1.
Serbia
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Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a sovereign state situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. Relative to its territory, it is a diverse country distinguished by a transitional character, situated along cultural, geographic, climatic. Serbia numbers around 7 million residents, and its capital, Belgrade, following the Slavic migrations to the Balkans from the 6th century onwards, Serbs established several states in the early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and the Byzantine Empire in 1217, in the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the regions first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro which dissolved peacefully in 2006, in 2008 the parliament of the province of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community. Serbia is a member of organizations such as the UN, CoE, OSCE, PfP, BSEC. An EU membership candidate since 2012, Serbia has been negotiating its EU accession since January 2014, the country is acceding to the WTO and is a militarily neutral state. Serbia is an income economy with dominant service sector, followed by the industrial sector. The country ranks high on the Social Progress Index as well as the Global Peace Index, relatively high on the Human Development Index, located at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe, Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of 88,361 km2, which places it at 113th place in the world, with Kosovo excluded, the area is 77,474 km2. Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km, all of Kosovos border with Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro are under control of the Kosovo border police. The Pannonian Plain covers the third of the country while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The terrain of the part of the country, with the region of Šumadija at its heart. Mountains dominate the third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina, the Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia. Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system, elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres to the lowest point of just 17 metres near the Danube river at Prahovo. The largest lake is Đerdap Lake and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube, the climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
2.
Carpathian Mountains
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The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a mountain range system forming an arc roughly 1,500 km long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe. The Carpathians and their foothills also have many thermal and mineral waters, the Carpathians consist of a chain of mountain ranges that stretch in an arc from the Czech Republic in the northwest through Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Ukraine to Romania and Serbia. The highest range within the Carpathians is the Tatras, on the border of Slovakia and Poland, the second-highest range is the Southern Carpathians in Romania, where the highest peaks exceed 2,500 m. The divisions of the Carpathians are usually in three sections, Western Carpathians — Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. Eastern Carpathians — southeastern Poland, eastern Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, the term Outer Carpathians is frequently used to describe the northern rim of the Western and Eastern Carpathians. The most important cities in or near the Carpathians are, Bratislava and Košice in Slovakia, Kraków in Poland, Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu and Braşov in Romania, and Uzhhorod in Ukraine. In modern times, the range is called Karpaty in Czech, Polish, Slovak and Карпати in Ukrainian, Carpați in Romanian, Karpaten in German, Kárpátok in Hungarian and Karpati or Карпати in Serbian. Although the toponym was recorded already by Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE, for instance, Havasok was its medieval Hungarian name, Rus and Romanian chronicles referred to it as Hungarian Mountains. The archaic Polish word karpa meant rugged irregularities, underwater obstacles/rocks, the more common word skarpa means a sharp cliff or other vertical terrain. In late Roman documents, the Eastern Carpathian Mountains were referred to as Montes Sarmatici, the Western Carpathians were called Carpates, a name that is first recorded in Ptolemys Geographia. In the Scandinavian Hervarar saga, which relates ancient Germanic legends about battles between Goths and Huns, the name Karpates appears in the predictable Germanic form as Harvaða fjöllum, inter Alpes Huniae et Oceanum est Polonia by Gervase of Tilbury, has described in his Otia Imperialia in 1211. Thirteenth- to fifteenth-century Hungarian documents named the mountains Thorchal, Tarczal or less frequently Montes Nivium, the northwestern Carpathians begin in Slovakia and southern Poland. They surround Transcarpathia and Transylvania in a semicircle, sweeping towards the southeast. The total length of the Carpathians is over 1,500 km, the highest altitudes of the Carpathians occur where they are widest. The Carpathians cover an area of 190,000 km2 and, after the Alps, although commonly referred to as a mountain chain, the Carpathians do not actually form an uninterrupted chain of mountains. Rather, they consist of several orographically and geologically distinctive groups, the Carpathians at their highest altitude are only as high as the middle region of the Alps, with which they share a common appearance, climate, and flora. The Carpathians are separated from the Alps by the Danube, the two ranges meet at only one point, the Leitha Mountains at Bratislava. The river also separates them from the Balkan Mountains at Orşova in Romania, the valley of the March and Oder separates the Carpathians from the Silesian and Moravian chains, which belong to the middle wing of the great Central Mountain System of Europe
3.
Danube
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The Danube is Europes second-longest river, after the Volga River, and also the longest river in the European Union region. It is located in Central and Eastern Europe, the Danube was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, and today flows through 10 countries, more than any other river in the world. Its drainage basin extends into nine more countries, the Latin name Dānuvius is one of a number of Old European river names derived from a Proto-Indo-European *dānu. Other river names from the root include the Dunajec, Dzvina/Daugava, Don, Donets, Dnieper, Dniestr. In Rigvedic Sanskrit, dānu means fluid, drop, in Avestan, in the Rigveda, Dānu once appears as the mother of Vrtra. Known to the ancient Greeks as the Istros a borrowing from a Daco-Thracian name meaning strong, in Latin, the Danube was variously known as Danubius, Danuvius or as Ister. The Dacian/Thracian name was Donaris for the upper Danube and Istros for the lower Danube, the Thraco-Phrygian name was Matoas, the bringer of luck. The Latin name is masculine, as are all its Slavic names, the German Donau is feminine, as it has been re-interpreted as containing the suffix -ouwe wetland. Classified as a waterway, it originates in the town of Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest of Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Brigach. The Danube then flows southeast for about 2,800 km, passing through four capital cities before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and its drainage basin extends into nine more. The highest point of the basin is the summit of Piz Bernina at the Italy–Switzerland border. The land drained by the Danube extends into other countries. Many Danubian tributaries are important rivers in their own right, navigable by barges, from its source to its outlet into the Black Sea, its main tributaries are, The Danube flows through many cities, including four national capitals, more than any other river in the world. Danube remains a mountain river until Passau, with average bottom gradient 0. 0012%. Middle Section, From Devín Gate to Iron Gate, at the border of Serbia and Romania, the riverbed widens and the average bottom gradient becomes only 0. 00006%. Lower Section, From Iron Gate to Sulina, with average gradient as little as 0. 00003%, about 60 of its tributaries are also navigable. In 1994 the Danube was declared one of ten Pan-European transport corridors, routes in Central, the amount of goods transported on the Danube increased to about 100 million tons in 1987. In 1999, transport on the river was difficult by the NATO bombing of three bridges in Serbia during the Kosovo War
4.
Balkan Mountains
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The Balkan mountain range is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea, the highest peaks of the Balkan Mountains are in central Bulgaria. The highest peak is Botev at 2,376 m, which makes the range the third highest in the country, after Rila. The mountains are the source of the name of the Balkan Peninsula, the mountain range forms the watershed between the Black Sea and Aegean Sea catchment areas, with the exception of an area in west, where it is crossed by the spectacular Iskar Gorge. The karst relief determines the number of caves, including Magura, featuring the most important and extended European post-Palaeolithic cave painting, Ledenika, Saeva dupka, Bacho Kiro. The most notable formation are the Belogradchik Rocks in the west. There are several important protected areas, Central Balkan National Park, Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park, Bulgarka Nature Park and Sinite Kamani Nature Park, the Balkan Mountains are remarkable for their flora and fauna. Edelweiss grows there in the region of Kozyata stena, some of the most striking landscapes are included in the Central Balkan National Park with steep cliffs, the highest waterfalls in the Balkan Peninsula and lush vegetation. There are a number of important nature reserves such as Chuprene, Kozyata stena, most of Europes large mammals inhabit the area including the brown bear, wolf, boar, chamois and deer. The Balkan Mountains played a role in the history of Bulgaria since its foundation in 681 AD. It is believed the name was brought to the region in the 7th century by Bulgars who applied it to the area, in Bulgarian, the word balkan means mountain. It may have derived from the Persian bālkāneh or bālākhāna, meaning high, above, the name is still preserved in Central Asia with the Balkan Daglary and the Balkan Province of Turkmenistan. In Turkish balkan means a chain of wooded mountains In the Antiquity and the Middle Ages the mountains were known by their Thracian name, scholars consider that Haemus is believed that the name is derived from a Thracian word *saimon, mountain ridge. The name of the place where the range meets the Black Sea, other names used to refer to the mountains in different time periods include Aemon, Haemimons, Hem, Emus, the Slavonic Matorni gori and the Turkish Kodzhabalkan. Geologically, the Balkan Mountains are a part of the Alp-Himalayan chain that stretches across most of Europe. It can be divided into two parts, the main Balkan Chain and the Pre-Balkans to the north, which intrude slightly into the Danubian Plain, the range consists of around 30 portions called mountains. The Eastern Balkan Mountains from the Vratnik Pass to Cape Emine with a length of 160 kilometres, the eastern Balkan Mountains forms the lowest part of the range. The Balkan Mountains form a divide between the rivers flowing to the Danube in the north and those flowing to the Aegean Sea in the south
5.
Karst
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Karst topography is a landscape formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves and it has also been documented for more weathering-resistant rocks, such as quartzite, given the right conditions. Subterranean drainage may limit surface water, with few to no rivers or lakes, the English word karst was borrowed from German Karst in the late 19th century. The German word came into use before the 19th century, according to the prevalent interpretation, the term is derived from the German name for the Karst region, a limestone plateau above the city of Trieste in the northern Adriatic. Scholars disagree, however, on whether the German word was borrowed from Slovene, the Slovene common noun kras was first attested in the 18th century, and the adjective form kraški in the 16th century. The Slovene words arose through metathesis from the reconstructed form *korsъ, ultimately, the word is of Mediterranean origin, believed to derive from some Romanized Illyrian base. It has been suggested that the word may derive from the Proto-Indo-European root karra- rock, the name may also be connected to the oronym Karsádios oros cited by Ptolemy, and perhaps also to Latin Carusardius. The development of karst occurs whenever acidic water starts to break down the surface of bedrock near its cracks, as the bedrock continues to degrade, its cracks tend to get bigger. As time goes on, these fractures will become wider, if this underground drainage system does form, it will speed up the development of karst formations there because more water will be able to flow through the region, giving it more erosive power. The carbonic acid that causes karstic features is formed as rain passes through the atmosphere picking up carbon dioxide, once the rain reaches the ground, it may pass through soil that can provide much more CO2 to form a weak carbonic acid solution, which dissolves calcium carbonate. The oxidation of sulfides leading to the formation of acid can also be one of the corrosion factors in karst formation. As oxygen -rich surface waters seep into deep anoxic karst systems, they bring oxygen, sulfuric acid then reacts with calcium carbonate, causing increased erosion within the limestone formation. This chain of reactions is, This reaction chain forms gypsum, the karstification of a landscape may result in a variety of large- or small-scale features both on the surface and beneath. On exposed surfaces, small features may include solution flutes, runnels, limestone pavement, medium-sized surface features may include sinkholes or cenotes, vertical shafts, foibe, disappearing streams, and reappearing springs. Large-scale features may include limestone pavements, poljes, and karst valleys, mature karst landscapes, where more bedrock has been removed than remains, may result in karst towers, or haystack/eggbox landscapes. Beneath the surface, complex underground systems and extensive caves. Some of the most dramatic of these formations can be seen in Thailands Phangnga Bay, calcium carbonate dissolved into water may precipitate out where the water discharges some of its dissolved carbon dioxide. Rivers which emerge from springs may produce tufa terraces, consisting of layers of calcite deposited over extended periods of time, in caves, a variety of features collectively called speleothems are formed by deposition of calcium carbonate and other dissolved minerals
6.
Limestone
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Limestone is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate, about 10% of sedimentary rocks are limestones. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions leads to karst landscapes, most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. The first geologist to distinguish limestone from dolomite was Belsazar Hacquet in 1778, like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of organisms such as coral or foraminifera. Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids, peloids, intraclasts and these organisms secrete shells made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these shells behind when they die. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or siliceous skeletal fragment, some limestones do not consist of grains at all, and are formed completely by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite, i. e. travertine. Secondary calcite may be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters and this produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is oolitic limestone, which can be recognized by its granular appearance, the primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. Some of these organisms can construct mounds of rock known as reefs, below about 3,000 meters, water pressure and temperature conditions cause the dissolution of calcite to increase nonlinearly, so limestone typically does not form in deeper waters. Limestones may also form in lacustrine and evaporite depositional environments, calcite can be dissolved or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors, including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility, in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. Impurities will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces, Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock, when conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures. Travertine is a banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams, particularly there are waterfalls. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the leaves a solution supersaturated with the chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls, coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of pieces of coral or shells. During regional metamorphism that occurs during the building process, limestone recrystallizes into marble
7.
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
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The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is a national academy and the most prominent academic institution in Serbia, founded in 1841. The Serbian Royal Academy of Sciences was led by members, such as Jovan Cvijić, since the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts was founded by law of 1 November 1886, it has been the highest academic institution in Serbia. According to the Royal Academy Founding Act, King Milan was to appoint the first academic, the names of the first academics were announced by King Milan on 5 April 1887. At that time, there existed four sections in the academy, from 1909 till 1952 Serbian Academy of Science and Arts Building was located at 15 Brankova Street. Unfortunately, this building was demolished in 1963, after that the Academy was moved to 35 Knez Mihailova Street, in a magnificent building in the city centre, where it has remained up to now. In the following years SRA considered various ways of forming funds, affirmed architect of domestic architecture Кonstantin Jovanović was hired to make the design in 1900. At the same time, with the attempts to obtain the adequate design, dealing with the problem of permanent location, in 1908 SRA got to use the space in the building of Sima Igumanović endowment at 15 Brankova Street. After more than two decades of attempting to obtain its own building, the Presidency of SRA, by the end of 1910 decided to entrust the design to Dragutin Đorđević and Andra Stevanović. The cornerstone was laid on 27 March 1914, by the Crown Prince Аleksandar Karađorđević in the presence of the academics, the construction works were assigned to the Matija Blehs company, whereas the facade plastics and sculptural program were done by Jungmann and Sunko. However, the construction was interrupted by the beginning of the First World War, the object was finished in 1924, but due to high construction expenses, SRA failed to move into its new building, instead of that, the entire object was rented. Large sized building, which takes over the plot, was designed with the apartments and stores for rent. The architectural plastic in the shape of floral arabesques, garlands and Art Nouveau masks, one of those female sculptures is holding a torch in her hand, and the other one a pigeon. SRA was in the building in Brankova Street when the Second World War ended. The creation of the entrance from Knez Mihailova Street and designing of the access to the conference contributed to the realization of the representative space. According to the new concept, Samojlov designed the exterior in the academic style with purified geometrized decorative repertoire. At the same time, the Congress hall was adapted, gaining the gallery, the building was officially and solemnly opened on 24 February 1952, when the Academy finally and permanently moved in into the building. In 1967, Samojlov did the design for the adaptation of the gallery on the corner of Knez Mihailova, perfectly composed interior left room for additional improvement during the next couple of years, so that until today it has been enriched by our eminent artists. Taking into consideration the undeniable values and the importance, it was designated as a monument in 1992
8.
Iron Gates
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The Iron Gates is a gorge on the Danube River. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia and Romania, the gorge lies between Romania to the north and Serbia to the south. At this point, the river separates the southern Carpathian Mountains from the foothills of the Balkan Mountains. The Romanian side of the gorge constitutes the Iron Gates natural park, in English, the gorge is known as Iron Gates or Iron Gate. An 1853 article about the Danube in The Times of London referred to it as the Iron Gate, or the Gate of Trajan. In languages of the region including Romanian, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, Czech, German and Bulgarian and these names are Romanian, Porțile de Fier. An alternative Romanian name for the last part of the route is Defileul Dunării, in Serbian, the gorge is known as Đerdap, with the last part named Đerdapska klisura from the Byzantine Greek Κλεισούρα, enclosure or pass. The first narrowing of the Danube lies beyond the Romanian isle of Moldova Veche and is known as the Golubac gorge and it is 14.5 km long and 230 m wide at the narrowest point. At its head, there is a fort at Golubac. Through the valley of Ljupovska lies the second gorge, Gospodjin Vir, the cliffs scale to 500 m and are the most difficult to reach here from land. The broader Donji Milanovac forms the connection with the Great and the Small Kazan gorge, the Orșova valley is the last broad section before the river reaches the plains of Wallachia at the last gorge, the Sip gorge. The Great Kazan is the most famous and the most narrow gorge of the whole route, east of this site the Roman emperor Trajan had built the legendary bridge erected by Apollodorus of Damascus. Construction of the bridge ran from 103 through 105, preceding Trajans final conquest of Dacia, on the right bank a Roman plaque commemorates him. On the Romanian bank, at the Small Kazan, the likeness of Trajans Dacian opponent Decebalus was carved in rock from 1994 through 2004, the sandstone statues dated to the early neolithic era are particularly splendid. Together with many other findings in the Iron Gates gorges area, the riverbed rocks and the associated rapids made the gorge valley an infamous passage for shipping. In German, the passage is known as the Kataraktenstrecke. Near the actual Iron Gates strait the Prigrada rock was the most important obstacle until 1896, the river widened considerably here, upstream, the Greben rock near the Kazan gorge was notorious. In 1831 a plan had already been drafted to make the passage navigable, finally Gábor Baross, Hungarys Iron Minister, succeeded in financing this project
9.
Majdanpek
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Majdanpek is a town and municipality located in the Bor District of the eastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the municipality of Majdanpek had a population of 18,686 people, while the town of Majdanpek had a population of 10,109. The name Majdanpek is derived from the words majdan meaning quarry and pek meaning much, big, in Serbian Vlach, the town is known as simply Maidan. The transition out of the Stone Age occurred between 6000 BCE and 2500 BCE for much of humanity living in North Africa and Eurasia, chalcolithic excavations exist in Kapetanova Pecina, Praurija, Kameni Rog and Roman site of Kamenjar. The town is famous as a copper mine district, since the early 17th century, the origin of the name is based on words majdan and river Pek - mine on river Pek. Throughout its history, mining development was held by foreign owners. The town was industrialized in the century, by the industrial program supported by SFR Yugoslavias Government of that time. Through the late 20th century, the town was in a period of progress and one of the most developed areas in copper mining. Most of the settlements in the Majdanpek municipality have Serb ethnic majority, the settlement with Vlach ethnic majority is Vlaole. Ethnically mixed settlement with relative Vlach majority is Jasikovo, the ethnic composition of the municipality, Dejan Petkovic, Serbian football player One of the best tourist attractions in Majdanpek is Rajkova Pećina, one of the most beautiful caves in Serbia. For more info about this area or travel guidance - contact travel agency Mirno More, information and news from this area can be found at website of Radio Televizija Majdanpek. Subdivisions of Serbia Radio television Bor
10.
Kladovo
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Kladovo is a town and municipality located in the Bor District of the eastern Serbia. It is situated on the bank of the Danube river. The population of the town is 8,913, while the population of the municipality is 20,635, in Serbian, the town is known as Kladovo, in Romanian Cladova, in German as Kladowo or Kladovo and in Latin and Romanised Greek as Zanes. In the time of the Roman Empire, the name of the town was Zanes while the fortifications was known as Diana, Emperor Trajan had a number of fortications constructed in the area during the Roman times, such as the well-known Trajans Bridge. Later, Slavs founded a settlement that was named Novi Grad, while Ottomans built a fortress here, the present-day name of Kladovo is first recorded in 1596 in an Austrian military document. There are several theories about the origin of the current name of the town, According to one theory, According to another theory, the name derived from the word klad. A third theory has it that the name derives from the Slavic word kladenac meaning a well in English or from the Slavic word klada meaning stump. There is also a theory that the name back to the Bulgarian duke Glad. There is a settlement with the name in Russia near Moscow. One of the suburbs of Berlin also has this name, which originates from the Slavic Lusatian Serbs who live in eastern Germany, bronze Age necropolis with rituals, pottery and other significant archaeological items were found in Korbovo. In ancient times, a fortification near Trajans bridge named Zanes/Pontes existed at this location, in the Middle Ages, the Slavs founded here new town named Novi Grad, but it was razed by the Hungarians in 1502. It was rebuilt in 1524 by the Ottomans and received new name, According to Ottoman traveler, Evliya Chelebi, who visited the town in 1666, most of its inhabitants spoke local Slavic language and Turkish language, while some also spoke Vlach. In 1784, the population of Kladovo numbered 140 Muslim and 50 Christian houses, from 1929 to 1941, Kladovo was part of the Morava Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The ethnic composition of the municipality, The main business are the power plants of Đerdap, Iron Gate I. Other businesses began primarily to support the building and operation of the plant. Kladovo has one hospital, two daycare and kindergarten centers, one school, one high school and several vocational schools. Though the river Danube is very polluted by international standards, many people fish in it. Before the power plant was built, sturgeon caviar from this area was popular and was exported as a delicacy to the western Europe
11.
Jurassic
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The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that spans 56.3 million years from the end of the Triassic Period 201.3 million years ago to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period 145 Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic Era, also known as the Age of Reptiles, the start of the period is marked by the major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event. The Jurassic is named after the Jura Mountains within the European Alps, by the beginning of the Jurassic, the supercontinent Pangaea had begun rifting into two landmasses, Laurasia to the north and Gondwana to the south. This created more coastlines and shifted the continental climate from dry to humid, on land, the fauna transitioned from the Triassic fauna, dominated by both dinosauromorph and crocodylomorph archosaurs, to one dominated by dinosaurs alone. The first birds also appeared during the Jurassic, having evolved from a branch of theropod dinosaurs, other major events include the appearance of the earliest lizards, and the evolution of therian mammals, including primitive placentals. Crocodilians made the transition from a terrestrial to a mode of life. The oceans were inhabited by marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, the chronostratigraphic term Jurassic is directly linked to the Jura Mountains. The name Jura is derived from the Celtic root jor, which was Latinised into juria, the Jurassic period is divided into the Early Jurassic, Middle, and Late Jurassic epochs. The Jurassic System, in stratigraphy, is divided into the Lower Jurassic, Middle, the separation of the term Jurassic into three sections goes back to Leopold von Buch. The Jurassic North Atlantic Ocean was relatively narrow, while the South Atlantic did not open until the following Cretaceous period, the Tethys Sea closed, and the Neotethys basin appeared. Climates were warm, with no evidence of glaciation, as in the Triassic, there was apparently no land over either pole, and no extensive ice caps existed. In contrast, the North American Jurassic record is the poorest of the Mesozoic, the Jurassic was a time of calcite sea geochemistry in which low-magnesium calcite was the primary inorganic marine precipitate of calcium carbonate. Carbonate hardgrounds were thus very common, along with calcitic ooids, calcitic cements, the first of several massive batholiths were emplaced in the northern American cordillera beginning in the mid-Jurassic, marking the Nevadan orogeny. Important Jurassic exposures are found in Russia, India, South America, Japan, Australasia. As the Jurassic proceeded, larger and more groups of dinosaurs like sauropods and ornithopods proliferated in Africa. Middle Jurassic strata are well represented nor well studied in Africa. Late Jurassic strata are also poorly represented apart from the spectacular Tendaguru fauna in Tanzania, the Late Jurassic life of Tendaguru is very similar to that found in western North Americas Morrison Formation. During the Jurassic period, the primary living in the sea were fish
12.
Vlachs of Serbia
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The Vlachs are an ethnic minority in eastern Serbia, culturally and linguistically related to Romanians. They mostly live in the Timočka Krajina region, but also in Braničevo, a small Vlach population also exists in Smederevo and Velika Plana, and in the municipalities of Aleksinac and Kruševac. Northeastern Serbia was settled by Romance-speaking communities from Banat, parts of Transylvania and these are the Ungureni, Munteni and Bufeni. Today, about three quarters of the Vlach population speak the Ungurean subdialect which is similar to the Romanian language spoken in Banat, in the 19th century other groups of Romanians originating in Oltenia also settled south of the Danube. These are the Țărani, who form some 25% of the modern population, from the 15th through the 18th centuries large numbers of Serbs also migrated across the Danube, but in the opposite direction, to both Banat and Țara Româneasca. Significant migration ended by the establishment of the kingdoms of Serbia and Romania in the half of the 19th century. The Vlachs of northeastern Serbia share close linguistic and cultural ties with the Vlachs in the region of Vidin in Bulgaria as well as the Romanians of Banat and Oltenia. Some authors consider that the majority of Vlachs/Romanians in Timočka Krajina are descendants of Romanians that migrated from Hungary in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Romanian Orthodox Church in Malajnica, built in 2004, is the first Romanian church in eastern Serbia in 170 years. Before its construction, Romanians in Timoč were not allowed to hear liturgical services in their native language, most Vlachs of Eastern Serbia are Orthodox Christians who had belonged to the Serbian Orthodox Church since the 19th century. This changed on 24 March 2009, when Serbia recognized the authority of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Valea Timocului, at Malajnica, a Vlach priest belonging to the Romanian Orthodox Church encountered deliberately-raised administrative barriers when he attempted to build a church. Other Romanian Orthodox churches are planned or under construction in Jasikovo, Ćuprija, Bigrenica, additionally, a Romanian Orthodox monastery is under construction in Malajnica. The Romanian Orthodox churches in Eastern Central Serbia are subordinated to the Protopresbyteriat Dacia Ripensis with its seat in Negotin, the protopresbyteriat is subordinated to the Romanian Orthodox diocese Dacia Felix with its seat in Vršac. The relative isolation of the Vlachs has permitted the survival of various pre-Christian religious customs, Vlach magic rituals are well known across modern Serbia. The Vlachs celebrate the Ospăț, called in Serbian praznik or slava, the customs of the Vlachs are very similar to those from Southern Romania. The Vlach community is divided several groups, each speaking their own dialectal variant. The Ţărani have the saying Nu dau un leu pe el, in the Romanian principalities, as well as in Bulgaria, the leeuwendaalder came to symbolize a strong currency. Indeed, on gaining independence in the 19th century both countries adopted this name for their new currencies. Since newly independent Serbia named its currency after the Roman denarius, there is also a sub-group known as Ungureni Munteni, the ungureni from the mountains
