1.
Dutch language
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It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after English and German. Dutch is one of the closest relatives of both German and English and is said to be roughly in between them, Dutch vocabulary is mostly Germanic and incorporates more Romance loans than German but far fewer than English. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, the official name for Dutch is Nederlands, and its dialects have their own names, e. g. Hollands, West-Vlaams. The use of the word Vlaams to describe Standard Dutch for the variations prevalent in Flanders and used there, however, is common in the Netherlands, the Dutch language has been known under a variety of names. It derived from the Old Germanic word theudisk, one of the first names used for the non-Romance languages of Western Europe. It literarily means the language of the people, that is. The term was used as opposed to Latin, the language of writing. In the first text in which it is found, dating from 784, later, theudisca appeared also in the Oaths of Strasbourg to refer to the Germanic portion of the oath. This led inevitably to confusion since similar terms referred to different languages, owing to Dutch commercial and colonial rivalry in the 16th and 17th centuries, the English term came to refer exclusively to the Dutch. A notable exception is Pennsylvania Dutch, which is a West Central German variety called Deitsch by its speakers, Jersey Dutch, on the other hand, as spoken until the 1950s in New Jersey, is a Dutch-based creole. In Dutch itself, Diets went out of common use - although Platdiets is still used for the transitional Limburgish-Ripuarian Low Dietsch dialects in northeast Belgium, Nederlands, the official Dutch word for Dutch, did not become firmly established until the 19th century. This designation had been in use as far back as the end of the 15th century, one of them was it reflected a distinction with Hoogduits, High Dutch, meaning the language spoken in Germany. The Hoog was later dropped, and thus, Duits narrowed down in meaning to refer to the German language. g, in English, too, Netherlandic is regarded as a more accurate term for the Dutch language, but is hardly ever used. Old Dutch branched off more or less around the same time Old English, Old High German, Old Frisian and Old Saxon did. During that period, it forced Old Frisian back from the western coast to the north of the Low Countries, on the other hand, Dutch has been replaced in adjacent lands in nowadays France and Germany. The division in Old, Middle and Modern Dutch is mostly conventional, one of the few moments linguists can detect somewhat of a revolution is when the Dutch standard language emerged and quickly established itself. This is assumed to have taken place in approximately the mid-first millennium BCE in the pre-Roman Northern European Iron Age, the Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups, East, West, and North Germanic. They remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration Period, Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots, Frisian, Low German and High German
2.
Limburgish
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Limburgish, also called Limburgian or Limburgic, is a group of East Low Franconian varieties spoken in the Limburg and Rhineland regions, along the Dutch–Belgian–German border. The area in which it is spoken roughly fits within a circle from Venlo to Düsseldorf to Aachen to Maastricht to Tienen. In some parts of area it is generally used as the colloquial language in daily speech. It shares many characteristics both with German and Dutch and is considered as a variant of one of these languages. The name Limburgish derives only indirectly from the now Belgian town of Limbourg, more directly it is derived from the more modern name of the Province of Limburg in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which has been split today into a Belgian Limburg and a Dutch Limburg. In the area around the old Duchy of Limburg the main language today is French, people from Limburg usually call their language Plat, the same as Low German speakers do. The word can also be associated with platteland, the general Dutch term for the language of ordinary people in former ages was Dietsch or Duutsch, as it still exists in the term Low Dietsch. This term is derived from Proto-Germanic þiudiskaz, meaning of the people. In Dutch the word plat means flat, but also refers to the way a language is spoken, Limburgish has partially overlapping definition areas, depending on the criteria used, All dialects spoken within the political boundary of the two Limburg provinces. Limburgish according to Jo Daan, the associative arrow method of Meertens Institute, South Lower Franconian, isogloss definition between the Uerdingen and Benrath lines by Wenker, Schrijnen and Goossens. Western limit of Limburgish pitch accent Southeast Limburgish dialect, this includes a part of the Ripuarian language in Germany, under the influence of the Merovingian and especially the Carolingian dynasty, Eastern Low Franconian underwent much influence from the neighbouring High German languages. It is especially this trait which distinguishes Limburgish from Western Low Franconian, in the past, all Limburgish dialects were therefore sometimes seen as West Central German, part of High German. It is nevertheless most common in linguistics to consider Limburgish as Low Franconian, from the 13th century on, however, the Duchy of Brabant extended its power. As a consequence, at first the western and then also the variants of Limburgish underwent great influence of Brabantian. As a result, Limburgish – although being essentially a variety of Low Franconian – still has a distance from Standard Dutch with regards to phonology, morphology. In German sources, the dialects linguistically counting as Limburgish spoken to the east of the river Rhine are called Bergish, West of the river Rhine they are called Low Rhenish, which is considered a transitional zone between Low Franconian and Ripuarian. Thus, formerly German linguists tended to call these dialects Low German, Limburgish is spoken in a considerable part of the German Lower Rhine area, in what linguistically could be called German Limburg. This area extends from the regions of Cleves, Aachen, Viersen and Heinsberg
3.
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
4.
Limburg (Netherlands)
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Limburg is the southernmost of the 12 provinces of the Netherlands. It is in the part of the country, stretched out from the north, where it touches the province of Gelderland, to the south. Its northern part has the North Brabant province to its west and its long eastern boundary is the international border with the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Much of the west border runs along the River Maas, bordering the Flemish province of Limburg, on the south end, it has borders with the Flemish exclave of Voeren and its surrounding part of Liège, Wallonia. The Vaalserberg is on the extreme point, marking the tripoint of Netherlands, Germany. Limburgs major cities are the provincial capital Maastricht, as well as Heerlen, more than half of the population, approximately 620,000 people, live in the south of Limburg, which corresponds to roughly 1/3rd of the provinces area proper. In South Limburg, most people live in the agglomerations of Maastricht, Parkstad. Limburg has a distinctive character. A less appreciated consequence of this international gateway location is rising international crime, often drug-related, Limburgs name derives from the fortified town of the same name, situated on the river Vesdre near the High Fens, now in the nearby Belgian province of Liège. Its name is derived from the Germanic elements *lindo, lime tree, Limburg town was the seat of the medieval Duchy of Limburg. None of present-day Limburg was part of duchy, which had its northern border along what is the modern southern border of South Limburg. The Duchy of Limburg also came under Brabantine control in 1288 after the Battle of Worringen, and the holdings of Brabant evolved into the Burgundian Netherlands. By 1473, the lands of Overmaas and the Duchy of Limburg formed one unified delegation to the States General of this polity, hence both the terms Overmaas and Limburg came to be used loosely to refer to this one political province of the so-called Seventeen Provinces. The connection to Limburg was recalled in the 19th century when the new United Kingdom of the Netherlands desired a new name for the province after the defeat of Napoleon, the French empire had reformed the region, along with Belgian Limburg. For centuries, the location of the current province made it a much-coveted region among Europes major powers. Romans, Habsburg Spaniards, Prussians, Habsburg Austrians and French have all ruled parts of Limburg, for long periods of history the region was not united under the same rule. The first inhabitants of whom traces have been found were Neanderthals who camped in South Limburg, in Neolithic times flint was mined in underground mines, including one at Rijckholt that is open to visitors. After this genocide the area was repopulated with a set of peoples that later under Roman rules
5.
Culture
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Culture can be defined in numerous ways. In the words of anthropologist E. B, Tylor, it is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. The Cambridge English Dictionary states that culture is the way of life, especially the customs and beliefs. As a defining aspect of what it means to be human, culture is a concept in anthropology. The word is used in a sense as the evolved ability to categorize and represent experiences with symbols. The level of cultural sophistication has also sometimes seen to distinguish civilizations from less complex societies. Mass culture refers to the mass-produced and mass mediated forms of culture that emerged in the 20th century. When used as a count noun, a culture is the set of customs, traditions, in this sense, multiculturalism is a concept that values the peaceful coexistence and mutual respect between different cultures inhabiting the same planet. Sometimes culture is used to describe specific practices within a subgroup of a society. Samuel Pufendorf took over this metaphor in a context, meaning something similar. His use, and that of many writers after him, refers to all the ways in which human beings overcome their original barbarism, and through artifice, become fully human. To be cultural, to have a culture, is to inhabit a place sufficiently intensive to cultivate it—to be responsible for it, to respond to it, thus a contrast between culture and civilization is usually implied in these authors, even when not expressed as such. Cultural invention has come to any innovation that is new and found to be useful to a group of people and expressed in their behavior. Humanity is in a global accelerating culture change period, driven by the expansion of commerce, the mass media, and above all. Culture repositioning means the reconstruction of the concept of a society. Cultures are internally affected by both forces encouraging change and forces resisting change, Social conflict and the development of technologies can produce changes within a society by altering social dynamics and promoting new cultural models, and spurring or enabling generative action. These social shifts may accompany ideological shifts and other types of cultural change, for example, the U. S. feminist movement involved new practices that produced a shift in gender relations, altering both gender and economic structures. Environmental conditions may also enter as factors, Cultures are externally affected via contact between societies, which may also produce—or inhibit—social shifts and changes in cultural practices
6.
Landscape
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A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms and how they integrate with natural or man-made features. The character of a landscape helps define the self-image of the people who inhabit it and it is the dynamic backdrop to people’s lives. Landscape can be as varied as farmland, a landscape park, the activity of modifying the visible features of an area of land is referred to as landscaping. There are several definitions of what constitutes a landscape, depending on context, the term landscape emerged around the turn of the sixteenth century to denote a painting whose primary subject matter was natural scenery. Land may be taken in its sense of something to people belong. The suffix ‑scape is equivalent to the more common English suffix ‑ship, the roots of ‑ship are etymologically akin to Old English sceppan or scyppan, meaning to shape. The suffix ‑schaft is related to the verb schaffen, so that ‑ship, the word landscape, first recorded in 1598, was borrowed from a Dutch painters term. An example of this usage can be found as early as 1662 in the Book of Common Prayer, Could we but climb where Moses stood. Setting, In works of narrative, it includes the moment in time and geographic location in which a story takes place. Picturesque, The word literally means in the manner of a picture, fit to be made into a picture, and used as early as 1703, gilpin’s Essay on Prints defined picturesque as a term expressive of that peculiar kind of beauty, which is agreeable in a picture. A view, A sight or prospect of some landscape or extended scene, wilderness, An uncultivated, uninhabited, and inhospitable region. Cityscape, The urban equivalent of a landscape, in the visual arts a cityscape is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. Seascape, A photograph, painting, or other work of art depicts the sea. Geomorphology is the study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical or chemical processes operating at or near Earths surface. Geomorphology is practiced within physical geography, geology, geodesy, engineering geology, archaeology and this broad base of interests contributes to many research styles and interests within the field. The surface of Earth is modified by a combination of processes that sculpt landscapes, and geologic processes that cause tectonic uplift and subsidence. Many of these factors are strongly mediated by climate, the Earth surface and its topography therefore are an intersection of climatic, hydrologic, and biologic action with geologic processes. Desert, Plain, Taiga, Tundra, Wetland, Mountain, Mountain range, Cliff, Coast, Littoral zone, Glacier, Polar regions of Earth, Shrubland, Forest, Rainforest, Woodland, Jungle, Moors
7.
Hill
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A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit. The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is considered to be less tall. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia defines hill as an upland with a height up to 200 m. Today, a mountain is usually defined in the UK and Ireland as any summit at least 2,000 feet high, some definitions include a topographical prominence requirement, typically 100 feet or 500 feet. In practice, mountains in Scotland are frequently referred to as no matter what their height, as reflected in names such as the Cuillin Hills. In Wales, the distinction is more a term of land use, for a while, the U. S. defined a mountain as being 1,000 feet or more tall. Any similar landform lower than this height was considered a hill, the United States Geological Survey, however, has concluded that these terms do not in fact have technical definitions in the U. S. A hillock is a small hill, other words include knoll and its variant, knowe. Artificial hills may be referred to by a variety of names, including mound. Various names used to describe types of hill, based on appearance and these include, Drumlin – an elongated whale-shaped hill formed by glacial action. Butte – an isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top. Kuppe – a rounded hill or low mountain, typical of central Europe Tor – a rock found on a hilltop, also used to refer to the hill. Puy – used especially in the Auvergne, France, to describe a conical volcanic hill, pingo – a mound of earth-covered ice found in the Arctic and Antarctica. For example, Ancient Rome was built on seven hills, protecting it from invaders, in northern Europe, many ancient monuments are sited in heaps. Some of these are structures, but others appear to have hardly any significance. In Britain, many churches at the tops of hills are thought to have built on the sites of earlier pagan holy places. The National Cathedral in Washington, DC has followed this tradition and was built on the highest hill in that city, Hills provide a major advantage to an army, giving them an elevated firing position and forcing an opposing army to charge uphill to attack them
8.
Sunken lane
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A sunken lane is a road or track that is significantly lower than the land on either side, not formed by the engineering of a road cutting but possibly of much greater age. These mechanisms are all possible and could apply in different cases, a variety of theories have been proposed for the origins of holloways. Different mechanisms may well apply in different cases, some sunken lanes are created incrementally by erosion, by water and traffic. Some are very ancient with evidence of Roman or Iron Age origins, where ancient trackways have lapsed from use, the overgrown and shallow marks of hollow ways through forest may be the sole evidence of their former existence. On disused ridgeways in central Germany, the hollow ways often mark inclines, the earth banks on either side, sometimes topped with hedges and trees, can give the impression of a tunnel enclosing the traveller. Because the roadway is restricted by the banks on either side, sunken lanes typically admit the passage of one vehicle. Occasional passing places may be provided, but a meeting of vehicles in a sunken lane often requires one party to reverse to a passing place. In Central Germany, dual carriageways have been observed with two side by side where a trackway was in such heavy use that it had lanes dedicated for each direction. When metalled, sunken lanes are unlikely to erode any further down, in The Making of the English Landscape, W. G.1174 describing the boundary between the abbot of Tavistocks land at Abbotsham, Devon and Richard Coffins land at Alwington and Cockington. He gives another example, also from Devon, in a photograph of Armourwood Lane, Thorverton, which bounded the royal Silverton estate, hoskins states that some such lanes are Celtic, some Saxon, some mediaeval. Sunken lanes are common in the West of France, in the landscape, especially around Lower Normandy, Brittany. The bocage landscape is historically famous for having been a feature of some conflicts, including the Chouannerie. The German army used sunken lanes to implement strong points and defenses to stop the American troops on the Cotentin peninsula and around the town of Saint-Lô. Sunken lanes are a feature of the landscape of southern England, especially in the chalk areas of the North and South Downs. The Surrey Hills AONB has many sunken lanes, seal Hollow Road in Sevenoaks is a fine example of a sunken lane in southern England. They are a feature of the West Country, in counties such as Dorset. The English name holloway derives from the Old English hola weg, while many sunken lanes are now metalled, some are still unsurfaced Green lanes, typically now designated as either Bridleways or Byways. A sunken road is a cross country equestrian obstacle, one of the largest networks of such routes in Germany is to be found in the municipalities of Alsheim and Mettenheim in Rhineland-Palatinate, where there they make up over 30 km of hiking trails
9.
Castle
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A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. Usage of the term has varied over time and has applied to structures as diverse as hill forts. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with different features, although some, such as curtain walls. A European innovation, castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies, the structures served as centres of administration. Many castles were built from earth and timber, but had their defences replaced later by stone. Early castles often exploited natural defences, lacking features such as towers and arrowslits, in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a scientific approach to castle defence emerged. This led to the proliferation of towers, with an emphasis on flanking fire, many new castles were polygonal or relied on concentric defence – several stages of defence within each other that could all function at the same time to maximise the castles firepower. These changes in defence have been attributed to a mixture of castle technology from the Crusades, such as concentric fortification, not all the elements of castle architecture were military in nature, so that devices such as moats evolved from their original purpose of defence into symbols of power. Some grand castles had long winding approaches intended to impress and dominate their landscape, while castles continued to be built well into the 16th century, new techniques to deal with improved cannon fire made them uncomfortable and undesirable places to live. As a result, true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery forts with no role in civil administration, and country houses that were indefensible. From the 18th century onwards, there was a renewed interest in castles with the construction of castles, part of a romantic revival of Gothic architecture. The word castle is derived from the Latin word castellum, which is a diminutive of the word castrum, meaning fortified place. The Old English castel, Old French castel or chastel, French château, Spanish castillo, Italian castello, the word castle was introduced into English shortly before the Norman Conquest to denote this type of building, which was then new to England. In its simplest terms, the definition of a castle accepted amongst academics is a fortified residence. Feudalism was the link between a lord and his vassal where, in return for service and the expectation of loyalty. Castles served a range of purposes, the most important of which were military, administrative, as well as defensive structures, castles were also offensive tools which could be used as a base of operations in enemy territory
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Maastricht
Heerlen
Kerkrade
Sittard
Geleen
Stein
Valkenburg
