1.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
2.
La Marseillaise
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La Marseillaise is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled Chant de guerre pour lArmée du Rhin. The Marseillaise was a song, an anthem to freedom, a patriotic call to mobilize all the citizens. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republics anthem in 1795 and it acquired its nickname after being sung in Paris by volunteers from Marseille marching to the capital. The song is the first example of the European march anthemic style, the anthems evocative melody and lyrics have led to its widespread use as a song of revolution and its incorporation into many pieces of classical and popular music. As the French Revolution continued, the monarchies of Europe became concerned that revolutionary fervor would spread to their countries, the War of the First Coalition was an effort to stop the revolution, or at least contain it to France. Initially, the French army did not distinguish itself, and Coalition armies invaded France and that evening, Rouget de Lisle wrote Chant de guerre pour lArmée du Rhin, and dedicated the song to Marshal Nicolas Luckner, a Bavarian in French service from Cham. A plaque on the building on Place Broglie where De Dietrichs house once stood commemorates the event. The melody soon became the call to the French Revolution and was adopted as La Marseillaise after the melody was first sung on the streets by volunteers from Marseille by the end of May. A newly graduated medical doctor, Mireur later became a general under Napoléon Bonaparte, the songs lyric reflects the invasion of France by foreign armies that were under way when it was written. Strasbourg itself was attacked just a few days later, the invading forces were repulsed from France following their defeat in the Battle of Valmy. As the vast majority of Alsatians did not speak French, a German version was published in October 1792 in Colmar, the Convention accepted it as the French national anthem in a decree passed on 14 July 1795, making it Frances first anthem. It later lost this status under Napoleon I, and the song was banned outright by Louis XVIII and Charles X, only being re-instated briefly after the July Revolution of 1830. During Napoleon Is reign, Veillons au Salut de lEmpire was the anthem of the regime. Eight years later, in 1879, it was restored as Frances national anthem, several musical antecedents have been cited for the melody, Mozarts Allegro maestoso of Piano Concerto No. Only the first verse and the first chorus are sung today in France, there are some slight historical variations in the lyrics of the song, the following is the version listed at the official website of the French Presidency. Verses sung in the version of the anthem are in bold. The United States Library of Congress holds the following English translation and these verses were omitted from the national anthem
3.
Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean
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They have never had a permanent population. Also in the Mozambique Channel is the Banc du Geyser, a reef under French control claimed by Madagascar since 1976, France and the Comoros view the Banc du Geyser as part of the Glorioso Islands. The islands have been classified as nature reserves, except for Bassas da India, they all support meteorological stations, those on the Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova, and Europa Island are automated. The station on Tromelin Island, in particular, provides warning of cyclones threatening Madagascar, Réunion, each of the islands, except Bassas da India and Banc du Geyser, has an airstrip of more than 1,000 metres. Mauritius, the Comoros, and Madagascar dispute Frances sovereignty over the islands, Mauritius claims Tromelin and argues that the island, discovered by France in 1722, was not ceded by the treaty of Paris in 1814. The Comoros claims the Glorioso Islands too, as a part of the disputed French region of Mayotte, Madagascar claims Juan de Nova, and Europa and Bassas da India since 1972. Seychelles claimed a part of Scattered Islands too before the France–Seychelles Maritime Boundary Agreement, the Îles Éparses had previously been under the administration of the prefect of Réunion since the independence of Madagascar in 1960. France maintains a garrison of around 14 troops on each of the islands in the Mozambique Channel that are claimed by Madagascar. The Glorioso Islands are also claimed by the Comoros, while Mauritius claims Tromelin Island, there is considerable overlap of the EEZ with the neighbouring states. French overseas departments and territories Administrative divisions of France French Southern and Antarctic Lands Official website Îles Éparses travel guide from Wikivoyage
4.
Bassas da India
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Bassas da India is an uninhabited, roughly circular French atoll that is part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. Overall, the atoll is about 10 km in diameter, rising steeply from the seabed 3000 m below to encircle an area of 80 km2 and its exclusive economic zone,123,700 km2 in size, is contiguous with that of Europa Island. The atoll consists of ten barren rocky islets, with no vegetation and those on the north and east sides are 2.1 to 3 m high, while those on the west and south sides are 1.2 m high. The reef, whose coastline measures 35.2 km, is covered by the sea from three hours before high tide to three hours afterward. The region is subject to cyclones, making the atoll a long-time maritime hazard. Jaguar Seamount and Hall Tablemount lie, respectively, about 40 and 70 km further southwest, the Bassas da India was first recorded by Portuguese explorers in the early sixteenth century as the Baixo da Judia. The Judia was the Portuguese ship that discovered the feature by running aground on it in 1506, the name became Bassas da India due to transcription errors by cartographers. The Santiago broke up on the shoal in 1585 and it was rediscovered by the Europa in 1774, whence the name Europa Rocks. The Malay was lost 27 July 1842 on the Europa Rocks, in 1897, the shoal became a French possession, later being placed under the administration of a commissioner residing in Réunion in 1968. Madagascar became independent in 1960 and claims sovereignty over the shoal since 1972, mooring at Bassas da India requires a permit from the French Government. Fishing without such a permit may result in the boat being expelled or even confiscated, several illegal tourism charters departing from Mozambique or South Africa have been seized since 2013 by the French navy. Wikimedia Atlas of Bassas da India Oceandots, archived from the original on 23 December 2010. CS1 maint, BOT, original-url status unknown Sailing Directions, East Africa and the South Indian Ocean French Southern and Antarctic Lands
5.
Europa Island
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Europa Island is a 28-square-kilometre low-lying tropical atoll in the Mozambique Channel, about a third of the way from southern Madagascar to southern Mozambique. The island had never been inhabited until 1820, when the French family Rosier moved to it, the island officially became a possession of France in 1897. The island, garrisoned by a detachment from Réunion, has a station and is visited by scientists. Though uninhabited, it is part of the Scattered Islands of the French Southern, Europa Island was the setting of a 1968 episode of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, partly focusing on the breeding habits of the green sea turtle. Europa is 6 kilometres in diameter, with an altitude of 6 metres. It is surrounded by beaches and a fringing reef and encloses a mangrove lagoon of around 9 square kilometres. There are no ports or harbours but anchorage is possible offshore and its Exclusive Economic Zone, contiguous with that of Bassas da India, is 127,300 square kilometres. The airstrip is 1,500 metres metres long, the island is a nature reserve. Its vegetation consists of dry forest, scrub, euphorbia, the swamp. It is one of the worlds largest nesting sites for green sea turtles and it is also home to goats introduced by settlers in the late 18th century. The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports a large and diverse population of breeding seabirds and it is the only known breeding site outside Aldabra and Madagascar for Malagasy pond herons. Seabirds include the second largest colony in the western Indian Ocean of great frigatebirds, Audubons shearwaters, dimorphic egrets, the island is also home to an endemic subspecies of white-tailed tropicbird. There are three species of landbirds present, one of which is a subspecies of the Malagasy white-eye. Additionally, the island is home to its own species of hissing cockroach. Climate is affected by the Agulhas Current with water temperatures usually above 30 °C, southeast trade winds during the winter and occasional cyclones. While the island has probably been sighted by navigators since at least the 16th century, it takes its name from the British ship Europa, ruins and graves on Europa island attest to several attempts at settlement from the 1860s to the 1920s. For example, the French Rosiers family moved to the island in 1860, but subsequently abandoned it
6.
Glorioso Islands
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The Glorieuses or Glorioso Islands are a group of French islands and rocks totalling 5 square kilometres, at 11°33′S 47°20′E, in the Indian Ocean, about 160 kilometres northwest of Madagascar. In 2012, France founded parc naturel marin des Glorieuses, a protected area, to preserve the endangered flora. The Glorieuses have an Exclusive Economic Zone of 48,350 square kilometres, there are anchorages offshore, and Grande Glorieuse has a 1, 300-metre long airstrip. The archipelago consists of two islands, Grande Glorieuse and Île du Lys, as well as eight rock islets, Wreck Rock, South Rock and Verte Rocks and they form part of a coral reef and lagoon. Grande Glorieuses is roughly circular and measures about 3 kilometres across and it is thickly vegetated, mainly by the remains of a coconut plantation and casuarina trees. Île du Lys, located at 11°30′59. 35″S 47°22′36. 02″E about 8 kilometres northeast of Grande Glorieuses, is about 600 metres long and consists of sand dunes and it was formerly quarried for phosphate. The climate is tropical and the terrain is low and flat, Île de Lys in particular is a nesting ground for migratory seabirds, and turtles lay eggs on the beaches. Perhaps earlier known to Arab navigators, the Glorieuses were named and settled in 1880 by a Frenchman, Hippolyte Caltaux, the archipelago became a French possession in 1892 when Captain Richard of the Primauget made a formal claim. In 1895, the Glorioso Island became a part of the colony of Mayotte, from 1914 to 1958 concessions to exploit the islands were given to Seychelles companies. The islands are nature reserves with a meteorological station garrisoned by French troops. The Comoros claims Mayotte and Glorioso Islands, the Seychelles claimed the islands too before the France–Seychelles Maritime Boundary Agreement. In 2012, France founded parc naturel marin des Glorieuses, a protected area, to preserve the endangered flora
7.
Juan de Nova Island
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Anchorage is possible off the northeast of the island which also has a 1,300 metres airstrip. Administratively, the island is one of the Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean, the island is garrisoned by French troops from Réunion and has a weather station. Juan de Nova, about 6 kilometres long and 1.6 kilometres at its widest, is a reserve surrounded by reefs which enclose an area of roughly 40 square kilometres. Forests, mainly of Casuarinaceae, cover about half the island, sea turtles nest on the beaches around the island. The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports a large colony of sooty terns. It also has a smaller colony of greater crested terns. Of at least seven species of landbirds present, most are probably introduced, the island is named after Juan de Nova, a Galician admiral in the service of Portugal who came across the island in 1501. The island had never been inhabited when it became a possession of France in 1897, in 1921, France decided to transfer the administration of Juan de Nova from Paris to Tananarive in its colony of Madagascar and Dependencies. Before the independence of Madagascar, France transferred the administration to Saint-Pierre on Réunion Island, Madagascar became independent in 1960 and claims sovereignty over the island since 1972. Guano deposits were exploited from the start of the 20th century until 1970, the island was abandoned during World War II and was visited by German submariners. Installations, including a hangar, rail lines, houses and a jetty are in ruins, the island lies on the sea route between South Africa and the northern tip of Madagascar. It is affected by currents, and has become the site of numerous wrecks. Most visible are the remains of the SS Tottenham which ran onto the southern fringing reef in 1911
8.
Comoros
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Other countries near the Comoros are Tanzania to the northwest and the Seychelles to the northeast. Its capital is Moroni, on Grande Comore, the Union of the Comoros has three official languages – Comorian, Arabic and French. The religion of the majority of the population is Islam, at 1,660 km2, excluding the contested island of Mayotte, the Comoros is the third-smallest African nation by area. The population, excluding Mayotte, is estimated at 798,000, as a nation formed at a crossroads of different civilisations, the archipelago is noted for its diverse culture and history. The archipelago was first inhabited by Bantu speakers who came from East Africa, supplemented by Arab, the country consists of three major islands and numerous smaller islands, all in the volcanic Comoros archipelago. The major islands are known by their French names, northwestern-most Grande Comore, Mohéli. France has vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions that would affirm Comorian sovereignty over the island, in addition, Mayotte became an overseas department and a region of France in 2011 following a referendum passed overwhelmingly. It became part of the French colonial empire in the 19th century before becoming independent in 1975, since declaring independence, the country has experienced more than 20 coups détat or attempted coups, with various heads of state assassinated. As of 2008 about half the population lived below the poverty line of US$1.25 a day. The Comoros is the state to be a member of the African Union, Francophonie, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League. The name Comoros derives from the Arabic word قمر qamar, the first human inhabitants of the Comoro Islands are thought to have been Polynesian and Melanesian settlers, Malays and Indonesians, travelling by boat. The islands of the Comoros were populated by a succession of peoples from the coast of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf, the Malay Archipelago, and Madagascar. Bantu-speaking settlers reached the islands as a part of the greater Bantu expansion that took place in Africa throughout the first millennium, according to pre-Islamic mythology, a jinni dropped a jewel, which formed a great circular inferno. This became the Karthala volcano, which created the island of the Comoros, development of the Comoros was divided into phases. The earliest reliably recorded phase is the Dembeni phase, during each island maintained a single. From the eleventh to the centuries, trade with the island of Madagascar and merchants from the Middle East flourished, smaller villages emerged. Many Comorians can trace their genealogies to ancestors from Yemen, mainly Hadhramaut, and Oman. According to legend, in 632, upon hearing of Islam, islanders are said to have dispatched an emissary, Mtswa-Mwindza, to Mecca—but by the time he arrived there, the Islamic prophet Muhammad had died
9.
Madagascar
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Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, and previously known as the Malagasy Republic, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Southeast Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar, and numerous smaller peripheral islands, consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot, over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The islands diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the growing human population. The first archaeological evidence for human foraging on Madagascar dates to 2000 BC, human settlement of Madagascar occurred between 350 BC and AD550 by Austronesian peoples arriving on outrigger canoes from Borneo. These were joined around AD1000 by Bantu migrants crossing the Mozambique Channel from East Africa, other groups continued to settle on Madagascar over time, each one making lasting contributions to Malagasy cultural life. The Malagasy ethnic group is divided into 18 or more sub-groups of which the largest are the Merina of the central highlands. Until the late 18th century, the island of Madagascar was ruled by an assortment of shifting sociopolitical alliances. Beginning in the early 19th century, most of the island was united and ruled as the Kingdom of Madagascar by a series of Merina nobles, the monarchy collapsed in 1897 when the island was absorbed into the French colonial empire, from which the island gained independence in 1960. The autonomous state of Madagascar has since undergone four major constitutional periods, since 1992, the nation has officially been governed as a constitutional democracy from its capital at Antananarivo. However, in an uprising in 2009, president Marc Ravalomanana was made to resign. Constitutional governance was restored in January 2014, when Hery Rajaonarimampianina was named president following a 2013 election deemed fair, Madagascar is a member of the United Nations, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and the Southern African Development Community. Madagascar belongs to the group of least developed countries, according to the United Nations, Malagasy and French are both official languages of the state. The majority of the population adheres to traditional beliefs, Christianity, ecotourism and agriculture, paired with greater investments in education, health, and private enterprise, are key elements of Madagascars development strategy. As of 2017, the economy has been weakened by the 2009-2013 political crisis, in the Malagasy language, the island of Madagascar is called Madagasikara and its people are referred to as Malagasy. The islands appellation Madagascar is not of origin, but rather was popularized in the Middle Ages by Europeans. On St. Laurences Day in 1500, Portuguese explorer Diogo Dias landed on the island, polos name was preferred and popularized on Renaissance maps. At 592,800 square kilometres, Madagascar is the worlds 47th largest country, the country lies mostly between latitudes 12°S and 26°S, and longitudes 43°E and 51°E. Neighboring islands include the French territory of Réunion and the country of Mauritius to the east, as well as the state of Comoros, the nearest mainland state is Mozambique, located to the west
10.
Mauritius
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Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres off the southeast coast of the African continent. The country includes the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, and the outer islands, the islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues form part of the Mascarene Islands, along with nearby Réunion, a French overseas department. The area of the country is 2,040 km², the capital and largest city is Port Louis. Mauritius was a British colonial possession from 1810 to 1968, the year of its independence, the government uses English as the main language. The sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago is disputed between Mauritius and the United Kingdom, the UK excised the archipelago from Mauritian territory in 1965, three years prior to Mauritian independence. The UK gradually depopulated the archipelagos indigenous population and leased its biggest island, Diego Garcia, access to the archipelago is prohibited to casual tourists, the media, and its former inhabitants. Mauritius also claims sovereignty over Tromelin Island from France, the people of Mauritius are multiethnic, multi-religious, multicultural and multilingual. The islands government is modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system. Along with the other Mascarene Islands, Mauritius is known for its flora and fauna. The island is known as the only known home of the dodo. Mauritius is the country in Africa where Hinduism is the largest religion. The first historical evidence of the existence of an island now known as Mauritius is on a map produced by the Italian cartographer Alberto Cantino in 1502. From this, it appears that Mauritius was first named Dina Arobi around 975 by Arab sailors, in 1507 Portuguese sailors visited the uninhabited island. The island appears with a Portuguese name Cirne on early Portuguese maps, another Portuguese sailor, Dom Pedro Mascarenhas, gave the name Mascarenes to the Archipelago. In 1598 a Dutch squadron under Admiral Wybrand van Warwyck landed at Grand Port and named the island Mauritius, in honour of Prince Maurice van Nassau, later the island became a French colony and was renamed Isle de France. On 3 December 1810 the French surrendered the island to Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, under British rule, the islands name reverted to Mauritius /məˈrɪʃəs/. Mauritius is also known as Maurice and Île Maurice in French. The island of Mauritius was uninhabited before its first recorded visit during the Middle Ages by Arab sailors, in 1507 Portuguese sailors came to the uninhabited island and established a visiting base
11.
Mozambique
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It is separated from Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel to the east. The capital and largest city is Maputo, between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, Bantu-speaking peoples migrated from farther north and west. Swahili commercial ports existed along the coasts until the arrival of Europeans, the area was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498 and colonised by Portugal from 1505. The country was an important place where Somali merchants enslaved the local population, after over four centuries of Portuguese rule, Mozambique gained independence in 1975, becoming the Peoples Republic of Mozambique shortly thereafter. After only two years of independence, the country descended into an intense and protracted civil war lasting from 1977 to 1992, in 1994, Mozambique held its first multiparty elections and has remained a relatively stable presidential republic. However, since 2013, following more than 20 years of peace, Mozambique is one of the poorest and most underdeveloped countries in the world. Mozambique is endowed with rich and extensive natural resources, the countrys economy is based largely on agriculture, but industry is growing, mainly food and beverages, chemical manufacturing, and aluminium and petroleum production. The countrys tourism sector is also growing, South Africa is Mozambiques main trading partner and source of foreign direct investment. Belgium, Brazil, Portugal, and Spain are also among the countrys most important economic partners, since 2001, Mozambiques annual average GDP growth has been among the worlds highest. However, the ranks among the lowest in GDP per capita, human development, measures of inequality. The only official language of Mozambique is Portuguese, which is mostly as a second language by about half of the population. Common native languages include Makhuwa, Sena, and Swahili, the countrys population of around 24 million is composed overwhelmingly of Bantu people. The largest religion in Mozambique is Christianity, with significant minorities following Islam, the island-town was the capital of the Portuguese colony until 1898, when it was moved south to Lourenço Marques. Between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, waves of Bantu-speaking people migrated from the west and north through the Zambezi River valley and then gradually into the plateau and they established agricultural communities or societies based on herding cattle. They brought with them the technology for smelting and smithing iron, from the late first millennium AD, vast Indian Ocean trade networks extended as far south into Mozambique as the ancient port town of Chibuene. Connections are evident at sites including Manyikeni for 11–14th century ties with the inland Great Zimbabwe kingdoms, from about 1500, Portuguese trading posts and forts displaced the Arabic commercial and military hegemony, becoming regular ports of call on the new European sea route to the east. The voyage of Vasco da Gama around the Cape of Good Hope in 1498 marked the Portuguese entry into trade, politics, the Portuguese attempted to legitimise and consolidate their trade and settlement positions through the creation of prazos tied to Portuguese settlement and administration. Historically within Mozambique there was slavery, Human beings were bought and sold by African tribal chiefs, Arab Muslim traders and Portuguese and other European traders as well
12.
Mayotte
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Mayotte is an insular department and region of France officially named Département de Mayotte. It consists of an island, Grande-Terre, a smaller island, Petite-Terre. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Southeast Africa, the department status of Mayotte is recent and the region remains the poorest in France. Mayotte is nevertheless much more prosperous than the countries of the Mozambique Channel. Mayottes area is 374 square kilometres and, with its 212,645 people, is densely populated at 569 per km². The biggest city and prefecture is Mamoudzou on Grande-Terre, however, the Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport is located on the neighbouring island of Petite-Terre. The territory is part of the Comoro Islands. The territory is known as Maore, the native name of its main island. The language of the majority is Shimaore, a Bantu language variety closely related to the varieties in the neighbouring Comoros islands, the second most widely spoken native language is Kibushi, a Malagasy language variety most closely related to the Sakalava dialect of Malagasy with influences from Shimaore. The vast majority of the population is Muslim, the island was populated from neighbouring East Africa with later arrival of Arabs, who brought the Islamic religion. A sultanate was established in 1500, the people of Mayotte voted to remain politically a part of France in the 1974 referendum. The term Mayotte may refer to all of the islands, of which the largest is known as Maore and includes Maores surrounding islands, most notably Pamanzi. The main island, Grande-Terre, geologically the oldest of the Comoro Islands, is 39 kilometres long and 22 kilometres wide, because of the volcanic rock, the soil is relatively rich in some areas. A coral reef encircling much of the island ensures protection for ships, Dzaoudzi was the capital of Mayotte until 1977. It is situated on Petite-Terre, which at 10 square kilometres is the largest of several islets adjacent to Maore, in 1500, the Maore or Mawuti sultanate was established on the island. In 1503, Mayotte was observed by Portuguese explorers, but not colonized, in 1832, Mayotte was conquered by Andriantsoly, former king of Iboina on Madagascar, in 1833, it was conquered by the neighbouring sultanate of Mwali. On 19 November 1835, Mayotte was again conquered by the Ndzuwani Sultanate, however, in 1836 it regained its independence under a last local Sultan. Mayotte was purchased by France in 1841 and it was the only island in the archipelago that voted in referendums in 1974 and 1976 to retain its link with France and forgo independence
13.
Overseas France
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Overseas France consists of all the French-administered territories outside of the European continent. Their citizens have French nationality and vote for the president of France and they have the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament. From a legal and administrative standpoint, overseas regions are different from overseas collectivities. Overseas regions have exactly the same status as mainland Frances regions, in the French overseas regions, laws cannot be adapted whereas the overseas collectivities are empowered to make their own laws, except in certain areas. The overseas collectivities are governed by elected assemblies and by the French Parliament. Overseas France has an economic zone of 9,821,231 km². Guadeloupe French Guiana Martinique Réunion Mayotte 1976–2003, sui generis overseas territory, 2001–2003, with the designation departmental community, 2003–2011, in the 2009 Mahoran status referendum, Mahorans voted to become an overseas department in 2011, which occurred on March 31,2011. The category of overseas collectivity was created by Frances constitutional reform of March 28,2003, each overseas collectivity has its own statutory laws. French Polynesia In 2004 it was given the designation of overseas country, despite being given the political status of overseas collectivity, Saint Pierre et Miquelon is called collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, literally territorial collectivity. It is still referred to as a territoire. Saint Martin, In 2003, the populations of St. Martin, on February 7,2007, the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both jurisdictions. The new status took effect on February 22,2007 when the law was published in the Journal Officiel and they remain part of the European Union, as stated in the Treaty of Lisbon. It is currently the only overseas territory, according to law 2007-224 of February 21,2007, the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean constitute the 5th district of TAAF. New Caledonia was classified as an overseas territory beginning in 1946, a New Caledonian citizenship was established, and a gradual transfer of power from the French state to New Caledonia itself was begun, to last from 15 to 20 years. Clipperton Island is a 9 km2 coral atoll located 1,280 km south-west of Acapulco, Mexico and it is held as state private property under the direct authority of the French government, and is administered by Frances Overseas Minister. With 2,691,000 inhabitants in 2013, Overseas France account for 4. 1% of the population of the French Republic and they enjoy a corresponding representation in the two chambers of the French Parliament. In the 13th Legislature, Overseas France is represented by 27 députés in the French National Assembly,2004, Official website Overseas France at DMOZ
14.
Euro
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Outside of Europe, a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally,210 million people worldwide as of 2013 use currencies pegged to the euro, the euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. The name euro was adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.8252 within two years, it has traded above the U. S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.6038 on 18 July 2008. In July 2012, the euro fell below US$1.21 for the first time in two years, following concerns raised over Greek debt and Spains troubled banking sector, as of 26 March 2017, the euro–dollar exchange rate stands at ~ US$1.07. The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, as an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all states. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, all nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. Since 5 January 2002, the central banks and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Euro banknotes do not show which central bank issued them, Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice, the ECBs banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs and these liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The euro is divided into 100 cents, in Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are used, with many local variations such as centime in France. All circulating coins have a side showing the denomination or value. Due to the plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used. For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, beginning in 2007 or 2008 the old map is being replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the Union like Norway
15.
ISO 4217
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The ISO4217 code list is used in banking and business globally. ISO4217 codes are used on tickets and international train tickets to remove any ambiguity about the price. The first two letters of the code are the two letters of the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes and the third is usually the initial of the currency itself, so Japans currency code is JPY—JP for Japan and Y for yen. This eliminates the problem caused by the dollar, franc, peso and pound being used in dozens of different countries. Also, if a currency is revalued, the currency codes last letter is changed to distinguish it from the old currency. Other changes can be seen, however, the Russian ruble, for example, changed from RUR to RUB and these currency units are denominated as one troy ounce of the specified metal as opposed to USD1 or EUR1. The code XTS is reserved for use in testing, the code XXX is used to denote a transaction involving no currency. There are also codes specifying certain monetary instruments used in international finance, the codes for most supranational currencies, such as the East Caribbean dollar, the CFP franc, the CFA franc BEAC and the CFA franc BCEAO. The predecessor to the euro, the European Currency Unit, had the code XEU, the use of an initial letter X for these purposes is facilitated by the ISO3166 rule that no official country code beginning with X will ever be assigned. Because of this rule ISO4217 can use X codes without risk of clashing with a country code. ISO3166 country codes beginning with X are used for private custom use, consequently, ISO4217 can use X codes for non-country-specific currencies without risk of clashing with future country codes. The inclusion of EU in the ISO 3166-1 reserved codes list, the ISO4217 standard includes a crude mechanism for expressing the relationship between a major currency unit and its corresponding minor currency unit. This mechanism is called the exponent and assumes a base of 10. For example, USD is equal to 100 of its currency unit the cent. So the USD has exponent 2, the code JPY is given the exponent 0, because its minor unit, the sen, although nominally valued at 1/100 of a yen, is of such negligible value that it is no longer used. Usually, as with the USD, the currency unit has a value that is 1/100 of the major unit, but in some cases 1/1000 is used. Mauritania does not use a decimal division of units, setting 1 ouguiya equal to 5 khoums, some currencies do not have any minor currency unit at all and these are given an exponent of 0, as with currencies whose minor units are unused due to negligible value. There is also a code number assigned to each currency
16.
Island
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An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, an island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait, and a small island off the coast may be called a holm. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago, an island may be described as such, despite the presence of an artificial land bridge. Example, Singapore and its causeway, or the various Dutch delta islands, there are two main types of islands in the sea, continental and oceanic. The word island derives from Middle English iland, from Old English igland, Old English ieg is actually a cognate of Swedish ö and German Aue, and related to Latin aqua. There is a difference between islands and continents in terms of geology, continents sit on continental lithosphere which is part of tectonic plates floating high on Earths mantle. Oceanic crust is also part of tectonic plates, but it is denser than continental lithosphere, Islands are either extensions of the oceanic crust or geologically they are part of some continent sitting on continental lithosphere. This holds true for Australia, which sits on its own continental lithosphere, continental islands are bodies of land that lie on the continental shelf of a continent. A special type of island is the microcontinental island, which is created when a continent is rifted. Examples are Madagascar and Socotra off Africa, the Kerguelen Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, another subtype is an island or bar formed by deposition of tiny rocks where water current loses some of its carrying capacity. While some are transitory and may disappear if the volume or speed of the current changes, others are stable, oceanic islands are islands that do not sit on continental shelves. The vast majority are volcanic in origin, such as Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, the few oceanic islands that are not volcanic are tectonic in origin and arise where plate movements have lifted up the ocean floor above the surface. Examples are Saint Peter and Paul Rocks in the Atlantic Ocean, one type of volcanic oceanic island is found in a volcanic island arc. These islands arise from volcanoes where the subduction of one plate under another is occurring, examples are the Aleutian Islands, the Mariana Islands, and most of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean. The only examples in the Atlantic Ocean are some of the Lesser Antilles, another type of volcanic oceanic island occurs where an oceanic rift reaches the surface. There are two examples, Iceland, which is the second largest volcanic island, and Jan Mayen. A third type of oceanic island is formed over volcanic hotspots. A hotspot is more or less stationary relative to the tectonic plate above it
17.
Indian Ocean
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The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the worlds oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2. It is bounded by Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, the Indian Ocean is known as Ratnākara, the mine of gems in ancient Sanskrit literature, and as Hind Mahāsāgar, in Hindi. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf, the oceans continental shelves are narrow, averaging 200 kilometres in width. An exception is found off Australias western coast, where the width exceeds 1,000 kilometres. The average depth of the ocean is 3,890 m and its deepest point is Diamantina Deep in Diamantina Trench, at 8,047 m deep, Sunda Trench has a depth of 7, 258–7,725 m. North of 50° south latitude, 86% of the basin is covered by pelagic sediments. The remaining 14% is layered with terrigenous sediments, glacial outwash dominates the extreme southern latitudes. The major choke points include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, the Lombok Strait, the Strait of Malacca, the Indian Ocean is artificially connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, which is accessible via the Red Sea. All of the Indian Ocean is in the Eastern Hemisphere and the centre of the Eastern Hemisphere is in this ocean, marginal seas, gulfs, bays and straits of the Indian Ocean include, The climate north of the equator is affected by a monsoon climate. Strong north-east winds blow from October until April, from May until October south, in the Arabian Sea the violent Monsoon brings rain to the Indian subcontinent. In the southern hemisphere, the winds are milder. When the monsoon winds change, cyclones sometimes strike the shores of the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean in the world. Long-term ocean temperature records show a rapid, continuous warming in the Indian Ocean, Indian Ocean warming is the largest among the tropical oceans, and about 3 times faster than the warming observed in the Pacific. Research indicates that human induced greenhouse warming, and changes in the frequency, among the few large rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean are the Zambezi, Shatt al-Arab, Indus, Godavari, Krishna, Narmada, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Jubba and Irrawaddy River. The oceans currents are controlled by the monsoon. Two large gyres, one in the northern hemisphere flowing clockwise and one south of the equator moving anticlockwise, during the winter monsoon, however, currents in the north are reversed. Deep water circulation is controlled primarily by inflows from the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, north of 20° south latitude the minimum surface temperature is 22 °C, exceeding 28 °C to the east. Southward of 40° south latitude, temperatures drop quickly, surface water salinity ranges from 32 to 37 parts per 1000, the highest occurring in the Arabian Sea and in a belt between southern Africa and south-western Australia
18.
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
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The French Southern and Antarctic Lands is an overseas territory of France. It consists of, Kerguelen Islands, a group of islands in the southern Indian Ocean, southeast of Africa. The territory is called the French Southern Lands or French Southern Territories. The latter excludes Adélie Land, where French sovereignty is not widely recognized, the lands are not connected to France Antarctique, a former French colony in Brazil. The territory has no permanent civilian population and those resident consist of visiting military personnel, officials, scientific researchers and support staff. The French Southern and Antarctic Lands have formed a territoire doutre-mer of France since 1955, the territory is divided into five districts, a According to new law 2007-224 of February 21,2007, the Scattered Islands constitute the TAAFs fifth district. The TAAF website does not mention their population, the data are not included in the totals. b The Îles Éparses principal station is on Tromelin. The headquarters of the district chief lies beyond the TAAF, in Saint Pierre on Réunion Island. c The Territorys principal station is Martin-de-Viviès on Île Amsterdam, the capital and headquarters of the Territorial administrator lies beyond the TAAF, in Saint Pierre on Réunion Island. Each district is headed by a chief, who has powers similar to those of a French mayor. Because there is no permanent population, there is no elected assembly, Adélie Land and the islands, totaling 7,781 km2, have no indigenous inhabitants, though in 1997 there were about 100 researchers whose numbers varied from winter to summer. Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul are extinct volcanoes and have been delineated as the Amsterdam, the highest point in the territory is Mont Ross on Île Kerguelen at 1,850 m. There are very few airstrips on the islands, only existing on islands with weather stations, the islands in the Indian Ocean are supplied by the special ship Marion Dufresne sailing out of Le Port in Réunion Island. Terre Adélie is supplied by Astrolabe sailing out of Hobart in Tasmania and this register, however, is to vanish, replaced by the International French Register. The territory contains the land mass that is antipodal to the Contiguous United States. Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul lie antipodal to two areas in south-eastern Colorado, near the cities of Lamar and Cheyenne Wells, respectively. The territorys natural resources are limited to fish and crustaceans, economic activity is limited to servicing meteorological and geophysical research stations and French and other fishing fleets. The main fish resources are Patagonian toothfish and spiny lobster, both are poached by foreign fleets, because of this, the French Navy and occasionally other services patrol the zone and arrest poaching vessels. Such arrests can result in heavy fines and/or the seizure of the ship, France used to sell licenses to foreign fisheries to fish the Patagonian toothfish, because of overfishing, it is now restricted to a small number of fisheries from Réunion Island
19.
Treaty of Paris (1814)
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It established peace between France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, who in March had defined their common war aim in Chaumont. The Treaty was also signed by Portugal and Sweden while Spain signed shortly after in July, Peace talks had started on 9 May between Talleyrand, who negotiated with the allies of Chaumont on behalf of the exiled Bourbon king Louis XVIII of France. The allies had agreed to reduce France to her 1792 borders, however, the allied parties did not sign a common document, but instead concluded separate treaties with France allowing for specific amendments. This provision resulted in the Congress of Vienna, held between September 1814 and June 1815, the treaty reapportioned several territories amongst various countries. Most notably, France retained all of the territory which it possessed as of 1 January 1792 and these included Guadeloupe, which had been ceded to Sweden by Britain when she entered the coalition. In return, Sweden was compensated 24 million francs and this gave rise to the Guadeloupe Fund. The only exceptions to this were Tobago, St. Lucia, Seychelles, Great Britain kept sovereignty over the island of Malta. The treaty returned to Spain the territory of San Domingo that had transferred to France by the Treaty of Basel in 1795. This implicitly recognised French sovereignty over Saint-Domingue, which Dessalines had proclaimed independent under the name of Haiti, France only recognised the independence of Haiti in 1838. The treaty also reinstated the Bourbon monarchy in France, in the person of Louis XVIII, the treaty also aimed to abolish the French slave trade, but not slavery, over a five-year period, and formally recognized the independence of Switzerland. Several powers, despite the intentions of the treaty, still feared a reassertion of French power. With this in mind, the territories strengthened themselves for protection, the House of Orange, which united Belgium and the Netherlands, was created to strengthen the two aforementioned countries in case of a French attack. Many German states had been consolidated by Napoleon, and they retained this status, while Prussia gained territory in western Germany, in Italy, several different political entities were recognized, and the neutrality of Switzerland was formally recognized. Napoleonic Wars Congress of Vienna Treaty of Fontainebleau Treaty of Paris EB staff, bis zu den Grafen von Paris. Rudolf, Uwe Jens, Berg, W. G, alexander Rich, Gisela Gledhill, and Dr. Jerzy Kierkuć-Bieliński, Peace Breaks Out. London and Paris in the Summer of 1814, London, Sir John Soane’s Museum, in print
20.
Condominium (international law)
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Although a condominium has always been recognized as a theoretical possibility, condominia have been rare in practice. A major problem, and the reason so few have existed, is the difficulty of ensuring co-operation between the powers, once the understanding fails, the status is likely to become untenable. The word is recorded in English since c,1714, from Modern Latin, apparently coined in Germany c.1700 from Latin com- together + dominium right of ownership. A condominium of three sovereign powers is sometimes called a condominium or tridominium. Antarctica is a de facto condominium, governed by parties to the Antarctic Treaty that have consulting status, the condominium was established by treaty in 1816. Pheasant Island in the River Bidassoa between France and Spain and it was established by the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua exercise a tridominium over parts of the Gulf of Fonseca, Austria and Germany consider themselves, together with Switzerland, to hold a tripartite condominium over the main part of Lake Constance. On the other hand, Switzerland holds the view that the runs through the middle of the lake. Hence no international treaty establishes where the borders of Switzerland, Germany, the part of the Paraná River between the Salto Grande de Sete Quedas and the mouth of the Iguassu River is shared in condominium by Brazil and Paraguay. Jamaica and Colombia share a maritime condominium by mutual agreement as an alternative to delimiting their sea boundary, the outer portion of the EEZ of each country otherwise would overlap in this area. Unlike other joint development zones, this appears not to have been purposed simply as a way to divide oil. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Brčko District forms a condominium between the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska, the arrangement lasted for some 300 years, even though in the same time there was nearly constant warfare between the two parties on the mainland. The Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina was jointly ruled by Cisleithanian Austria, an islet in the border river Brömsebäck was considered to belong to neither Denmark and Sweden. The Independent State of Croatia during World War II from 1941 to 1943 was a condominium of Nazi Germany, egypt from 1876–1882 was under France and the United Kingdom. A small area on the Arabian Peninsula, a part of Oman, the agreement defining the Hadf zone was signed in Salalah on 26 April 1960 by Sultan Said bin Taimur and in Ajman on 30 April 1960 by Shaikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, ruler of Ajman. This provided for some joint supervision in the zone by the ruler of Ajman and it allowed the Ajman ruler to continue collecting zakat. The ruler of Ajman was, however, not to interfere in the affairs of the people, the Bani Kaab. The Free City of Kraków was a protectorate of Prussia, Austria and Russia from 1815 until 1846, the Spanish Netherlands became an Anglo-Dutch condominium in 1706 during the War of the Spanish Succession, until the peace treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt in 1713/14 ending the war
21.
Green sea turtle
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The green sea turtle, also known as the green turtle, black turtle, or Pacific green turtle, is a large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the species in the genus Chelonia. Its range extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world, the common name comes from the usually green fat found beneath its carapace, these turtles shells are olive to black. This sea turtles dorsoventrally flattened body is covered by a large, teardrop-shaped carapace, it has a pair of large and it is usually lightly colored, although in the eastern Pacific populations parts of the carapace can be almost black. Unlike other members of its family, such as the sea turtle. The adults usually inhabit shallow lagoons, feeding mostly on various species of seagrasses, the turtles bite off the tips of the blades of seagrass, which keeps the grass healthy. Like other sea turtles, green sea turtles migrate long distances between feeding grounds and hatching beaches, many islands worldwide are known as Turtle Island due to green sea turtles nesting on their beaches. Females crawl out on beaches, dig nests and lay eggs during the night, later, hatchlings emerge and scramble into the water. Those that reach maturity may live to 80 years in the wild, C. mydas is listed as endangered by the IUCN and CITES and is protected from exploitation in most countries. It is illegal to collect, harm, or kill them, in addition, many countries have laws and ordinances to protect nesting areas. However, turtles are still in danger due to human activity, in some countries, turtles and their eggs are hunted for food. Pollution indirectly harms turtles at both population and individual scales, many turtles die after being caught in fishing nets. Also, real estate development often causes habitat loss by eliminating nesting beaches, the green sea turtle is a member of the tribe Chelonini. A1993 study clarified the status of genus Chelonia with respect to the marine turtles. The carnivorous Eretmochelys, Caretta and Lepidochelys were assigned to the tribe Carettini, herbivorous Chelonia warranted their status as a genus, while Natator was further removed from the other genera than previously believed. The species was described by Linnaeus in 1758 as Testudo mydas. In 1868, Marie Firmin Bocourt named a species of sea turtle Chelonia agassizii. This species was referred to as the sea turtle
22.
Volcano
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A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Earths volcanoes occur because its crust is broken into 17 major, therefore, on Earth, volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. This type of volcanism falls under the umbrella of plate hypothesis volcanism, Volcanism away from plate boundaries has also been explained as mantle plumes. These so-called hotspots, for example Hawaii, are postulated to arise from upwelling diapirs with magma from the boundary,3,000 km deep in the Earth. Volcanoes are usually not created where two plates slide past one another. Erupting volcanoes can pose hazards, not only in the immediate vicinity of the eruption. Historically, so-called volcanic winters have caused catastrophic famines, the word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn comes from Vulcan, the god of fire in Roman mythology. The study of volcanoes is called volcanology, sometimes spelled vulcanology, at the mid-oceanic ridges, two tectonic plates diverge from one another as new oceanic crust is formed by the cooling and solidifying of hot molten rock. Most divergent plate boundaries are at the bottom of the oceans, therefore, most volcanic activity is submarine, black smokers are evidence of this kind of volcanic activity. Where the mid-oceanic ridge is above sea-level, volcanic islands are formed, for example, subduction zones are places where two plates, usually an oceanic plate and a continental plate, collide. In this case, the plate subducts, or submerges under the continental plate forming a deep ocean trench just offshore. In a process called flux melting, water released from the subducting plate lowers the temperature of the overlying mantle wedge. This magma tends to be very viscous due to its high content, so it often does not reach the surface. When it does reach the surface, a volcano is formed, typical examples of this kind of volcano are Mount Etna and the volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Because tectonic plates move across them, each volcano becomes dormant and is eventually re-formed as the plate advances over the postulated plume and this theory is currently under criticism, however. The most common perception of a volcano is of a mountain, spewing lava and poisonous gases from a crater at its summit, however. The features of volcanoes are more complicated and their structure. Some volcanoes have rugged peaks formed by lava domes rather than a summit crater while others have features such as massive plateaus
23.
Atoll
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An atoll, sometimes called a coral atoll, is a ring-shaped coral reef including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands/cays on the rim, the coral of the atoll often sits atop the rim of an extinct seamount or volcano which has eroded or subsided partially beneath the water. The lagoon forms over the crater or caldera while the higher rim remains above water or at shallow depths that permit the coral to grow. For the atoll to persist, continued erosion or subsidence must be at a slow enough to permit reef growth upwards and outwards to replace the lost height. The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu, meaning an administrative subdivision, the distribution of atolls around the globe is instructive, most of the worlds atolls are in the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean has no large groups of atolls, other than eight atolls east of Nicaragua that belong to the Colombian department of San Andres and Providencia in the Caribbean. Reef-building corals will thrive only in tropical and subtropical waters of oceans and seas. The northernmost atoll of the world is Kure Atoll at 28°24 N, the southernmost atolls of the world are Elizabeth Reef at 29°58 S, and nearby Middleton Reef at 29°29 S, in the Tasman Sea, both of which are part of the Coral Sea Islands Territory. The next southerly atoll is Ducie Island in the Pitcairn Islands Group, at this latitude coral reefs would not develop without the warming waters of the Gulf Stream. However, Bermuda is termed a pseudo-atoll because its general form, while there is no atoll directly on the equator, the closest atoll to the Equator is Aranuka of Kiribati, with its southern tip just 12 km north of the equator. In most cases, the area of an atoll is very small in comparison to the total area. Atoll islands are low lying, with their elevations less than 5 meters, measured by total area, Lifou is the largest raised coral atoll of the world, followed by Rennell Island. More sources however list as the largest atoll in the world in terms of land area Kiritimati, the remains of an ancient atoll as a hill in a limestone area is called a reef knoll. The second largest atoll by dry land area is Aldabra with 155 km², the largest atoll in terms of island numbers is Huvadhu Atoll in the south of the Maldives with 255 islands. In 1842, Charles Darwin explained the creation of coral atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean based upon observations made during a voyage aboard the HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836. In time, subsidence carries the old volcano below the ocean surface, at this point, the island has become an atoll. Atolls are the product of the growth of marine organisms. Volcanic islands located beyond the water temperature requirements of hermatypic organisms become seamounts as they subside and are eroded away at the surface
24.
Heliotropium foertherianum
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Heliotropium foertherianum is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It is native to tropical Asia including southern China, Madagascar, northern Australia, common names include velvetleaf soldierbush, tree heliotrope and octopus bush. It is a shrub or small tree typical of littoral zones reaching a height of 6 m, originally published as Tournefortia argentea, it was transferred to Argusia argentea, and remained under that name until recently. It was subsequently restored to Tournefortia before being transferred into Heliotropium under a new name in 2003, historically in the Maldives the leaves were often used as famine food. The wood of H. foertherianum is used to make handicrafts, tools. Due to its availability, H. foertherianum is used as firewood, octopus bush is used in many Pacific islands as a traditional medicine to treat ciguatera fish poisoning, which is caused by powerful ciguatoxins produced by microscopic Gambierdiscus algae. The researchers think rosmarinic acid may remove the ciguatoxins from their sites of action, data related to Tournefortia argentea at Wikispecies Plants of Midway Atoll
25.
Coral reef
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Coral reefs are diverse underwater ecosystems held together by calcium carbonate structures secreted by corals. Coral reefs are built by colonies of tiny animals found in waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups, the polyps belong to a group of animals known as Cnidaria, which also includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons which support, most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated waters. Often called rainforests of the sea, shallow coral reefs form some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth, paradoxically, coral reefs flourish even though they are surrounded by ocean waters that provide few nutrients. They are most commonly found at depths in tropical waters. Coral reefs deliver ecosystem services to tourism, fisheries and shoreline protection, the annual global economic value of coral reefs is estimated between US$29. 8-375 billion. However, coral reefs are fragile ecosystems, partly because they are sensitive to water temperature. Most of the coral reefs we can see today were formed after the last glacial period when melting ice caused the sea level to rise and this means that most modern coral reefs are less than 10,000 years old. As communities established themselves on the shelves, the reefs grew upwards, Reefs that rose too slowly could become drowned reefs. They are covered by so much water there was insufficient light. Coral reefs are found in the sea away from continental shelves, around oceanic islands. The vast majority of islands are volcanic in origin. The few exceptions have tectonic origins where plate movements have lifted the deep ocean floor on the surface. In 1842 in his first monograph, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, Charles Darwin set out his theory of the formation of atoll reefs and he theorized uplift and subsidence of the Earths crust under the oceans formed the atolls. Darwin’s theory sets out a sequence of three stages in atoll formation and it starts with a fringing reef forming around an extinct volcanic island as the island and ocean floor subsides. As the subsidence continues, the reef becomes a barrier reef. Darwin predicted that underneath each lagoon would be a bed rock base, where the level of the underlying earth allows, the corals grow around the coast to form what he called fringing reefs, and can eventually grow out from the shore to become a barrier reef
26.
Aerodrome
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An aerodrome or airdrome is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither. Aerodromes include small general aviation airfields, large airports. The term airport may imply a certain stature that an aerodrome may not have achieved and that is to say, all airports are aerodromes, but not all aerodromes are airports. Usage of the term aerodrome remains more common in the UK and Commonwealth nations, a water aerodrome is an area of open water used regularly by seaplanes or amphibious aircraft for landing and taking off. The word aerodrome derives from Ancient Greek ἀήρ, air, and δρόμος, road or course, an ancient linguistic parallel is hippodrome, derived from ἵππος, horse, and δρόμος, course. In Canada and Australia, aerodrome is a term of art for any area of land or water used for aircraft operation. International Civil Aviation Organization documents use the aerodrome, for example, in the Annex to the ICAO Convention about aerodromes, their physical characteristics. However, the airfield or airport mostly superseded use of aerodrome after World War II. The city of the first aerodrome in the world is a French commune named Viry-Chatillon, the unimproved airfield remains a phenomenon in military aspects. The DHC-4 Caribou served in the U. S. military in Vietnam, landing on rough, earlier, the Ju-52 and Fieseler Storch could do the same, one example of the latter taking off from the Führerbunker whilst completely surrounded by Russian troops. An airport is an aerodrome certificated for commercial flights, an air base is an aerodrome with significant facilities to support aircraft and crew. The term is reserved for military bases, but also applies to civil seaplane bases. An airstrip is an aerodrome that consists only of a runway with perhaps fueling equipment. They are generally in remote locations, many airstrips were built on the hundreds of islands in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. A few airstrips grew to become full-fledged airbases as strategic or economic importance of a region increased over time. An Advanced Landing Ground was an airstrip used by the Allies in the run-up to and during the invasion of Normandy. A water aerodrome is an area of water used regularly by seaplanes or amphibious aircraft for landing and taking off. It may have a building on land and/or a place where the plane can come to shore
27.
BirdLife International
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It is the worlds largest partnership of conservation organisations, with over 120 partner organisations. BirdLife International was founded as in 1922 the International Council for Bird Preservation by American ornithologists T. Gilbert Pearson and it changed its name in 1993 to BirdLife International. In addition to the programmes, there are global programmes. Together these programmes help the partnership to focus and work on common priorities and they provide the framework for planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating conservation work. BirdLife International publishes a magazine, World Birdwatch, which contains recent news and authoritative articles about birds, their habitats. BirdLife International is the official Red List authority for birds, for the International Union for Conservation of Nature, in the 2012 assessment,1,313 species of birds are considered threatened with extinction. This represents 13% of the 10,064 extant bird species in the world
28.
Bird colony
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A bird colony is a large congregation of individuals of one or more species of bird that nest or roost in proximity at a particular location. Many kinds of birds are known to congregate in groups of varying size, colonial nesting birds include seabirds such as auks and albatrosses, wetland species such as herons, and a few passerines such as weaverbirds, certain blackbirds, and some swallows. A group of birds congregating for rest is called a communal roost, evidence of colonial nesting has been found in non-neornithine birds, in sediments from the Late Cretaceous of Romania. Approximately 13% of all bird species nest colonially, nesting colonies are very common among seabirds on cliffs and islands. Nearly 95% of seabirds are colonial, leading to the usage, seabird colony, many species of terns nest in colonies on the ground. Herons, egrets, storks, and other large waterfowl also nest communally in what are called heronries, colony nesting may be an evolutionary response to a shortage of safe nesting sites and abundance or unpredictable food sources which are far away from the nest sites. What exactly constitutes a colony is a matter of definition, tufted puffins, for example, are pelagic birds that nest on the steep slopes and rocky crevices on coastal cliffs, often on islands. Each pair excavates its own burrow, a congregation of puffin burrows on a marine island is considered a colony. Sand martins are seldom, if ever, observed to nest in solitude, a more extreme example of colonial nesting is found in the weaverbird family. These structures resemble haystacks hanging from trees, and have likened to apartment buildings or beehives. Some seabird colonies host thousands of nesting pairs of various species, triangle Island, for example, the largest seabird colony in British Columbia, Canada, is home to auks, gulls, cormorants, shorebirds, and other birds, as well as some marine mammals. Many seabirds show remarkable site fidelity, returning to the burrow, nest or site for many years. This increases breeding success, provides a place for returning mates to reunite, young adults breeding for the first time usually return to their natal colony, and often nest very close to where they hatched. Individual nesting sites at seabird colonies can be widely spaced, as in an albatross colony, in most seabird colonies several different species will nest on the same colony, often exhibiting some niche separation. Seabirds can nest in trees, on the ground, on cliffs, in burrows under the ground, colony size is a major aspect of the social environment of colonial birds. Some birds are known to nest in colonies when conditions are suitable, the white-winged dove of southwestern North America was known to nest in large colonies when foraging areas could support such numbers. In 1978, in Tamaulipas, Mexico, researchers counted 22 breeding colonies of white-winged doves with a population size of more than eight million birds. But as habitat was transformed through urbanization or agriculture, the doves apparently spread out into smaller, today, these doves are observed to nest singly and colonially in both urban and rural areas
29.
Masked booby
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The masked booby is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. It is also called the masked gannet or the blue-faced booby, a conspicuous and distinct gannet-like species, it was proposed for separation to a monotypic subgenus Pseudosula, but the Nazca booby and as it seems also the brown booby are quite close relatives. First described by French naturalist René-Primevère Lesson in 1831, the masked booby is one of six species of booby in the genus Sula, the Nazca booby was formerly regarded as a subspecies. Birds of the two locations have been separated as subspecies granti, and the north west Australian population has been named as subspecies bedouti. S. d. dactylatra van Tets, Meredith, Fullagar & Davidson,1988, Atlantic masked booby Breeds in the Caribbean and it has recently started breeding off Tobago, formerly being known in this area only from a single sight record from an oil rig off Trinidad. S. d. melanops van Tets, Meredith, Fullagar & Davidson,1988, S. d. tasmani van Tets, Meredith, Fullagar & Davidson,1988, Tasman booby or Lord Howe masked booby The form breeding on Lord Howe and the Kermadec Islands. Large prehistoric specimens known from the former and Norfolk Island are sometimes considered a distinct species, if this is correct, the extant populations name would be S. d. tasmani as S. d. fullagari was described after S. tasmani. Comparison of ancient DNA form tasmani specimens and living fullagari indicates that they are not distinct and this is the largest booby, at 74–91 cm long, with a 137–165 cm wingspan and 1. 2–2.35 kg weight. Adults are white with pointed wings, a pointed black tail. The sexes are similar, but the male has a bill. Juveniles are brownish on the head and upperparts, with a whitish rump, adult plumage is acquired over two years. The masked booby is silent at sea, but has a reedy whistling greeting call at the nesting colonies, while on the breeding grounds, these birds display a wide range of hissing and quacking notes. Masked boobies are spectacular divers, plunging diagonally into the ocean at high speed and they mainly eat small fish, including flying fish. This is a sedentary bird, wintering at sea. However, Caribbean birds occasionally wander north to warm southern Gulf Stream waters off the eastern seaboard of the United States. More remarkably, there have been three western Palaearctic records of masked booby, presumably dactylatra, all from Spanish waters, although one of these also entered French territorial areas. The masked booby nests in colonies, laying two chalky white eggs on sandy beaches in shallow depressions, which are incubated by both adults for 45 days. In most cases, the first chick will kill its smaller, weaker sibling after it hatches, compared to other species of boobies such as the blue-footed booby, siblicide is obligatory in the masked booby
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Red-footed booby
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The red-footed booby is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. As suggested by the name, adults always have red feet and they are powerful and agile fliers, but they are clumsy in takeoffs and landings. They are found widely in the tropics, and breed colonially in coastal regions, the red-footed booby is the smallest member of the booby and gannet family at about 70 cm in length and with a wingspan of up to 1 m. The average weight of 490 adults from Christmas Island was 837 g and it has red legs, and its bill and throat pouch are coloured pink and blue. In the white morph the plumage is white and the flight feathers are black. The black-tailed white morph is similar, but with a black tail, the brown morph is overall brown. The white-tailed brown morph is similar, but has a belly, rump. The white-headed and white-tailed brown morph has a white body, tail and head. The morphs commonly breed together, but in most regions one or two morphs predominates, e. g. at the Galápagos Islands, most belong to the brown morph, though the white morph also occurs. The sexes are similar, and juveniles are brownish with darker wings, the species has been recorded three times from Sri Lanka. In September 2016, a male red-footed booby was inexplicably found washed up on a beach in East Sussex and it was the first of its species ever recorded in the UK. The bird, named Norman, was exhausted and malnourished and he was brought back to health before being transported by plane to join a flock of boobies in the Cayman Islands in December 2016. January 2017, Muriwai Gannet Colony near Auckland New Zealand has had a Red footed Booby arrive – being the first to be sighted on mainland New Zealand and this species breeds on islands in most tropical oceans. When not breeding it spends most of the time at sea and it nests in large colonies, laying one chalky blue egg in a stick nest, which is incubated by both adults for 44–46 days. The nest is placed in a tree or bush. It may be three months before the young first fly, and five months before they make extensive flights, red-footed booby pairs may remain together over several seasons. They perform elaborate greeting rituals, including harsh squawks and the display of his blue throat. Red-footed boobies are spectacular divers, plunging into the ocean at high speeds to catch prey and they mainly eat small fish or squid which gather in groups near the surface
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Sulidae
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The bird family Sulidae comprises the gannets and boobies. Collectively called sulids, they are medium-large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish, the ten species in this family are often considered congeneric in older sources, placing all in the genus Sula. However, Sula and Morus can be distinguished by morphological and behavioral. Abbotts booby is given its own genus as it stands apart both in these respects. It appears to be a distinct and ancient lineage, maybe closer to the gannets than to the true boobies, sulids measure about 60 to 85 cm in length and have a wingspan of about 140 to 175 cm. They have long, narrow and pointed wings, and a long, graduated. Their flight muscles are small to allow for the small cross section required for plunge-diving. Consequently, they are very streamlined, reducing drag, so their bodies are torpedo-shaped as well as somewhat flat and they have stout legs and webbed feet, with the web connecting all four toes. In some species the webs are brightly colored and used in courtship displays, the bill is usually conspicuously colored, long, deep at the base, and pointed, with saw-like edges. The upper mandible curves down slightly at the tip and can be moved upward to accept large prey, to keep water out during plunges, the nostrils enter into the bill rather than opening to the outside directly. The eyes are angled forward, and provide a field of binocular vision than in most other birds. The plumage is either all-white with dark wingtips and tail, or at least some dark brown or black above with white underparts, gannets have a hue to the head. The face usually has some sort of black markings, typically on the lores, unlike their relatives, sulids have a well-developed preen gland whose waxy secretions they spread on their feathers for waterproofing and pest control. Moult as a response to periods of stress has been recorded, the sulids are distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical waters. Particularly gannets, however, are found in regions too. These birds are not truly pelagic seabirds like the related Procellariiformes, all species feed entirely at sea, mostly on mid-sized fish and similarly-sized marine invertebrates. Many species feed communally, and some species follow fishing boats to scavenge discarded bycatch, the typical hunting behavior is a dive from mid-air, taking the bird a meter or two under water. If prey manages to escape the diving birds at first, they may give chase using their legs and wings for underwater swimming, after landing again, they point downwards with the bill
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Great frigatebird
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The great frigatebird is a large seabird in the frigatebird family. Major nesting populations are found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the great frigatebird is a lightly built, large seabird up to 105 cm long with predominantly black plumage. The species exhibits sexual dimorphism, the female is larger than the male and has a white throat and breast. In the breeding season, the male is able to distend its striking red gular sac, the species feeds on fish taken in flight from the oceans surface, and indulges in kleptoparasitism less frequently than other frigatebirds. They feed in waters within 80 km of their breeding colony or roosting areas. When German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin first described the great frigatebird in 1789, he thought it was a small pelican, due to the rules of taxonomy, its species name of minor was retained despite being placed in a separate genus by the Australian ornithologist Gregory Mathews in 1914. This has led to the discrepancy between minor, Latin for smaller in contrast with its common name and it is one of five closely related species of frigatebird that make up their own genus and family. Its closest relative within the group is the Christmas Island frigatebird, five subspecies are usually recognised, F. m. aldabrensis Mathews,1914. West Indian Ocean F. m. minor, Central and East Indian Ocean to South China Sea F. m. palmerstoni. West and Central Pacific Ocean F. m. ridgwayi Mathews,1914, East Pacific Ocean F. m. nicolli Mathews,1914. South Atlantic The great frigatebird measures 85 to 105 cm in length and has a wingspan of 205–230 cm, male great frigatebirds are smaller than females, but the extent of the variation varies geographically. The male birds weigh 1, 000–1,450 g while the female birds weigh 1. Frigatebirds have long pointed wings and a long narrow deeply forked tail. They have the highest ratio of wing area to body mass and this has been hypothesized to enable the birds to use marine thermals created by small differences between tropical air and water temperatures. The plumage of males is black with scapular feathers that have a green iridescence when they refract sunlight, females are black with a white throat and breast and have a red eye ring. Juveniles are black with a white face, head. The great frigatebird has a distribution throughout the world’s tropical seas. Hawaii is the northernmost extent of their range in the Pacific Ocean, in the Central and South Pacific, colonies are found on most islands groups from Wake Island to the Galapagos to New Caledonia with a few pairs nesting on Australian possessions in the Coral Sea
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Lesser frigatebird
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The lesser frigatebird is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae. At around 75 cm in length, it is the smallest species of frigatebird and it occurs over tropical and subtropical waters across the Indian and Pacific Oceans as well as off the Atlantic coast of Brazil. The lesser frigatebird is a lightly built seabird with brownish-black plumage, long narrow wings, the male has a striking red gular sac which it inflates to attract a mate. The female is larger than the male and has a white breast. Frigatebirds feed on fish taken in flight from the oceans surface, the lesser frigatebird was first described as Atagen ariel by the English zoologist George Gray in 1845 from a specimen collected on Raine Island, Queensland, Australia. The lesser frigatebird is one of five closely related species belonging to the genus Fregata, the other four are, the great frigatebird, the Christmas frigatebird, the magnificent frigatebird and the Ascension frigatebird. The genus is the member of the Fregatidae family. Three subspecies are recognised, F. a. ariel occurs in the central and eastern Indian Ocean, F. a. iredalei named by the Australian ornithologist Gregory Mathews in 1914. It occurs in the western Indian Ocean and breeds on the Aldabra atoll, F. a. trinitatis was named by the Brazilian zoologist Alípio de Miranda-Ribeiro in 1919. It occurred in the South Atlantic off the coast of Brazil and bred on the island of Trindade, some ornithologists have questioned the validity of these subspecies as they appear to differ only in their size. The lesser frigatebird is the smallest species of frigatebird and measures 66–81 cm in length with a wingspan of 155–193 cm, female birds are heavier and weight 760–955 grams. Like all frigatebirds the male has a large red sac on the front of the throat which is inflated during courtship, courtship display also involves a variety of calls, bill rattling and spreading of the wings. The male is all black save for a white patch on the flank which extends on to the underwing as a spur. Males also have a bar on the upper wing. Females have a head and neck with a white collar. The female also has a red ring around the eye. Juveniles and immature birds are difficult to differentiate but the presence of the spurs of white in the armpits is a helpful distinguishing sign. Frigate birds are built for flying, they swim and cannot walk
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Local extinction
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Local extinction, or extirpation, is the condition of a species that ceases to exist in the chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions, local extinctions may be followed by a replacement of the species taken from other locations, wolf reintroduction is an example of this. Local extinctions mark a change in the ecology of an area, the area of study chosen may reflect a natural subpopula, political boundaries, or both. The Cetacean Specialist Group of the IUCN has assessed the threat of an extinction of the Black Sea stock of Harbour Porpoise that touches six different countries. COSEWIC, by contrast, investigates wildlife only in Canada, so only the risk of a Canadian local extinction even for species that cross into the United States or other countries. Other subpopulations may be divided by political or country boundaries. Many crocodilian species have experienced localized extinction, particularly the saltwater crocodile, which has been extirpated from Vietnam, Thailand, Java, often a subpopulation of a species will also be a subspecies. However, similar studies are not carried out where a population is at risk. In all,119 stocks or subpopulations across 69 species have been assessed by the IUCN in 2006, no plant or fungi subpopulations have been assessed by the IUCN. Major environmental events, such as volcanic eruptions, may lead to large numbers of local extinctions, such as with the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption, extinction List of extinct animals Threatened species Genocide
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Malagasy people
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The Malagasy are the ethnic group that forms nearly the entire population of Madagascar. This division has its roots in historical patterns of settlement, sometime later, a large number of settlers arrived from East Africa and established kingdoms along the relatively unpopulated coastlines. The difference in ethnic origins remains somewhat evident between the highland and coastal regions, in addition to the ethnic distinction between highland and coastal Malagasy, one may speak of a political distinction as well. Merina monarchs in the late 18th and early 19th century, the people united the Merina principalities. They later extended Merina control over the majority of the areas as well. The military resistance and eventual defeat of most of the coastal communities assured their subordinate position vis-à-vis the Merina-Betsileo alliance, the number of such ethnic groups in Madagascar has been debated. The practices that distinguished many of groups are less prevalent in the 21st century than they were in the past. But, many Malagasy are proud to proclaim their association with one or several of these groups as part of their own cultural identity, three Malagasy populations, Temoro, Vezo, and Mikea, have approx. 70% African ancestry and 30% Asian ancestry, in a 2010 study, the Polynesian motif frequency occurs varied among three ethnic groups, 50% in Merina,22 % in Vezo, and 13% in Mikea. There are two additional mutations found in all Polynesian motif carriers of Madagascar, hence named the Malagasy motif, most likely scenario is that Madagascar was settled approximately 1200 years ago by a very small group, which consist of approx. 30 women, where 28 of them have Island Southeast Asian descent and 2 of them have African descent, the closest Asian parental population of the Malagasy are the Banjarese and other South Kalimantan Dayak people of south east Borneo. Some Malagasy were among peoples taken captive and sold as slaves in the Atlantic slave trade of the 18th and 19th centuries, the best-known community of descendants are in Morropón, a city in northern Peru, the Afro-Peruvians of Malagasy descent number about 7,000. They call themselves Mangaches or Malgaches and this section of Piura is called la Mangachería. Malagasy slaves were transported during slavery times to Brazil and the US, but their number. It is likely most of these descendants are not aware of their Malagasy ancestry, robert Reed Church, an African-American businessman in Memphis, Tennessee in the 19th century, was said to be of Malagasy descent through his enslaved mother. Memories of Madagascar and Slavery in the Black Atlantic by Wendy Wilson-Fall,2015, Ohio University Press—Malagasy diaspora Sandra Evers, Gwyn Campbell, contest for Land in Madagascar, Environment, Ancestors and Development
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Seven Years' War
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The Seven Years War was a war fought between 1754 and 1763, the main conflict occurring in the seven-year period from 1756 to 1763. It involved every European great power of the time except the Ottoman Empire and spanned five continents, affecting Europe, the Americas, West Africa, India, and the Philippines. The conflict split Europe into two coalitions, led by the Kingdom of Great Britain on one side and the Kingdom of France on the other. Meanwhile, in India, the Mughal Empire, with the support of the French, faced with this sudden turn of events, Britain aligned herself with Prussia, in a series of political manoeuvres known as the Diplomatic Revolution. Conflict between Great Britain and France broke out in 1754–1756 when the British attacked disputed French positions in North America, meanwhile, rising power Prussia was struggling with Austria for dominance within and outside the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe. In 1756, the major powers switched partners, realizing that war was imminent, Prussia preemptively struck Saxony and quickly overran it. The result caused uproar across Europe, because of Austrias alliance with France to recapture Silesia, which had been lost in a previous war, Prussia formed an alliance with Britain. Reluctantly, by following the diet, most of the states of the empire joined Austrias cause. The Anglo-Prussian alliance was joined by smaller German states, Sweden, seeking to re-gain Pomerania joined the coalition, seeing its chance when virtually all of Europe opposed Prussia. Spain, bound by the Pacte de Famille, intervened on behalf of France, the Russian Empire was originally aligned with Austria, fearing Prussias ambition on the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but switched sides upon the succession of Tsar Peter III in 1762. Naples, Sicily, and Savoy, although sided with the Franco-Spanish alliance, like Sweden, Russia concluded a separate peace with Prussia. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris between France, Spain and Great Britain and the Treaty of Hubertusburg between Saxony, Austria and Prussia, in 1763. The Native American tribes were excluded from the settlement, a subsequent conflict, Prussia emerged as a new European great power. Although Austria failed to retrieve the territory of Silesia from Prussia its military prowess was noted by the other powers. The involvement of Portugal, Spain and Sweden did not return them to their status as great powers. France was deprived of many of its colonies and had saddled itself with heavy war debts that its inefficient financial system could barely handle. Spain lost Florida but gained French Louisiana and regained control of its colonies, e. g. Cuba and the Philippines, France and Spain avenged their defeat in 1778 when the American Revolutionary War broke out, with hopes of destroying Britains dominance once and for all. The Seven Years War was perhaps the first true world war, having taken place almost 160 years before World War I and it was characterized in Europe by sieges and the arson of towns as well as open battles with heavy losses
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Central Highlands (Madagascar)
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The Central Highlands, Central High Plateau, or Hauts-Plateaux are a mountainous biogeographical region in central Madagascar. They include the part of the islands interior above 800 m altitude. Because of the habitat of the Central Highlands, there is little local endemism. Pp. 71–81 in Wilson, D. E. and Reeder, mammal Species of the World, a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press,2 vols,2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0 Garbutt, N.2007. Mammals of Madagascar, A Complete Guide, london, A & C Black,304 pp. ISBN 978-0-7136-7043-1 Goodman, S. M. Rakotondravony, D. Randriamanantsoa, H. N. and Rakotomalala-Razanahoera, a new species of rodent from the montane forest of central eastern Madagascar. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 118, 863–873, raxworthy, C. J. Maminirina, C. P. and Olson, L. E. A new species of shrew tenrec from northern Madagascar, fahr, J. Christidis, L. and Appleton, B.2007. Specific status of populations on Madagascar referred to Miniopterus fraterculus, with description of a new species, bradman, H. M. Christidis, L. and Appleton, B.2009. The use of molecular phylogenetic and morphological tools to identify cryptic and paraphyletic species, Examples from the diminutive long-fingered bats on Madagascar, musser, G. G. and Carleton, M. D.2005. Pp. 894–1531 in Wilson, D. E. and Reeder, mammal Species of the World, a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press,2 vols
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United Nations
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The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict, at its founding, the UN had 51 member states, there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, the UNs mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in actions in Korea and the Congo. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military, the UN has six principal organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Trusteeship Council. UN System agencies include the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNESCO, the UNs most prominent officer is the Secretary-General, an office held by Portuguese António Guterres since 2017. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UNs work, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UNs effectiveness have been mixed, some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased. Following the catastrophic loss of life in the First World War, the earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. It incorporated Soviet suggestions, but left no role for France, four Policemen was coined to refer to four major Allied countries, United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China, which emerged in the Declaration by United Nations. Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries, the term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom, by 1 March 1945,21 additional states had signed. Each Government pledges itself to cooperate with the Governments signatory hereto, the foregoing declaration may be adhered to by other nations which are, or which may be, rendering material assistance and contributions in the struggle for victory over Hitlerism. During the war, the United Nations became the term for the Allies. To join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis, at the later meetings, Lord Halifax deputized for Mr. Eden, Wellington Koo for T. V. Soong, and Mr Gromyko for Mr. Molotov. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, the General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, and the facility was completed in 1952. Its site—like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi—is designated as international territory, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary-General
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World Meteorological Organization
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The World Meteorological Organization is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 191 Member States and Territories. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization, which was founded in 1873 and its current Secretary-General is Petteri Taalas and the President of the World Meteorological Congresss, its supreme body, is David Grimes. The Organization is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Meteorological Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations. WMO has a membership of 191 Member States and Territories as of February 2014, the Convention of the World Meteorological Organization was signed 11 October 1947 and established upon ratification on 23 March 1950. WMO became the agency of the United Nations in 1951 for meteorology, operational hydrology. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization, which was founded in 1873, the WMO hierarchy, The World Meteorological Congress, the supreme body of the Organization, determines policy. Each member state and territory is represented by a Permanent Representative with WMO when Congress meets every four years, Congress elects the President and Vice-Presidents of the Organization and members of the Executive Council, and appoints the Secretary-General. The Executive Council implements Congress decisions, the Executive Council normally hold a session at least once a year. Six Regional Associations are responsible for the coordination of meteorological, hydrological and they meet once every four years, and elect a president and vice-president. The president of regional association is an ex officio member of the Executive Council. Eight Technical Commissions are responsible for studying meteorological and hydrological operational systems, applications and they establish methodology and procedures and make recommendations to Executive Council and the World Meteorological Congress. The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, who is appointed by the World Meteorological Congress for a term with a maximum tenure of 8 years. The Secretary-General appoints all staff, including the Deputy Secretary-General and the Assistant Secretary-General, the Secretariat currently has around 300 staff. Weather, climate and the water cycle shape almost every aspect of our lives and these powerful natural forces do not recognize national borders, thus global and regional cooperation is essential. Even the accuracy of a weather forecast relies on observations from far beyond national borders. These warnings help to save lives and to protect property. They contribute to economic planning and decision-making, and help minimize the harm that weather, climate, the first step in producing weather forecasts is to gather non-stop observations of the environment from around the world. WMO develops the standards for designing these and other observing instruments and for ensuring that the collected data are quality controlled
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Exclusive economic zone
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It stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles from its coast. In colloquial usage, the term may include the continental shelf, the term does not include either the territorial sea or the continental shelf beyond the 200 nmi limit. The surface waters, as can be seen in the map, are international waters, generally, a states exclusive economic zone is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, extending seaward to a distance of no more than 200 nautical miles out from its coastal baseline. The exception to this occurs when exclusive economic zones would overlap. When an overlap occurs, it is up to the states to delineate the actual maritime boundary, generally, any point within an overlapping area defaults to the nearest state. A states exclusive economic zone starts at the edge of its territorial sea. The exclusive economic zone stretches much further into sea than the territorial waters, thus, the exclusive economic zones includes the contiguous zone. The idea of allotting nations EEZs to give more control of maritime affairs outside territorial limits gained acceptance in the late 20th century. Initially, a countrys sovereign territorial waters extended 3 nautical miles or 6 km beyond the shore, in modern times, a countrys sovereign territorial waters extend to 12 nautical miles beyond the shore. One of the first assertions of exclusive jurisdiction beyond the territorial seas was made by the United States in the Truman Proclamation of September 28,1945. The exact extent of economic zones is a common source of conflicts between states over marine waters. One well-known example of such dispute was the Cod Wars between the United Kingdom and Iceland, Norway and Russia dispute both territorial sea and EEZ with regard to the Svalbard archipelago as it affects Russias EEZ due to its unique treaty status. A treaty was agreed in principle in April 2010 between the two states and subsequently ratified, resolving this demarcation dispute, the agreement was signed in Murmansk on September 15,2010. The South China Sea is the site of a dispute between several neighboring nations. Croatias ZERP in the Adriatic Sea caused friction with Italy and Slovenia, a wedge-shaped section of the Beaufort Sea is disputed between Canada and the United States, as the area reportedly contains substantial oil reserves. France claims a portion of Canadas EEZ for Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon based on a new definition of the continental shelf, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is entirely surrounded by Canadas EEZ. Mauritius claims EEZ for Tromelin from France and EEZ for British Indian Ocean Territory from the UK, Northern Cyprus claims a portion of Cyprus EEZ overlaps with that of Northern Cyprus in the south/southeastern part of the Cyprus island. Turkey claims a portion of Cypruss EEZ overlaps with its own EEZ, Lebanon claims that the agreement between Cyprus and Israel overlapped its own EEZ
41.
Weather station
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The measurements taken include temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation amounts. Wind measurements are taken with as few other obstructions as possible, while temperature and humidity measurements are kept free from direct solar radiation, manual observations are taken at least once daily, while automated measurements are taken at least once an hour. Weather conditions out at sea are taken by ships and buoys, which slightly different meteorological quantities such as sea surface temperature, wave height. Drifting weather buoys outnumber their moored versions by a significant amount, the instrumentation may be specialized to allow for periodic recording otherwise significant manual labour is required for record keeping. Automatic transmission of data, in a such as METAR, is also desirable as many weather stations data is required for weather forecasting. A personal weather station is a set of measuring instruments operated by a private individual, club, association. The quality, number of instruments, and placement of personal weather stations can vary widely, making the determination of which stations collect accurate, meaningful, personal weather stations also typically involve a digital console that provides readouts of the data being collected. These consoles may interface to a computer where data can be displayed, stored. Personal weather stations may be operated solely for the enjoyment and education of the owner, however some owners share their results with others and they do this by either by manually compiling data and distributing it, distributing data over the internet internet, or sharing data via amateur radio. The Citizen Weather Observer Program is a service which facilitates the sharing of information from weather stations. This data is submitted through use of software, a personal computer, each weather station submitting data to CWOP will also have an individual Web page that depicts the data submitted by that station. The Weather Underground Internet site is popular destination for the submittal. As with CWOP, each station submitting data to The Weather Underground has a unique Web page displaying their submitted data, the UK Met Offices Weather Observations Website also allows such data to be shared and displayed. A weather ship was a ship stationed in the ocean as a platform for surface and it was also meant to aid in search and rescue operations and to support transatlantic flights. The establishment of weather ships proved to be so useful during World War II that the International Civil Aviation Organization established a network of 13 weather ships in 1948. Of the 12 left in operation in 1996, nine were located in the northern Atlantic ocean while three were located in the northern Pacific ocean, the agreement of the weather ships ended in 1990. Weather ship observations proved to be helpful in wind and wave studies, the last weather ship was MS Polarfront, known as weather station M at 66°N, 02°E, run by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. MS Polarfront was removed from service January 1,2010, since the 1960s this role has been largely superseded by satellites, long range aircraft and weather buoys
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Cyclone
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In meteorology, a cyclone is a large scale air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure. A cyclone differs from a hurricane or typhoon only on the basis of location, a hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, and a cyclone occurs in the south Pacific or Indian Ocean. Cyclones are characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate about a zone of low pressure, the largest low-pressure systems are polar vortices and extratropical cyclones of the largest scale. Warm-core cyclones such as cyclones and subtropical cyclones also lie within the synoptic scale. Mesocyclones, tornadoes and dust devils lie within the smaller mesoscale, Upper level cyclones can exist without the presence of a surface low, and can pinch off from the base of the Tropical Upper Tropospheric Trough during the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. Cyclones have also seen on extraterrestrial planets, such as Mars. Cyclogenesis describes the process of formation and intensification. Extratropical cyclones begin as waves in large regions of enhanced mid-latitude temperature contrasts called baroclinic zones and these zones contract and form weather fronts as the cyclonic circulation closes and intensifies. Later in their cycle, extratropical cyclones occlude as cold air masses undercut the warmer air. A cyclones track is guided over the course of its 2 to 6 day life cycle by the flow of the subtropical jet stream. Weather fronts mark the boundary between two masses of air of different temperature, humidity, and densities, and are associated with the most prominent meteorological phenomena. Strong cold fronts typically feature narrow bands of thunderstorms and severe weather, such fronts form west of the circulation center and generally move from west to east, warm fronts form east of the cyclone center and are usually preceded by stratiform precipitation and fog. Warm fronts move poleward ahead of the cyclone path, occluded fronts form late in the cyclone life cycle near the center of the cyclone and often wrap around the storm center. Tropical cyclogenesis describes the process of development of tropical cyclones, Tropical cyclones form due to latent heat driven by significant thunderstorm activity, and are warm core. Cyclones can transition between extratropical, subtropical, and tropical phases, mesocyclones form as warm core cyclones over land, and can lead to tornado formation. Waterspouts can also form from mesocyclones, but more often develop from environments of high instability, henry Piddington published almost 40 papers dealing with tropical storms from Calcutta between 1835 and 1855 in The Journal of the Asiatic Society. He also coined the term cyclone, meaning the coil of a snake, in 1842, he published his landmark thesis, Laws of the Storms. There are a number of characteristics common to all cyclones
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Precipitation
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In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel, Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and precipitates. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated, Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers, moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain is occurring. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain, provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy, thundersnow is possible within a cyclones comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, on the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the trough, or intertropical convergence zone. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 cubic kilometres of it over the oceans and 107,000 cubic kilometres over land. Given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on celestial bodies, e. g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 km3 of it over the oceans, given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall, Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice
