1.
Flag of Vladimir Oblast
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The flag of Vladimir Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, was adopted 28 April 1999. The flag is a field of red with a blue band on the hoist. The band is 1/8 the length of the flag and has a hammer, the field is charged in the center with the coat of arms of Vladimir Oblast, which is 1/3 the length of the field. The ratio of the flag is 1,2, the flag design is based on the 1954 Flag of the Russian SFSR Flags of the World
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
4.
Federal districts of Russia
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The federal districts are groupings of the federal subjects of Russia. Plenipotentiary Representatives are appointed by the President and are employees of the Presidential Administration, source, President Vladimir Putin established seven federal districts in May 2000. On January 19,2010 the new North Caucasian Federal District split from the Southern Federal District, on March 2014, after the Russian military intervention in and annexation of Crimea, the Crimean Federal District was established. The legality of this annexation is disputed by most states as well as NATO, on July 28,2016 the Crimean Federal District was abolished and merged into the Southern Federal District in order to improve the governance
5.
Central Federal District
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The Central Federal District is one of the eight federal districts of Russia. The word Central has a political and historical meaning, being the core of the Russian state and its predecessor, geographically, the district is situated in the extreme west of present-day Russia, although it can be considered as the central region of European Russia. The district covers an area of 650,200 square kilometers, the Presidential Envoy to the Central Federal District is Alexander Beglov
6.
Economic regions of Russia
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No federal subject can belong to more than one economic region. Economic regions are grouped into economic zones. An economic region or its parts can belong to more than one economic zone, establishment and abolition of economic regions and economic zones or any changes in their composition are decided upon by the federal government of Russia. The following is the list and composition of the economic regions, sorted by population
7.
Central economic region
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Central Economic Region is one of twelve economic regions of Russia. Central Economic Region is located in the portion of the European part of Russia. A great number of automobile and railroads intersect on the territory of this region and this flat, rolling country, with Moscow as its center, forms a major industrial region. Besides Moscow, major cities include Smolensk, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Tula, Dzerzhinsk, trucks, ships, railway rolling stock, machine tools, electronic equipment, cotton and woolen textiles, and chemicals are the principal industrial products. The Volga and Oka Rivers are the water routes. Many rail lines serve the area, the region specializes in machine building, chemical and textile industries. Long-fibered flax, potatoes, and vegetables are the most typical of the regions agriculture, cattle breeding for milking is also common. The machine building industry is mostly science-intensive, instrument-making, radio, electrotechnic, and electronic production prevail. Companies manufacturing metal-working machines and instruments, steam boilers, turbines, current generators, cities of Bryansk, Moscow, and Serpukhov are the centers of car-building industry. Trains and train cars are manufactured in Kolomna, Lyudinovo, Rybinsk is a shipbuilding center of the region. Tractors and other machinery are produced in Bezhetsk, Lyubertsy, Ryazan, Tula. Chemical industry includes the production of plastics, chemical fibers, rubber resin and tires. Textile industry is the industry of the region. Most of the production is concentrated in Ivanovo, Kostroma, and Moscow Oblasts, while the region imports most of the raw metals, metallurgy is still somewhat developed. There are metallurgical plants in Elektrostal, Moscow, and in Tula Oblast, electric power is generated by fossil fuels and nuclear power plants. Fossil fuel are imported from other regions of Russia. Other developed industries include manufacturing of footwear, pottery, glass, cement, construction materials, regions temperate zone climate allows for growing of a great variety of crops. As the soils are mostly of podsolic and grey forest types, melioration, most common natural resources of the region include phosphorites, brown coal, construction materials, and peat
8.
Vladimir, Russia
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Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River,200 kilometers to the east of Moscow. It is served by a railway and the M7 motorway, Vladimir was one of the medieval capitals of Russia, with significant buildings surviving from the 12th century. Two of its Russian Orthodox cathedrals, a monastery, and associated buildings have been designated as among the White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal, in the past, the city was also known as Vladimir-on-Klyazma and Vladimir-Zalessky, to distinguish it from another Vladimir in Volhynia. Traditionally, the date of Vladimir has been acknowledged as 1108. This view attributes the founding of the city, and its name, to Vladimir Monomakh and it is named there as Volodymyr. On the 17th centuries maps, it was identified as Wolodimer, being established long after the city of Volodymyr in Volhynia, initially it was named Vladimir-on-Klyazma. In 1958, the 850th anniversary of the city foundation was celebrated, in the 1990s, a new opinion developed that the city is older than this. The neighboring town of Suzdal, for instance, was mentioned in 1024 and its 12th-century inhabitants alluded to Vladimir as a young town and treated its rulers with arrogance. In the words of a chronicle, they said that the people of Vladimir were their kholops. In the seniority conflicts of the 12th and early 13th centuries, Vladimir was repeatedly described as a young town compared to Suzdal, nevertheless, the Charter of Vladimir, the basic law of the city passed in 2005, explicitly mentions 990 as the date of the citys foundation. The citys most historically significant events occurred after the turn of the 12th century, under Dolgorukys son, Andrey Bogolyubsky, the city became the center of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality. It had a Golden Age, which lasted until the Mongol invasion of Rus in 1237, during this time, Vladimir enjoyed immense growth and prosperity. Andrey oversaw the building of the citys Golden Gates and the Dormition Cathedral, in 1164, Andrey attempted to establish a new metropolitanate in Vladimir, separate from that of Kiev. He was rebuffed by the Patriarch of Constantinople, scores of Russian, German, and Georgian masons worked on Vladimirs white stone cathedrals, monastery, towers, and palaces. Unlike any other buildings, their exterior was elaborately carved with high relief stone sculptures. Only three of these edifices stand today, the Dormition Cathedral, the Cathedral of Saint Demetrius, and they are included among the White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. During Andreys reign, a palace in Bogolyubovo was built, as well as the world-famous Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. Andrey was assassinated at his palace at Bogolyubovo in 1175, Vladimir was besieged by the Mongol-Tatars of the Golden Horde under Batu Khan
9.
Federal subjects of Russia
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Since March 18,2014, the Russian Federation constitutionally consists of 85 federal subjects, although the two most recently added subjects are internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. Three Russian cities of importance have a status of both city and separate federal subject which comprises other cities and towns within federal city keeping old structure of postal address. In 1993, there were 89 federal subjects listed, by 2008, the number of federal subjects had been decreased to 83 because of several mergers. In 2014, Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea became the 84th and 85th federal subjects of Russia, every federal subject has its own head, a parliament, and a constitutional court. Federal subjects have their own constitution and legislation, subjects have equal rights in relations with federal government bodies. The federal subjects have equal representation—two delegates each—in the Federation Council and they do, however, differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy. Composition of post-Soviet Russia was formed during the history of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic within the USSR, the Federation Treaty was included in the text of the 1978 Constitution of the Russian SFSR. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the system became de jure closer to other modern federal states with a republican form of government in the world. There are several groupings of Russian regions, Federal subjects should not be confused with the eight Federal districts which are not subdivisions of Russia, are much larger and each encompass many federal subjects. Federal districts were created by Executive Order of the President of Russia specially for presidential envoys, an official government translation of the Constitution of Russia in Article 5 states,1. Another translation of the Constitution of Russia gives for article 65, each federal subject belongs to one of the following types, b. ^ According to Article 13 of the Charter of Leningrad Oblast, however, St. Petersburg is not officially named to be the administrative center of the oblast. ^ According to Article 24 of the Charter of Moscow Oblast, however, Moscow is not officially named to be the administrative center of the oblast. ^ Not recognized internationally as a part of Russia, the merging process was finished on March 1,2008. No new mergers have been planned since March 2008, Федерального конституционного закона №7-ФКЗ от30 декабря2008 г. Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования, Опубликован, Российская газета, №237,25 декабря1993 г
10.
Time in Russia
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There are eleven time zones in Russia, which currently observe times ranging from UTC+02,00 to UTC+12,00. Daylight saving time is not used in Russia, since 4 December 2016, the time zones are as follows, Daylight saving time in Russia was originally introduced on 30 June 1917 by a decree of the Russian Provisional Government. However, it was abandoned by a Decree of the Soviet government five months later, Daylight saving time was re-introduced in the USSR on 1 April 1981, by a decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The usage of daylight saving time continued after the Soviet collapse but ended in 2011, on 27 March 2011, clocks were advanced as usual, but they did not go back on 30 October 2011, effectively making Moscow Time UTC+4 permanently. In the Russian Empire, most of the observed solar time. During the late 19th century, Moscow Mean Time was introduced on 1 January 1880,2,30,17 corresponds to 37. 6166667°, the longitude of Moscow. Other parts of Russia kept solar time for several years. At this time, Russia had the Julian calendar with 12 or 13 days less date compared to Western Europe, so it is possible to say the Moscow actually had GMT-285,29,43, GMT-309,29,43 and GMT-309,28,41. Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar on Thursday,14 February 1918, after the Soviet Union was created, Moscow Time became UTC+2 and the various other time zones were introduced throughout Russia and the rest of the Soviet Union, for example Irkutsk Time GMT+7. Between 1917-1922 the time was ordered, with daylight savings time some of those years. On 21 June 1930, the Soviet Union advanced all clocks by one hour, Moscow Time was now GMT+3 and Irkutsk Time GMT+8. On 1 April 1981, daylight saving time was re-introduced, clocks were moved one hour forward on 1 April, on 1 April 1981,00,00,00, Oymyakonsky District changed its time zone from MSK+6 to MSK+8. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+9 to UTC+12, on 1 April 1982,00,00,00, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug changed its time zone from MSK+10 to MSK+9, thus eliminating Anadyr Time. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+14 to UTC+13, on 27 March 1988,02,00,00, Saratov and Volgograd oblasts changed its time zone from MSK+1 to MSK. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+5 to UTC+4, on 23 May 1993,00,00,00, Novosibirsk Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+8 to UTC+7, on 28 May 1995,00,00,00, Altai Krai and Altai Republic changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. On 30 March 1997,02,00,00, Sakhalin Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+8 to MSK+7, on 1 May 2002,03,00,00, Tomsk Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. On 1 January 2004,00,00,00, New Siberian Islands, Tomponsky District, the following time zone changes occurred on 28 March 2010, which, in particular, led to abolition of two of the eleven time zones
11.
Vehicle registration plates of Russia
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Vehicle registration plates are the mandatory number plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle, and have existed in Russia for many decades. Most motor vehicles which are used on roads are required by law to display them. The current format uses a letter followed by 3 digits and two more letters, to improve legibility of the numbers for Russian cars abroad, only a small subset of Cyrillic characters that look like Latin characters are used. Finally, the number and letters RUS are included, as well as the national flag. There is a different format for trailers, motorcycles, mopeds and scooters plates are made of square reflective plates and its format is 4 digits at the top and two letters at the bottom. Some autonomous regions are not required to have the flag on the licence plates, vehicles used by certain organisations or categories of persons carry special plates, Special plates in the above categories never carry the Russian flag, except for trailers. There are special reserved for government officials. The license plates for government officials originally had a larger flag instead of the regional code. Rich businessmen, prominent politicians and crime lords often use para-legally acquired special licence plates to get preferential treatment from the transport police, often, this is used in conjunction with a flashing siren. The Society of Blue Buckets is a protest movement that opposes this trend, as of 2014, there are new codes for Russian plates, number 82 for the Republic of Crimea and 92 for Sevastopol. The Russian Federation then officially annexed Crimea from Ukraine and now administers it as two federal subjects, the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Ukraine, backed by most of the community, refuses to accept the annexation. As per GOST provision, only 1,726,272 combinations may be issued within one administration unit, in certain regions, the amount of vehicles exceeds that number, and the combination may not be reused after a vehicle was taken off the registration. All this creates an issue of running out of numbers, a short-term solution was introducing more codes for those regions. Introduction of new license plate is being considered as a future solution. In the following years some codes were reassigned or discontinued, as the populous regions started running out of license plate combinations, new codes past code 89 were assigned to them as well. Additional triple-digit codes were created by adding a 1 or a 7 to the regional code. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs Order 282 from March 28,2002, 1Code 059 is a former code for Syria
12.
Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
13.
Moscow
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Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city, Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth and it is home to the Ostankino Tower, the tallest free standing structure in Europe, the Federation Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and the Moscow International Business Center. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basils Cathedral with its brightly colored domes. Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia, being the site of the Moscow Kremlin, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in the city and it is recognized as one of the citys landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations. In old Russian the word also meant a church administrative district. The demonym for a Moscow resident is москвич for male or москвичка for female, the name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the Moskva River. There have been proposed several theories of the origin of the name of the river and its cognates include Russian, музга, muzga pool, puddle, Lithuanian, mazgoti and Latvian, mazgāt to wash, Sanskrit, majjati to drown, Latin, mergō to dip, immerse. There exist as well similar place names in Poland like Mozgawa, the original Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *Москы, *Mosky, hence it was one of a few Slavic ū-stem nouns. From the latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва, Moskva, in a similar manner the Latin name Moscovia has been formed, later it became a colloquial name for Russia used in Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. From it as well came English Muscovy, various other theories, having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists. The surface similarity of the name Russia with Rosh, an obscure biblical tribe or country, the oldest evidence of humans on the territory of Moscow dates from the Neolithic. Within the modern bounds of the city other late evidence was discovered, on the territory of the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills, Setun River and Kuntsevskiy forest park, etc. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi, the Moskva River was incorporated as part of Rostov-Suzdal into the Kievan Rus in the 11th century. By AD1100, a settlement had appeared on the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a place of Yuri Dolgoruky. At the time it was a town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality
14.
Russian Census (2010)
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The Russian Census of 2010 is the first census of the Russian Federation population since 2002 and the second after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Preparations for the census began in 2007 and it took place between October 14 and October 25, the census was originally scheduled for October 2010, but was moved to 2013 allegedly for financial reasons, although it was also speculated that political motives were influential in the decision. However, in late 2009 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that the Government of Russia allocated 10.5 billion rubles in order to conduct the census as originally scheduled, Results showed the population to stand at 142.9 million. Since the previous 2002 census, population has decreased by 2.3 million, according to the 2010 census, urban population is 105.3 million, rural population is 37.5 million. The urbanisation rate is currently 73. 7%, the median age is 38 years. The ethnic composition is dominated by Russians, demographics of Russia Russian Census 2010 final results Results of 2010 All-Russia population census Official website of the 2010 Census
15.
UNESCO
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris. It is the heir of the League of Nations International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, UNESCO has 195 member states and nine associate members. Most of its offices are cluster offices covering three or more countries, national and regional offices also exist. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs, education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and it is also a member of the United Nations Development Group. UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, on 18 December 1925, the International Bureau of Education began work as a non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development. However, the work of predecessor organizations was largely interrupted by the onset of World War II. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944, a prominent figure in the initiative for UNESCO was Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, the Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946—the date when UNESCOs Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state. The first General Conference took place between 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Dr. Julian Huxley to Director-General and this change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the CICI, in how member states would work together in the organizations fields of competence. In 1956, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO claiming that some of the organizations publications amounted to interference in the racial problems. South Africa rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, UNESCOs early work in the field of education included the pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, started in 1947. This project was followed by missions to other countries, including, for example. In 1948, UNESCO recommended that Member States should make free primary education compulsory, in 1990, the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, launched a global movement to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults. Ten years later, the 2000 World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, UNESCOs early activities in culture included, for example, the Nubia Campaign, launched in 1960. The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after construction of the Aswan Dam, during the 20-year campaign,22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including Mohenjo-daro, Fes, Kathmandu, Borobudur, the organizations work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976 and the first sites inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978, since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 and 2005
16.
World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
17.
Suzdal
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As of the 2010 Census, its population was 10,535. Suzdal is one of the oldest Russian towns, in the 12th century it became the capital of the principality, with Moscow being merely one of its subordinate settlements. Nowadays Suzdal is the smallest of the Russian Golden Ring towns with population of just 9978, several of its monuments are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The towns history dates back to 1024 and in 1125 Yury Dolgoruky made Suzdal the capital of the Rostov-Suzdal principality, Suzdal began to function as a capital at the time when Moscow was still a cluster of cowsheds. In 1157 Andrei Bogolyubsky moved the capital from Suzdal to Vladimir, set in a fertile wheat-growing area, Suzdal remained a trade centre even after Mongol-led invasions. Eventually, it united with Nizhny Novgorod until both were annexed by Moscow in 1392, after a decline in political importance, the town rose in prominence as a religious center with incredible development projects funded by Vasily III and Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century. In the late 17th and 18th centuries, wealthy merchants paid for 30 charming churches, thus Suzdal reached remarkable ratio of churches to citizens, at one point, forty churches for four hundred families. In 1864, local merchants failed to coerce the government into building the Trans-Siberian Railway through their town, instead it went through Vladimir,35 km away. As a result, Suzdal was bypassed not only by trains, furthermore, in 1967 Suzdal earned a federally protected status, which officially limited the development in the area. Today, the town operates as an important tourist center, featuring many examples of old Russian architecture—most of them churches and monasteries. This juxtaposition of stunning medieval architecture with its pastoral setting lends Suzdal a picturesque charm, within the framework of administrative divisions, Suzdal serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District, to which it is directly subordinated. As a municipal division, the town of Suzdal is incorporated within Suzdalsky Municipal District as Suzdal Urban Settlement, the only industry in the town is tourism. Suzdal avoided the industrialisation of the Soviet times and was able to preserve a number of stunning examples of the Russian architecture of the XIII-XIX century. There are 305 monuments and listed buildings in Suzdal, including 30 churches,14 bell towers and 5 monasteries,79 of them are federally protected buildings and 167 are regionally protected. In 1992 two of the monuments were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, together with six other White Monuments in this region, the Kremlin is the oldest part of Suzdal, dating from the 10th century. It is a predecessor of the Moscow Kremlin, in the 12th century it was the base of prince Yury Dolgoruky, who ruled the vast northeastern part of Kyivan Rus and, among many other things, founded an outpost, which is now Moscow. A posad to the east became home to the secular population - shopkeepers and craftsmen, while the Kremlin proper was the home of the prince, the archbishop, and the high clergy. Within the Kremlin, the Archbishop’s Chambers houses the Suzdal History Exhibition, which includes a visit to the 18th-century Cross Hall, more exhibits are provided in the 1635 kremlin bell tower in the yard
18.
Bogolyubovo, Vladimir Oblast
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Bogolyubovo is a rural locality in Suzdalsky District of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located some 10 kilometers northeast of Vladimir, the administrative center of the oblast. It was built between 1158 and 1165 by the order of Andrey Bogolyubsky at the mouth of the Nerl River, consequently, the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl was built here. The church has been on UNESCO World Heritage List since 1992, Bogolyubsky also commissioned the icon of the apparition of the Theotokos. This icon has been known as the Bogolubskaya Icon of the Theotokos, after Bogolyubskys death, Bogolyubovo was ravaged and ransacked by Gleb of Ryazan in 1177. In the 1230s, the Mongols destroyed its fortifications, in 1960–2006, Bogolyubovo had urban-type settlement status. Bogolyubovo travel guide from Wikivoyage Main sights in Bogolyubovo Information about the Bogolyubovo Monastery
19.
Kideksha
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Kideksha is a village in Suzdalsky District of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kamenka and Nerl Rivers,4 kilometers east of Suzdal. The settlement was founded before the Church of Boris and Gleb was built in 1152 by Yuri Dolgoruky, kideksha used to be a town, but, after having been destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Rus, it degraded to a small village. Kideksha is a part of the Golden Ring of Russia and, since 1992, is one of Russias World Heritage Sites
20.
Moscow Oblast
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Moscow Oblast, or Podmoskovye, is a federal subject of Russia. With a population of 7,095,120 living in an area of 44,300 square kilometers, the oblast has no official administrative center, its public authorities are located in Moscow and across other locations in the oblast. In the center stands the city of Moscow, which is a separate federal subject in its own right. The oblast is highly industrialized, with its main branches being metallurgy, oil refining, and mechanical engineering, food, energy. The oblast is flat, with some hills with the height of about 160 meters in the western. The western and northern parts of the oblast contain the Moscow Uplands and their average height peaks at about 300 meters near Dmitrov and the upper point of 310 meters lies near the village of Shapkino in Mozhaysky District. The northern part of the Moscow Uplands is steeper than the southern part, the uplands contain lakes of glacial origin, such as Lakes Nerskoye and Krugloye. To the north of the Moscow Uplands lies the alluvial Verhnevolzhsk Depression, It is marshy, to the south stretches a hilly area of the Moskvoretsko-Oksk plain. Its greatest height of 254 meters lies in the area of Tyoply Stan, the plain has clearly defined river valleys, especially in the south parts, and occasional karst relief, mostly in Serpukhovsky District. In the extreme south, after the Oka River, lies the Central Russian Upland and it contains numerous gullies and ravines and has average height above 200 m with the maximum of 236 m near Pushchino. Most of the part of Moscow Oblast is taken by the vast Meshchera Lowlands with much wetland in their eastern part. Their highest hill peaks at 214 meters but the heights are 120–150 meters. Most lakes of the lowlands, such as Lakes Chyornoye and Svyatoye, are of glacial origin, here lies the lowest natural elevation of the region, the water level of Oka River at 97 meters. Moscow Oblast is located in the part of the East European craton. Like all cratons, the latter is composed of the crystalline basement, the basement consists of Archaean and Proterozoic rocks and the cover is deposited in the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. The lowest depth of the basement is to the south of Serebryanye Prudy, in the south area of the oblast. Tertiary deposits are almost absent within the oblast, significantly more abundant are deposits of the Carboniferous and Jurassic periods. In the Cretaceous period, a sea was covering Moscow Oblast, as evidenced by phosphate deposits, Cretaceous sediments are most common in the north of the oblast
21.
Yaroslavl Oblast
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Yaroslavl Oblast is a federal subject of Russia, which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Vologda Oblasts. This geographic location affords the oblast the advantages of proximity to Moscow, additionally, the administrative center of the oblast—the city of Yaroslavl—is an intersection of major highways, railroads, and waterways. The climate of Yaroslavl Oblast is temperate continental, with long, cold and snowy winters, Average January temperature is about −12 °C, while average Julys is +18 °C. Formerly almost all territory was covered with conifer forest, but now a large portion of it has been replaced with birch-and-aspen secondary forests. Large animals have been reduced in numbers, but there are still some bears, wolves, foxes, moose. A great number of birds live and nest in the oblast. In cities, most common birds are pigeons, jackdaws, hooded crows, rooks, house sparrows, the Volga River flows through Yaroslavl Oblast, with two major dams constructed at Uglich and Rybinsk. Mineral resources are limited to construction materials and peat, there are also mineral water springs and wells. First people settled in the area of the modern day Yaroslavl Oblast during the Paleolithic Era with the end of the last glacial period, agriculture was introduced in the region not later than the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC with the arrival of the Fatyanovo–Balanovo culture. The oblast belonged to the core of the Russian lands since the early Middle Ages, Rostov, the oldest city in the region, was first mentioned in 862. It soon became the political and religious centers of the Northeast Kievan Rus. Many notable Rurikid princes had their fief in Rostov, among them were St. Boris and Yaroslav the Wise, in 1054 Rostov and other North-Eastern lands were inherited by Yaroslavs son Vsevolod who also ruled the southern Principality of Pereyaslavl. Remaining in their distant capital the princes of Pereyaslavl had to rule the province through their viceregents and that period was most memorable for the 1071 smerd rebellion led by still powerful magi of Yarsolavl during which bishop Leontius of Rostov was murdered. In early 12th century Rostov got its own prince, Yuri Dolgoruky and he moved his capital to Suzdal in 1125 diminishing the influence of Rostov as a result. During his reign Dolgoruky founded many cities of the Northeast Rus. Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky who succeeded his father Yury as a ruler of the Rostov-Suzdal lands in 1157 was the first Russian ruler to give up his claims for the thrones of Kiev and Pereyaslavl. He proclaimed himself a Grand Prince and moved his capital to the city of Vladimir near Suzdal marking the beginning of history of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality, after the death of Andreys brother Vsevolod the Big Nest in 1212 Russian North-East entered a continuous stage of feudal fragmentation. Rostov, Yaroslavl, Pereslavl and Uglich became principalities on their own right still recognizing formal suzerainty of the Grand Princes of Vladimir, northeastern Rus was attacked by the Mongol-Tatar armies in the winter of 1238
22.
Ivanovo Oblast
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Ivanovo Oblast is a federal subject of Russia. It had a population of 1,061,651 as of the 2010 Russian Census and its three largest cities are Ivanovo, Kineshma, and Shuya. The principal center of tourism is Plyos, the Volga River flows through the northern part of the oblast. Ivanovo Industrial Oblast was established on October 1,1929, on March 11,1936, a part of it became the modern Ivanovo Oblast while the remainder was split off to create Yaroslavl Oblast. Ivanovo Oblast shares borders with Kostroma Oblast, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Vladimir Oblast, climate of Ivanovo Oblast is continental, with long, cold winters, and short, warm summers. The coldest month is January with average temperature of −12 °C in the west, warmest month is July with average temperature of about +18 °C. Since 1991, CPSU has lost all the power, since then, the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor, was appointed/elected alongside an elected regional parliament. The Charter of Ivanovo Oblast is the law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Ivanovo Oblast is the provinces standing legislative body, the Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group, according to a 2012 official survey 46. In addition, 28% of the population declares to be spiritual but not religious, 13% is atheist, list of Chairmen of the Ivanovo Oblast Duma Ивановская областная Дума. Закон №20-ОЗ от18 февраля2009 г, Закона №146-ОЗ от29 декабря2015 г. «О внесении поправок в Устав Ивановской области», Вступил в силу1 марта2009 г. Опубликован, Ивановская газета, №28,19 февраля2009 г, Административно-территориальное деление по состоянию на1 января2001 г
23.
Ryazan Oblast
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Ryazan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Ryazan, which is the oblasts largest city, the Ryazan Region is located in the center of the European part of Russia, in a decline between the Central Russian and Volga ravines in the central part of the Russian Plain. It stretched for 220 kilometers from north to south and 259 kilometers from west to east, the lowest elevation is located on the banks of the Oka at the border with the Vladimir region -76 meters. In terms of geography, Ryazan Oblast lies in the central part of the Russian Plain between the Central Russian and Volga uplands. The terrain is flat, with a highest point of no more than 300 m above sea level, soils are podzolic and boggy on the left bank of the Oka, changing southward to more fertile podzolic and leached black-earths. In the humidified plains north of the region and east of the Moksha River and Tsna River, explored 1062 deposits with a total reserves of 222 million tons. In the bowels of the part of the region there are layers of brown coal near the coal basin of the Moscow region. Explored 23 deposits of coal with a total reserves of 301.6 million tons. The largest available reserves are in Skopinsky District, coal mining was carried out from the middle of the XIX century and was completely discontinued in 1989. Sapropel reserves in 52 reservoirs amount to 81 million m³, the region has explored deposits of phosphorites, gypsum, brown iron ore, glass and quartz sands in the Miloslavsky and Kasimovsky districts. The average January temperature is -10.6 °C, July +19.7 °C, precipitation is about 550 mm per year, maximum in summer, 25-30% of all precipitation falls in the form of snow. The vegetation period lasts about 180 days, in the region, six meteorological stations of Roshydromet. The duration of the season is 212 days Most of the Ryazan Oblast lies within the. Most of the rivers belong to the Volga basin, the main river of the region is the Oka with tributaries of Pra, Gus, Pronya, Pora, Moksha. In the south of the region are the sources of the Voronezh River, there are many lakes in the Meshchera Lowlands. A large group of Klepikovski lakes stands out, on the shores of the Oka, there are a lot of lakes. The Ryazan region is located in the subtaiga and the forest-steppe zones, forests occupy about 1/3 of the territory, they are pine in the north-west, broad-leaved-pine in the north and southeast. In the south-west are areas of broad-leaved forests, in the extreme south-west - steppe vegetation
24.
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
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Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, also known in English as Nizhegorod Oblast, is a federal subject of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod, from 1932 to 1990 it was known as Gorky Oblast. The oblast is crossed by the Volga River, apart from Nizhny Novgorods metropolitan area the biggest city is Arzamas. Near the town of Sarov there is the Serafimo-Diveyevsky Monastery, one of the largest convents in Russia, the Makaryev Monastery opposite of the town of Lyskovo used to be the location of the largest fair in Eastern Europe. Other historic towns include Gorodets and Balakhna, located on the Volga to the north from Nizhny Novgorod, the oblast covers an area of 76,900 square kilometers, which is approximately equal to the entire area of the Benelux countries or Czech Republic. Agricultural land occupies 41% of this area, forests, 48%, lakes and rivers, 2%, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast borders Kostroma Oblast, Kirov Oblast, the Mari El Republic, the Chuvash Republic, the Republic of Mordovia, Ryazan Oblast, Vladimir Oblast, and Ivanovo Oblast. Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is not rich in resources, which are limited to commercial deposits of sand, clay, gypsum, peat, mineral salt. After 1991, the CPSU lost all its power, the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor, was appointed/elected alongside the elected regional parliament. The Charter of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is the law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is the provinces standing legislative body, the Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. According to the 2010 Census, ethnic Russians at 3,109,661 made up 95. 1% of the oblasts population, other ethnic groups included Tatars, Mordva, Ukrainians, and various smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0. 5% of the total. Additionally,42,349 people were registered from administrative databases and it is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this group is the same as that of the declared group. Births,36,315 Deaths,54,184 Deaths decreased by 8. 5% in 2011 compared to 2010, the actual number of foreigners residing in the oblast as of June 1,2006 was estimated to be over 22,000. The oblast ranks seventh in Russia in industrial output, processing industries predominate in the local economy. More than 650 industrial companies employ nearly 700,000 people, industry generates 83% of the regional GDP and accounts for 89% of all material expenditures. The leading sectors are engineering and metalworking, followed by chemical and petrochemical industries and forestry, woodworking, the first three sectors account for about 75% of all industrial production. The oblast has traditionally been attractive to investors, in 2002, Moodys rating agency confirmed a Caa1rating based on the regions long-term foreign currency liabilities. The region maintains trade relations with countries and has an export surplus
25.
East European Plain
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The East European Plain is a vast interior plain extending east of the North European Plain, and comprising several plateaus stretching roughly from 25 degrees longitude eastward. It includes the westernmost Volhynian-Podolian Upland, than the Central Russian Upland, the plain includes also a series of major river basins such as the Dnepr Basin, the Oka-Don Lowland, and the Volga Basin. Along the southernmost point of the East European Plain are the Caucasus, together with the North European Plain covering much of central Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, it constitutes the European Plain, the mountain-free part of the European landscape. The East European Plain covers all or most of the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, the plain spans approximately 4,000,000 km2 and averages about 170 m in elevation. The highest point of the plain, located in the Valdai Hills is 346.9 metres, west, Baltic Sea, Oder and Lusatian Neisse, Sudetenland, Carpathians. South, Balkan Mountains, Crimean Mountains, Caucasus, black Sea, Sea of Azov and The Caspian Sea, Ustyurt Plateau. East, Ural Mountains and Turan Depression, North, White Sea, Barents Sea, Kara Sea, Scandinavian Mountains
26.
Klyazma River
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The Klyazma River is a river in the Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Ivanovo and Vladimir Oblasts in Russia, a left tributary of the Oka River. The length of the river is 686 kilometres, the area of its drainage basin is 42,500 square kilometres. The Klyazma River usually freezes up in November and stays under the ice until mid-April and its main tributaries are the Ucha, Vorya, Kirzhach, Peksha, Nerl, Uvod, Teza, Lukh, Sudogda and Suvoroshch. The Klyazma is navigable within 120 kilometres from its estuary and in the area of the Klyazminskoye Reservoir
27.
Oka River
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Oka is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir, the Russian capital Moscow sits on one of the Okas tributaries—the Moskva River. Max Vasmer connects the name of the river to the Gothic аƕа, Old High German aha, Latin aqua, which all mean either water or river. Oleg Trubachev traces the origin of the name to the Baltic languages, historically, the river gave its name to the Upper Oka Principalities, situated upstream from Tarusa. In 1221 Grand Duke Yuri II of Vladimir founded Nizhny Novgorod, later to one of the largest Russian cities. The Qasim Khanate, a Muslim polity, occupied the middle reaches of the Oka in the 15th and 16th centuries, traveling upstream may have been even slower, as the boats had to be pulled by burlaks. The Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve lies along the bank of the river opposite the town of Pushchino and is known for its wisent breeding nursery. The unit fought all the way to Berlin alongside the Red Army and it was written by Leon Pasternak. Oka at GEOnet Names Server Media related to Oka River at Wikimedia Commons
28.
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest
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Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial biome, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. The term Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is used by the World Wildlife Fund in global biogeography as one of the biome designations under which to organize ecoregions, the typical structure of these forests includes four layers. The uppermost layer is the canopy composed of mature trees ranging from 30 to 61 m high. Below the canopy is the three-layered, shade-tolerant understory that is roughly 9 to 15 m shorter than the canopy, the top layer of the understory is the sub-canopy composed of smaller mature trees, saplings, and suppressed juvenile canopy layer trees awaiting an opening in the canopy. Below the sub-canopy is the layer, composed of low growing woody plants. Typically the lowest growing layer is the cover or herbaceous layer. In the Northern hemisphere, characteristic dominant broadleaf trees in this biome include oaks, beeches, maples, the term mixed forest comes from the inclusion of coniferous trees as a canopy component of some of these forests. Typical coniferous trees include, Pines, firs, and spruces, in some areas of this biome the conifers may be a more important canopy species than the broadleaf species. In the Southern hemisphere, endemic genera such as Nothofagus and Eucalyptus occupy this biome, Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests occur in areas with distinct warm and cool season, which give it a moderate annual average temperature —3 to 15.6 °C. These forests occur in warm and rainy climates, sometimes also with a distinct dry season. A dry season occurs in the winter in East Asia and in summer on the wet fringe of the Mediterranean climate zones. Other areas, as in the central and upper eastern United States and southeastern Canada, have an even distribution of rainfall, annual rainfall is typically over 600 mm
29.
Fauna
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Fauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora, flora, fauna and other forms of life such as fungi are collectively referred to as biota. Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a collection of animals found in a specific time or place. Paleontologists sometimes refer to a sequence of stages, which is a series of rocks all containing similar fossils. Fauna comes from the Greek names Fauna, a Roman goddess of earth and fertility, the Roman god Faunus, all three words are cognates of the name of the Greek god Pan, and panis is the Greek equivalent of fauna. Fauna is also the word for a book that catalogues the animals in such a manner, the term was first used by Carl Linnaeus from Sweden in the title of his 1745 work Fauna Suecica. Cryofauna are animals that live in, or very close to, cryptofauna are the fauna that exist in protected or concealed microhabitats. Infauna are benthic organisms that live within the substratum of a body of water, especially within the bottom-most oceanic sediments. Bacteria and microalgae may also live in the interstices of bottom sediments, epifauna, also called epibenthos, are aquatic animals that live on the bottom substratum as opposed to within it, that is, the benthic fauna that live on top of the sediment surface at the seafloor. Macrofauna are benthic or soil organisms which are retained on a 0.5 mm sieve, studies in the deep sea define macrofauna as animals retained on a 0.3 mm sieve to account for the small size of many of the taxa. Megafauna are large animals of any region or time. Meiofauna are small invertebrates that live in both marine and fresh water environments. The term Meiofauna loosely defines a group of organisms by their size, larger than microfauna but smaller than macrofauna, one environment for meiofauna is between grains of damp sand. In practice these are metazoan animals that can pass unharmed through a 0.5 –1 mm mesh but will be retained by a 30–45 μm mesh, but the exact dimensions will vary from researcher to researcher. Whether an organism passes through a 1 mm mesh also depends upon whether it is alive or dead at the time of sorting, mesofauna are macroscopic soil invertebrates such as arthropods or nematodes. Mesofauna are extremely diverse, considering just the springtails, as of 1998, microfauna are microscopic or very small animals. Other terms include avifauna, which means bird fauna and piscifauna, which means fish fauna
30.
Moose
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The moose or elk, Alces alces, is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the broad, flat antlers of the males, Moose typically inhabit boreal forests and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests of the Northern Hemisphere in temperate to subarctic climates. Hunting and other activities have caused a reduction in the size of the mooses range over time. Moose have been reintroduced to some of their former habitats, currently, most moose are found in Canada, Alaska, New England, Fennoscandia, Latvia, Estonia and Russia. Their diet consists of terrestrial and aquatic vegetation. The most common predators are the gray wolf along with bears. Unlike most other species, moose are solitary animals and do not form herds. Although generally slow-moving and sedentary, moose can become aggressive and move quickly if angered or startled and their mating season in the autumn features energetic fights between males competing for a female. Alces alces is called a moose in North American English, and that same word elk in North American English refers to a completely different species of deer, the Cervus canadensis, also called the wapiti. A mature male moose is called a bull, a female a cow. The word elk originated from Proto-Germanic languages, from which Old English evolved, the British English word elk has cognates in other Indo-European languages, for example elg in Danish/Norwegian, älg in Swedish, alnis in Latvian, Elch in German, and łoś in Polish. In the continental-European languages, these forms of the word elk almost always refer to the Alces alces, the word moose first entered English by 1606 and is borrowed from the Algonquian languages, and possibly involved forms from multiple languages mutually reinforcing one another. The term moose is a name of North American origin, the animal is known in British English as the elk. The moose became extinct in Britain during the Bronze Age, long before the Europeans discovery of America, the youngest bones were found in Scotland and are roughly 3900 years old. Dictionaries of the 18th century simply described elk as a deer that was as large as a horse, confusingly, the word elk is used in North America to refer to a different animal, Cervus canadensis, which is also called by the Algonkian indigenous name, wapiti. The British began colonizing America in the 17th century, and found two common species of deer for which they had no names, the wapiti appeared very similar to the red deer of Europe although it was much larger and was not red. The moose was a rather strange-looking deer to the colonists, the wapiti is very similar to the red deer of central and western Europe, although it is distinctly different behaviorally and genetically. Early European explorers in North America, particularly in Virginia where there were no moose, called the wapiti elk because of its size, the moose resembled the German elk, which was less familiar to the British colonists
31.
Wild boar
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The wild boar, also known as the wild swine or Eurasian wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia, North Africa, and the Greater Sunda Islands. Human intervention has spread its range further, making the one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world. Its wide range, high numbers, and adaptability mean that it is classed as least concern by the IUCN, the animal probably originated in Southeast Asia during the Early Pleistocene, and outcompeted other suid species as it spread throughout the Old World. As of 1990, up to 16 subspecies are recognised, which are divided into four regional groupings based on skull height, the species lives in matriarchal societies consisting of interrelated females and their young. Fully grown males are solitary outside the breeding season. The grey wolf is the boars main predator throughout most of its range except in the Far East and the Lesser Sunda Islands. It has a history of association with humans, having been the ancestor of most domestic pig breeds. As true wild boars became extinct in Britain before the development of modern English, the English boar stems from the Old English bar, which is thought to be derived from the West Germanic *bairaz, of unknown origin. Boar is sometimes used specifically to refer to males, and may also be used to refer to male domesticated pigs, the young may be called piglets. The animals specific name scrofa is Latin for sow, the earliest fossil finds of the species come from both Europe and Asia, and date back to the Early Pleistocene. Its closest wild relative is the pig of Malacca and surrounding islands. These subspecies are typically high-skulled, with thick underwool and poorly developed manes, Indian, Includes S. s. davidi and S. s. cristatus. These subspecies have sparse or absent underwool, with long manes and prominent bands on the snout, while S. s. cristatus is high-skulled, S. s. davidi is low-skulled. Eastern, Includes S. s. sibiricus, S. s. ussuricus, S. s. leucomystax, S. s. riukiuanus, S. s. taivanus, and S. s. moupinensis. These subspecies are characterised by a streak extending from the corners of the mouth to the lower jaw. With the exception of S. s. ussuricus, most are high-skulled, the underwool is thick, except in S. s. moupinensis, and the mane is largely absent. It is the most basal of the four groups, having the smallest relative brain size, more primitive dentition, with the exception of domestic pigs in Timor and Papua New Guinea, the wild boar is the ancestor of most pig breeds. Remains of pigs have been dated to earlier than 11,400 BC in Cyprus and those animals must have been introduced from the mainland, which suggests domestication in the adjacent mainland by then
32.
Roe deer
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The European roe deer, also known as the western roe deer, chevreuil, or simply roe deer, is an Eurasian species of deer. The male of the species is referred to as a roebuck. The roe deer is small, reddish and grey-brown. The species is widespread in Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia and it is distinct from the somewhat larger Siberian roe deer. Scottish roe deer were introduced to the Lissadell Estate in Co, sligo in Ireland around 1870 by Sir Henry Gore-Booth, Bt. The Lissadell deer were noted for their occasional abnormal antlers and survived in that area for about 50 years before they died out. In England and Wales, roe have experienced an expansion in their range in the latter half of the 20th century. This increase in population also appears to be affecting woodland ecosystems, at the start of the 20th century, they were almost extinct in Southern England, but since then have hugely expanded their range for no apparent reason and possibly in some cases with human help. In 1884, roe were introduced from Württemberg in Germany into the Thetford Chase area, and these spread to populate most of Norfolk, Suffolk, and substantial parts of Cambridgeshire. At the same time, the population in Scotland and the Lake District had pushed further south beyond Yorkshire and Lancashire and into Derbyshire. Not being a species that needs large areas of woodland to survive, urban roe are now a feature of cities, notably Glasgow and Bristol. In Wales, they are common, but have been seen as far south west as Cardigan and as far north west as Bangor. German colonial administrators introduced roe deer to the island of Pohnpei in Micronesia and they are hunted by locals in very steep and heavily vegetated terrain. The meat is sold in markets and restaurants in Kolonia, the capital city of Pohnpei. Roe deer were introduced also to Australia, the roe deer is distinct from the somewhat larger Siberian roe deer found from the Ural Mountains to as far east as China and Siberia. It is known there are roe deer that live in the Red Forest near Chernobyl. The roe deer is a small deer, with a body length of 95–135 cm, a shoulder height of 65–75 cm. It has rather short, erect antlers and a body with a grey face
33.
Red deer
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The red deer is one of the largest deer species. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, Iran, parts of western Asia and it also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being the only species of deer to inhabit Africa. Red deer have been introduced to areas, including Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Peru, Uruguay, Chile. In many parts of the world, the meat from red deer is used as a food source, Red deer are ruminants, characterized by a four-chambered stomach. Genetic evidence indicates the red deer as traditionally defined is a group, rather than a single species. It is probable that the ancestor of all red deer, including wapiti, originated in central Asia, although at one time red deer were rare in parts of Europe, they were never close to extinction. The red deer is the fourth-largest deer species behind moose, elk and it is a ruminant, eating its food in two stages and having an even number of toes on each hoof, like camels, goats and cattle. European red deer have a long tail compared to their Asian. The deer of Central and Western Europe vary greatly in size, large red deer stags, like the Caspian red deer or those of the Carpathian Mountains, may rival the wapiti in size. Female red deer are smaller than their male counterparts. The male red deer is typically 175 to 250 cm long and weighs 160 to 240 kg, the tail adds another 12 to 19 cm and shoulder height is about 95 to 130 cm. In Scotland, stags average 201 cm in length and 122 cm high at the shoulder. Size varies in different subspecies with the largest, the huge but small-antlered deer of the Carpathian Mountains, weighing up to 500 kg. At the other end of the scale, the Corsican red deer weighs about 80 to 100 kg, European red deer tend to be reddish-brown in their summer coats. The males of many subspecies also grow a short neck mane during the autumn, the male deer of the British Isles and Norway tend to have the thickest and most noticeable manes. Male Caspian red deer and Spanish red deer do not carry neck manes, male deer of all subspecies, however, tend to have stronger and thicker neck muscles than female deer, which may give them an appearance of having neck manes. Red deer hinds do not have neck manes, the European red deer is adapted to a woodland environment. Only the stags have antlers, which growing in the spring and are shed each year
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Sika deer
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The sika deer also known as the spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia, and introduced to various other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south to the Russian Far East in the north, it is now uncommon in areas, excluding Japan. Its name comes from shika, the Japanese word for deer, in Japan the species is known as the nihonjika. The sika deer is a member of the genus Cervus, a group of deer known as the true deer. Formerly, sika were grouped together in this genus with nine other species, now, only the sika and red deer remain, the latter being divided into three separate species, European red deer, central Asian red deer and American elk. Recent DNA evidence indicates these deer are not as closely related as previously thought, resulting in the creation of new species, the genera Rucervus, Rusa, and Przewalskium are where most of the former Cervus species now belong. The ancestor of all Cervus species probably originated in central Asia, all Cervus species can crossbreed and produce hybrids in areas where they coexist. Serious genetic pollution has occurred in many populations, especially in China, therefore, the status of many subspecies remains unclear. The status of C. n. hortulorum is particularly uncertain and might in fact be of mixed origin, the mainland subspecies have larger and more obvious spots, in contrast to the Taiwanese and Japanese subspecies, whose spots are nearly invisible. Many introduced populations are from Japan, so also lack significant spots. The color of the ranges from mahogany to black. During winter, the coat becomes darker and shaggier and the less prominent. They are medium-sized herbivores, though they show notable size variation across their several subspecies and considerable sexual dimorphism and they can vary from 50 to 110 cm tall at the shoulder and from 95 to 180 cm in head-and-body length. The tail measures about 7. 5–13 cm long, the largest subspecies is the Manchurian sika deer, in which males commonly weigh about 68–109 kg and females weigh 45–50 kg, with large stags scaling up to 160 kg. On the other end of the spectrum, in the Japanese sika deer, males weigh 40–70 kg. All sikas are compact and dainty-legged, with short, trim, wedge-shaped heads, when alarmed, they will often display a distinctive flared rump, much like the American elk. Sika stags have stout, upright antlers with an extra buttress up from the brow tine, a forward-facing intermediate tine breaks the line to the top, which is usually forked. Occasionally, sika antlers develop some palmation, females carry a pair of distinctive black bumps on the forehead
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Lynx
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A lynx is any of the four species within the Lynx genus of medium-sized wild cats, which includes the bobcat. The name lynx originated in Middle English via Latin from the Greek word λύγξ, neither the caracal, sometimes called the desert lynx, nor the jungle cat, called the jungle lynx, is a member of the Lynx genus. Lynx have a tail, characteristic tufts of black hair on the tips of their ears, large, padded paws for walking on snow. Under their neck, they have a ruff which has black bars resembling a bow tie although this is not visible. Body colour varies from brown to goldish to beige-white, and is occasionally marked with dark brown spots. All species of lynx have white fur on their chests, bellies and on the insides of their legs, fur which is an extension of the chest, the lynxs colouring, fur length and paw size vary according to the climate in their range. In the Southwestern United States, they are short-haired, dark in colour and their paws are smaller, as climates get colder and more northerly, lynx have progressively thicker fur, lighter colour, and their paws are larger and more padded to adapt to the snow. Their paws may be larger than a hand or foot. The smallest species are the bobcat and the Canada lynx, while the largest is the Eurasian lynx, the four living species of the Lynx genus are believed to have evolved from the Issoire lynx, which lived in Europe and Africa during the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene. Of the four species, the Eurasian lynx is the largest in size. It is native to European, Central Asian, and Siberian forests, while its conservation status has been classified as least concern, populations of Eurasian lynx have been reduced or extirpated from Europe, where it is now being reintroduced. The Eurasian lynx is the third largest predator in Europe after the brown bear and it is a strict carnivore, consuming about one or two kilograms of meat every day. The Eurasian lynx is one of the widest-ranging, during the summer, the Eurasian lynx has a relatively short, reddish or brown coat which is replaced by a much thicker silver-grey to greyish-brown coat during winter. The lynx hunts by stalking and jumping its prey, helped by the rugged, forested country in which it resides, a favorite prey for the lynx in its woodland habitat is roe deer. It will feed however on whatever animal appears easiest, as it is a predator much like its cousins. The Canada lynx, or Canadian lynx, is a North American felid that ranges in forest and tundra regions across Canada and into Alaska, historically, the Canadian lynx ranged from Alaska across Canada and into many of the northern U. S. states. In the eastern states, it resided in the zone in which boreal coniferous forests yielded to deciduous forests. By 2010, after an 11-year effort, it had successfully reintroduced into Colorado
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Russian desman
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The Russian desman is a small semiaquatic mammal that inhabits the Volga, Don and Ural River basins in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. It constructs burrows into the banks of ponds and slow-moving streams, the Russian desman often lives in small groups of two to five animals, and appears to have a complex communication and social system. The Russian desman is one of two surviving species of the tribe Desmanini, the other being the Pyrenean desman, despite its outward similarity to muskrats, the Russian desman is actually part of the mole family Talpidae in the order Soricomorpha. Like other moles, it is blind and obtains much of its sensory input from the touch-sensitive Eimers organs at the end of its long. However, the feet are webbed and the tail is laterally flattened —specializations for its aquatic habitat. The body is 18 to 21 cm long while the tail is 17 to 20 cm in length, easily the largest species of mole, it weighs 400 to 520 g. Decidedly rich and thick in nature, desman fur used to be sought after by the fur trade. Consequently, the Russian desman is now a species under Russian law. However, due to loss of habitat, water pollution, illegal fishing nets, in the mid-1970s, an estimated 70,000 desmans were left in the wild, by 2004, the figure was only 35,000. However, in some Russian regions, the number of appears to be increasing. Media related to Desmana moschata at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Desmana moschata at Wikispecies ARKive - images and movies of the Russian desman
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Red Data Book of the Russian Federation
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The book has been adopted by Russia and all CIS states to enact a common agreement on rare and endangered species protection. The book provides an information source in organizing studies and monitoring programs on rare and endangered species. It is regularly consulted when developing and implementing measures for the protection and rehabilitation of such species. The first Russian Red Data Book was based upon research conducted between 1961 and 1964 by a number of Soviet biologists and it represented the Soviet part of the IUCN Red List. At that time it was just the Soviet Unions first organized list of endangered species, in the late sixties, more thorough research was conducted by request of the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1974, based upon ecological evaluation, a decision was made to legislation that would provide for the protection of endangered species. This resulted in the publication of the first official Red Book in 1978 – a document that complemented law as a list of endangered species, animals on the list were strictly protected and their treatment regulated by Soviet law. Since that time, constant revisions have been made, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, regulations on endangered species were instituted by each of the former Soviet countries. The same is true for species protected by international conventions, state legal recognition of the RDBRF is provided by the Russian Federation law About protection of natural environment, and by the Russian Federation law About animal world. The species listed in the RDBRF must be listed in the red data books of the Russian Federation subjects. At the moment, the Russian Federation uses the 1998 edition of the RDBRF, a federal Red Data Book is complemented and expanded by regional Red Data Books that govern hunting within particular region, although instituting of regional Red Data Books is not compulsory. Regional CIS Red Data Books are direct descendants of their counterparts in the former USSR which were established in individual SSRs, even municipal-level territories at times issue their own Red Data Books. Usually, a Red Book comes with a description of protected species. However, in cases, it doesnt give all descriptions due to space limitations. All of the CIS states currently implement Red Data Books, introduction of regional Red Books sometimes provokes negative reaction, up to Red book Bacchanalia. In addition, allegations are made that local illegal animal traffickers use regional Red Books to track down endangered species, proponents of Red Books usually give the following reasons, the connection between illegal hunting and Red Books is unclear and not proven. Local biologists can be approached and bribed by illegal entrepreneurs with the same ease, funds that are used to create these books do support local biological research. Additionally, regional Red Books allow for accurate and diverse local environmental protection, like greater bird protection in cities
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Western capercaillie
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The western capercaillie, also known as the wood grouse, heather cock, or just capercaillie /ˌkæpərˈkeɪli/, is the largest member of the grouse family. The largest known specimen, recorded in captivity, had a weight of 7.2 kg, the species shows extreme sexual dimorphism, with the male twice the size of the female. Found across Eurasia, this ground-living forest bird is renowned for its mating display, the worldwide population is categorised as Least concern by the IUCN. The species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 under its current binomial name and its closest relative is the black-billed capercaillie, Tetrao parvirostris, which breeds in the larch taiga forests of eastern Russia and parts of northern Mongolia and China. Variation in females is much less, Western capercaillies are known to hybridise occasionally with black grouse and the closely related black-billed capercaillie. Male and female western capercaillie can easily be differentiated by their size, the cock is much bigger than the hen. It is one of the most sexually dimorphic in size of living species, only exceeded by the larger types of bustards. Cocks typically range from 74 to 85 cm in length with wingspan of 90 to 125 cm, the largest wild cocks can attain a length of 100 cm and weight of 6.7 kg. The largest specimen recorded in captivity had a weight of 7.2 kg, the weight of 75 wild cocks was found to range from 3.6 to 5.05 kg. The body feathers are grey to dark brown, while the breast feathers are dark metallic green. The belly and undertail coverts vary from black to white depending on race, the hen is much smaller, weighing about half as much as the cock. The capercaillie hens body from beak to tail is approximately 54–64 cm long, feathers on the upper parts are brown with black and silver barring, on the underside they are more light and buffish yellow. Both sexes have a spot on the wing bow. They have feathered legs, especially in the season, for protection against cold. Their toe rows of small, elongated horn tacks provide an effect that led to the German family name Rauhfußhühner. These so-called courting tacks make a track in the snow. The sexes can be distinguished easily by the size of their footprints. There is a red spot of naked skin above each eye
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Black grouse
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The black grouse or blackgame or blackcock is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a species, breeding across northern Eurasia in moorland and bog areas near to woodland. The black grouse is closely related to the Caucasian grouse, the female is greyish-brown and has a cackling call. She takes all responsibility for nesting and caring for the chicks, the black grouses genome was sequenced in 2014. The black grouse is one of the species first described in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus. Both Tetrao and tetrix come from Ancient Greek words referring to some form of game bird, the male and female are sometimes referred to by their folk names, blackcock and greyhen respectively. These names first occur in the literature with John Ray in 1674, heathcock and Heathhen are also common names. Black grouse is a bird with males being around 53 centimetres long and weighing 1, 000–1,450 g and females approximately 40 cm. The cock is very distinctive, with black plumage, apart from red wattles and a white wingbar, and a lyre-shaped tail and his song is loud, bubbling and somewhat dove-like. Black grouse can be found across Europe from Great Britain through Scandinavia and Estonia into Russia, in Eastern Europe they can be found in Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Romania and Ukraine. There is a population in the Alps, and isolated remnants in Germany, France, Belgium and it formerly occurred in Denmark, but the Danish Ornithological Society has considered it extinct since 2001. The species disappeared from Bulgaria in the 19th century, although this species is declining in western Europe, it is not considered to be vulnerable globally due to the large population and slow rate of decline. Its decline is due to loss of habitat, disturbance, predation by foxes, crows, etc. the IUCN implemented a Black Grouse Action Plan 2007–2010. This has looked at local populations that are vulnerable to the extinction vortex, for example, in Styria in Austria. In the United Kingdom black grouse are found in areas of Wales. Best looked for on farmland and moorland with nearby forestry or scattered trees and they have traditional lek sites where the males display. They have declined in parts of the UK, having disappeared from many of their former haunts. They are now extirpated in Lancashire, Derbyshire, Exmoor, East Yorkshire, New Forest, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, Quantock Hills, Cornwall, Dartmoor, Kent, Wiltshire and Surrey
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Lesser white-fronted goose
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The lesser white-fronted goose is a goose closely related to the larger white-fronted goose. It breeds in northernmost Asia, but it is a breeder in Europe. There is a scheme in Fennoscandia. The scientific name comes from anser, the Latin for goose, the lesser white-fronted goose winters further south in Europe and is a rare winter vagrant to Great Britain, and India. The greylag goose has a bill and legs, and the upper wing-coverts are bluish-grey. Both white-front species have a conspicuous white face and broad black bars which cross the belly. Adult lesser white-fronted geese, as well as being smaller than white-fronted geese, have an obvious yellow eye-ring, the lesser white-fronted goose is considered an endangered species, but there are programmes to reintroduce animals into the wild to strengthen the population. Additionally it is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds applies and this genetically distinct population is now estimated at about 20 breeding pairs or 60–80 total individuals at most. They breed in Northern Norway and overwinter in Greece, Bulgaria, there is a major stopover site at Hortobágy National Park, Hungary where the birds spend up to two months during autumn and one month during the spring migration. Another part of the Fennoscandian population breeds in Northern Sweden, the population size in 2015 is estimated to about 15 breeding pairs or 40-50 individuals in all. These birds follow a western route and spend the winter in Netherlands. According to IUCN Red LIst in 2015 the conservation status of this population is Critically Endangered, Lesser white-fronted goose photo gallery at VIREO Interactive range map of Anser erythropus at IUCN Red List maps Audio recordings of Lesser white-fronted goose on Xeno-canto
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Eel
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An eel is any fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes, which consists of four suborders,20 families,111 genera and about 800 species. The term eel is used for some other similarly shaped fish, such as electric eels and spiny eels. Eels are elongated fish, ranging in length from 5 cm in the eel to 4 m in the slender giant moray. Adults range in weight from 30 g to well over 25 kg and they possess no pelvic fins, and many species also lack pectoral fins. The dorsal and anal fins are fused with the caudal fin, eels swim by generating body waves which travel the length of their bodies. They can swim backwards by reversing the direction of the wave, most eels live in the shallow waters of the ocean and burrow into sand, mud, or amongst rocks. A majority of eel species are nocturnal, thus are rarely seen, sometimes, they are seen living together in holes, or eel pits. Some species of eels live in deeper water on the continental shelves. Only members of the Anguilla regularly inhabit fresh water, but they, too, the heaviest true eel is the European conger. The maximum size of species has been reported as reaching a length of 3 m. Other eels are longer, but do not weigh as much, such as the giant moray which reaches 4 m. Eels begin life as flat and transparent larvae, called leptocephali, Eel larvae drift in the surface waters of the sea, feeding on marine snow, small particles that float in the water. Eel larvae then metamorphose into glass eels and then become elvers before finally seeking out their juvenile, freshwater elvers travel upstream and are forced to climb up obstructions, such as weirs, dam walls, and natural waterfalls. Lady Colin Campbell found, at Ballisodare, the eel fisheries were greatly improved by the hanging of loosely plaited grass ladders over barriers and this classification follows FishBase in dividing the eels into 20 families. Additional families included in other classifications are noted below the family with which they are synomized in the Fish Base system, identifying the origin of the freshwater species has been problematic. Genomic studies indicate they are a group which originated among the deep-sea eels. The electric eel of South America is not a true eel, freshwater eels and marine eels are commonly used in Japanese cuisine, foods such as unadon and unajū are popular, but expensive. Eels are also popular in Chinese cuisine, and are prepared in many different ways
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Cyprinidae
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The Cyprinidae are the family of freshwater fishes, collectively called cyprinids, that includes the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives. The family belongs to the ostariophysian order Cypriniformes, of whose genera, the family name is derived from the Ancient Greek kyprînos. Cyprinids are stomachless fish with toothless jaws, even so, food can be effectively chewed by the gill rakers of the specialized last gill bow. These pharyngeal teeth allow the fish to make chewing motions against a chewing plate formed by a process of the skull. The pharyngeal teeth are species-specific and are used by specialists to determine species, strong pharyngeal teeth allow fish such as the common carp and ide to eat hard baits such as snails and bivalves. Hearing is a sense in the cyprinids since they have the Weberian organ. The vertebral processes of the Weberian organ also permit a cyprinid to detect changes in motion of the gas due to atmospheric conditions or depth changes. The cyprinids are considered physostomes because the pneumatic duct is retained in adult stages, Cyprinids are native to North America, Africa, and Eurasia. The largest known cyprinid is the giant barb, which may grow up to 3 m in length and 300 kg in weight, other very large species that can surpass 2 m are the golden mahseer and mangar. The largest North American species is the Colorado pikeminnow, which can reach up to 1.8 m in length, conversely, many species are smaller than 5 cm. The smallest known fish is Paedocypris progenetica, reaching 10.3 mm at the longest, all fish in this family are egg-layers and most do not guard their eggs, however, a few species build nests and/or guard the eggs. The bitterlings of subfamily Acheilognathinae are notable for depositing their eggs in bivalve molluscs, most cyprinids feed mainly on invertebrates and vegetation, probably due to the lack of teeth and stomach, but some species, like the asp, are predators that specialize in fish. Many species, such as the ide, and the common rudd, even small species, such as the moderlieschen, are opportunistic predators that will eat larvae of the common frog in artificial circumstances. For this reason, cyprinids are often introduced as a management tool to control various factors in the environment, such as aquatic vegetation. Cyprinids are highly important food fish, they are fished and farmed across Eurasia, in land-locked countries in particular, cyprinids are often the major species of fish eaten because they make the largest part of biomass in most water types except for fast-flowing rivers. In Eastern Europe, they are prepared with traditional methods. The prevalence of inexpensive frozen fish products made this less important now than it was in earlier times, nonetheless, in certain places, they remain popular for food, as well as recreational fishing, and have been deliberately stocked in ponds and lakes for centuries for this reason. Cyprinids are popular for angling especially for fishing and fishing for common carp because of its size
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Esox
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Esox is a genus of freshwater fish, the only living genus in the family Esocidae—the esocids which were endemic to North America and Eurasia during the Paleogene through present. The species of this genus are known as pike and pickerel, the type species is E. lucius, the northern pike. The big pike species are native to the Palearctic and Nearctic ecozones, ranging across northern North America, pikes have the elongated, torpedo-like form of predatory fishes, with sharply pointed heads and sharp teeth. Their coloration is typically grey-green with a mottled or spotted appearance with stripes along their backs, individual pike marking patterns are unique, like fingerprints. Pike can grow to a recorded length of 1.83 m. There currently seven recognized species in genus, Esox aquitanicus Denys, Dettai, Persat. Two additional fossil species from this family are place in their own genera, Estesesox foxi Wilson, Brinkman & Neuman,1992, pliny uses the Latin form Esox in reference to a large fish in the Rhine normally identified with salmonidae. The English common name pike is an apparent shortening of pike-fish, in reference to its pointed head, the plural of pike is pike. A northern English and Lowland Scots name for the pike, ged, the Dutch name for the pike has been given to a wide variety of fish reminding sailors of the pike. The English pike originally referred specifically to the fish, the diminutive form pickerel referring to the young. The walleye is sometimes called a pickerel, but it is unrelated to the pike, Pike are not to be confused with the unrelated pikeminnows of genus Ptychocheilus or pikeperch which is more akin to walleye than to pike. Pike are also called jackfish in North America and informally slough shark in Western Canada, Pike feed on a wide range of food sources, predominantly smaller shoal fish. Pike are also cannibalistic, sometimes preying upon smaller members of their own species and this can be seen clearly in the northern pike. They will also prey on insects and amphibians such as newts or frogs in times when their food is scarce. Small birds such as ducklings may become a target for hungry pike, Pike are also known to prey on swimming snakes. They are, however, undeserving of their reputation for being overly vicious predators, there are few substantiated incidents of pike attacks on people. Effective methods for catching this fish include dead baits, live baits. Pike can easily be damaged when handled since they are not as robust as their reputation would suggest, colour of lure can be influenced by water clarity and weather conditions
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Perch
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Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. Many species of freshwater gamefish more or less resemble perch, in fact, the exclusively saltwater dwelling red drum is often referred to as a red perch, though by definition perch are freshwater fish. Though many fish are referred to as perch as a name, to be considered a true perch. The type species for genus is the European perch, Perca fluviatilis. Most authorities recognize three species within the genus, The European perch is found in Europe and Asia. This species is greenish in color with dark vertical bars on its sides with a red or orange coloring in the tips of its fins. The European perch has been introduced in New Zealand and Australia. In Australia, larger specimens have been bred, but the species grows larger than about six pounds. The Balkhash perch is found in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and China and it is very similar to the European perch, and grows to a comparable size. The yellow perch, smaller and paler than the European perch, is found in the United States, in northern areas, it is sometimes referred to as the lake perch. This species is prized for its quality and has often been raised in hatcheries. Yellow perch are almost identical in appearance to European perch, but have a yellow coloring. These fish typically reach a size of about 15 in and 2.2 lb. The general body type of a perch is somewhat long and rounded, true perch have rough or ctenoid scales. On the anterior side of the head are the maxilla and lower mandible for the mouth, a pair of nostrils, on the posterior sides are the opercula, which protect the gills, and the lateral line system, which is sensitive to vibrations in the water. The kidney of the runs along the backbone and forms a head. Perch have paired pectoral and pelvic fins, and two fins, the first one spiny and the second soft. These two fins can be separate or joined, Perch are carnivorous fish most commonly found in small ponds, lakes, streams, or rivers
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Bream
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Although species from all of these genera are called bream, the term does not imply a degree of relatedness between them. Fish termed bream tend to be narrow, deep-bodied species, the name is a derivation of the Middle English word breme, of Old French origin. The term sea bream is sometimes used for porgies or pomfrets, porgie fishing Fishing for bream in Australia Yellowfin Bream Black Bream
