solstice
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Celebrity Solstice is the lead ship of the Solstice-class of cruise ships operated by Celebrity Cruises. Celebrity Solstice left Meyer Werft on September 28,2008, subsequently she embarked on a series of short preview cruises for travel agents and dignitaries. On November 14,2008, at Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale and she began commercial service on November 23,2008. Externally, Celebrity Solstice looks very different from previous Celebrity Cruises ships, martin Francis of Francis Design was hired to design her exterior profile. In original exterior renderings, the hull was shown as all-white with powder blue funnels, throughout her fitting out, sea trials, and launch, it was noted that the glass X, unless seen from certain angles, was not visible. Shortly after, the X was refinished to be darker, an afterthought during the sea trials saw the addition of a white X onto the forward funnel, thus bringing Solstice more closely related to her fleetmates. Celebrity Solstice and her sisters offer a variety of stateroom categories, including Celebrity Cruises signature ConciergeClass. Some unique features include glass-blowing classes/demonstrations as well as The Lawn Club, on May 30,2010 the Celebrity Solstice launched the iLounge
18.
Crown Princess (ship)
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Crown Princess is a Grand-class cruise ship owned and operated by Princess Cruises. Her maiden voyage took place on June 14,2006, departing Red Hook, Brooklyn for Grand Turk, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, as of 2015, the Crown Princess sails to Mexico for the Winter season, and Alaska for the Summer season. Like her sister ships Emerald Princess and Ruby Princess her Skywalkers Night Club is built aft of the rather than suspended over the stern. In December 2012, the Crown Princess made a crossing from Venice to Galveston. When the ship arrived in Galveston on December 22,2012, the Crown Princess had previously been plagued by two separate outbreaks of norovirus in January/February 2012. On July 18,2006 at approximately 3,30 pm ET, one hour after departing her last port of call in Port Canaveral, the U. S. Coast Guard was contacted shortly after and crews arrived within minutes to assist the troubled vessel. The second officer turned the wheel first to port and then from port to starboard several times, eventually causing the vessel to list even more, the severe listing tumbled passengers, crew members, pool water, and everything else not secured about the decks. Fourteen passengers and crew members were injured, one suffering breathing difficulties after being hit in the chest by an airborne chair. Water from the four on-board pools poured into staircases and lift shafts, most injuries were on the outdoor areas of Decks 15 and 16, where large beach chairs and tables hit and injured passengers. The other area that had many injured passengers was the areas in the grand atrium. Many there were hit by falling objects and heavy marble tables, one woman who had an extended hospital stay was thrown against the glass wall on Deck 15 and covered by pool chairs and water from the pools themselves, being trapped underwater for several seconds. One passenger said Afterward it was like a war zone with people walking around bleeding, and another added All the windows were smashed. The top deck looked like a hurricane had hit it, no passengers or crew went overboard. The matter was referred to the National Transportation Safety Board and United States Coast Guard for investigation, after an internal review by Princess Cruises, its president Alan Buckelew publicly stated that the incident was due to human error and the appropriate personnel changes have been made. With approval from the Coast Guard and the Bermuda flag authorities, since then, Crown Princess has resumed her normal schedule. Crown Princess until November 2012 was sailing the Mediterranean, in November 2012 the ship sailed to Galveston, Texas for the first time, marking the return of Princess to Galveston, where she sailed 7-Day western Caribbean cruises. In April 2013 she sailed to Southampton, where she sailed to northern Europe/the Mediterranean & the Canary Islands, following that stint, Crown Princess will returned to the United States to Fort Lauderdale, Florida sailing alternating 7-Day eastern/southern Caribbean cruises to February 2014. On January 18,2013 it was announced that Crown Princess will sail around South America, during that cruise Princess Cruises marked the first ever call in Ilhabela, Brazil
19.
Disney Magic
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Disney Magic is a cruise ship owned and operated by the Disney Cruise Line, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. She has 11 public decks, can accommodate 2,700 passengers in 875 staterooms, the interior of Disney Magic is decorated in the Art Deco style, in contrast to her sister ship, Disney Wonder which is decorated in the Art Nouveau style. The ship has twenty bright yellow lifeboats which, along with the black, red and this change from the standard safety orange took a waiver of international maritime rules. As with other Disney cruise ships, the ships horn blast plays an excerpt from Disneys famous flagship tune, the Disney Magics Godmother is Patricia Disney, former wife of Walt Disneys nephew, Roy E. Disney. Disney had cruise ship designs drawn up by February 1994, Disney Cruise Line in 1995 commissioned Disney Magic and Disney Wonder from Fincantieri in Italy. The ship was built in two halves with the bow built at Fincatieris Ancona shipyard and the aft at their Marghera shipyard, the planned maiden voyage was for March 12,1998. In January 1997, the first ticket for the Magics first trip was raffled off on Lifetime channel, with continuing delays on the MS Rotterdam kept additional workers from the Magic. Thus by November 1997, the cruise line rescheduled the ships initial voyage to April 30,1998, further delays, from suppliers and weather conditions, at Fincantieri forced back the maiden voyage of Disney Magic a few more months. The bow was towed to the Marghera shipyard where the halves were joined. With livery and design evocative of the RMA Queen Mary, the Disney Line Disney Magic set sail on its voyage on July 30,1998. The ships initial cruises were to Nassau, Bahamas with a stop at Castaway Cay over three to four nights, originally, from 2000, Disney Magic had been offering weekly cruises to Castaway Cay and multiple Caribbean islands out of its home port in Port Canaveral, Florida. In June 2005, Disney Magic was dispatched to the West Coast in honor of Disneylands 50th Anniversary celebrations, in May 2007, Disney Magic started her inaugural Mediterranean cruises out of Barcelona, Spain. At the end of the summer, she returned to her port of Port Canaveral. Disney Magic returned to Barcelona in 2010 for another summer of Mediterranean cruises, in May 2012, Disney Magic was relocated to New York City, where she sailed 8-night cruises to the Bahamas, New England, and Canada. In September, she was relocated to Galveston, Texas for the remainder of the year and offered 4 Night Caribbean Cruises,6,7, and 8 Night Western Caribbean Cruises, in June 2013, Disney Magic was repositioned to Barcelona, Spain for the summer. In 2016, the Disney Magic sailed Disney Cruise Lines inaugural Northern Europe itineraries, homeported in the port of Southampton,80 miles from London and she sailed to Norway, the British Isles, and the Baltic Sea during her brief three month season. She will return to the region in 2017, several kids clubs are available on board. The Edge offers 11- to 14-year-olds an interactive play space designed like the ships bridge, the teens-only Vibe club offers teens television, video games, music, Internet access, and a variety of social activities
20.
MS Oasis of the Seas
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MS Oasis of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean International. Her hull was laid down in November 2007 and she was completed and delivered to Royal Caribbean in October 2009, at the time of construction, Oasis of the Seas set a new capacity record of carrying over 6,000 passengers. The first of her class, she was joined by sister ships MS Allure of the Seas in December 2010, Oasis of the Seas conducts cruises of the Caribbean from her home port of Port Canaveral in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Oasis of the Seas surpassed the Freedom-class cruise ships to become the largest cruise ship in the world at that time, in May 2016, her second sister ship Harmony of the Seas became the new record holder with a length of 362.12 metres. The vessel was ordered in February 2006 and designed under the name Project Genesis and her keel was laid down on 12 November 2007 by STX Europe Turku Shipyard, Finland. The company announced that funding for Oasis of the Seas was secured on 15 April 2009. The name Oasis of the Seas resulted from a competition held in May 2008, during the first float-out of the vessel the tugboats that were pulling the ship from its dock failed to control the ship, resulting in the port side of the ship hitting the dock. This resulted in some damage and minor damage to the hull. The ship was completed and turned over to Royal Caribbean on 28 October 2009, two days later, she departed Finland for the United States. While exiting the Baltic Sea, the vessel passed underneath the Great Belt Fixed Link in Denmark on 31 October 2009 at 23,18 UTC, the bridge has a clearance of 65 m above the water, Oasis normally has an air draft of 72 m. Approaching the bridge at 23 knots, the passed under it with less than 60 centimetres of clearance. The ship arrived there on 13 November 2009, where plants were installed prior to some introductory trips. Oasis had a refit in winter 2011, adding the DreamWorks Experience which allows passengers to interact with characters, such as Shrek. The Oasis-class also now features 3D movies, Oasis underwent a second drydock refit in October 2014. In addition, the Broadway-style production of Hairspray was replaced with a production of Cats, the gross tonnage of Oasis of the Seas is 225,282. Her displacement—the actual mass of the vessel—is estimated at approximately 100,000 metric tons, slightly less than that of an American Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. To keep the ship stable without increasing the draft excessively, the created a wide hull,9.3 metres of the ship sits beneath the water. Wide, shallow ships such as this tend to be snappy, meaning that they can snap back upright after a wave has passed and this effect, however, is mitigated by the vessels large size
21.
Corsair International
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Corsair International, legally Corsair S. A. is a French airline headquartered in Rungis and based at Paris-Orly Airport. It is a subsidiary of German TUI Group, part of TUI Airlines and it operates scheduled long-haul services to 9 leisure destinations in the French overseas territories, Africa and North America as well as charter flights to further destinations. The airline was established in 1981 and started operations on 17 May 1981 as Corse Air International and it was founded by the Corsican Rossi family, in 1990 it was acquired by Nouvelles Frontières, a French tour operator, and the name was changed to Corsair. Worldwide traffic rights were obtained in 1991, in 2000 TUI AG, one of the worlds leading tour operator groups, took over Nouvelles Frontières. In 2004, Corsair aircraft were repainted with the colours of TUI, blue fuselage with the TUI-logo, at the end of 2005 the TUI Group, decided to rename all its affiliated airlines TUIfly. As an interim step Corsair aircraft were repainted with Corsairfly markings, the airline held the record for most seats on a passenger aircraft with 587 seats on its Boeing 747-400s until they received a new interior which led to a new lower capacity of 533 passengers. The first destination in this expansion was Miami in June 2010, on 27 May 2010, Corsairfly announced a plan called Takeoff 2012, aimed to modernise the airline. As of October 2010, the plan was pending union approval, on 22 March 2012, the airline announced it would be changing its name to Corsair International and unveiled the new corporate image inline with the planned operational changes. In 2015, Corsairs owner, German tourism company TUI Group, TUI Group also announced a rebrand of all TUI companies and airlines, to operate under the one TUI name, in 2015 - however Corsair International was excluded from this project. The Corsair International fleet consists of the aircraft as of June 2016
22.
Boeing 747
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The Boeing 747 is an American wide-body commercial jet airliner and cargo aircraft, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet. Its distinctive hump upper deck along the part of the aircraft makes it among the worlds most recognizable aircraft. First flown commercially in 1970, the 747 held the passenger capacity record for 37 years, as of January 2017, the 747 has been involved in 60 hull losses, resulting in 3722 fatalities. The four-engine 747 uses a configuration for part of its length. It is available in passenger, freighter and other versions, the 747 was expected to become obsolete after 400 were sold, but it exceeded critics expectations with production passing the 1,000 mark in 1993. By February 2017,1,528 aircraft had been built, the 747-400, the most common passenger version in service, has a high-subsonic cruise speed of Mach 0. 85–0.855 with an intercontinental range of 7,260 nautical miles. The newest version of the aircraft, the 747-8, is in production, deliveries of the 747-8F freighter version began in October 2011, deliveries of the 747-8I passenger version began in May 2012. In 1963, the United States Air Force started a series of projects on a very large strategic transport aircraft. The payload bay had to be 17 feet wide by 13.5 feet high and 100 feet long with access doors at the front. Featuring only four engines, the design required new engine designs with greatly increased power and better fuel economy. After a downselect, Boeing, Douglas, and Lockheed were given study contracts for the airframe, along with General Electric. All three of the airframe proposals shared a number of features, as the CX-HLS needed to be able to be loaded from the front, a door had to be included where the cockpit usually was. In 1965 Lockheeds aircraft design and General Electrics engine design were selected for the new C-5 Galaxy transport, the nose door and raised cockpit concepts would be carried over to the design of the 747. The 747 was conceived while air travel was increasing in the 1960s, the era of commercial jet transportation, led by the enormous popularity of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, had revolutionized long-distance travel. In 1965, Joe Sutter was transferred from Boeings 737 development team to manage the design studies for a new airliner, Sutter initiated a design study with Pan Am and other airlines, to better understand their requirements. At the time, it was thought that the 747 would eventually be superseded by supersonic transport aircraft. Boeing responded by designing the 747 so that it could be adapted easily to carry freight, in the freighter role, the clear need was to support the containerized shipping methodologies that were being widely introduced at about the same time. Standard containers are 8 ft square at the front and available in 20 and 40 ft lengths and this meant that it would be possible to support a 2-wide 2-high stack of containers two or three ranks deep with a fuselage size similar to the earlier CX-HLS project
23.
Princess Juliana International Airport
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Princess Juliana International Airport is the main airport on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, located on the Dutch side of the island in the country of Sint Maarten. In 2010, the airport handled 1,645,105 passengers and 60,870 aircraft movements. The airport serves as a hub for Windward Islands Airways and is the gateway for the smaller Leeward Islands, including Anguilla, Saba, St. Barthélemy. It is named after Juliana of the Netherlands, who as crown princess landed here in 1944, there is also an airport on the French side of the island, called Aéroport de Grand Case or LEspérance Airport. The airport is perhaps best known for very low-altitude flyover landing approaches due to one end of its runway being extremely close to the shore, the airport was started as a military airstrip in 1942. It was converted to an airport in 1943. In 1964 the airport was remodeled and relocated, with a new terminal building, the facilities were upgraded in 1985 and 2001. Phase I was a program in order to upgrade existing facilities. This included widening, strengthening and renovating the runway, increasing the capacity of the taxiways, construction of a new apron. Phase I was completed in 2001, the new air traffic control tower and the radar station commenced operations on 29 March 2004, while the new terminal opened in late October 2006. The terminal has 4 jetways for large aircraft like 747s, if traffic develops as forecast, Phase III of the masterplan will be executed, consisting of an extension of the new terminal building and the construction of a full parallel taxiway system. The new terminal building also have more jetways and services etc. In 1994, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and France signed the Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint Martin border controls, after some delay, the treaty was ratified in November 2006 in the Netherlands, and subsequently entered into force on 1 August 2007. In July 2016, KLM announced to serve the airport with flights from Amsterdam instead by a triangle route via Curaçao from October 2016. Due to this change, the airport lost its last regular Boeing 747 service - which was a photo opportunity on the nearby beach - as KLM uses Airbus A330s for the changed schedule. Because the approach to Runway 10 is over water, pilots can become disoriented regarding their perceived altitude when operating under visual flight rules, normal instrument checks, coupled with experience and situational awareness, mitigate potential problems. The departure from Runway 10 presents more difficulties than the approach, arriving aircraft approach the island on the last section of the final approach for Runway 10, following a 3° glide slope flying low over the famous Maho Beach. Pictures of low flying aircraft were published in news magazines worldwide in early 2000
24.
International Air Transport Association
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The International Air Transport Association is a trade association of the world’s airlines. Consisting of 268 airlines, primarily major carriers, representing 117 countries, IATA supports airline activity and helps formulate industry policy and standards. It is headquartered in Montreal, Canada with Executive Offices in Geneva, IATA was formed in April 1945 in Havana, Cuba. It is the successor to the International Air Traffic Association, which was formed in 1919 at The Hague, at its founding, IATA consisted of 57 airlines from 31 countries. The Chicago Convention couldn’t resolve the issue of who flies where, however, the benchmark standard for the early bilaterals was the 1946 United States-United Kingdom Bermuda Agreement. IATA was also charged by the governments with setting a coherent fare structure that avoided cut-throat competition, the first Traffic Conference was held in 1947 in Rio de Janeiro and reached unanimous agreement on some 400 resolutions. Aviation grew rapidly over the decades and IATA’s work duly expanded. Safety is the number one priority for IATA, the main instrument for safety is the IATA Operational Safety Audit. IOSA has also been mandated at the level by several countries. In 2012, aviation posted its safest year ever, the global Western-built jet accident rate was 0.20, the equivalent of one accident every 5 million flights. Future improvements will be founded on data sharing with a database fed by a multitude of sources, in June 2014 the IATA set up a special panel to study measures to track aircraft in flight in real time. The move was in response to the disappearance without trace of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on 8 March 2014, security has become increasingly important following the September 11 attacks in 2001. Following a series of uncoordinated rules by different countries, the industry has developed a Checkpoint of the Future, simplifying the Business was launched in 2004. This initiative has introduced a number of concepts to passenger travel, including the electronic ticket. Many other innovations are being established as part of the Fast Travel initiative, an innovative program, launched in 2012 is New Distribution Capability. This will replace the pre-Internet EDIFACT messaging standard that is still the basis of the distribution system /travel agent channel. This will enable the same choices to be offered to high street travel shoppers as are offered to those who book directly through airline websites, a filing with the US Department of Transportation brought over 400 comments. At the 69th IATA annual general meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, IATA provides consulting and training services in many areas crucial to aviation
25.
International Civil Aviation Organization
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The International Civil Aviation Organization, is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of air transport to ensure safe. Its headquarters are located in the Quartier International of Montreal, Quebec, ICAO defines the protocols for air accident investigation followed by transport safety authorities in countries signatory to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The Air Navigation Commission is the body within ICAO. The Commission is composed of 19 Commissioners, nominated by the ICAOs contracting states, Commissioners serve as independent experts, who although nominated by their states, do not serve as state or political representatives. The development of Aviation Standards and Recommended Practices is done under the direction of the ANC through the process of ICAO Panels. Once approved by the Commission, standards are sent to the Council, the forerunner to ICAO was the International Commission for Air Navigation. It held its first convention in 1903 in Berlin, Germany, at the second convention in 1906, also held in Berlin,27 countries attended. The third convention, held in London in 1912 allocated the first radio callsigns for use by aircraft, ICAN continued to operate until 1945. Fifty-two countries signed the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, in Chicago, Illinois, on 7 December 1944. Under its terms, a Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization was to be established, accordingly, PICAO began operating on 6 June 1945, replacing ICAN. The 26th country ratified the Convention on 5 March 1947 and, consequently PICAO was disestablished on 4 April 1947 and replaced by ICAO, in October 1947, ICAO became an agency of the United Nations linked to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. In April 2013 Qatar offered to serve as the new permanent seat of the Organization, according to the Globe and Mail, Qatars move was at least partly motivated by the pro-Israel foreign policy of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Approximately one month later, Qatar withdrew its bid after a proposal to the ICAOs governing council to move the ICAO triennial conference to Doha was defeated by a vote of 22–14. The 9th edition of the Convention on International Civil Aviation includes modifications from 1948 up to year 2006, ICAO refers to its current edition of the Convention as the Statute, and designates it as ICAO Document 7300/9. The Convention has 19 Annexes that are listed by title in the article Convention on International Civil Aviation, as of March 2016, there are 191 ICAO members, consisting of 190 of the 193 UN members, plus the Cook Islands. Liechtenstein has delegated Switzerland to implement the treaty to make it applicable in the territory of Liechtenstein, Taiwan attended the 38th Session of the ICAO Assembly in 2013, but in 2016 was denied such an invitation, despite expressions of support from the United States for Taiwan to participate. However, the Republic of China under the name of Chinese Taipei is a member of International Air Transport Association, the Council of ICAO is elected by the Assembly every 3 years and consists of 36 members elected in 3 categories
26.
Jet blast
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Jet blast is the phenomenon of rapid air movement produced by the jet engines of aircraft, particularly on or before takeoff. A large jet-engined aircraft can produce winds of up to 100 knots as far away as 60 metres behind it at 40% maximum rated power, due to the invisible nature of jet blast and the aerodynamic properties of light aircraft, light aircraft moving about airports are particularly vulnerable. Pilots of light aircraft frequently stay off to the side of the runway, rather than follow in the centre, propeller planes are also capable of generating significant rearwards winds, known as prop wash. Some airports have installed jet blast deflectors in areas where roads or people may be in the path of the jet blast on take off, air Moorea Flight 1121 NASA site on jet blast
27.
Capital of the Netherlands
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The Netherlands is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
28.
Amsterdam
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Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
29.
The Hague
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The Hague is a city on the western coast of the Netherlands, and the capital city of the province of South Holland. With a population of 520,704 inhabitants and more than one million including the suburbs, it is the third-largest city of the Netherlands. The Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 12th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation. The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands, which constitutionally is Amsterdam. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands plans to live at Huis ten Bosch and works at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Hague is also home to the world headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell and numerous other major Dutch companies. The Hague originated around 1230, when Count Floris IV of Holland purchased land alongside a pond, in 1248, his son and successor William II, King of the Romans, decided to extend the residence to a palace, which would later be called the Binnenhof. He died in 1256 before this palace was completed but parts of it were finished by his son Floris V, of which the Ridderzaal and it is still used for political events, such as the annual speech from the throne by the Dutch monarch. From the 13th century onwards, the counts of Holland used The Hague as their administrative centre, the village that originated around the Binnenhof was first mentioned as Haga in a charter dating from 1242. In the 15th century, the smarter des Graven hage came into use, literally The Counts Wood, with connotations like The Counts Hedge, s-Gravenhage was officially used for the city from the 17th century onwards. Today, this name is used in some official documents like birth. The city itself uses Den Haag in all its communication and their seat was located in The Hague. At the beginning of the Eighty Years War, the absence of city walls proved disastrous, in 1575, the States of Holland even considered demolishing the city but this proposal was abandoned, after mediation by William of Orange. From 1588, The Hague also became the seat of the government of the Dutch Republic, in order for the administration to maintain control over city matters, The Hague never received official city status, although it did have many of the privileges normally granted only to cities. In modern administrative law, city rights have no place anymore, only in 1806, when the Kingdom of Holland was a puppet state of the First French Empire, was the settlement granted city rights by Louis Bonaparte. After the Napoleonic Wars, modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands were combined in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands to form a buffer against France, as a compromise, Brussels and Amsterdam alternated as capital every two years, with the government remaining in The Hague. After the separation of Belgium in 1830, Amsterdam remained the capital of the Netherlands, when the government started to play a more prominent role in Dutch society after 1850, The Hague quickly expanded. The growing city annexed the rural municipality of Loosduinen partly in 1903, the city sustained heavy damage during World War II
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Provinces of the Netherlands
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The most populous province is South Holland, with over 3.5 million inhabitants in 2009. With approximately 381,000 inhabitants, Zeeland has the smallest population, in terms of area, Friesland is the largest province with a total area of 5,749 km2. If water is excluded, Gelderland is the largest province in terms of area at 4,972 km2, Utrecht is the smallest at 1,449 km2. In total about 13,000 people were employed by the administrations in 2009. The provinces of the Netherlands are joined in the Association of Provinces of the Netherlands and this organisation promotes the common interests of the provinces in the national government of the Netherlands in The Hague and within the EU in Brussels. The government of each province consists of three parts, The States-Provincial is the provincial parliament elected every four years. The number of members varies between 39 and 55, depending on the number of inhabitants of the province, being a member is a part-time job. The main task of the States-Provincial is to scrutinise the work of the provincial government, the Provincial Executive is a college elected from among the members of the States-Provincial and charged with most executive tasks. Each province has three and seven deputies, each having their own portfolio. The task of the Provincial Executive is the management of the province. The Kings Commissioner is a person appointed by the Crown who presides over the States-Provincial as well as over the Provincial Executive. The Commissioner is appointed for a term of six years, after which reappointment for another term is possible, the members of the States-Provincial are elected every four years in direct elections. To a large extent, the political parties are enlisted in these elections in the national elections. The chosen provincial legislators elect the members of the national Senate within three months after the provincial elections, the elections for the water boards take place on the same date as the provincial elections. The last three elections were held in 2007,2011 and in 2015. The provinces of the Netherlands have 7 core tasks, Sustainable spatial development, also, provinces have income from a part of the Vehicle Excise Duty. Several provinces have made a profit in the past from privatising utility companies originally owned or partly owned by the provinces. An example is Essent, which was owned by six provinces
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Caribbean Netherlands
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The Caribbean Netherlands are the three special municipalities of the Netherlands that are located in the Caribbean Sea. They consist of the islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba, in legislation, the three islands are also known as the BES islands. The islands are classified as public bodies in the Netherlands and as overseas countries and territories of the European Union, thus. Bonaire is one of the Leeward Antilles and is located close to the coast of Venezuela, Sint Eustatius and Saba are in the main Lesser Antilles group and are located south of Sint Maarten and northwest of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The three islands gained their current status following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010, at the same time, the islands of Curaçao and Sint Maarten became autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The island of Aruba is also a constituent country of the Kingdom located in the Caribbean, the term Dutch Caribbean may refer to the three special municipalities, but may also refer to all of the Caribbean islands within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The population of the BES islands is 21,000 and their total area is 328 square kilometres. The islands of the Caribbean Netherlands first voted in Dutch general elections in 2012, the special municipalities carry many of the functions normally performed by Dutch municipalities. The executive power rests with the Governing Council headed by a Lieutenant governor, the main democratic body is the island council. Dutch citizens of three islands are entitled to vote in Dutch national and in European elections. Officially the islands are classed in Dutch law as being openbare lichamen, for this reason, they are called special municipalities. For many Dutch laws there is a special BES version, for example, social security is not on the same level as it is in the European Netherlands. This agency was established as the Regional Service Center in 2008, the current director is Jan Helmond. The Representative for the bodies of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba represents the Government of the Netherlands on the islands. The current representative is Gilbert Isabella, the islands do not form part of the European Union and instead constitute overseas countries and territories of the Union, to which special provisions apply. In June 2008, the Dutch government published a survey of the legal, the position of the islands will be reviewed after a five-year transitional period, which began with the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in October 2010. The Caribbean Netherlands form part of the Lesser Antilles, within this island group, Bonaire is part of the ABC islands within the Leeward Antilles island chain off the Venezuelan coast. The Leeward Antilles have a volcanic and coral origin
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Oranjestad, Aruba
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Oranjestad is the capital and largest city of Aruba. Oranjestad is located on the southern coast near the end of the island country. In the local language, Papiamento, Oranjestad is often referred to simply as Playa, as of 2015, the population of the capital was around 35,000. The town was built around Fort Zoutman shortly after it was built in 1796, initially the town had no official name, being known only as the town on the Bay of Horses, a place from which native-bred horses were raised and exported to neighboring Curaçao. The town has ever since been the city of the island. The city is named after the first King William I of the Netherlands, the name was conferred on the city in the 1820s when interest in Aruba increased due to the discovery of gold deposits. Air Aruba once had its headquarters in Oranjestad, Air Aruba suspended its operations on October 23,2000. Tiara Air has had its office in Oranjestad since 2006 except between 2014 and 2016 when the company suspended services due to the Venezuelan Airline Crisis. Small portions of the city are formed from a series of expansions of land into the sea. Present-day Renaissance Marketplace, as well as the adjacent Queen Wilhelmina Park, Oranjestad has a hot semi-arid climate with significant tropical influence. Temperatures are hot and the climate is humid with low diurnal temperature variation year-round, there is some Dutch Colonial architecture. Several modern recreations have emerged, including the shopping mall at Royal Plaza. Fort Zoutman is one of the attractions, others being the tax-free harbour. There are about eight museums on the island, the city received international publicity when tourist Natalee Holloway disappeared there in 2005. Renaissance Island is a 40 acres artificial island off the coast near Oranjestad and it is privately owned and has the only private beaches on Aruba. There are two beaches, Iguana Beach and Flamingo Beach, a Beechcraft 18 and a Convair 400 were both deliberately sunk about 50 yards offshore to create a diving site. Flamingoes can be seen on the island, Oranjestad is served by the Queen Beatrix International Airport,2.5 kilometers from the city center. Its downtown is served by a tramway line inaugurated in December 2012 and this is in part because the boulevard is closer to the cruise ship terminal and harbour area
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Aruba
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It measures 32 kilometres long from its northwestern to its southeastern end and 10 kilometres across at its widest point. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, Aruba forms a group referred to as the ABC islands, collectively, Aruba and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean. Aruba is one of the four countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along with the Netherlands, Curaçao, the citizens of these countries all share a single nationality, Dutch. Aruba has no subdivisions, but, for census purposes, is divided into eight regions. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate and this climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. It has an area of 179 km2 and is densely populated. Arubas first inhabitants are thought to have been Caquetío Amerindians from the Arawak tribe, fragments of the earliest known Indian settlements date back to 1000 AD. As sea currents made travel to other Caribbean islands difficult. Europeans first learned of Aruba following the explorations for Spain by Amerigo Vespucci, both described Aruba as an island of giants, remarking on the comparatively large stature of the native Caquetíos compared to Europeans. Gold was not discovered on Aruba for another 300 years, Vespucci returned to Spain with stocks of cotton and brazilwood from the island and described houses built into the ocean. Vespucci and Ojedas tales spurred interest in Aruba, and Spaniards soon colonized the island, because it had low rainfall, Aruba was not considered profitable for the plantation system and the economics of the slave trade. Aruba was colonized by Spain for over a century, simas, the Cacique, or chief, in Aruba, welcomed the first Catholic priests in Aruba, who gave him a wooden cross as a gift. In 1508, the Spanish Crown appointed Alonso de Ojeda as its first Governor of Aruba, Arawaks spoke the broken Spanish which their ancestors had learned on Hispaniola. Another governor appointed by Spain was Juan Martínez de Ampiés, a cédula real decreed in November 1525 gave Ampiés, factor of Española, the right to repopulate Aruba. In 1528, Ampiés was replaced by a representative of the House of Welser, the Dutch statutes have applied to Aruba since 1629. The Netherlands acquired Aruba in 1636, since 1636, Aruba has been under Dutch administration, initially governed by Peter Stuyvesant, later appointed to New Amsterdam. Stuyvesant was on a mission in Aruba in November and December 1642. The island was included under the Dutch West India Company administration, as New Netherland and Curaçao, in 1667 the Dutch administration appointed an Irishman as Commandeur in Aruba
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Willemstad
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Willemstad is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Formerly the capital of the Netherlands Antilles prior to its dissolution in 2010, Willemstad is home to the Curaçao synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas. The city centre, with its architecture and harbour entry, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Punda was established in 1634, when the Dutch captured the island from Spain, the original name of Punda was de punt in Dutch. Otrobanda, which was founded in 1707, is the section of the city and is considered to be the cultural centre of Willemstad. Its name originated from the Papiamentu otro banda, which means the other side, the Curaçao synagogue was built by Sephardic Portuguese Jews from Amsterdam and Recife, Brazil. Insel Air, the airline of Curaçao, has its corporate head office in Maduro Plaza. Tourism is an industry and the city has several casinos. The city centre of Willemstad has an array of architecture that is influenced by Dutch styles. Archaeological research has also been developed there, owing to its location near the Venezuelan oilfields, its political stability and its natural deep water harbour, Willemstad became the site of an important seaport and refinery. Willemstads harbour is one of the largest oil handling ports in the Caribbean, the refinery, at one point the largest in the world, was originally built and owned by Royal Dutch Shell in 1915. It was sold to the Curaçao government for the sum of one guilder in 1985 and is now leased to PDVSA. Schlumberger, the worlds largest oil field services company is incorporated in Willemstad, numerous financial institutions are incorporated in Willemstad due to Curaçaos favourable tax policies. Avalon University School of Medicine is located in Willemstad, Caribbean Medical University is located in Willemstad - close to downtown. Major League Baseball players Jair Jurrjens, Wladimir Balentien, Jurickson Profar, Andruw Jones, Kenley Jansen, pabao Little League has appeared in five Little League World Series, winning in 2004. S. Willemstad is served by Hato International Airport, Punda and Otrobanda are connected by Queen Emma Bridge, a long pontoon bridge. Although it is still in use, these days most road traffic now uses the Queen Juliana Bridge built in 1967 which arches high over the bay further inland, nearby is also the now non-functioning Queen Wilhelmina Bridge drawbridge. Willemstad has a tropical savannah climate, Baseball player Andruw Jones was born in Willemstad
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Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
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Assen
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Assen is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital of the province of Drenthe. It received city rights in 1809, Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Sunday in June the Dutch TT is run, and also for the annual Assen Dance Festival. Anreep, Assen, De Haar, Graswijk, Loon, Rhee, Schieven, Ter Aard, Ubbena, Witten, Zeijerveen and his successor ordered the nunnery to be built as a penalty. As it was located in a barren area, which also happened to flood from time to time. A better and especially drier spot for the Cistercian abbey was found in a known as Witten. Around it were village communities like Deurze, Witten and Peelo, the latter has a history which goes back to the times from when Dolmens were built, but it is now situated between two new districts of Assen. The relocated abbey probably was erected in the 1260s, and over the centuries Assen developed around it, the abbey was built at what now is the Brink of Assen. On the abbey now stands the Drents Museum, which was built in 1882 as provinciehuis. Only the abdijkerk, the grounds, and bits and pieces of walls remind us of the beginnings of the city. The coat of arms is borrowed from the seal of the abbey. It is just like the coat of arms of the province of Drenthe - in both cases Mary with child - but Jesus switches to the other knee, the history of the city is connected with the provincial governing board, around 1600 the abbey property was secularised. Marienkamp no longer existed, but the buildings did, Assen was not a municipality yet, not even ecclesiastical sense. Even though there was a church, Assen fell ecclesiastically and administratively under Rolde. In 1615 Assen got its own preacher, in 1807 Assen administratively freed itself from the control of Rolde when the village got to establish its own municipal authorities. A municipal authority which moreover in most cases operated in the shadow of the provincial government, the municipal authority mainly got there because of matter of provincial governors like Governor Petrus Hofstede, to which the city also thanks its uniquely located park. From that time Assen also obtained its nickname het Herenbolwerk, Assen has been an official city since 1809. After Coevorden, then a village of about sixteen hundred people, Assen became the place in Drenthe with city rights, granted by King Louis Napoleon. A plan to make it a city was set up at the time, but the Kingdom of the Netherlands was incorporated into Napoleon Bonapartes French Empire, as an administrative centre, Assen attracted well-to-do inhabitants and with that also new enterprises and initiatives
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Drenthe
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Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the northeast of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, in January 2017, it had a population of 491,867 and a total area of 2,683 km2. Drenthe has been populated for 150,000 years, the region has subsequently been part of the Bishopric of Utrecht, Habsburg Netherlands, Dutch Republic, Batavian Republic, Kingdom of Holland, and the Netherlands. Drenthe is a province since 1796. The capital and seat of the government is Assen. The Kings Commissioner of Drenthe is Jacques Tichelaar, the Labour Party is the largest party in the States-Provincial, followed by the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Christian Democratic Appeal. Drenthe is a populated rural area, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands. Except for some industry in Assen and Emmen, the land in Drenthe is mainly used for agriculture, the name Drenthe is said to stem from *thrija-hantja meaning three lands. Drenthe has been populated by people since prehistory, artifacts from the Wolstonian Stage are among the oldest found in the Netherlands. In fact, it was one of the most densely populated areas of the Netherlands until the Bronze Age. The most tangible evidence of this are the dolmens built around 3500 BC.53 of the 54 dolmens in the Netherlands can be found in Drenthe, Drenthe was first mentioned in a document from 820, it was called Pago Treanth. In archives from Het Utrechts Archief, from 1024 to 1025, the county Drenthe is mentioned, after long being subject to the Utrecht diocese, Bishop Henry of Wittelsbach in 1528 ceded Drenthe to Emperor Charles V of Habsburg, who incorporated it into the Habsburg Netherlands. The successor Batavian Republic granted it provincial status on 1 January 1796, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, the Dutch government built a camp near the town of Hooghalen to accommodate German refugees. During the Second World War, the German occupiers used the camp as a Durchgangslager, many Dutch Jews, Sinti, Roma, resistance combatants and political adversaries were imprisoned before being transferred to concentration and extermination camps in Germany and Poland. Anne Frank was deported on the last train leaving the Westerbork transit camp on 3 September 1944, in the 1970s, there were four hostage crises where South Moluccan terrorists demanded an independent Republic of South Maluku. They held hostages in hijacked trains in 1975 and 1977, in a school in 1977. Drenthe is the 9th largest province of the Netherlands and it has a total area of 2,683 km2, with 2,639 km2 of land and 44 km2 of water. About 72% of the land or 1,898 km2 is used for agriculture, Drenthe has several heathlands and no significant rivers or lakes
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Lelystad
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Lelystad is a municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands, and it is the capital of the province of Flevoland. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named after Cornelis Lely, Lelystad is approximately 3 metres below sea level. Lelystad is built on the seabed of the former Zuiderzee, about 6500 years ago this wetland was above high tide level and inhabited, the Netherlands have steadily subsided since. Near Lelystad at Swifterbant, the oldest human skeletons in Western Europe were discovered, due to rising water levels and storms, the peatlands were washed away, and the Lacus Flevo grew to be the Almere and became the Zuiderzee. The Zuiderzee was the transport route from Amsterdam to the North Sea. Due to the shipwrecks in Flevoland, Lelystad now houses the National Centre for Maritime History, with a museum. After the Second World War the Zuiderzee Works continued, constructing the polder of Eastern Flevoland, in 1950 work commenced on several construction islands in the middle of the IJsselmeer. Lelystad-Haven was the largest island, and its wooden barracks housed a community of dyke-builders, in 1955 they reached the mainland, which made it possible to drive to Lelystad by car. One of the three pumping stations, which drained the polder in June 1957, was the diesel-powered Wortman in Lelystad-Haven, until 1967 the only inhabitants of Lelystad were technical engineers and laborers and superintendents, living on the former construction island. Lelystad is the largest municipality in the Netherlands in area, but a part of that area is water, Markermeer and IJsselmeer. Another major area is the famous nature park of Oostvaardersplassen. Lelystad is also surrounded by a square of woodlands and parks, the importance of the landscape and sky is emphasized by several pieces of land art, engineers work and works such as the Observatorium by Robert Morris. Lelystad has several tourist attractions, including, The replica of the 17th-century ship Batavia at the Batavia Shipyard, on the Midland Circuit many motor, kart and stock car racing events and several autoclub meetings are held. On the coast there are several marinas, Lelystad can be reached by air, water, and land. Air, Lelystad Airport is a satellite of the national airport Schiphol. Although no regular flights between Schiphol and Lelystad Airport exist, in 2018 all holiday flights will leave/arrive from/on Lelystad Airport. Water, Lelystad has its own port, several marinas. Rail, the Weesp–Lelystad railway connects the city with Almere and Amsterdam, the Lelystad–Zwolle railway connects Lelystad with Dronten, Kampen and Zwolle
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Flevoland
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Flevoland is the twelfth province of the Netherlands. It is located in the centre of the country, where the former Zuiderzee was, Flevoland was established on 1 January 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders were merged into one province. Almost all of the land belonging to the province was reclaimed in the 1950s and 60s. The province has about 407,905 inhabitants and consists of 6 municipalities, after a flood in 1916, it was decided that the Zuiderzee, an inland sea within the Netherlands, would be enclosed and reclaimed, the Zuiderzee Works started. Other sources indicate other times and reasons, but also agree that in 1932, the Afsluitdijk was completed, the Zuiderzee was subsequently called IJsselmeer. The first part of the new lake that was reclaimed was the Noordoostpolder in 1939 and this new land included the former islands of Urk and Schokland and it was included in the province of Overijssel. After this, other parts were reclaimed, the Southeastern part in 1957, thus Flevopolder became an artificial island joined to the mainland by bridges. The municipalities on the three parts voted to become a province, which happened in 1986. Flevoland was named after Lacus Flevo, a name recorded in Roman sources for an inland lake at the southern end of the later-formed Zuiderzee. Draining the Flevoland polders revealed many wrecks of aircraft that had crashed into the IJsselmeer during World War II, in February 2011, Flevoland, together with the provinces of Utrecht and North Holland, showed a desire to investigate the feasibility of a merger between the three provinces. This has been received by the Dutch cabinet, for the desire to create one Randstad province has already been mentioned in the coalition agreement. The province of South Holland, part of the Randstad urban area, visioned to be part of the Randstad province, with or without South Holland, if created, the new province would be the largest in the Netherlands in both area and population. They are two polders with a joint hydrological infrastructure, with a dike in the middle, the Knardijk. The two main drainage canals that traverse the dike can be closed by floodgates in such an event, the pumping stations are the Wortman at Lelystad-Haven, the Lovink near Harderwijk on the mainland and the Colijn along the northern dike beside the Ketelmeer. A new element in the design of Eastern Flevoland is the larger city Lelystad, named after Cornelis Lely, the man who had played a crucial role in designing and realising the Zuiderzee Works. Other more conventional settlements already existed by then, Dronten, the local town, was founded in 1962. These three were incorporated in the new municipality of Dronten on 1 January 1972, southern Flevoland has only one pumping station, the diesel powered De Blocq van Kuffeler. Because of the union of the two Flevolands it simply joins the other three in maintaining the water-level of both polders
40.
Leeuwarden
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Leeuwarden is a city and municipality with a population of 108,249 in Friesland in the Netherlands. It is the capital and seat of the States of Friesland. The oldest remains of houses in the city back to the 2nd century AD. Leeuwarden has been inhabited since the 10th century. It was granted city privileges in 1435, the city was liberated from German occupation in World War II by The Royal Canadian Dragoons in 1945. It is the hub of the province of Friesland, situated in a green and water-rich environment, with lakes, villages. Leeuwarden is a royal residence and has a historic centre, many listed buildings. Leeuwarden has been awarded the title European Capital of Culture 2018, one important cultural and historical event is the Elfstedentocht, an ice skating-tour of eleven cities in Friesland, starting and finishing in Leeuwarden. Besides the city of Leeuwarden, population centres in the municipality with a population of 1,000 or more are Grou, Goutum, Wergea, Jirnsum, Reduzum, and Wirdum. The municipality is governed by the mayor Ferd Crone and a coalition of the Labour Party, Christian Democratic Appeal, and PAL-GroenLinks. The name Leeuwarden first came into use for Nijehove, the most important of the three villages that merged into one, namely Oldehove and Hoek in the early 9th century. There is much uncertainty about the origin of the citys name, historian and archivist Wopke Eekhoff summed up a total of over 200 different spelling variants, of which Leeuwarden, Liwwadden, and Ljouwert are still in use. The second syllable is easily explained, Warden, Frisian/Dutch for an artificial dwelling hill, is a designation of terps, the first part of the name, leeuw, means lion in modern standard Dutch. This interpretation corresponds with the coat of arms adopted by the city, however, modern standard Dutch was not used in this region in the Middle Ages, when the city was called Lintarwrde. Some scholars argue that the name of the city is derived from leeu-, the last one suits the watery province of Friesland. The name is similar to that of the French commune Lewarde, located in the Nord Department, the oldest remains of houses date back to the 2nd century AD in the Roman era and were discovered during an excavation near the Oldehove. The area has been inhabited since the 10th century, and was mentioned as a city in German sources in 1285. Situated along the Middelzee, it was a trade centre until the waterway silted up in the 15th century
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Friesland
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Friesland or Frisia is a province in the northwest of the Netherlands. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of Flevoland, northeast of North Holland, in 2010, the province had a population of 646,000 and a total area of 5,749 km2. The capital and seat of the government is the city of Leeuwarden. Since 2017, Arno Brok is the Kings Commissioner in the province, a coalition of the Labour Party, the Christian Democratic Appeal, and the Frisian National Party forms the executive branch. The province is divided into 24 municipalities, the area of the province was once part of the ancient, larger region of Frisia. The official languages of Friesland are West Lauwers Frisian and Dutch, a proto-Frisian culture slowly began to emerge around 400–200 BC known for its artificial dwelling hills as a defence against the sea. The Roman claim on Frisia began in 12 BC with the campaign of Nero Claudius Drusus in Germania, after a series of costly battles against the Frisians, the Romans were suddenly sworn fealty. The de facto independence they later enjoyed as a Roman vassal shows that this might have been a mostly diplomatic decision based on the temporary favourable bargaining position. Together with other Germanic tribes such as the Salians and the Batavii they managed to keep the north of the Lower Rhine mostly free from Roman influence. The early eighth-century AD is known for the Frisian Kingdom, king Redbad, after incorporation into the Frankish empire, Friesland was divided into three parts. The westernmost part developed at the start of the second millennium into the County of Holland, while the remainder of Frisia had no feudal overlord and that ended when Charles V added Frisia to the Habsburg Netherlands as Lordship of Frisia. Under Napoleon, the department was named Frise, after Napoleon was defeated in 1813, the department became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands as the province of Friesland. Friesland is the largest province of the Netherlands if one includes areas of water, in terms of land area only, the provinces highest point is at 45 metres above sea level, on the island of Vlieland. There are four parks, Schiermonnikoog, De Alde Feanen, Lauwersmeer. The ten urban areas in Friesland with the largest population are, The province is divided into 24 municipalities, the province of Friesland has an oceanic climate. In 2010, Friesland had a population of 646,305, the years 1880–1900 show slower population growth due to a farm crisis in which 20,000 Frisians emigrated to the United States of America. Since the late Middle Ages, Friesland has been renowned for the height of its inhabitants. Friesland is mainly an agricultural province, the black and white Frisian cattle, black and white Stabyhoun and the black Frisian horse originated here
42.
Arnhem
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Arnhem /ˈɑːrnəm/ or /ˈɑːrnhɛm/ is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located on banks of the rivers Nederrijn and Sint-Jansbeek, which was the source of the citys development. Arnhem had a population of 151,356 in 2014 and is one of the cities of the Netherlands. The municipality is part of the city region Arnhem-Nijmegen, which has a combined 736,500 inhabitants, Arnhem is home to the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, Netherlands Open Air Museum, Royal Burgers Zoo and National Sports Centre Papendal. The oldest archeological findings of human activity around Arnhem are two firestones of about 70,000 years ago and these come from the stone age, when the Neanderthals lived in this part of Europe. In Schuytgraaf, remnants of a camp from around 5000 BC have been discovered. In Schaarsbergen,12 grave mounds were found from 2400 BC, the earliest settlement in Arnhem dates from 1500 BC, of which traces have been found on the Hoogkamp, where the Van Goyenstraat is currently located. Arnhem arose on the location where the road between Nijmegen and Utrecht/Zutphen split, Seven streams provided the city with water, and only when the flow of the Rhine was changed in 1530, was the city located on the river. Arnhem was first mentioned as such in 893 as Arneym or Arentheym, in 1233 Count Otto II of Guelders from Zutphen, conferred city rights on the town, which had belonged to the abbey of Prüm, settled in, and fortified it. Arnhem entered the Hanseatic League in 1443, in 1473, it was captured by Charles the Bold of Burgundy. In 1514, Charles of Egmond, duke of Guelders, took it from the dukes of Burgundy, in 1543, as capital of the so-called Kwartier van Veluwe it joined the Union of Utrecht during the Eighty years war in 1579. After its capture from the Spanish forces by Dutch and English troops in 1585 the city part of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands. The French occupied the town 1672–74, from 1795 to 1813, it was reoccupied by the French, by both revolutionary and imperial forces. In the early 19th century, the fortifications were almost completely dismantled. The Sabelspoort is the remaining part of the medieval walls. In the 19th century, Arnhem was a resort town famous for its picturesque beauty. It was known as het Haagje van het oosten, mainly because a number of former sugar barons or planters from the Indies settled there. Even now the city is famous for its parks and greenery, the urbanization in the north on hilly terrain is also quite unusual for the Netherlands
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Gelderland
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Gelderland is a province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. With a land area of nearly 5,000 km2, it is the largest province of the Netherlands and shares borders with six other provinces, however, both Nijmegen and Apeldoorn are larger cities, Nijmegen being the largest with nearly 170,000 inhabitants. Other major regional centres in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wageningen, Zevenaar, Gelderland had a population of just over two million in 2015. According to the Wichard saga, the city was named by the Lords of Pont who fought and they named the town they founded after the death rattle of the dragon, Gelre. Historically, the dates from states of the Holy Roman Empire. The County of Guelders arose out of the Frankish pagus Hamaland in the 11th century around castles near Roermond, the counts of Gelre acquired the Betuwe and Veluwe regions and, through marriage, the County of Zutphen. Thus the counts of Guelders laid the foundation for a power that, through control of the Rhine, Waal, Meuse. Further enlarged by the acquisition of the city of Nijmegen in the 13th century. After 1379, the duchy was ruled from Jülich and by the counts of Egmond, the duchy resisted Burgundian domination, but William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg was forced to cede it to Charles V in 1543, after which it formed part of the Burgundian-Habsburg hereditary lands. The duchy revolted with the rest of the Netherlands against Philip II of Spain, after the deposition of Philip II, its sovereignty was vested in the States of Gelderland, and the princes of Orange were stadtholders. In 1672, the province was occupied by Louis XIV and, in 1713. Part of the Batavian Republic, of Louis Bonaparte’s Kingdom of Holland, during the Second World War, it saw heavy fighting between Allied Paratroopers, British XXX Corps and the German II SS Panzer Corps, at the Battle of Arnhem
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Groningen
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Groningen is the main municipality as well as the capital city of the eponymous province in the Netherlands. With a population of 201,865 as of 2016, it is the largest city in the north of the Netherlands, an old city, Groningen was the regional power of the northern Netherlands, a semi-independent city-state and member of the German Hanseatic League. Groningen is a university city, it houses the University of Groningen, the city was founded on the northernmost point of the Hondsrug area. The oldest document referring to Groningens existence dates from 1040, in the 13th century, when Groningen was an important trade centre, its inhabitants built a city wall to underline its authority. The city had a influence on the surrounding lands and made its dialect a common tongue. The most influential period of the city was the end of the 15th century, during these years, the Martinitoren was built, which loomed over the city at 127 metres tall. The citys independence came to an end when in 1536, it chose to accept Emperor Charles V, later, it joined the Republic of the Seven United Provinces. In 1614, the University of Groningen was founded, initially only for religious education, in the same period the city expanded rapidly and a new city wall was built. That same city wall was tested during the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1672, the city walls resisted, an event that is still celebrated with music and fireworks on August the 28th. The city did not escape the devastation of World War II, in particular, the main square, the Grote Markt, was largely destroyed in April 1945 in the Battle of Groningen. However, the Martinitoren, its church, the Goudkantoor, the University of Groningen has a rich academic tradition that dates back to 1614. After the University of Leiden, it is the second oldest Dutch university,200,000 people were either students, teachers or researchers at the university. Groningen has the highest percentage of students by total population, approximately 25 percent, the city is nationally known as the Metropolis of the North and as Martinistad referring to the tower of the Martinitoren, named after its patron saint Martin of Tours. The large number of living in Groningen also contributes to a diverse cultural scene for a city of its size. The most important and most famous museum in Groningen is the Groninger Museum, with the construction of its current building, designed by Alessandro Mendini, the museum has been transformed into one of the most modern and innovative of its kind in the Netherlands. In addition, the city has a museum, a university museum, a comics museum. Groningen is also home of Noorderlicht, a photographic platform that runs a photo gallery. Groningen has a city theatre, located on the Turfsingel, a big theatre and concert venue called Martini Plaza, vera is located on the Oosterstraat, the Grand Theatre on the Grote Markt, and Simplon on the Boterdiep
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Groningen (province)
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Groningen is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. It borders on Friesland to the west, Drenthe to the south, the German state of Niedersachsen to the east, in 2014, it had a population of 582,640 and a total area of 2,960 km2. The area was part of Frisia, the Frankish Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Dutch Republic. In the 14th century, the city of Groningen became a member of the Hanseatic League, the capital of the province and the seat of the provincial government is the city of Groningen. Since 2016, René Paas has been the Kings Commissioner in the province, a coalition of the Labour Party, Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, Democrats 66, and ChristianUnion forms the executive branch. The province is divided into 23 municipalities, the land is mainly used for agriculture. There are sea ports in Delfzijl and Eemshaven, the Groningen gas field was discovered in 1959. The province is home to the University of Groningen and Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen was originally a part of Frisia. It became a part of the Frankish Empire around 785, charlemagne assigned the Christianization of this new possession to Ludger. In the 11th century, the city of Groningen was a village in Drenthe that belonged to the Bishopric of Utrecht, during the Middle Ages, central control was remote, and the city of Groningen acted as a city-state, exerting a dominating influence on the surrounding Ommelanden. In the 14th century, Groningen became one of the towns within the Hanseatic League, in the years after, Groningen expanded its influence. At its peak almost all of the current province Friesland was under the influence, shortly before 1498, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor gave Groningen and Friesland to Albert III, Duke of Saxony, who could however not establish permanent control. In 1514/15 Groningen came to the Duchy of Guelders, and in 1536 as the Lordship of Groningen to the Habsburg Netherlands, in 1594, Groningen was conquered by the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, precursor state of the Netherlands, to which it belonged henceforth. During World War II, the Netherlands were occupied by Nazi Germany, in May 1945, another 3,000 German soldiers were captured in the Battle of Delfzijl by the 5th Canadian Division, after which all of the northern provinces were liberated. East Groningen was the scene of a particularly fierce class struggle in the 19th and 20th centuries, perhaps not coincidentally, Groningen boasts the only municipality where the Communist Party of the Netherlands has ever had a mayor. The northernmost point of the Netherlands is on Rottumerplaat at 53°33′18″N 6°28′41″E, Groningen is the 7th largest province of the Netherlands. It has an area of 2,960 km2, with 2,325 km2 of land and 635 km2 of water. About 80% of the land or 1,876 km2 is used for agriculture
Kingdom of the Netherlands
Sint Maarten
