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MALTA

This video takes us on a journey to discover an island of contrasts and surprises: Malta. From lounging on St.Peter’s pool beach to discovering the colourful village of Marsaxlokk, mingling with the fishermen and relaxing on the traditional Luzzu boats marked by “Eye of Osiris”, there is a whole island of stunning views to wake up to. Add to that the famed old capital of Mdina, the imposing Saint John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, and magnificent cliffs in Gozo and it’s easy to understand why most of the people start planning their return trip to Malta before they’ve even left the island the first time.

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2022/10/05

Independence Day of the Kingdom of Lesotho

Lesotho, country in Southern Africa. A scenic land of tall mountains and narrow valleys, Lesotho owes a long history of political autonomy to the mountains that surround it and protect it from encroachment. Since the Neolithic Period, the mountain kingdom was the domain of Khoisan-speaking hunter-gatherers. In the 19th century the Sotho, led by Moshoeshoe I, took control of the region. It remained independent until it became a British protectorate, one of three British High Commission Territories (the others being Bechuanaland [now Botswana] and Swaziland). Completely encircled by the Republic of South Africa but separated from it by forbidding mountain ranges, Lesotho has endured decades of turbulent politics, periodic economic crises, and grinding poverty since gaining its independence from Great Britain in 1966. Though culturally conservative in the main, the people of the country welcomed the modernization programs begun in the 1990s, which have brought new wealth to the country but at the cost of much environmental damage. Tourism and revenues from the country’s diamond industry have also helped to improve material conditions, and the capital, Maseru, has grown to become one of Southern Africa’s most attractive cities. Of these changes, Sotho writer Mpho ’M’Atsepo Nthunya remarks, Maybe if there is one day enough for the hunger to stop, we can stop being so jealous of one another. If the jealousy is no more, we can begin to have dreams for each other. Land The country forms an enclave within South Africa, bordering on three of the latter’s provinces—KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, and Eastern Cape. Like only two other independent states in the world (Vatican City and the Republic of San Marino), Lesotho is completely encircled by another country, on which it must depend for access to the outside world. Relief, drainage, and soils Two-thirds of Lesotho consists of mountains. The highest peak, Mount Ntlenyana, is 11,424 feet (3,482 metres) above sea level. The Drakensberg range forms the eastern boundary with KwaZulu-Natal. The Maloti spurs of the Drakensberg, running north and south, join the main range in the north, forming a plateau from 9,000 to 10,500 feet (2,700 to 3,200 metres) in elevation. This plateau, the centre of the cattle-raising and agricultural industries, is the source of South Africa’s two largest rivers—the eastward-flowing Tugela and the westward-flowing Orange—as well as tributaries of the Caledon (Mohokare). Three other important rivers in Lesotho are the Senqunyane in the centre of the country, the Kometspruit in the southwest, and the Matsoku in the northeast. The foothills, with elevations averaging between 6,000 and 7,000 feet (1,800 and 2,100 metres), descend in undulating slopes to the west, where the lowlands bordering Free State rise to elevations of 5,000 to 6,000 feet (1,500 to 1,800 metres). The mountain soils are of basaltic origin and are shallow but rich. The soils of the lowlands derive mainly from the underlying sandstone. Extensive erosion has severely damaged soils throughout the country. Climate Precipitation, brought by the prevailing winds, occurs mostly between October and April and is variable; the annual average is about 28 inches (710 mm), with amounts decreasing from east to west. Hail is a frequent summer hazard. Temperatures in the lowlands reach as high as 90 °F (32 °C) in the summer and plunge to 20 °F (−7 °C) in the winter. In the highlands the temperature range is much wider, and readings below 0 °F (−18 °C) are not unusual. Frost occurs widely in the winter, when the Maloti Mountains are usually snowcapped. Plant and animal life Lesotho is largely covered in grasses, although trees also appear on the landscape. Indigenous trees include Cape willows, cheche bush (used for fuel), and wild olives. Other willows and white poplars have been introduced into the country. There are numerous indigenous species of aloes, which are commonly found in the cooler, wet areas. Overgrazing, overutilization, and soil erosion have drastically depleted and altered the grasslands, reedbeds, and woody bush on the slopes. Reforestation schemes have been attempted but have met with limited success. In the mid-19th century, zebras, wildebeests, ostriches, and lions could be found in the country. However, hunting and deforestation have mostly eliminated the populations of large mammals; the last lion was killed in the 1870s. Smaller antelope and hares can still be found, and the hyrax, or dassie, is common. Sehlabathebe National Park in the southeastern highlands near Qacha’s Nek protects such birds as raptors and such mammals as mountain reedbuck and leopards. Lesotho is the last stronghold in Southern Africa of the magnificent bearded vulture, or lammergeier. Some rivers contain yellowfish and the rare Maloti minnow; trout and the North African catfish have also been introduced. People - Ethnic groups The Sotho (also known as Basotho) form the overwhelming majority of the country’s population. They were originally united by a common loyalty to the royal house of Moshoeshoe I, who founded the Sotho nation in the 19th century. Internally, divisions between different chiefdoms—and within the royal lineage itself—have had political significance, but externally a sense of Sotho nationhood and cultural unity remains strong. Lesotho is also home to a Zulu minority, a small population of Asian or mixed ancestry, and a European community that is dominated by expatriate teachers, missionaries, aid workers, technicians, and development advisers. Languages Except for English, all the main languages spoken in Lesotho are members of the Niger-Congo language family. Sotho (Sesotho), a Bantu language, is spoken by the majority of the population, though both Sotho and English are official languages in the country. Zulu is spoken by a small but significant minority. Phuthi, a dialect of Swati, and Xhosa are also spoken in parts of Lesotho. Religion of Lesotho Some four-fifths of the population profess Christianity, of which the largest denomination is Roman Catholic; other denominations include Lesotho Evangelical, Presbyterian, and Anglican. Independent churches are also present, together with Zionist sects (small African sects that blend Pentecostal Christianity and indigenous ritual belief). Other religions—including Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism—are practiced by small percentages of the population, as are traditional religions. Some adherents of Christianity also embrace traditional religious beliefs. Settlement patterns The population density of Lesotho is high for an African state, despite the thinly settled areas of mountainous terrain. A large proportion of the population lives in the western lowlands, which have a much higher population density than the rest of the country as a whole: almost three-fourths of the population lives in the narrow corridor, only 25 miles (40 km) in width, that stretches along the Caledon River. Although not permanently inhabited, the mountain grasslands on the slopes of the high plateau and in the valleys provide summer grazing for sheep and cattle, tended by herders in isolated cattle posts. Some of the deep valleys, such as the Senqunyane, produce crops of wheat, peas, and beans. Since independence in 1966, there has been considerable population movement toward the capital city, Maseru. While Maseru is the largest city by far, smaller urban populations inhabit Maputsoe, Teyateyaneng, Mafeteng, and Hlotse. However, about three-fourths of the population is rural. Families and clans still cluster together as units in the numerous small rural villages, where social cohesion is strengthened by the persistence of clan and family loyalties. The villages range in size from one large family to four or five extended families, with an average of 30 to 50 nuclear families. The villages, situated on the plains and surrounded by aloes and trees, offer fine views of the rocky highlands. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Lesotho  

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2022/10/04

National Day of the Republic of Iraq

Iraq, country of southwestern Asia. During ancient times, lands that now constitute Iraq were known as Mesopotamia (“Land Between the Rivers”), a region whose extensive alluvial plains gave rise to some of the world’s earliest civilizations, including those of Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Assyria. This wealthy region, comprising much of what is called the Fertile Crescent, later became a valuable part of larger imperial polities, including sundry Persian, Greek, and Roman dynasties, and after the 7th century it became a central and integral part of the Islamic world. Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 8th century. The modern nation-state of Iraq was created following World War I (1914–18) from the Ottoman provinces of Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul and derives its name from the Arabic term used in the premodern period to describe a region that roughly corresponded to Mesopotamia (ʿIrāq ʿArabī, “Arabian Iraq”) and modern northwestern Iran (ʿIrāq ʿAjamī, “foreign [i.e., Persian] Iraq”). Iraq gained formal independence in 1932 but remained subject to British imperial influence during the next quarter century of turbulent monarchical rule. Political instability on an even greater scale followed the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958, but the installation of an Arab nationalist and socialist regime—the Baʿath Party—in a bloodless coup 10 years later brought new stability. With proven oil reserves second in the world only to those of Saudi Arabia, the regime was able to finance ambitious projects and development plans throughout the 1970s and to build one of the largest and best-equipped armed forces in the Arab world. The party’s leadership, however, was quickly assumed by Saddam Hussein, a flamboyant and ruthless autocrat who led the country into disastrous military adventures—the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) and the Persian Gulf War (1990–91). These conflicts left the country isolated from the international community and financially and socially drained, but—through unprecedented coercion directed at major sections of the population, particularly the country’s disfranchised Kurdish minority and the Shiʿi majority—Saddam himself was able to maintain a firm hold on power into the 21st century. He and his regime were toppled in 2003 during the Iraq War. Land Iraq is one of the easternmost countries of the Arab world, located at about the same latitude as the southern United States. It is bordered to the north by Turkey, to the east by Iran, to the west by Syria and Jordan, and to the south by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Iraq has 36 miles (58 km) of coastline along the northern end of the Persian Gulf, giving it a tiny sliver of territorial sea. Followed by Jordan, it is thus the Middle Eastern state with the least access to the sea and offshore sovereignty. Relief Iraq’s topography can be divided into four physiographic regions: the alluvial plains of the central and southeastern parts of the country; Al-Jazīrah (Arabic: “the Island”), an upland region in the north between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; deserts in the west and south; and the highlands in the northeast. Each of these regions extends into neighbouring countries, although the alluvial plains lie largely within Iraq. Alluvial plains The plains of lower Mesopotamia extend southward some 375 miles (600 km) from Balad on the Tigris and Al-Ramādī on the Euphrates to the Persian Gulf. They cover more than 51,000 square miles (132,000 square km), almost one-third of the country’s area, and are characterized by low elevation, below 300 feet (100 metres), and poor natural drainage. Large areas are subject to widespread seasonal flooding, and there are extensive marshlands, some of which dry up in the summer to become salty wastelands. Near Al-Qurnah, where the Tigris and Euphrates converge to form the Shaṭṭ al-ʿArab, there are still some inhabited marshes. The alluvial plains contain extensive lakes. The swampy Lake Al-Ḥammār (Hawr al-Ḥammār) extends 70 miles (110 km) from Basra (Al-Baṣrah) to Sūq al-Shuyūkh; its width varies from 8 to 15 miles (13 to 25 km). Al-Jazīrah North of the alluvial plains, between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, is the arid Al-Jazīrah plateau. Its most prominent hill range is the Sinjār Mountains, whose highest peak reaches an elevation of 4,448 feet (1,356 metres). The main watercourse is the Wadi Al-Tharthār, which runs southward for 130 miles (210 km) from the Sinjār Mountains to the Tharthār (Salt) Depression. Milḥat Ashqar is the largest of several salt flats (or sabkhahs) in the region. Deserts Western and southern Iraq is a vast desert region covering some 64,900 square miles (168,000 square km), almost two-fifths of the country. The western desert, an extension of the Syrian Desert, rises to elevations above 1,600 feet (490 metres). The southern desert is known as Al-Ḥajarah in the western part and as Al-Dibdibah in the east. Al-Ḥajarah has a complex topography of rocky desert, wadis, ridges, and depressions. Al-Dibdibah is a more sandy region with a covering of scrub vegetation. Elevation in the southern desert averages between 300 and 1,200 feet (100 to 400 metres). A height of 3,119 feet (951 metres) is reached at Mount ʿUnayzah (ʿUnāzah) at the intersection of the borders of Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The deep Wadi Al-Bāṭin runs 45 miles (75 km) in a northeast-southwest direction through Al-Dibdibah. It has been recognized since 1913 as the boundary between western Kuwait and Iraq. The northeast of Iraq The mountains, hills, and plains of northeastern Iraq occupy some 35,500 square miles (92,000 square km), about one-fifth of the country. Of this area only about one-fourth is mountainous; the remainder is a complex transition zone between mountain and lowland. The ancient kingdom of Assyria was located in this area. North and northeast of the Assyrian plains and foothills is Kurdistan, a mountainous region that extends into Turkey and Iran. The relief of northeastern Iraq rises from the Tigris toward the Turkish and Iranian borders in a series of rolling plateaus, river basins, and hills until the high mountain ridges of Iraqi Kurdistan, associated with the Taurus and Zagros mountains, are reached. These mountains are aligned northwest to southeast and are separated by river basins where human settlement is possible. The mountain summits have an average elevation of about 8,000 feet (2,400 metres), rising to 10,000–11,000 feet (3,000–3,300 metres) in places. There, along the Iran-Iraq border, is the country’s highest point, Ghundah Zhur, which reaches 11,834 feet (3,607 metres). The region is heavily dissected by numerous tributaries of the Tigris, notably the Great and Little Zab rivers and the Diyālā and ʿUẓaym (Adhaim) rivers. These streams weave tortuously south and southwest, cutting through ridges in a number of gorges, notably the Rū Kuchūk gorge, northeast of Barzān, and the Bēkma gorge, west of Rawāndūz town. The highest mountain ridges contain the only forestland in Iraq. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Iraq  

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2022/10/03

Day of German Unity of the Federal Republic of Germany

Germany, officially Federal Republic of Germany, German Deutschland or Bundesrepublik Deutschland, country of north-central Europe, traversing the continent’s main physical divisions, from the outer ranges of the Alps northward across the varied landscape of the Central German Uplands and then across the North German Plain. One of Europe’s largest countries, Germany encompasses a wide variety of landscapes: the tall, sheer mountains of the south; the sandy, rolling plains of the north; the forested hills of the urbanized west; and the plains of the agricultural east. At the spiritual heart of the country is the magnificent east-central city of Berlin, which rose phoenixlike from the ashes of World War II and now, after decades of partition, is the capital of a reunified Germany, and the Rhine River, which flows northward from Switzerland and is celebrated in visual art, literature, folklore, and song. Along its banks and those of its principal tributaries—among them the Neckar, Main, Moselle, and Ruhr—stand hundreds of medieval castles, churches, picturesque villages, market towns, and centres of learning and culture, including Heidelberg, the site of one of Europe’s oldest universities (founded in 1386), and Mainz, historically one of Europe’s most important publishing centres. All are centrepieces of Germany’s thriving tourist economy, which brings millions of visitors to the country each year, drawn by its natural beauty, history, culture, and cuisine (including its renowned wines and beers). The name Germany has long described not a particular place but the loose, fluid polity of Germanic-speaking peoples that held sway over much of western Europe north of the Alps for millennia. Although Germany in that sense is an ancient entity, the German nation in more or less its present form came into being only in the 19th century, when Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck brought together dozens of German-speaking kingdoms, principalities, free cities, bishoprics, and duchies to form the German Empire in 1871. This so-called Second Reich quickly became Europe’s leading power and acquired colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. That overseas empire was dismantled following Germany’s defeat in World War I and the abdication of Emperor William II. Economic depression, widespread unemployment, and political strife that verged on civil war followed, leading to the collapse of the progressive Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazi Party under Adolf Hitler. After gaining power in 1933, Hitler established the Third Reich and soon thereafter embarked on a ruinous crusade to conquer Europe and exterminate Jews, Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, and others. The Third Reich disintegrated in 1945, brought down by the Allied armies of the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, France, and other countries. The victorious powers divided Germany into four zones of occupation and later into two countries: the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), separated for more than 40 years by a long boundary. In East Germany this boundary was, until the fall of its communist government in 1989, marked by defenses designed to prevent escape. The 185 square miles (480 square km) of the “island” of West Berlin were similarly ringed from 1961 to 1989 by the Berlin Wall running through the city and by a heavily guarded wire-mesh fence in the areas abutting the East German countryside. Although Berlin was a flashpoint between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, the city declined in national and international significance until 1989–90, when a popular and peaceful uprising toppled the East German government and soon after restored a united Berlin as the capital of a reunified Germany. Since World War II, Germany has made great efforts to both commemorate the victims and redress the crimes of the Holocaust, providing strong material and political support for the state of Israel and actively prosecuting hate crimes and the propagation of neo-Nazi doctrine; the latter became an issue in the 1990s with the rise in Germany of anti-immigrant skinhead groups and the availability of Hitler’s Mein Kampf over the Internet. Clearly, modern Germany struggles to balance its national interests with those of an influx of political and economic refugees from far afield, especially North Africa, Turkey, and South Asia, an influx that has fueled ethnic tensions and swelled the ranks of nationalist political parties, particularly in eastern Germany, where unemployment was double that of the west. Tensions became especially acute in the second decade of the 21st century, when more than one million migrants entered Germany in the wake of the revolutions of the Arab Spring and the Syrian Civil War. The constitution of the republic, adopted in 1949 by West Germany, created a federal system that gives significant government powers to its constituent Länder (states). Before unification there were 11 West German Länder (including West Berlin, which had the special status of a Land without voting rights), but, with the accession of East Germany, there are now 16 Länder in the unified republic. The largest of the states is Bavaria (Bayern), the richest is Baden-Württemberg, and the most populous is North Rhine–Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Matters of national importance, such as defense and foreign affairs, are reserved to the federal government. At both the state and federal levels, parliamentary democracy prevails. The Federal Republic has been a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) since 1955 and was a founding member of the European Economic Community (see European Union). During the four decades of partition, the Federal Republic concluded a number of agreements with the Soviet Union and East Germany, which it supported to some extent economically in return for various concessions with regard to humanitarian matters and access to Berlin. West Germany’s rapid economic recovery in the 1950s (Wirtschaftswunder, or “economic miracle”) brought it into a leading position among the world’s economic powers, a position that it has maintained. Much of Germany’s post-World War II success has been the result of the renowned industriousness and self-sacrifice of its people, about which novelist Günter Grass, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999, remarked, “To be a German is to make the impossible possible.” He added, more critically, For in our country everything is geared to growth. We’re never satisfied. For us enough is never enough. We always want more. If it’s on paper, we convert it into reality. Even in our dreams we’re productive. This devotion to hard work has combined with a public demeanour—which is at once reserved and assertive—to produce a stereotype of the German people as aloof and distant. Yet Germans prize both their private friendships and their friendly relations with neighbours and visitors, place a high value on leisure and culture, and enjoy the benefits of life in a liberal democracy that has become ever more integrated with and central to a united Europe. Land of Germany Germany is bounded at its extreme north on the Jutland peninsula by Denmark. East and west of the peninsula, the Baltic Sea (Ostsee) and North Sea coasts, respectively, complete the northern border. To the west, Germany borders The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg; to the southwest it borders France. Germany shares its entire southern boundary with Switzerland and Austria. In the southeast the border with the Czech Republic corresponds to an earlier boundary of 1918, renewed by treaty in 1945. The easternmost frontier adjoins Poland along the northward course of the Neisse River and subsequently the Oder to the Baltic Sea, with a westward deviation in the north to exclude the former German port city of Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland) and the Oder mouth. This border reflects the loss of Germany’s eastern territories to Poland, agreed to at the Yalta Conference (February 1945), mandated at the Potsdam Conference (July–August 1945) held among the victorious World War II Allies, and reaffirmed by subsequent governments. The major lineaments of Germany’s physical geography are not unique. The country spans the great east-west morphological zones that are characteristic of the western part of central Europe. In the south Germany impinges on the outermost ranges of the Alps. From there it extends across the Alpine Foreland (Alpenvorland), the plain on the northern edge of the Alps. Forming the core of the country is the large zone of the Central German Uplands, which is part of a wider European arc of territory stretching from the Massif Central of France in the west into the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland in the east. In Germany it manifests itself as a landscape with a complex mixture of forested block mountains, intermediate plateaus with scarped edges, and lowland basins. In the northern part of the country the North German Plain, or Lowland, forms part of the greater North European Plain, which broadens from the Low Countries eastward across Germany and Poland into Belarus, the Baltic states, and Russia and extends northward through Schleswig-Holstein into the Jutland peninsula of Denmark. The North German Plain is fringed by marshes, mudflats, and the islands of the North and Baltic seas. In general, Germany has a south-to-north drop in altitude, from a maximum elevation of 9,718 feet (2,962 metres) in the Zugspitze of the Bavarian Alps to a few small areas slightly below sea level in the north near the coast. It is a common assumption that surface configuration reflects the underlying rock type; a hard resistant rock such as granite will stand out, whereas a softer rock such as clay will be weathered away. However, this assumption is not always borne out. The Zugspitze, for example, is Germany’s highest summit not because it is composed of particularly resistant rocks but because it was raised by the mighty earth movements that began some 37 to 24 million years ago and created the Alps, Europe’s highest and youngest fold mountains. Another powerful force determining surface configuration is erosion, mainly by rivers. In the Permian Period (some 290 million years ago) an earlier mountain chain—the Hercynian, or Variscan, mountains—had crossed Europe in the area of the Central German Uplands. Yet the forces of erosion were sufficient to reduce these mountains to almost level surfaces, on which a series of secondary sedimentary rocks of Permian to Jurassic age (about 300 to 145 million years old) were deposited. The entire formation was subsequently fractured and warped under the impact of the Alpine orogeny. This process was accompanied by some volcanic activity, which left behind not only peaks but also a substantial number of hot and mineral springs. Dramatic erosion occurred as the Alpine chains were rising, filling the furrow that now constitutes the Alpine Foreland. The pattern of valleys eroded by streams and rivers has largely given rise to the details of the present landscape. Valley glaciers emerging from the Alps and ice sheets from Scandinavia had some erosive effect, but they mainly contributed sheets of glacial deposits. Slopes outside the area of the actual ice sheets—those under tundra conditions and unprotected by vegetation—were rendered less steep by the periglacial slumping of surface deposits under the influence of gravitation. Winds blowing over unprotected surfaces fringing the ice sheets picked up fine material known as loess; once deposited, it became Germany’s most fertile soil-parent material. Coarser weathered material was carried into alluvial cones and gravel-covered river terraces, as in the Rhine Rift Valley (Rhine Graben). The detailed morphology of Germany is significant in providing local modifications to climate, hydrology, and soils, with consequent effects on vegetation and agricultural utilization. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany

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2022/10/03

Republic of Korea Day of the Establishment of the Korean State

South Korea, country in East Asia. It occupies the southern portion of the Korean peninsula. The country is bordered by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) to the north, the East Sea (Sea of Japan) to the east, the East China Sea to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west; to the southeast it is separated from the Japanese island of Tsushima by the Korea Strait. South Korea makes up about 45 percent of the peninsula’s land area. The capital is Seoul (Sŏul). South Korea faces North Korea across a demilitarized zone (DMZ) 2.5 miles (4 km) wide that was established by the terms of the 1953 armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War (1950–53). The DMZ, which runs for about 150 miles (240 km), constitutes the 1953 military cease-fire line and roughly follows latitude 38° N (the 38th parallel) from the mouth of the Han River on the west coast of the Korean peninsula to a little south of the North Korean town of Kosŏng on the east coast. Land - Relief Geologically, South Korea consists in large part of Precambrian rocks (i.e., more than about 540 million years old) such as granite and gneiss. The country is largely mountainous, with small valleys and narrow coastal plains. The T’aebaek Mountains run in roughly a north-south direction along the eastern coastline and northward into North Korea, forming the country’s drainage divide. From them several mountain ranges branch off with a northeast-southwest orientation. The most important of these are the Sobaek Mountains, which undulate in a long S-shape across the peninsula. None of South Korea’s mountains are very high: the T’aebaek Mountains reach an elevation of 5,604 feet (1,708 metres) at Mount Sŏrak in the northeast, and the Sobaek Mountains reach 6,283 feet (1,915 metres) at Mount Chiri. The highest peak in South Korea, the extinct volcano Mount Halla on Cheju Island, is 6,398 feet (1,950 metres) above sea level. South Korea has two volcanic islands—Cheju (Jeju), off the peninsula’s southern tip, and Ullŭng, about 85 miles (140 km) east of the mainland in the East Sea—and a small-scale lava plateau in Kangwŏn province. In addition, South Korea claims and occupies a group of rocky islets—known variously as Liancourt Rocks, Tok (Dok) Islands (Korean), and Take Islands (Japanese)—some 55 miles (85 km) southeast of Ullŭng Island; these islets also have been claimed by Japan. There are fairly extensive lowlands along the lower parts of the country’s main rivers. The eastern coastline is relatively straight, whereas the western and southern have extremely complicated ria (i.e., creek-indented) coastlines with many islands. The shallow Yellow Sea and the complex Korean coastline produce one of the most pronounced tidal variations in the world—about 30 feet (9 metres) maximum at Inch’ŏn (Incheon), the entry port for Seoul. Drainage South Korea’s three principal rivers, the Han, Kŭm, and Naktong, all have their sources in the T’aebaek Mountains, and they flow between the ranges before entering their lowland plains. Nearly all the country’s rivers flow westward or southward into either the Yellow Sea or the East China Sea; only a few short, swift rivers drain eastward from the T’aebaek Mountains. The Naktong River, South Korea’s longest, runs southward for 325 miles (523 km) to the Korea Strait. Streamflow is highly variable, being greatest during the wet summer months and considerably less in the relatively dry winter. Soils Most of South Korea’s soils derive from granite and gneiss. Sandy and brown-coloured soils are common, and they are generally well-leached and have little humus content. Podzolic soils (ash-gray forest soils), resulting from the cold of the long winter season, are found in the highlands. Climate The greatest influence on the climate of the Korean peninsula is its proximity to the main Asian landmass. This produces the marked summer-winter temperature extremes of a continental climate while also establishing the northeast Asian monsoons (seasonal winds) that affect precipitation patterns. The annual range of temperature is greater in the north and in interior regions of the peninsula than in the south and along the coast, reflecting the relative decline in continental influences in the latter areas. South Korea’s climate is characterized by a cold, relatively dry winter and a hot, humid summer. The coldest average monthly temperatures in winter drop below freezing except along the southern coast. The average January temperature at Seoul is in the low 20s °F (about −5 °C), while the corresponding average at Pusan (Busan), on the southeast coast, is in the mid-30s °F (about 2 °C). By contrast, summer temperatures are relatively uniform across the country, the average monthly temperature for August (the warmest month) being in the high 70s °F (about 25 °C). Annual precipitation ranges from about 35 to 60 inches (900 to 1,500 mm) on the mainland. Taegu, on the east coast, is the driest area, while the southern coast is the wettest; southern Cheju Island receives more than 70 inches (1,800 mm) annually. Up to three-fifths of the annual precipitation is received in June–August, during the summer monsoon, the annual distribution being more even in the extreme south. Occasionally, late-summer typhoons (tropical cyclones) cause heavy showers and storms along the southern coast. Precipitation in winter falls mainly as snow, with the heaviest amounts occurring in the T’aebaek Mountains. The frost-free season ranges from 170 days in the northern highlands to more than 240 days on Cheju Island. Plant and animal life The long, hot, humid summer is favourable for the development of extensive and varied vegetation. Some 4,500 plant species are known. Forests once covered about two-thirds of the total land area, but, because of fuel needs during the long, cold winter and the country’s high population density, the original forest has almost disappeared. Except for evergreen broad-leaved forests in the narrow subtropical belt along the southern coast and on Cheju Island, most areas contain deciduous broad-leaved and coniferous trees. Typical evergreen broad-leaved species include camellias and camphor trees, while deciduous forests include oaks, maples, alders, zelkovas, and birches. Species of pine are the most representative in the country; other conifers include spruces, larches, and yews. Among indigenous species are the Abeliophyllum distichum (white forsythia or Korean abelia), a shrub of the olive family, and the Korean fir (Abies koreana). Wild animal life is similar to that of northern and northeastern China. The most numerous larger mammals are deer. Tigers, leopards, lynx, and bears, formerly abundant, have almost disappeared, even in remote areas. Some 380 species of birds are found in the country, most of which are seasonal migrants. Many of South Korea’s fish, reptile, and amphibian species are threatened by intensive cultivation and environmental pollution except in the DMZ between North and South Korea, which has become a de facto nature preserve. Once farmland, and subsequently a devastated battleground, the DMZ has lain almost untouched since the end of hostilities and has reverted to nature to a large extent, making it one of the most pristine undeveloped areas in Asia. It contains many ecosystems including forests, estuaries, and wetlands frequented by migratory birds. The zone serves as a sanctuary for hundreds of bird species, among them the endangered white-naped and red-crowned cranes, and is home to dozens of fish species and Asiatic black bears, lynxes, and other mammals. More … Score https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Korea  

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2022/10/03

Republic of Guinea Proclamation of the Republic

Guinea, country of western Africa, located on the Atlantic coast. Three of western Africa’s major rivers—the Gambia, the Niger, and the Sénégal—rise in Guinea. Natural resources are plentiful: in addition to its hydroelectric potential, Guinea possesses a large portion of the world’s bauxite reserves and significant amounts of iron, gold, and diamonds. Nonetheless, the economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture. Guinea, under the name French Guinea, was a part of French West Africa until it achieved independence in 1958. It then was ruled successively by Sékou Touré (1958–84) and Lansana Conté (1984–2008), the latter of whom claimed power through a military coup. During the 1990s Guinea accommodated several hundred thousand war refugees from neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone, and conflicts between those countries and Guinea have continued to flare up over the refugee population. Following Conté’s death, a military junta took control of the country and suspended the constitution that had been adopted in 1991. Power was handed over to a freely elected civilian administration in 2010. The national capital, Conakry, lies on Tombo (Tumbo) Island and spreads up the Camayenne (Kaloum) Peninsula; it is the country’s main port. Land Guinea is bordered by Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d’Ivoire to the southeast, and Liberia and Sierra Leone to the south. The Atlantic Ocean lies to the west. , Inc. Guinea consists of four geographic regions: Lower Guinea, the Fouta Djallon, Upper Guinea, and the Forest Region, or Guinea Highlands. Lower Guinea includes the coast and coastal plain. The coast has undergone recent marine submergence and is marked by rias, or drowned river valleys, that form inlets and tidal estuaries. Numerous offshore islands are remnants of former hills. Immediately inland the gently rolling coastal plain rises to the east, being broken by rocky spurs of the Fouta Djallon highlands in the north at Cape Verga and in the south at the Camayenne Peninsula. Between 30 and 50 miles (48 and 80 km) wide, the plain is wider in the south than the north. Its base rocks of granite and gneiss (coarse-grained rock containing bands of minerals) are covered with laterite (red soil with a high content of iron oxides and aluminum hydroxide) and sandstone gravel. The Fouta Djallon highlands rise sharply from the coastal plain in a series of abrupt faults. More than 5,000 square miles (13,000 square km) of the highlands’ total extent of 30,000 square miles (78,000 square km) lie above 3,000 feet (900 metres). Basically an enormous sandstone block, the Fouta Djallon consists of level plateaus broken by deeply incised valleys and dotted with sills and dikes, or exposed structures of ancient volcanism resulting in resistant landforms of igneous rock. The Kakoulima Massif, for example, attains 3,273 feet (998 metres) northeast of Conakry. The highest point in the highlands, Mount Tamgué, rises to 5,046 feet (1,538 metres) near the town of Mali in the north. Upper Guinea is composed of the Niger Plains, which slope northeastward toward the Sahara. The flat relief is broken by rounded granite hills and outliers of the Fouta Djallon. Composed of granite, gneiss, schist (crystalline rock), and quartzite, the region has an average elevation of about 1,000 feet (300 metres). The Forest Region, or Guinea Highlands, is a historically isolated area of hills in the country’s southeastern corner. Mount Nimba (5,748 feet [1,752 metres]), the highest mountain in the region, is located at the borders of Guinea, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire. The mountain’s densely forested slopes are part of the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, which has significant portions in Guinea. The Guinean sector was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981 and is home to a unique and diverse array of flora and fauna. The rocks of this region are of the same composition as those of Upper Guinea. Drainage and soils More than 20 rivers in western Africa originate in Guinea. The Fouta Djallon is the source of the three major rivers of the region. The Niger River and several tributaries, including the Tinkisso, Milo, and Sankarani, rise in the highlands and flow in a general northeasterly direction across Upper Guinea to Mali. The Bafing and Bakoye rivers, headwaters of the Sénégal River, flow northward into Mali before uniting to form the main river. The Gambia River flows northwestward before crossing Senegal and The Gambia. The Fouta Djallon also gives rise to numerous smaller rivers, including the Fatala, Konkouré, and Kolenté, which flow westward across the coastal plain to enter the Atlantic Ocean. The Forest Region generally drains to the southwest through Sierra Leone and Liberia. The Saint Paul River enters the Atlantic at Monrovia, in Liberia, and the Moa River has its mouth at Sulima, in Sierra Leone. The most common soils found in Guinea are laterites formed of iron and hydrated aluminum oxides and other materials that often concretize into hard iron-rich conglomerates. Sandy brown soils predominate in the northeast, while black, heavy clay soils accumulate in the backwaters along the coast. There are alluvial soils along the major rivers. Soil conservation is extremely important, because most soils are thin and rainfall heavy, causing much erosion. Climate The climate of Guinea is tropical with two alternating seasons—a dry season (November through March) and a wet season (April through October). The arrival of the migratory intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in June brings the heaviest rainfall of the wet season. As the ITCZ shifts southward in November, the hot, dry wind known as the harmattan blows from the northeast off the Sahara. On the coast a period of six months of dry weather is followed by six months of rain. The average rainfall at Conakry is about 170 inches (4,300 mm) a year, and the average annual temperatures are in the low 80s F (about 27 °C). In the Fouta Djallon, January afternoon temperatures range from the mid-80s to the mid-90s F (about 30 to 35 °C), while evening temperatures dip into the high 40s and low 50s F (about 8 to 11 °C). Rainfall varies between 60 and 90 inches (1,500 and 2,300 mm) annually, and the average annual temperatures there are in the mid-70s F (about 25 °C). In Upper Guinea rainfall drops to about 60 inches (1,500 mm) a year. During the dry season temperatures of more than 100 °F (38 °C) are common in the northeast. In the Forest Region at Macenta there may be some 100 or more inches (2,540 mm) of rain annually. Only the months of December, January, and February are relatively dry, with possible rainfall of only 1 inch (25 mm). At low elevations, temperatures resemble those of the coastal areas. Plant and animal life The coast is fringed with mangrove trees, and the coastal plain supports stands of oil palms. The Fouta Djallon is mostly open, with trees growing along the wider stream valleys. Badiar National Park, which is administered jointly with Niokolo-Koba National Park in southeastern Senegal, contains savanna and forest. In Upper Guinea the savanna grassland supports several species of tall grasses that reach heights of 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3 metres) during the rainy season. Deciduous trees grow in scattered clumps, but few have commercial value; baobabs and shea trees furnish fruit and oil. Many of the dry woodlands of the region are protected in Haut Niger National Park, located in the centre of the country. The Forest Region contains several extensive patches of rainforest, with teak, mahogany, and ebony trees; agriculture, however, has diminished the forests and resulted in a shift largely toward open savanna. Guinea is not rich in African big game. Baboons and hyenas are common, while an occasional wild boar, several types of antelope, and a rare leopard may be sighted. A few hippopotamuses and manatees inhabit the rivers of both Lower and Upper Guinea. Monkeys, chimpanzees, and some rare bird species can be found in the southern portion of the Forest Region, near the Liberian border. Poisonous snakes include mambas, vipers, and cobras, and there are pythons and a variety of harmless snakes. Crocodiles and several varieties of fish are found in most rivers. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Guinea

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