1.
Red River (Asia)
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The Red River, also known as the Hồng Hà and Sông Cái in Vietnamese and the Yuan River in Chinese, is a river that flows from Yunnan in Southwest China through northern Vietnam to the Gulf of Tonkin. According to C. Michael Hogan, the associated Red River Fault was instrumental in forming the entire South China Sea at least as early as 37 million years before present, the Red River begins in Chinas Yunnan province in the mountains south of Dali. It flows generally southeastward, passing through Dai ethnic minority areas before leaving China through Yunnans Honghe Autonomous Prefecture and it enters Vietnam at Lào Cai Province. It forms a portion of the border between China and Vietnam. The river, known as Thao River for this upper stretch and its main tributaries, the Black River and Lô River join in to form the very broad Hồng near Việt Trì, Phu Tho Province. Downstream from Việt Trì, the river and its many distributaries spread out to form the Red River Delta, the Red River flows past the Vietnamese capital Hanoi before emptying into the Gulf of Tonkin. The reddish-brown heavily silt-laden water gives the river its name, the red river has a reddish-brown tint to the river because of the silt. The Red River is notorious for its violent floods with its seasonally wide volume fluctuations, the delta is a major agricultural area of Vietnam with vast area devoted to rice. The land is protected by a network of dikes and levees. The Black River and Lô River are the Red Rivers two chief tributaries, in the 19th century, the Red River was thought to be a lucrative trade route to China. The late 19th-century French explorers were able to travel up the Red River until Manhao in South Yunnan, the Red River remained the main commercial travel route between the French Indochina and Yunnan until the opening of the Kunming–Hai Phong Railway in 1910. Thanks to the river, Hai Phong was in the early 20th century the sea port most easily accessible from Kunming, one of the earliest of them is the Thác Bà Dam in Vietnam, constructed in 1972, which forms the Thác Bà Lake. Michael Hogan South China Sea Topic ed. P. Saundry, national Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC earthtrends. wri. org, Water Resources eAtlas, Hong Media related to Red River at Wikimedia Commons song ma- Song Ma tinh Son La
2.
Vietnam
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Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 92.7 million inhabitants as of 2016, it is the worlds 14th-most-populous country, and its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976, with Ho Chi Minh City as a historical city as well. The northern part of Vietnam was part of Imperial China for over a millennium, an independent Vietnamese state was formed in 939, following a Vietnamese victory in the Battle of Bạch Đằng River. Following a Japanese occupation in the 1940s, the Vietnamese fought French rule in the First Indochina War, thereafter, Vietnam was divided politically into two rival states, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam. Conflict between the two sides intensified in what is known as the Vietnam War, the war ended with a North Vietnamese victory in 1975. Vietnam was then unified under a communist government but remained impoverished, in 1986, the government initiated a series of economic and political reforms which began Vietnams path towards integration into the world economy. By 2000, it had established relations with all nations. Since 2000, Vietnams economic growth rate has been among the highest in the world and its successful economic reforms resulted in its joining the World Trade Organization in 2007. It is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Vietnam remains one of the worlds four remaining one-party socialist states officially espousing communism. The name Việt Nam is a variation of Nam Việt, a name that can be traced back to the Triệu Dynasty of the 2nd century BC. The word Việt originated as a form of Bách Việt. The form Vietnam is first recorded in the 16th-century oracular poem Sấm Trạng Trình, the name has also been found on 12 steles carved in the 16th and 17th centuries, including one at Bao Lam Pagoda in Haiphong that dates to 1558. Then, as recorded, rewarded Yuenan/Vietnam as their nations name, to also show that they are below the region of Baiyue/Bach Viet. Between 1804 and 1813, the name was used officially by Emperor Gia Long and it was revived in the early 20th century by Phan Bội Châus History of the Loss of Vietnam, and later by the Vietnamese Nationalist Party. The country was usually called Annam until 1945, when both the government in Huế and the Viet Minh government in Hanoi adopted Việt Nam. Archaeological excavations have revealed the existence of humans in what is now Vietnam as early as the Paleolithic age, Homo erectus fossils dating to around 500,000 BC have been found in caves in Lạng Sơn and Nghệ An provinces in northern Vietnam. The oldest Homo sapiens fossils from mainland Southeast Asia are of Middle Pleistocene provenance, teeth attributed to Homo sapiens from the Late Pleistocene have also been found at Dong Can, and from the Early Holocene at Mai Da Dieu, Lang Gao and Lang Cuom. The Hồng Bàng dynasty of the Hùng kings is considered the first Vietnamese state, in 257 BC, the last Hùng king was defeated by Thục Phán, who consolidated the Lạc Việt and Âu Việt tribes to form the Âu Lạc, proclaiming himself An Dương Vương
3.
Levee
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A levee, dike, dyke, embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines, the word levee, from the French word levée, is used in American English. It originated in New Orleans a few years after the founding in 1718 and was later adopted by English speakers. The name derives from the trait of the ridges being raised higher than both the channel and the surrounding floodplains. The modern word dike or dyke most likely derives from the Dutch word dijk, the 126 kilometres long Westfriese Omringdijk was completed by 1250, and was formed by connecting existing older dikes. The Roman chronicler Tacitus even mentions that the rebellious Batavi pierced dikes to flood their land, the word dijk originally indicated both the trench and the bank. It is closely related to the English verb to dig, in Anglo-Saxon, the word dic already existed and was pronounced as dick in northern England and as ditch in the south. Similar to Dutch, the English origins of the lie in digging a trench. This practice has meant that the name may be given to either the excavation or the bank, thus Offas Dyke is a combined structure and Car Dyke is a trench though it once had raised banks as well. In the midlands and north of England, and in the United States, a dike is what a ditch is in the south, a property boundary marker or small drainage channel. Where it carries a stream, it may be called a dike as in Rippingale Running Dike. The Weir Dike is a dike in Bourne North Fen, near Twenty and alongside the River Glen. In the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, a dyke may be a ditch or a narrow artificial channel off a river or broad for access or mooring, some longer dykes being named. In parts of Britain, particularly Scotland, a dyke may be a field wall, Levees can be mainly found along the sea, where dunes are not strong enough, along rivers for protection against high-floods, along lakes or along polders. Furthermore, levees have been built for the purpose of empoldering, the latter can be a controlled inundation by the military or a measure to prevent inundation of a larger area surrounded by levees. Levees have also built as field boundaries and as military defences. More on this type of levee can be found in the article on dry-stone walls, Levees can be permanent earthworks or emergency constructions built hastily in a flood emergency. When such a bank is added on top of an existing levee it is known as a cradge
4.
Hanoi
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Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and the countrys second largest city by population. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts and 7 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction, the population in 2015 was estimated at 7.7 million people. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam and it was eclipsed by Huế, the imperial capital of Vietnam during the Nguyễn Dynasty, but Hanoi served as the capital of French Indochina from 1902 to 1954. From 1954 to 1976, it was the capital of North Vietnam, the city lies on the right bank of the Red River. Hanoi is 1,760 km north of Ho Chi Minh City and 120 km west of Hai Phong city, October 2010 officially marked 1000 years since the establishment of the city. The Hanoi Ceramic Mosaic Mural is a 4 km ceramic mosaic mural created to mark the occasion, Hanoi has had many official and unofficial names throughout history. During the Chinese occupation of Vietnam, it was known first as Long Biên, then Tống Bình, in 866, it was turned into a citadel and named Đại La. This gives it the nickname La Thành, when Lý Thái Tổ established the capital in the area in 1010, it was named Thăng Long. During the Hồ dynasty, it was called Đông Đô, during the Ming Chinese occupation, it was called Đông Quan. During the Lê dynasty, Hanoi was known as Đông Kinh and this gave the name to Tonkin and Gulf of Tonkin. Minh Mạng renamed the city Hà Nội in 1831 and this has remained its official name until modern time. Several unofficial names of Hanoi include, Kẻ Chợ, Tràng An, Hà Thành, Thủ Đô In modern tourism, it is sometimes nicknamed Paris of the Orient, Hanoi has been inhabited since at least 3000 BC. The Cổ Loa Citadel in Dong Anh district served as the capital of the Âu Lạc kingdom founded by the Shu emigrant Thục Phán after his 258 BC conquest of the native Văn Lang. In 197 BC, Âu Lạc Kingdom was annexed by Nanyue, by the year 679, the Tang dynasty changed the regions name into Annan, with Songping as its capital. In order to defeat the people’s uprisings, in the half of the 8th century, Zhang Boyi. In the earlier half of the 9th century, it was built up. In 866, Gao Pian, the Chinese Jiedushi, consolidated and named it Daluocheng, in 1010, Lý Thái Tổ, the first ruler of the Lý Dynasty, moved the capital of Đại Việt to the site of the Đại La Citadel. Claiming to have seen a dragon ascending the Red River, he renamed the site Thăng Long - a name still used poetically to this day
5.
Haiphong
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Haiphong is the third largest city of Vietnam with a population of over two million people. The citys name means coastal defense and it is nicknamed the Flamboyant City because of the many trees planted throughout it. Haiphong is Northern Vietnams most important seaport and has industrial parks invested by multinational corporations. In Vietnam, only Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are larger than Haiphong, Haiphong is a major economic center of the North in particular and Vietnam in general both. Under French domination, Haiphong was level 1 city, equal to Saigon, the last years of the 19th century, the French had proposed to build Haiphong into the economic capital of Indochina. Today, Haiphong is still one of the most important economic centers of Vietnam, in 2009, Haiphong state budget revenue reached 34,000 billion Vnd. In 2011, budget revenues in the city reached 47,725 billion, in 2015, total revenues of the city reached 56288 billion. Government plans that to 2020, Haiphongs revenues will be over 80,000 billion, in the ranking of the Provincial Competitiveness Index 2013 of Vietnam, Haiphong city ranked at No. Haiphong has relationship of trading goods with more than 40 countries and territories around the world, Haiphong is striving to become one of the largest commercial centers of the country. Industry is a key sector in Haiphong including food processing, light industries, most of these industries have been growing significantly between 2000 and 2007, with the exceptions of the cigarette and pharmaceutical industries. Shipbuilding, steel pipes, plastic pipes and textiles are among the industries with the most rapid growth, there are also growing industries supplying products used by existing industries in the city. PetroVietnam set up a joint-venture PVTex with textile manufacturer Vinatex to build Vietnams first polyester fiber plant in Haiphong, the factory will use by-products from oil-refining and reduce reliance on imported materials. 270,600 people were employed in Haiphongs industry,112,600 industrial jobs were created between 2000 and 2007. Despite its status as a city, around one third of Haiphongs area or 52,300 ha are used for agriculture, rice is the most important crop, taking up around 80% of the agricultural land with an output of 463,100 tons in 2007. Other agricultural products include maize, sugar and peanuts, Haiphong has a relatively large fishing sector with an output of 79,705 tons. Gross output has almost doubled between 2000 and 2007, mostly due to fast growth in aquaculture, which made up 60% of gross output in 2007, despite its coastal location, sea fish contribute relatively little to the sector. Nam Định Province and Thái Bình Province have much larger fishing sectors, as of 2007,315,500 were employed in agriculture and fishery, a significant decrease from 396,300 in 2000. However, these sectors still account for almost a third of employment in Haiphong
6.
Water puppetry
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Water puppetry is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam. Todays Vietnamese water puppetry is a variation on the ancient Asian puppet tradition. The puppets are out of wood and then lacquered. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool, a large bamboo rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are normally hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be moving over the water, when the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of puppet play. Modern water puppetry is performed in a pool of water 4 meters square with the surface being the stage. Up to 8 puppeteers stand behind a screen, decorated to resemble a temple facade. The puppets are carved out of wood and often weigh up to 15 kg, rice, the main staple of the Vietnamese diet, grows in a water paddy. The original water puppet festivals were held inside a rice paddy. The water acts as the stage for the puppets, and as a link to the rice harvest. It also hides the puppet strings and puppeteer movements, improves the musical and vocal acoustics, a traditional Vietnamese orchestra provides background music accompaniment. The instrumentation includes vocals, drums, wooden bells, cymbals, horns, Đàn bầu, gongs, the bamboo flutes clear, simple notes may accompany royalty while the drums and cymbals may loudly announce a fire-breathing dragons entrance. Singers of chèo sing songs which tell the story being acted out by the puppets, the musicians and the puppets interact during performance, the musicians may yell a word of warning to a puppet in danger or a word of encouragement to a puppet in need. The puppets enter from side of the stage, or emerge from the murky depths of the water. Spotlights and colorful flags adorn the stage and create a festive atmosphere, the theme of the skits is rural and has a strong reference to Vietnamese folklore. It tells of living in rural Vietnam and Vietnamese folk tales that are told by grandparents to their grandchildren. Stories of the harvest, of fishing and of festivals are highlighted, legends and national history are also told through short skits. Many of the skits, especially involving the tales of day-to-day living
7.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
8.
Military aircraft
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A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat, Combat aircraft are designed to destroy enemy equipment using their own aircraft ordnance, Combat aircraft are normally developed and procured only by military forces. Non-combat aircraft are not designed for combat as their primary function and these mainly operate in support roles, and may be developed by either military forces or civilian organizations. In 1783, when the first practical aircraft were established, they were adopted for military duties. The main role of fighters is destroying enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat, many are fast and highly maneuverable. Escorting bombers or other aircraft is also a common task and they are capable of carrying a variety of weapons, including machine guns, cannons, rockets and guided missiles. Many modern fighters can attack enemy fighters from a great distance, examples of air superiority fighters include the F-22 Raptor. World War II fighters include the British Spitfire, the American P-51 Mustang, an example of an interceptor would be the MiG-25. An example of a fighter is the Messerschmitt Bf 110. The term fighter is also applied to aircraft that have little air-to-air combat capability – for example the A-10 ground-attack aircraft is operated by USAF Fighter squadrons. Bombers are normally larger, heavier, and less maneuverable than fighter aircraft and they are capable of carrying large payloads of bombs, torpedoes or cruise missiles. Bombers are used almost exclusively for ground attacks and not fast or agile enough to take on enemy fighters head-to-head, a few have a single engine and require one pilot to operate and others have two or more engines and require crews of two or more. A limited number of bombers, such as the B-2 Spirit, have stealth capabilities that keep them from being detected by enemy radar, an example of a conventional modern bomber would be the B-52 Stratofortress. An example of a World War II bomber would be a B-17 Flying Fortress, bombers include light bombers, medium bombers, heavy bombers, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers. The U. S. Navy and Marines have traditionally referred to their light, attack aircraft can be used to provide support for friendly ground troops. Some are able to carry conventional or nuclear weapons far behind enemy lines to strike priority ground targets, attack helicopters attack enemy armor and provide close air support for ground troops. An example historical ground-attack aircraft is the Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik, several types of transport airplanes have been armed with sideways firing weapons as gunships for ground attack. These include the AC-47 and AC-130 aircraft, in modern air forces the distinction between bombers, fighter-bombers, and attack aircraft has become blurred
