title: Illinois

paragraphs: Illinois is a state in the United States. Its capital is Springfield and its largest city is Chicago. It is bordered to the north by Wisconsin, to the west by Iowa and below that, by Missouri (both borders are along the Mississippi River). To the south-east, Illinois is bordered along the Ohio River by Kentucky and to the east by Indiana. Illinois' northeasternmost boundary is to Lake Michigan.

paragraphs: Most of Illinois outside of Chicago (its most populous city) is heavily conservative. In 2016, for example, nearly 40 counties in Illinois gave Trump 70% or more of the vote there. However, Chicago makes up over half of the state´s population, and Cook County (in which Chicago is located) gave Trump just 21% of the vote there. Therefore, the governor of Illinois is currently a Democrat, as are both its US Senators and over 70% of its representatives. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the state by 17%. In 2012, Barack Obama won the state by 17%. In 2008, Obama won the state by over 25%. Illinois has supported only Democratic candidates for president since 1992.

paragraphs: Illinois used to vote Republican. In all the presidential elections between 1856 and 1892, it supported the Republican candidate.

paragraphs: Illinois was a swing state, but it isn´t a swing state anymore. In all the presidential elections in which it has voted, it has supported the winner 82% of the time. Out of the last 5 presidential elections, however, it has supported the winner only 40% of the time.

paragraphs: Illinois became a state on December 3, 1818. Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which helped abolish slavery in the United States.

paragraphs: Three U.S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama. Additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was the only US President born and raised in Illinois.

paragraphs: Illinois has a diverse economy. Chicago is a major center for transportation and business. Central and northern Illinois is mostly used for agriculture. The south produces many natural resources such as coal, timber and petroleum.

paragraphs: Illinois was once known to be a swing state (voted for either Democratic Party or the Republican Party). Today, Illinois is known to be a blue state in which it votes for the Democratic Party. The last time Illinois voted for a Republican president was in 1988 for George H.W. Bush.

paragraphs: J. B. Pritzker (D) is the current Governor of Illinois. It has two senators; Dick Durbin (D) and Tammy Duckworth (D).

paragraphs: Illinois has the average population of 12,419,293 people since 2010. Most of the people living in Illinois live near the city of Chicago.

paragraphs: In Illinois, school children voted to select the state bird, state flower, and state tree. The state bird is the cardinal. The state flower of Illinois is the violet. The state tree is the white oak.

paragraphs: Illinois's seal has an eagle in a prairie. Across a river, behind the eagle is a rising sun. The eagle stands for the United States. The prairie reminds Illinoisans of their land. The two dates on the seal, 1818 and 1868, are the year that Illinois became a state and the year that the state seal was designed. The state flag includes the state seal.


title: Seattle

paragraphs: Seattle is the largest city in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the home of the Space Needle and a monorail, both of which were built for the 1962 World's Fair. It is also the American headquarters of Starbucks coffee, Amazon.com and Nordstrom. In the 1980s and 1990s, grunge music artists like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and others from the city became popular. It is also the setting of the TV shows "Here Come the Brides", "Frasier", and "Grey's Anatomy".

paragraphs: Seattle has many sports teams, including the Seattle Mariners (baseball), the Seattle Seahawks (American football), the Sounders FC (soccer), and the Seattle Storm (women's basketball). Seattle has a lot of water around it, with Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean to the west and Lake Washington to the east. About 750,000 people live in the city. More than 4,000,000 (4 million) people live in the city or near it.

paragraphs: Seattle is home to many colleges and universities. The most notable of these are, University of Washington, and Seattle University.

paragraphs: Seattle has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate ("Csb" in the Koeppen climate classification).


title: Kiefer Sutherland

paragraphs: Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland (born December 21, 1966) is an English Canadian actor and director.

paragraphs: He was born in London, England in 1966 to Canadian actor Donald Sutherland and his wife Shirley Douglas, an actress and daughter of Canadian statesman Tommy Douglas. He also has a twin sister, named Rachel, who looks similar to him. He grew up in London, Corona, California and Toronto, Ontario.

paragraphs: In the 1980s, he was part of a group of young actors called the "Brat Pack" and appeared in movies "Stand by Me" (1986), "The Lost Boys" (1987), "Young Guns" (1988), "Flatliners" (1990), and "The Three Musketeers" (1993). In 2001, he starred as Jack Bauer in "24", which was intended as a one-shot mini-series, but became one of the most popular shows on TV. For this role, Kiefer won the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 2006, the Golden Globe for best actor in 2001, the SAG Award for Best Actor in 2003 and 2005 and the Satellite Award for Best Actor in 2002 and 2003. The show had eight seasons before ending, with one movie currently released.

paragraphs: He is also in the Fox drama, "Touch" as the role of Martin Bohm.


title: Stirling

paragraphs: Stirling is a city in the middle of Scotland. Before, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Scotland. Its name in the Scottish (Gaelic) language is Sruighlea. Stirling was very important a long time ago because it is at the centre of Scotland. Battles were fought at Bannockburn and Stirling Bridge, and there is a castle in the city.


title: Tuvaluan language

paragraphs: Tuvaluan is an Austronesian language spoken in Tuvalu. It is closely related to Tokelauan language. Tuvaluan has over 11 000 speakers. The language is divided into two main dialects.


title: Tokelau

paragraphs: Tokelau is a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is made of three atolls. These atolls have a surface area of about. About 1500 people lived there in 2016. The territory belongs to New Zealand. The atolls are Alatufu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo. Together with Swains Island (which is part of American Samoa now) they are known as the Union Islands. Swains Island is about 180 km to the south of Fakaofo. Less than 50 people live on Swains Island. Tokelau is about half way between New Zealand and Hawaii.

paragraphs: Tokelau does not have an official capital. The most important languages spoken in Tokelau are English and Tokelauan.

paragraphs: The people live in four villages: Two of them are on Fakaofo. The islands Atafu and Nukunonu each have one village. The most common language is Tokelauan, about half the people are able to speak English.

paragraphs: According to the UN, many people on Tokelau are overweight: Many of the 15 to 64 age group also suffer from diabetes.

paragraphs: Tokelau is among the most remote areas in the Pacific: There are no airports; the islands can only be reached by ship: there are also no sea ports, which makes travelling difficult, even between the atolls. New Zealand pays for a ship, which connects Tokelau with the next bigger seaport (Apia, on Samoa). The trip from Apia to Fakaofo takes about a day, reaching the northernmost atoll Atafu will take another three to four hours. There is no large pier on any of the islands, which means that smaller boats (called barges) are needed to reach the shore. The ship reaches Tokelau about once every two weeks.

paragraphs: In 2004 there was a vote to change the status of Tokelau: Rather than being a dependent territory of New Zealand, the proposal was to be "in association with" New Zealand, much like Cook Islands and Niue. At the time, the people of Tokleau voted against this independence.


title: Communist state

paragraphs: A communist state is a state whose constitution claims to follow the principles of communism, despite following the ideology of Marxism–Leninism. Its form of government has only a single political party, the communist party. The governance of the state is guided by the principles of Leninism, Marxism, Maoism, or any other form of socialist ideology.

paragraphs: Technically, "communist state" is a contradictory term. In principle, a communist society is a stateless society. In practice, communist states do not actually refer to themselves as "communist states". They do not consider themselves to be communist societies at present. Instead, their constitutions call them "socialist states" or "workers' states".

paragraphs: During the 20th century, a "communist state" came to be understood as any country ruled by a single party and guided by a Marxist–Leninist or Maoist ideology. These countries would also have a planned economy. The ruling class is the working class (the proletariat).

paragraphs: As of February 2018, there are five countries that are called communist states. They are China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and North Korea. North Korea does not follow Marxism–Leninism, but it is otherwise still considered to be in the same category.

paragraphs: There were, at one time, many countries that followed some type of Marxism. One of the most famous is the Soviet Union. However, many of these are now no longer regarded as socialist.


title: Solitaire

paragraphs: Solitaire is a card game for one player game using a deck of playing cards. A player wins the game when the player has all the cards in four different deck by color and number.

paragraphs: There are many variations (types) of solitaire, such as Klondike, Freecell, Pyramid, Golf and Spider. Most computer operating systems include simple solitaire games.

paragraphs: In many countries, solitaire is called Patience.


title: Optics

paragraphs: Optics is the science of light and how it interacts with the world. Optics explains how rainbows exist, how light reflects off mirrors, how light refracts through glass or water, and what splits light shining through a prism. In addition to visible light in the standard "spectrum" of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, optics also deals with invisible parts of the whole electromagnetic spectrum of which visible light is but a small part.

paragraphs: Optics is both a science and an area of engineering. It has been used to make many useful things, including eyeglasses, cameras, telescopes, and microscopes. Many of these things are based on lenses, which focus light and can make images of things that are bigger or smaller than the original.

paragraphs: While optics is an old science, new things are still being discovered in it. Scientists have learned how to make light travel through a thin optical fiber made of glass or plastic. Light can go long distances in a fiber. Fibers are used to carry phone calls and the Internet between cities.


title: Václav Klaus

paragraphs: Václav Klaus is a Czech economist and politician who the president of Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. He also served was the second and last prime minister of the Czech Republic.

paragraphs: His presidency was very controversial, because of his opinion on global warming and because of amnesty he declared.

paragraphs: Klaus was born in Prague during the Nazi occupation and grew up in the Vinohrady neighborhood.

paragraphs: Klaus studied "economics of foreign trade" and graduated from University of Economics in Prague in 1963. He also spent some time at universities in Italy (1966) and at Cornell University. He also studied in the United States in 1969.

paragraphs: He soon obtained a position in the Czechoslovak State Bank. In 1987, Klaus joined the Institute for Prognostics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. In 1995, as Prime Minister, Klaus was awarded the title of Professor of Finance, so he is sometimes addressed as "Mr. Professor". Since that time Klaus occasionally teaches seminars in economics at the University of Economics.

paragraphs: At a congress 1997, Klaus was confirmed as chairman of the ODS. Klaus was elected President of the Czech Republic on 28 February 2003. He won with a majority of 142 votes out of 281.


title: Barbra Streisand

paragraphs: Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, producer, and director. She has won multiple Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards and Golden Globe awards. She is of Jewish descent.


title: Jamaica

paragraphs: Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean; it is part of the Greater Antilles. The island, in area, lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola. Its capital city is Kingston; other towns include Montego Bay, St. Ann's Bay and Spanish Town. The island is divided into three counties – Cornwall, Middlesex and Surrey – which are subdivided into 14 parishes: Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover, St. James, Trelawny, St. Ann, St. Mary, Portland and St. Thomas.

paragraphs: Jamaica is the third-largest island country in the Greater Antilles. Its Taíno name is "Xaymaca", meaning "Land of Springs". Jamaica is part of the West Indies.

paragraphs: The Taino indigenous people, originating in South America, settled on the island between 4000 and 1000 BC. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1494, there were more than 200 villages ruled by "caciques" (chiefs of villages). The south coast of Jamaica was the most populated, especially around the area now known as Old Harbour.

paragraphs: Christopher Columbus, during his second voyage to the Americas, claimed Jamaica for Spain after landing there on 5 May 1494 and his probable landing point was Dry Harbour, now called Discovery Bay. There is some debate as to whether he landed in St. Ann's Bay or in Discovery Bay. St. Ann's Bay was named "Saint Gloria" by Columbus, as the first sighting of the land.

paragraphs: In 1503, during his fourth voyage, Columbus had to spend one year on the northern coast of the island, and he named the island "Isla de Santiago" (by Sant Iago Apostol, in Spanish "Santiago").

paragraphs: In 1509, the new Governor of the Hispaniola, Diego Columbus, sent Juan de Esquivel, a Conquistador born in Seville, Spain, with 70 men to Jamaica to complete the conquest of that island. They first lived in the St. Ann's Bay area and soon Esquivel founded a town, "Sevilla La Nueva" (in English, "The New Seville") on the north coast, one mile to the west of St. Ann's Bay.

paragraphs: Sevilla was abandoned around 1524 because it was deemed unhealthy. The capital was moved to Spanish Town, then called "Saint Jago de la Vega", in the south around 1534.

paragraphs: In 1654 Oliver Cromwell decided to break the Spanish control of the West Indies and he sent a fleet in an expedition) led by William Penn and General Robert Venables. The fleet arrived to the Santo Domingo island on 13 April 1655 but the British lost in two battles on 17 and 25 April and they decided to move to Jamaica.

paragraphs: On 10 May 1655, Penn and Venables led a successful attack on Jamaica. The Spanish surrendered to the English, freed their slaves and then fled to Cuba. It was this set of freed slaves and their descendants living in the Jamaican mountains who became known as the Maroons.

paragraphs: After a long period of direct British colonial rule, Jamaica gained a degree of local political control in the late 1930s, and held its first election under full universal adult suffrage in 1944. Jamaica joined nine other U.K. territories in the West Indies Federation in 1958 but withdrew after Jamaican voters rejected membership in 1961. Jamaica got its independence in 1962, remaining a member of the Commonwealth.

paragraphs: Jamaica is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II serving as the monarch. However, as Elizabeth II is shared as head of state of fifteen other countries (the Commonwealth realm) in addition to the UK and resides mostly in the United Kingdom, she is thus often represented as Queen of Jamaica in Jamaica and abroad by the Governor-General of Jamaica. The governor-general is nominated by the Prime Minister of Jamaica and appointed by the monarch. All the members of the Cabinet are appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister. The monarch and the governor-general serve largely ceremonial roles.

paragraphs: The Parliament of Jamaica is bicameral. This means that it consists of two Houses, the Senate, also called the Upper House, and the House of Representatives, also known as the Lower House. The members of the House (known as Members of Parliament or "MPs") are elected by the people of Jamaica. The leader of the political party with most members in the House of Representatives is appointed by the governor-general to be the prime minister. Senators are nominated jointly by the prime minister and the parliamentary leader of the opposition and are then appointed by the governor-general.

paragraphs: Tarch 2016. Prime Minister Holness acts as head of government of Jamaica.

paragraphs: Jamaica has traditionally had a system of two parties, with power often alternating between the People's National Party and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The party with current administrative and legislative power is Jamaica Labour Party, with a two-thirds Parliamentary majority as of 2016.

paragraphs: Jamaica is divided into 14 parishes, which are grouped into three historic counties that have no administrative relevance.

paragraphs: In 2011 (last national census), there were 2,697,983 people living in Jamaica: 1,334,533 men and 1,363,450 women. There were 1,453,438 (53.9%) living in towns and cities. The population density was 245.5 persons/km².

paragraphs: The following table shows the parishes with their populations in the 2011 census.

paragraphs: According to estimates about 70% of Jamaicans are Black and the rest of the 30% are composed of mostly Mixed Race people, but also includes White and Asian Jamaicans.

paragraphs: The official language of Jamaica is English and the population also speaks Jamaican Creole English.

paragraphs: The people of Jamaica is 62.5% Protestant (10.8% Seventh-day Adventist Church, 9.5% Pentecostal, 8.3 Other Church of God, 7.2% Baptist, 6.3% New Testament Church of God, 4.8% Church of God in Jamaica, 4.3% Church of God of Prophecy, 3.6% Anglicans, 7.7% other Christian), 2.6% Catholics, 14.2% other or unspecified, 20.9% none.

paragraphs: Jamaica is between latitudes 17° 42"N and 18° 31"N and longitudes 78° 22"W and 76° 11", that is between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer. It has an area of .

paragraphs: Jamaica is the third-largest island country in the Greater Antilles, after Cuba and the Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic); it is larger than Puerto Rico. The island is from east to west; the width, from north to south, varies between to . The country is composed mainly of the mainland, but near the coast there are a few isolated small islands.

paragraphs: The Blue Mountains are the longest mountain range in Jamaica. They include the island's highest point, Blue Mountain Peak, at .

paragraphs: The Rio Minho is the longest river in Jamaica at . It rises close to the island's geographic centre, flows generally south-southwest and reaches the Caribbean Sea at Carlisle Bay in the central south coast, to the west of the island's southernmost point, Portland Point.

paragraphs: The Black River is one of the longest rivers in Jamaica. At a length of , it was believed to be the longest until it was discovered that the Rio Minho was longer. It was originally called Rio Caobana.

paragraphs: The island is known for the Rastafarian movement, as well as reggae artist Bob Marley. The popular sprinter Usain Bolt is also an asset from the country. Usain Bolt won gold in the 100 and 200 races in Rio 2016. England goalkeeper Joe Hart is also born in Jamaica.


title: Denver

paragraphs: Denver is the capital and largest city in the U.S. state of Colorado and a county named Denver County. For this reason, Denver is the county seat of Denver County. It is at the foot of the Rocky Mountains on the South Platte River, and was founded in 1858. A nickname for Denver is The Mile High City, because Denver is very high above sea level. It is at least 5,280 feet (or 1,609 meters) above sea level at a point in the city's state capitol building. The dome at the top of the capitol building is covered in gold.

paragraphs: Denver City was founded in November 1858 during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush as a mining town in western Kansas Territory. That summer, a group of gold prospectors from Lawrence, Kansas, started a settlement on the banks of the South Platte River. They called it Montana City. This was the first settlement in what was later to become the city of Denver. The settlement faded quickly. By the summer of 1859 it was abandoned in favor of Auraria (named after the gold mining town of Auraria, Georgia), and St. Charles City.

paragraphs: The Colorado Territory was created on February 28, 1861, Arapahoe County was formed on November 1, 1861, and Denver City was incorporated on November 7, 1861. Denver City served as the Arapahoe County Seat from 1861 until consolidation in 1902. In 1867, Denver City became the Territorial Capital. With its new-found importance, Denver City shortened its name to just Denver. On August 1, 1876, Colorado was admitted to the Union.

paragraphs: Denver is the home of the Denver Broncos football team, the Denver Nuggets basketball team, the Colorado Rockies baseball team, the Colorado Avalanche hockey team, and the Colorado Rapids soccer team.


title: Carl Lewis

paragraphs: Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American retired track and field athlete. He has won nine Olympic gold medals and eight World Championships. Lewis became an actor and has appeared in a number of movies.


title: Pink

paragraphs: Pink is a light reddish color. Pink paint can be made by mixing red, rose, or magenta paint and white paint. Pink is an easy color to make with paint by red and white.


title: Bleach

paragraphs: Bleach is the name for a number of chemical substances which can be used to remove colors, or to make things white. Very often, they act through oxidation. Bleaches on the base of sulfur have been in use for thousands of years. Modern bleaches are usually based on chlorine or on oxygen.

paragraphs: Many bleaches can kill bacteria easily. For this reason, they are often used for disinfecting or sterilisation.

paragraphs: Mixing bleach with some things commonly found at home, like vinegar or even fruit juice can produce chemicals like chlorine that are irritating or even dangerous. Bleach should also not be mixed with ammonia because a hazardous chemical reaction will occur. This effect can kill people.

paragraphs: Certain types of bleaches produce toxic waste. Some of them produce dioxins..

paragraphs: Bleach made from hydrogen peroxide is used to make hair lighter in color, orange, blonde, or even white. It is often used by dark-haired people to make highlights, and most hair dyes contain it.


title: Polygon

paragraphs: A polygon is a closed two-dimensional shape. It is a simple curve that is made up of straight line segments. It usually has three sides/corners or more.

paragraphs: It could also be referred to as 'A closed plane figure bound by three or more straight line segments'. It has a number of edges. These edges are connected by lines. A square is a polygon because it has four sides. The smallest possible polygon in a Euclidean geometry or "flat geometry" is the triangle, but on a sphere, there can be a digon and a henagon.

paragraphs: If the edges (lines of the polygon) do not intersect (cross each other), the polygon is called "simple", otherwise it is "complex".

paragraphs: In computer graphics, polygons (especially triangles) are often used to make graphics.


title: Kazakhstan

paragraphs: Kazakhstan is a country in the middle of Eurasia. Its official name is the Republic of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the ninth biggest country in the world, and it is also the biggest landlocked country in the world. Before the end of the Soviet Union, it was called "Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic". The president of the country from 1991 through March 2019 was Nursultan Nazarbayev. Nur-Sultan is the capital city of Kazakhstan. Almaty was the capital until 1998, when it moved to Nur-Sultan, which was called Astana at that time.

paragraphs: The Kazakh language is the native language, but Russian has equal official status for all administrative and institutional purposes. Islam is the largest religion about 70% of the population are Muslims, with Christianity practiced by 26%; Russia leases (rents) the land for the Baikonur Cosmodrome (site of Russian spacecraft launches) from Kazakhstan.

paragraphs: Kazakhstan is a transcontinental country mostly in Asia with a small western part across the Ural River in Europe. It has borders with the Russian Federation in the north and west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the southwest, and China in the far east. The northern border is mostly with Siberia, Russia, so Russia has the longest border with Kazakhstan. Basically, Kazakhstan runs from the Caspian Sea in the west to the mainly Muslim Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang.

paragraphs: Kazakhstan has no ocean shoreline, but borders the Caspian Sea, which boats use to get to neighboring countries. The Caspian Sea is an Endorheic basin without connections to any ocean.

paragraphs: Kazakhstan has plenty of petroleum, natural gas, and mining. It attracted over $40 billion in foreign investment since 1993 and accounts for some 57% of the nation's industrial output. According to some estimates, Kazakhstan has the second largest uranium, chromium, lead, and zinc reserves, the third largest manganese reserves, the fifth largest copper reserves, and ranks in the top ten for coal, iron, and gold. It is also an exporter of diamonds. Kazakhstan has the 11th largest proven reserves of both petroleum and natural gas.

paragraphs: Kazakhstan is divided into 14 provinces. The provinces are divided into districts.

paragraphs: Almaty and Nur-Sultan cities have the status of State importance and are not in any province. Baikonur city has a special status because it is leased to Russia for Baikonur cosmodrome until 2050.

paragraphs: Each province is headed by an Akim (provincial governor) appointed by the president. Municipal Akims are appointed by province Akims. The Government of Kazakhstan moved its capital from Almaty to Nur-Sultan on December 10, 1997.

paragraphs: The population of Kazakhstan is 17,165,000. It takes the 62th place in the List of countries by population. Average density is one of the lowest on earth with almost 6 people/km ( List of countries by population density).


title: Sign

paragraphs: A sign is something you see (or hear) which means something. A sign may be natural or man-made.

paragraphs: A natural sign shows something significant. Leaves turn brown and fall off deciduous trees in the autumn. Temperatures drop, daylight hours shorten. It suggests winter is coming. Many birds migrate and some mammals hibernate in response to natural signs like these. Humans, as usual, are a bit different. They make their own signs.

paragraphs: A man-made sign is called a signal or symbol. It is an artificial thing, which people decide means something in their society. For example, the stop sign on the road tells the person that they must stop their car there. So does a red traffic light. They are signals with a legal meaning, and people learn what these meanings are.

paragraphs: Sometimes a person may not know what a sign means. Feeling a cold wind could be a sign that someone left a door or window open.

paragraphs: In medicine, a sign is something seen, whereas a symptom is something felt, like a pain. A sign might be something like high blood pressure, which can be measured.

paragraphs: A road sign or traffic sign is something that gives information by means of a symbol, or in only 1 or 2 words. It helps people in their vehicles on the road. Some signs include: Give way, Stop, Keep left, No U-turn, no parking, Zebra crossing and much more. Signs are very useful. Without signs and traffic lights there would be many accidents and arguments on the road.


title: Barley

paragraphs: Barley is a member of the grass family of plants. Its seeds are a cereal grain. It is a staple food of humans and other animals, and it is one of mankind's oldest crops. It can be made into flour or beer.

paragraphs: Its Latin name is "Hordeum vulgare". Barley is an annual plant.


title: Mount Vesuvius

paragraphs: Mount Vesuvius (, ) is a stratovolcano on the Gulf of Naples, Italy. It is about 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) east of Naples. It is the only volcano on the mainland of Europe that erupted in the last 100 years. The last major eruption was in 1944. Two other important active volcanos in Italy are on islands. They are Etna and Stromboli.

paragraphs: Mount Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in AD 79 which destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. They were never built again. The towns were buried in ash so completely that later people who lived there forgot about them until they were accidentally discovered in the late 18th century.

paragraphs: The eruption also changed the way the Sarno River flowed, and raised the sea beach. Because of this, Pompeii was not on the river nor next to the coast anymore. Mount Vesuvius was also greatly changed. Many of the plants there died, and the top of the mountain looked different because of the strong eruption.

paragraphs: Vesuvius has erupted numerous times after that. Today, it is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because 3,000,000 people live near this explosive volcano. More people live near Mount Vesuvius than any other volcano in the world.

paragraphs: Vesuvius has a long tradition of history and literature. A serpent (snake) called "Vesuvius" has been used in frescos of many "lararia" (household temples) from Pompeii. In Capua, the words "IOVI VESVVIO" ("Jupiter Vesuvius") show that he was worshipped as a power of Jupiter.

paragraphs: The historian Diodorus Siculus said that there was a story that Hercules once passed through the country of Cumae when he was going to Sicily. There, he found a place called "the Phlegraean Plain" ("phlegraion pedion", "plain of fire"). It said that it was "from a hill which anciently (from a long time ago) vomited out called Vesuvius." Giant "sons of the Earth" lived inside it. With the help of the gods, he helped the people there and went on. An ode by Martial in AD 88 suggests that Venus and Hercules were worshipped in the place that was destroyed by the eruption in AD 79.

paragraphs: The volcano was often called "Vesuvius" in the late Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was also called "Vesaevus, Vesevus, Vesbius", and "Vesvius". Writers in ancient Greek called it "Οὐεσούιον" or "Οὐεσούιος". Many scholars think the word "Vesuvius" was related to the Greek word "οὔ" ("not") and σβέννυμι ("I quench"), so that it would mean "unquenchable". Others think it might come from ἕω "hurl" and βίη "violence", "hurling violence".

paragraphs: Vesuvius has a large cone ("Gran Cono") which is partly surrounded by the top of a caldera which was made when an earlier and much higher structure called Monte Somma collapsed. The Gran Cono was made during the eruption of AD 79. For this reason, the volcano is also called Somma-Vesuvius or Somma-Vesuvio.

paragraphs: Before Mount Vesuvius exploded in 84 B.C.E people who lived nearby did not even know that it was a volcano, because it had not erupted for 600 years. At about 1 PM, on August 24, AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted violently. It showered ash and pumice on the town of Pompeii, which was 5 miles away.

paragraphs: Today, people think the eruption of 79 AD lasted more than 19 hours. It was noticed by Pliny the Younger who described the mushroom cloud from the volcano as being in the shape of umbrella pine, a tree commonly found in the region. Pliny the Younger was the only person to write the story down.

paragraphs: There were many ways that people died. One was that the smoke that they breathed in was deadly because it dried in their lungs and formed glass. They also were buried by powdery ash from the volcano, which was all over them. Over time this ash turned to a sort of rock, protecting the bodies and the city from the weather and from robbers.

paragraphs: Vesuvius erupted 50 more times after the eruption in 79 AD. Vesuvius was named a national park in 1995.


title: Mineralogy

paragraphs: Mineralogy is the study of minerals. Minerals are things that make rocks. There are many different types of minerals. Some are hard, like diamonds. Some are soft, like talc. Some are metal, like gold or silver. Minerals are put into special groups of minerals made of similar chemicals, or that have similar structures inside. For example, the chemicals that make up some minerals line up in chains, while in other minerals, they make bow-tie shapes.

paragraphs: Studying minerals can be useful for figuring out certain things about a rock. Sometimes the shape or size of the mineral can tell something about the rock as well. For example, minerals in igneous rocks can help figure out how long the rock took to cool down (turn from lava into a rock). Larger minerals mean the rock cooled slowly (probably underground). Smaller minerals mean the rock cooled down quickly (probably above ground, like from a volcano). The type of mineral in a rock can also tell what kind of a rock it is, or what has happened to the rock since it formed. Many rocks are named based on what kinds of minerals they have.

paragraphs: Mineralogists (people who study minerals) study minerals in rocks with hand lenses (a magnifying glass), and in thin section (thin slices of rock) with microscopes. They record things about the minerals like how big they are, what shape they are, what color they are, and if the mineral changes colors when you turn it. Mineralogists also record what color minerals turn in a special light. These details can help mineralogists figure out what minerals they are looking at.

paragraphs: Minerals can be used in a lot of different things, like mining, jewelry, farming, pottery, making metals, and more . Mineralogists can help find important minerals in the Earth using what they know and learn.


title: Supermarket

paragraphs: A grocery store (or just grocery) is a retail store that sells food. Most grocery stores sell fresh fruit, vegetables, seafood, meat, and other prepared foods.

paragraphs: The person who controls a grocery store is called a grocer. A grocer will order food from farmers or other people who send out farmers food to other grocery stores and restaurants.

paragraphs: There are a range of different types and sizes of grocery stores. Some grocery stores are small community stores with a limited range of items. Other grocery stores are large stores with a vast selection of food items.

paragraphs: They may also sell household cleaning and laundry supplies, and hygiene items (soap, toothpaste, etc.). They may also contain a pharmacy (known as a drug store or chemist in some places).

paragraphs: Items at a grocery store can be sold in one of two ways. Most fruits, vegetables, meat, and seafood are usually sold by weight (for example, apples cost 99 cents per pound), while other items are usually sold by quantity (for example, table salt costs $1.59 for each box). Not all items are the same price at each grocery store. Also, every week, some items at grocery stores cost less that what it normally would cost (we say that these items are "on sale"), so people would want to go buy them since they don't have to pay as much as they would normally have to get that item. Many grocery stores print a flyer that shows which items are on sale that week. These flyers are then sent to other people in the mail, who would read the flyer and go to the store to buy the items shown in it.

paragraphs: Supermarkets are large grocery stores that sell a large variety of fresh and packaged food and other consumer or household products. Supermarkets are divided into sections, such as bakery, dairy, produce (fruits and vegetables), frozen, meat, and deli, along with a "general grocery" section where one can find packaged goods, cleaning supplies, and personal hygiene items. Many supermarkets today now also sell hot, prepared food that is ready to eat, or contains a food court with different fast food shops. The term "supermarket" usually refers to a larger store than the term "grocery store."

paragraphs: A hypermarket is a very large supermarket that is part of a larger general merchandise store such as Walmart, which also sells clothes, electronics, household hardware, and other items. It can be said to be a hybrid (or combination) of a grocery store and a department store. These stores are mainly found in suburbs where there is a lot of room to build and near where people live.

paragraphs: In the past, grocery stores used to be small. The owner, called a shopkeeper, would ask the customer what he or she would like to buy. The shopkeeper would then get the items, bring it to the customer, and put them in bags which the customer would take with them. He would then calculate how much the customer has to pay, and take the money from the customer. The customer then takes the bags of items out of the store by him/herself.

paragraphs: Today, most groceries stores are too big for one person to take care of. Because of this, the customer has to find the items he or she wants by him/herself. Most often, the customer would take a shopping basket or shopping cart and put the items he or she wants to buy into the basket or cart. For some items, like meat and seafood, the customer still has to have an employee get or prepare the item. Once the customer is done shopping, he or she then brings the items to the "checkout", where a person called a cashier scans the customer's items into a cash register (or a computer as part of a point of sale system) and then takes the customer's payment. Supermarkets typically accept payment by cash, debit cards, and/or credit cards. Recently, there are so-called self-checkout systems where the customer scans the items on his or her own.

paragraphs: Many large supermarkets also have a loyalty program, where a customer can earn points by purchasing products. When a customer has enough points, a discount or reward is given. These programs are meant to make customers come back to the same store again and again.


title: Ecuador

paragraphs: Ecuador is a small country in South America. It used to be part of the Spanish Empire, because Spain was interested in finding gold in Ecuador. Before Spain, Ecuador was part of the Inca Empire.

paragraphs: The President of Ecuador is Lenín Moreno since 2017.

paragraphs: Ecuador is located along the equator. There are jungles and mountains such as the Andes mountains. Ecuador has many active volcanoes and also one of the highest densities of volcanoes in the world. On the coast of the Pacific Ocean there are beaches.

paragraphs: The capital of the country is Quito. This city is high up in the Andes, which makes it hard for some new visitors to breathe. The biggest city is Guayaquil on the coast. Cuenca is famous for its old buildings and colonial architecture.

paragraphs: Peru borders Ecuador to the south, and Colombia borders it to the north. The Galápagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean are also part of Ecuador and are famous for lots of animals. Charles Darwin travelled to the Galápagos Islands.

paragraphs: In 2011, 14,440,000 people lived in Ecuador. The ethnic makeup of the country is: 65% Mestizo, 25% Amerindian, 7% white, and 3% black. Some 27% of the people live below the national poverty line.

paragraphs: The official language is Spanish. Many other indigenous languages are spoken. Most of the people in Ecuador are Roman Catholics, although Ecuador has religious freedom and people can follow any religion they choose.

paragraphs: Ecuador is divided into 24 provinces. Each has its own administrative capital.

paragraphs: The provinces are divided into cantons. The cantons are divided into parishes.

paragraphs: The Historic Center of Quito, Ecuador is one of the largest, least-altered and best-preserved historic centers in the Americas. This center was, together with the historic centre of Kraków in Poland, the first to be declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO on 18 September 1978. The Historic Centre of Quito is located in the center south of the capital on an area of 320 hectares (790 acres), and is considered one of the most important historic areas in Latin America.There are about 130 monumental buildings (which hosts a variety of pictorial art and sculpture, mostly of religious inspired in a multi-faceted range of schools and styles) and 5,000 properties registered in the municipal inventory of heritage properties.

paragraphs: Carondelet Palace (Spanish: Palacio de Carondelet) is the seat of government of the Republic of Ecuador, located in the historical center of Quito. Axis is the nerve of the public space known as Independence Square or Plaza Grande (colonial name), around which were built in addition the Archbishop's Palace, the Municipal Palace, the Hotel Plaza Grande and the Metropolitan Cathedral. The history of this emblematic building dating back to colonial times, around 1570, with the acquisition of the former royal houses located in the city of Quito

paragraphs: During the Republican era, almost all the presidents (constitutional, internees and dictators) have dispatched from this building, which is the seat of Government of the Republic of Ecuador. In addition to the administrative units in the third level of the Palace is the presidential residence, a luxurious colonial-style apartment in which they live the President and his family. Rafael Correa, president since 2007, considering that Carondelet Palace and its agencies are Ecuadoran heritages, converted the presidential compound into a museum accessible to all who wish to visit it. To this end, areas were organized to locate objects within their cultural contexts to make them accessible to the world. Several rooms and spaces within the palace are used for this purpose.

paragraphs: Construction began in 1605, with Mastrilli laying the first stone. The building was not completed until 1765. La Compañía is among the best-known churches in Quito because of its large central nave, which is profusely decorated with gold leaf, gilded plaster and wood carvings. Inspired by two Roman Jesuit churches—the Chiesa del Gesù and the Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola—La Compañía is one of the most significant works of Spanish Baroque architecture in South America.

paragraphs: Also known as Big Square (Spanish: Plaza de la Independencia, Plaza Grande). Historic public square of Quito (Ecuador), located in the heart of the old city. This is the central square of the city and one of the symbols of the executive power of the nation. Its main feature is the monument to the independence heroes of August 10, 1809, date remembered as the First Cry of Independence of the Royal Audience of Quito from Spanish monarchy. The environment of the square is flanked by the Carondelet Palace, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Archbishop's Palace, the Municipal Palace and the Plaza Grande Hotel.

paragraphs: The "Iglesia y Monasterio de San Francisco" (English: Church and Monastery of St. Francis), colloquially known as El San Francisco, is a colonial-styled church and monastery located in Quito, Ecuador. Construction of the building began a few weeks after the founding of the city in 1534 and ended in 1604. The founder of the church was Franciscan missionary Jodoco Ricke.

paragraphs: The building's construction began around 1550, sixteen years after Quito was founded by Spanish conquistadors, and was finished in approximately 1680. The building was officially inaugurated in 1605. It is not known who designed the original plans for the complex, though the most-accepted theory is that they were sent from Spain, based on the topographical study of Ricke and Gosseal. It is also possible that architects came from Spain for the construction of the monastery, or that Ricke and Gosseal managed the entire construction.

paragraphs: In colonial times, the Church of El Sagrario was one of the largest architectural marvels of Quito. The construction is of the Italian Renaissance style and was built in the late 17th century. It has a screen that supports its sculptures and decorations. This structure was built by Bernardo de Legarda. Its central arch leads to a dome decorated with frescoes of biblical scenes featuring archangels, work by Francisco Albán. The altarpiece was gilded by Legarda. It is located on Calle García Moreno, near the Cathedral.

paragraphs: Although they arrived in Quito in 1541, in 1580 the Dominicans started to build their temple, using the plans and direction of Francisco Becerra. The work was completed in the first half of the 17th century. Inside the church are valuable structures, such as the neo-Gothic main altar. This was placed in the late 19th century by Italian Dominicans. The roof of the Mudéjar style church features paintings of martyrs of the Order of Saint Dominic. The roof of the nave is composed of a pair and knuckle frame, coated inside by pieces of tracery. In the museum located on the north side of the lower cloister are wonderful pieces of great Quito sculptors such as the Saint Dominic de Guzmán by Father Carlos, the Saint John of God by Caspicara, and the Saint Thomas Aquinas by Legarda. Another Baroque piece that stands is the Chapel of Nuestra Señora del Rosario, which is a recognizable feature of the architecture of Quito. This chapel was built beside the church, in the gospel side. In this was founded the largest fraternity in the city of Quito.

paragraphs: El Panecillo is a hill located in the middle west of the city at an altitude of about 3,016 metres (9,895 ft) above sea level. A monument to the Virgin Mary is located on top of El Panecillo and is visible from most of the city of Quito. In 1976, the Spanish artist Agustín de la Herrán Matorras was commissioned by the religious order of the Oblates to build a 41 metres (135 ft)–tall aluminum monument of a madonna, which was assembled on a high pedestal on the top of Panecillo.

paragraphs: The Quito School originated in the school of Artes y Oficios, founded in 1552 by the Franciscan priest Jodoco Ricke, who together with Friar Pedro Gocial transformed the San Andrés seminary, where the first indigenous artists were trained. As a cultural expression, it is the result of a long process of acculturation between indigenous peoples and Europeans, and it is one of the richest expressions of miscegenation ("mestizaje") and of syncretism, in which the participation of the vanquished Indian is seemingly of minor importance as compared to the dominant European contribution.

paragraphs: The Quito School ("Escuela Quiteña") is an artistic tradition that developed in the territory of the Royal Audience of Quito, from Pasto and Popayán in the north to Piura and Cajamarca in the south, during the colonial period (1542-1824). This artistic production was one of the most important activities in the economy of the Royal Audience of Quito.

paragraphs: The major artists of the Quito School are the sculptors Bernardo de Legarda , Manuel Chili (Caspicara) and Miguel Angel Tejada Zambrado and the painters Fray Pedro Gosseal, Fray Pedro Bedón, Nicolás Javier Goríbar, Hernando de la Cruz, Miguel de Santiago, Manuel de Samaniego

paragraphs: The Basilica of the National Vow, a Roman Catholic church located in the historic center of Quito, Ecuador. It is sometimes also called the Catedral Consagración de Jesús or the Basílica de San Juan. It is the largest neo-Gothic basilica in the Americas.

paragraphs: The basilica arose from the idea, proposed by father Julio Matovelle in 1883, of building a monument as a perpetual reminder of the consecration of Ecuador to the Sacred Heart, President Luis Cordero issued the decree on July 23, 1883, and it was carried out by president José María Plácido Caamaño on March 5, 1884. The congress, in accordance with the year's budget, designated 12,000 pesos for the construction - 1,000 pesos per month, beginning in 1884. By the decree of July 3, 1885, the fourth Quitense Provincial Council turned the construction of the basilica into a religious commitment in the name of the country. The basilica remains technically "unfinished." & local legend says that when the Basílica is completed, the end of the world will come.

paragraphs: Construction began in 1562, seventeen years after the diocese of Quito was created (1545) and located in the heart of the historic city and its status as the main church of the city, is one of the largest religious symbols of spiritual value for the Catholic community in the city.

paragraphs: It is one of the seven monumental churches of the 16th and 17th centuries whose main portico was built on stone in the Spanish Baroque-architecture style.

paragraphs: The church includes a small atrium (decorated by a large stone cross), an inside yard with a large garden and a large session hall where the frayers held dissertations or "capitulations" of faith.

paragraphs: The cloister and convent have a separate entrance which leads to the garden. The bell tower reaches a high of twenty-two meters (seventy feet) and houses two bronze bells of the period.

paragraphs: Ecuador is a country of variety. Its climate and landscape varies from one end of the country to the other. However, it is more hot and humid along the coast and in the Amazon jungle lowlands than it is in the mountains.

paragraphs: Ecuador is one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world. In addition to the mainland, Ecuador owns the Galápagos Islands. This is what the country is best known for.

paragraphs: Ecuador has 1,600 bird species and 38 more endemic in the Galápagos. In addition to over 16,000 species of plants, the country has 106 endemic reptiles, 138 endemic amphibians, and 6,000 species of butterfly. The Galápagos Islands are famous as the place of birth of Darwin's Theory of Evolution. They are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

paragraphs: Many different kinds of potatoes and corn are grown in Ecuador. There are also large banana farms. On the coast, many people eat seafood and fish. Cuy is a famous indigenous food that means guinea pig.

paragraphs: Besides gold, oil is one of Ecuador's natural resources.

paragraphs: Ecuador used to have its own currency called the sucre, which was in use from 1884 until 2000. Since then, the country uses the United States dollar for money, but its coins (not the banknotes) are different from those in the US.


title: Orlando, Florida

paragraphs: Orlando is a city in the center of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County. It contains 199,336 people as of 2004. It is number six among cities in Florida by number of people. The current mayor, or leader, of Orlando is Buddy Dyer.

paragraphs: Orlando was created in 1836 when someone found a tree where the name "Orlando Reeves" was carved. Thinking it was a place of burial, they named the site "Orlando's grave". It was cut to Orlando later.

paragraphs: Before the American Civil War, Orlando was a center of trade in cattle. After the war, many people came to the town. Orlando became a city in 1875. Before 1900, Orlando was a center of orange farming. After 1900, it became a popular place for visitors.

paragraphs: Orlando was an important base for the military during World War II, as home of Pinecastle Army Air Field. Lockheed Martin (once Martin Marietta) opened a manufacturing site in Orlando in 1956.

paragraphs: In 1965, Walt Disney said that he would build a large amusement park southwest of the city. That place, Walt Disney World Resort, opened in 1971. After Walt Disney World opened, Orlando is now very popular as a tourism city, attracting millions of visitors each year from every place in the world.

paragraphs: Three hurricanes moved over Orlando in 2004, causing billions of U.S. dollars of damage.

paragraphs: Orlando has a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa" in the Koeppen climate classification). Summers are hot and wet; winters are warm with moderate rainfall.

paragraphs: A major road in Orlando is Interstate 4. Another major road is State Road 408. They meet downtown. Florida's Turnpike also meets Interstate 4 southwest of the city.

paragraphs: Orlando International Airport is one of the biggest airports in the United States.

paragraphs: Amtrak trains and Greyhound buses also go to Orlando.

paragraphs: The Orlando Magic are an NBA basketball team in Orlando. They play at TD Waterhouse Centre.

paragraphs: The Orlando Predators are an football team with the Arena Football League in Orlando. They play at the TD Waterhouse Centre.


title: Glossary

paragraphs: A glossary is a list of words and what they mean.  They are usually found at the end of a book or report that uses hard words to read or special words.  Websites about complicated subjects also sometimes have glossaries.

paragraphs: For example, in a book about philosophy that has the word "epistemology", there might be a glossary at the end of the book with the definition of this word.


title: Comedian

paragraphs: A comedian is a person who tells jokes, or acts in comedies. Some people use the French loanword "comedienne" to refer to female comedians. A comedian can also be called a comic or a comic actor.


title: Turin

paragraphs: Turin is a major industrial city on the west bank of the Po river in Piedmont, northwest Italy. Over a 900,000 people live in it. Turin is the fourth largest city in Italy, after Rome, Milan and Naples. Turin is the capital of Piedmont. Fiat's first car factory was in Turin. The city was the host of the 2006 Winter Olympics. In Turin there are two major rivers the Po and the Dora, and two minor rivers the Stura and the Sangone.

paragraphs: Turin was the first capital of Italy in 1861. It had previously been the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia and before that it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy. Filippo Juvarra designed many churches and palaces in the city.


title: Hobart

paragraphs: Hobart is a city in Australia. It is the capital city of the state of Tasmania, and it has about 200,000 people. It is on the western shore of the Derwent River, although some of its suburbs are on the eastern shore. Just west of Hobart is Mount Wellington.

paragraphs: Hobart was founded in 1803 as a penal colony. Today it is a busy seaport, and is the home port of Antarctic expeditions. Tourist attractions include Salamanca Markets, the Cadbury chocolate factory and the Cascade Brewery.

paragraphs: Hobart has an oceanic climate ("Cfb" in the Koeppen climate classification).


title: New Testament

paragraphs: The New Testament is part of the Christian Bible, and the most important religious writing of Christianity. It tells the story of Jesus Christ, his followers, and the beginnings of Christianity. It was written in Koine Greek.

paragraphs: The New Testament is made up of different parts. In total, there are 27 texts in the New Testament. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches have the same texts, but their arrangement varies; the Syriac Churches and the Ethiopian Churches have different versions. The Syriac Churches do not put Peter 2, John 2 and 3, Jude and the Revelations in the New Testament. The Ethopian Churches do not have a common canon.

paragraphs: Each of the Gospels tells the story of Jesus Christ, or the young Messiah, who Christians believe is the "Son of God who is born to save the world from sin". Each of the Gospels tell this same story, with a little more or less detail from the other. The other books tell about the history of the church and explain the Christian faith through letters written to persons and groups that have believed in Jesus

paragraphs: The traditional author is listed after each entry.

paragraphs: Pauline epistles, the 13 or 14 letters believed to be written by Saint Paul the Apostle. They are named for the person or group to which they were sent.

paragraphs: General epistles are other letters which are named for the person traditionally believed to have written them.


title: Gospel

paragraphs: The word gospel came from the Old English word "gōdspel", which literally means "good news", since it narrates Jesus Christ's life and teaching to invite anyone to believe that he was born to save the world from sin and make humans truly know God as a Father. It includes the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

paragraphs: The Gospel was originally spoken, not written.

paragraphs: Eventually gospel came to mean an ancient book about Jesus, especially one of the four books collected by the Church in the Bible.

paragraphs: These books are the first part of the New Testament of the Bible, and are put in a group of this order: the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John.


title: Palestine (region)

paragraphs: Palestine is a region in the Middle East. It is in the Levant, between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Many cultures have lived in Palestine through history and built their civilizations, such as the Philistines, Phoenicians and Arabs. It is also called the Holy Land. It is where Judaism and Christianity began.

paragraphs: Today, the region is divided into two states: Israel and the State of Palestine. The territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been disputed between Israel and Palestine. Many cities in the region are sacred to Abrahamic religions: Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and Hebron are among the most important. Now Palestine only owns a quarter of the country.

paragraphs: In English it is usually written Philistine. The Philistines were a people who invaded the area. They were probably Romans who did not speak Arabic, not too surprising as the Arabs came to Palestine nearly 2000 years later.

paragraphs: The State of Palestine, also known simply as Palestine, is a "de jure" sovereign state in the Middle East with Jerusalem as its capital. It is recognized by 141 UN members. Since 2012 it has non-member observer state in the United Nations. This amounts to a "de facto", or implicit, recognition of statehood.

paragraphs: The State of Palestine claims the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as its territory. Its independence was declared on 15 November 1988.

paragraphs: The first people to migrate to the land of Palestine were Canaanites, who came from north of Arabia,normally speaked Arabic. They have also adopted the idea of alphabets from those who lived in the current Lebanon. This migration occurred ca. 5000 b.c. After 3000 years came Israelites who are the sons of Jackob, son of Abraham.

paragraphs: Israelites ruled over the region of today's Palestine, which at the time was in an area known as Southern Canaan or the Land of Palestine. The area went from Tyre in the north to Beersheba in the south. After the death of King Solomon, the land was split into a Northern Kingdom known as Samaria and Southern Kingdom known as Judea. The Northern Kingdom was conquered by Assyrian King Sennacherib, expelling most of its Israelite residents. Ava was conquered by the Babylonians more than 100 years later, and much of its Jewish population was expelled as well. However, despite the destruction, some Jews and Samaritans remained in the land. After Persian takeover of the Babylonian Empire, then Jakereturned to Judea and slowly rebuilt their civilization. The area remained under direct Persian rule for 200 years more, with Jews having a limited autonomy. Now most Palestinians go to different countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

paragraphs: With conquests of Alexander the Great of Macedon, the area became dominated by Hellenistic rulers - first Alexander himself, later Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt and finally Seleucids. In second century before common era, the Jewish population of the area revolted against Seleucids and founded an independent Hesmonean kingdom. The Jewish kingdom expanded over the region in the next decades, conquering neighbouring Samaritans, Edomeans and Nabateans. Slowly however, the region became dominated by the Roman Empire.

paragraphs: After a semi-independent rule of King Herod, Judea was turned into a Roman Province. Jews violently revolted against the Romans twice, but the Romans reconquered the whole area and finally renamed it Syria-Palaestina after one of Judea's ancient enemies, the Philistines. After two centuries, the Eastern Roman Empire became known as Byzantium, which became a Christian Empire. Byzantium kept its rule over the country, with Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Secunda districts of the Oriens Province with majorly Byzantine Christian population and big groups of Samaritans, Jews, Greek Byzantines and Christian Arabs.

paragraphs: Over the next centuries, the region was briefly conquered by Persians, became part of Arab Muslim Empire, the Crusader kingdom, the Mamluk Sultanate and the Ottoman Empire. During World War 1, General Allenby attacked the Turkish army in the valley of Megiddo ( Identified as Armageddon in the Bible), from 19 to 25 September 1918. Today Jordan comprises 81% and Israel 19% of Palestine Mandate. Trans-Jordan was established on 25 May 1946, with the intention of Israel being the remaining 19% . Mandate Palestine is divided into Trans- Jordan/Jordan (81%) and Israel (19%), as today the Jordanian capture of East Jerusalem and West Bank has been reversed. The Gaza strip was captured by Israel from Egypt in 1967, and Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.The region is often named Holy Land, and is sacred for Christians, Jews and Muslims who recognize the Ten Commandments.


title: Paul the Apostle

paragraphs: Paul the Apostle, previously known as Saul of Tarsus and now often called St Paul (2BC–67), was a Messianic Jewish-Roman writer and rabbi. He was a convert to Christianity. It is believed that he wrote thirteen books of the Bible, together called the Pauline epistles. They are letters to churches and Christians. He wrote these letters to encourage them, to help them understand Christian teaching, and to help them to live Christian lives.

paragraphs: Paul's name was originally Saul (not to be confused with King Saul from the books of Samuel in the Old Testament). He grew up learning both the Jewish law and the Greek ways of discussing things. We are first introduced to Saul in the Bible near the end of Acts 7. The Christian movement had begun with the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Saul was strongly against this, and he was happy as he watched Saint Stephen, the first martyr of Jesus, being killed by stoning after giving a speech that made the Jewish court angry. He worked for the Roman Government and helped lead the arrests and killing of many Christians in Israel and the nearby area.

paragraphs: Later on, Saul was told to go to Damascus to find and bring back Christians there to be punished. On the way, God came down from heaven and spoke to Saul. The Bible tells of what happened like this:

paragraphs: When Saul reached Damascus, he was taken to Ananias, one of Jesus's disciples, where he got his sight back and was baptized as a Christian. He spent the next three years studying the Jewish scriptures again to find explanations for the Christian teachings. His experiences changed his view on Christianity completely. In Acts 13:9, he begins to be called Paul. This was the Hellenized version of the name Saul. He used his earlier education to explain his new faith to other people and to discuss things with people who had other beliefs.

paragraphs: He traveled around the Roman Empire, teaching others about Christianity, and wrote letters back and forth with the churches he helped to begin. The letters contain many important parts of Christian teaching and have since been part of the New Testament of the Bible, coming between the Acts of the Apostles and the General Epistles. It is not known whether Paul actually wrote all of these letters, or whether other people could have written the letters for him. Part of these letters are read at Mass as the second of two readings that come before the Gospel.

paragraphs: Although the Bible does not say how Paul died, it was told of that Paul was put to death by orders of the emperor Nero in Rome, in 67 AD. He had the rights of a Roman citizen, which meant that he could be put to death by having his head cut off with a sword, rather than by crucifixion.


title: Old Testament

paragraphs: In Christianity, the Old Testament is the name of the first part of the Bible which was completed before Jesus Christ was born. Jews refer to it as the Tanakh and scholars prefer the term Hebrew Bible.

paragraphs: In Judaism, the collection of inspired books is known as Tanakh because it is divided into three parts (Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim). Both Jews and Christians believe these texts to be holy. According to them, God inspired people to write the collection.

paragraphs: The collection contains different texts, called "books", about God, and the people of Israel.

paragraphs: It can be divided into several sections: the Torah, the History of Israel, the Prophets and Wisdom books

paragraphs: The first to have used this name (in Latin: "vetus testamentum") was probably Tertullian in the 2nd century.

paragraphs: Different religious communities include (or exclude) certain books in Saint Jerome's Latin translation of the Old Testament (his works is called Vulgate). The Eastern Orthodox church uses the ancient Greek translation of Jewish sacred writings called the Septuagint. The Eastern Orthodox list of sacred books has a few more books than the Roman Catholic list. Protestant Bibles stick more closely to the books in the Tanakh but list them in a different order.

paragraphs: In the Old Testament, God is always shown as the one who created the world. The God of the Old Testament is not always presented as the only God who exists Even though there may be other gods, the God of the Old Testament is always shown as the only God whom Israel is to worship. The God of the Old Testament is the one "true God"; only Yahweh is Almighty. Both Jews and Christians have always interpreted the Bible (both the "Old" and "New" Testaments) as an affirmation of the oneness of Almighty God, with the exception of Marcionism that contained the belief system that the Hebrew God was a wrathful and different God than that of the New Testament God while forming what was possibly the first Christian canon ever compiled.

paragraphs: The Old Testament stresses the special relationship between God and his chosen people, Israel, but includes instructions for proselytes as well. This relationship is expressed in the biblical covenant (contract) between the two, received by Moses. The law codes in books such as Exodus and especially Deuteronomy are the terms of the contract: Israel swears faithfulness to God, and God swears to be Israel's special protector and supporter. "The Jewish Study Bible" denies that covenant means contract.

paragraphs: Other themes in the Old Testament include salvation, redemption, divine judgment, obedience and disobedience, faith and faithfulness. Throughout there is a strong emphasis on ethics and ritual purity. God demands both. Some of the prophets and wisdom writers seem to question this; they argue that God demands social justice above purity, and perhaps does not even care about purity at all.

paragraphs: According to the Old Testament, it is important to be fair and to help those that are vulnerable. Those in power should not be biased, when they judge people. The Old Testament forbids corruption, deceiving people when trading. It is also against some sexual practices, which are seen as sinful. All morality is traced back to God, who is the source of all goodness.

paragraphs: The problem of evil plays a large part in the Old Testament. The problem the Old Testament authors faced was that a good God must have had just reason for bringing disaster (meaning notably, but not only, the Babylonian exile) upon his people. The theme is played out, with many variations, in books as different as the histories of Kings and Chronicles, the prophets like Ezekiel and Jeremiah, and in the wisdom books like Job and Ecclesiastes.

paragraphs: a – Orthodox version: There is an additional book called 1 Ezra, this makes the current Ezra -> 2 Genesis/<br>

paragraphs: b – Catholic and Orthodox versions; lacking in Protestant versions<br>

paragraphs: c – Can only be found in Orthodox version<br>

paragraphs: d – Catholic and Orthodox versions contain verses not found in the original Hebrew <br>

paragraphs: f - The first five books of the Bible are called the Pentateuch. In the Jewish Bible they are called "the Torah"


title: Painting

paragraphs: Painting is using colours to make art. It is also the word for a painted work of art. Many kinds of paints are used to create art. They include watercolors, acrylics and oils. Other artists like working with pencil or chalk. Sometimes charcoal can be used.

paragraphs: Famous paintings are often kept in art galleries, like the National Gallery in London and the Louvre (Paris) where one of the most famous paintings in the world hangs, the "Mona Lisa", painted by Leonardo da Vinci. People do not have to go to a famous gallery to view art. There are private art galleries in many cities around the world.

paragraphs: There is a basic difference between drawing and painting. In drawing, a single layer is the entire image. In painting, one layer is painted over another to get the final image. As a result, most of the time the image will not be clear until it gets to the final stage.

paragraphs: There are four basic stages in painting: preparation, divide, layer, and touchup.


title: Horse

paragraphs: Horses are mammals of the family "Equidae". They are herbivores, which means they eat grass and other plants. Some plants are dangerous for them like ragwort, lemongrass (oil grass) and sometimes acorns.

paragraphs: The common horse is the species Equus caballus. It was domesticated from wild horses by humans at least 5000 years ago. They are large, strong animals, with some breeds are used to pull heavy loads. Racehorses can gallop up to 15 metres per second.

paragraphs: A male horse is a "stallion", and a female horse is a "mare". The general term for a young horse is "foal". A young male horse is a "colt", and a young female horse is a "filly". A castrated horse is known as a "gelding". Horses have "hooves" which are protected by horseshoes from hard or rough ground.

paragraphs: The evolution of horses has been well studied. Fifty million years ago, there were no horses as we know them now. Of the earliest fossil horse, the North American one is called "Eohippus", and the Eurasian one is called "Hyracotherium". Both were small animals: "Eohippus" was the larger of the two at twice the size of a terrier dog.

paragraphs: Many changes took place between those little animals and today's horse. These changes are best explained as adaptations to its changing ecological niche. From a small forest-dweller eating nuts and fruit to a larger forest browser eating leaves and small branches. Finally, the modern horse is a grazer on open grassland, with different teeth, legs for running and much larger size. Major changes happened in the mid-Miocene when the climate became cooler, and grassland began to replace forests. This change continued, and several groups of mammals changed from browsers to grazers.

paragraphs: Horses have been domesticated for at least 5000 years. They have been used by humans in many different ways for travel, work, food, and pleasure and showing. Cavalry horses were used in war until the middle-20th century. They are used for riding and transport. They are also used for carrying things or pulling carts, or to help plow farmer's fields in agriculture. People have used selective breeding to make bigger horses to do heavy work. They are still used for work and transportation in some places, such as where there are no roads.

paragraphs: Some people keep horses as pets. Today, horses are mostly used for entertainment and sports, including horse racing. Horses are used in equestrianism, which is equine sports such as cross-country, showjumping, dressage, horse polo, rodeo, Western pleasure, horsemanship, reining, and halter/showmanship events etc. Showjumping, cross-country and dressage are Olympic sports. "Equus" is the old Latin word for horse.

paragraphs: Horses are used all over the world to carry people and pull carts. They are used in big cities to help police watch and protect people in crowds.

paragraphs: Horsehide is a tough leather made from the skin of horses. Horsehair is used to make a stiff fabric. Horsehair can also be used as a stuffing for furniture. Horsehair can be mixed with plaster to make it strong.

paragraphs: A mare is a female horse. Other female equines are also sometimes called mares. Before her third birthday, she is called a filly. When a mare wants to mate, she is called "in heat". This part of the estrous cycle lasts for about three weeks. Mares are more prone to being temperamental, some people would call this being "mare-ish".

paragraphs: These are some well-known horse breeds among the hundreds that exist:


title: Afterlife

paragraphs: The afterlife is what some people believe happens after death. Different religions teach different things about the afterlife.

paragraphs: Some religions believe in reincarnation (to come back to life as a different person or even animal). These religions include Buddhism and Hinduism. Hinduism specifically believes that at death the soul leaves the physical body but does not die. It lives in an astral body in an astral plane. Here the soul continues until it is born again in another physical body as a baby.

paragraphs: Most people in the world believe you go to another place after you die, such as heaven or hell. Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Jainism are religions that believe in this. For example, those that follow Christianity believe that if you accept the Christ (Jesus of Nazareth, the son of the Virgin Mary) as your saviour, you will spend eternity in heaven after death; if you do not accept him, you will be separated from him after death. Ancient Egyptians also believed in an `afterlife`.

paragraphs: Others (like African animists) believe that some people change into spirits called ghosts.

paragraphs: There are also those who do not believe that there is an afterlife, and that you simply cease to exist once you die. Atheism is based on refusal of the existence of a God and even in an afterlife.


title: Prayer

paragraphs: Prayer is a communication to God. Many believe their prayers are answered and evidence of it is primarily reported in the Old and New Testament. Later miracles and graces have been reported by the Church and by common people. Prayer is done by those who trust the power of word and thought. Jesus taught people to say the Lord's Prayer.

paragraphs: Prayer can be spoken, silent (no talking), or in a song. It can be used to praise God or to ask for something including help and forgiveness. Prayers can be said over and over again as in a Rosary or just once. The Rosary includes Lord's Prayer and several others. . Sister Lucia of Fatima said that Virgin Mary "in these last times in which we live has given new efficacy in the recitation of the Holy Rosary" and that " She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families … that cannot be solved by the Rosary".

paragraphs: Islamic prayer, or salat is a duty to be performed five times per day. Hinduism has prayer to various divinities or holy beings. Some people say that prayers for sick people bring them health.


title: Book of Genesis

paragraphs: Genesis (Greek: ἡ γένεσις "origin, birth") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible. It means creation. It begins with the creation of the Universe. It ends with the death of Joseph. The Hebrew name for the book is transliterated Bre'shiyth, which means 'in beginning.'

paragraphs: God created the universe and everything in it in six days. God rested on the seventh day (Sabbath) and declared it a holy day of rest. God provided the Garden of Eden to the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve. There was only one thing that they were not allowed to do. God told them not to eat from the tree of knowledge, which would make them aware of good and evil. A snake tricked Eve, and she ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge. She then gave Adam some of the fruit, and he ate as well. Because they did not obey him, God made them leave the garden, so all people had to work for their food.

paragraphs: Adam and Eve's first two children were sons, Cain and Abel. Abel was a shepherd and Cain was a farmer. Cain fell into sin and killed his brother Abel out of jealousy, making him the first person to commit murder. (Genesis 4:1–16)

paragraphs: Later, when the world was full of people who were evil, God chose to kill them and save only the animals and the most morally righteous person alive. He told a man, named Noah, to build a huge boat and gather two of every bird, mammal and lizard onto it. He was instructed to take 14, or a pair of 7, of clean animals. Only 2 of each could be unclean. Noah built and filled the boat as he was told, and a flood covered the whole world. After 40 days and nights, the rains stopped. Once the water had receded the boat landed on the mountain of Ararat. God promised never to send another such flood, and he used the rainbow as a sign of that promise.

paragraphs: The people of the world attempted to build a high tower (Tower of Babel) to show the power of mankind and to reach God. God felt insulted and gave people different languages to prevent the tower from ever being finished.

paragraphs: God chose Abram to be "the father of many nations." Abram changed his name to Abraham, and God promised him the land of Canaan (Israel) forever. As a sign of this promise, the sons of Abraham are circumcised. God tested Abraham's loyalty by asking him to kill his son Isaac. Abraham was ready to do it, but God sent an angel to stop him. God told him there would be no more human sacrifice.

paragraphs: God destroyed the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, saving only Abraham's nephew Lot and his daughters.

paragraphs: Isaac and his wife Rebekah had two twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob traded food to Esau for Esau's right to carry the family name. Rebekah helped trick Isaac, who was old and blind, into giving his final blessing to Jacob by dressing him in fur (Isaac felt Jacob's furs and thought he was his hairy twin, Esau). Esau later got a blessing of his own.

paragraphs: Jacob left to find a wife. He found Rachel and worked for her father, Lavan, for seven years to marry her, but was tricked into marrying her sister Leah. He worked for another seven years to marry Rachel. He went back to his home, then moved to Bethel, where God told him to change his name to Israel. Jacob later also marries the servants of Leah and Rachel, whose names are Bilah and Zilpah.

paragraphs: Jacob had twelve sons named Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issaschar, Zebulun, Gad, Dan, Asher, Naftali, Joseph, and Benjamin. His wife Rachel died after she gave birth to Benjamin.

paragraphs: Jacob gave his son Joseph a coat of many colors. Joseph's brothers were jealous, so they sold him into slavery in Egypt. They covered his coat in blood and told their father he had died. Joseph became a great leader in Egypt by predicting a long famine by explaining the pharaoh's dreams. During the famine, his brothers came to Egypt to buy food. They did not know that Joseph was the leader. Joseph first tricked the brothers, but then gave them food and let them stay in Goshen in Egypt.


title: Joseph (Hebrew Bible)

paragraphs: In the Bible, Joseph was a son of Jacob. Joseph's brothers hated him, because he was their father's favorite son, and his father gave him a coat which was said that it was revealed from heaven. One day they decided to kill him but changed their minds. According to Genesis they sold him as a slave. In Islamic tradition they threw him in a large well that had only a little salt water but when he drank it, by the will of God, it was very sweet. A passing caravan found him and took him as a slave to Egypt.

paragraphs: Joseph became the slave of the chief of the Pharaoh's guards but was put in prison, where he interpreted the dreams of other prisoners. The Pharaoh heard of his power and asked for interpretations of his own dreams. Joseph became the Pharaoh's prime minister. This caused the Israelites to leave Canaan and live in Egypt.


title: Mary Magdalene

paragraphs: Mary Magdalene is a woman in all four gospels of the New Testament. She became a faithful follower of Jesus after he delivered her from seven demons.

paragraphs: Mary is a saint in the Catholic church. She is remembered on July 22.


title: Witness

paragraphs: A witness is someone who sees something happen. They are often used in court to help find the truth. During a trial, the two lawyers will bring in witnesses to help back up their arguments.

paragraphs: In a criminal trial, the prosecution lawyer will often bring in the victim of the crime to say what happened, and anyone else who can prove the accused person did the crime. The defense lawyer will nearly always call up the accused person to explain why they are not guilty, and bring in other witnesses who can prove the accused person is not guilty. Each time a lawyer brings in a witness, the other lawyer will "cross examine" the witness - they will ask them questions to make sure they are telling the truth.

paragraphs: Witnesses have to swear to tell the truth during the trial. If a witness lies in court, it is known as "perjury", which is a crime. A witness can be subpoenad, which means they are required to testify in court. If the witness does not testify when given a subpoena, they can be punished.


title: Corinthians

paragraphs: Corinthians is the name of different things:


title: Corinth

paragraphs: Corinth is a city in Greece. It gave its name to the Corinth Canal. This is in the middle of the Isthmus of Corinth, a narrow strip of land which joins the Peloponnese peninsula with mainland Greece. It has a castle called the acrocorinth. Corinth is in the north of Peloponnese. It is a coastal city. It had 60,000 people at the 2011 census.

paragraphs: During antiquity, Corinth was one of the most important Greek cities. It was often the opponent of Athens and these two cities competed with each other. It founded many colonies in south Italy and Sicily such as Siracusa. Corinth was conquered by Romans in 146 B.C. Two epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthian Christians are in the Bible.

paragraphs: The modern city of Corinth is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northeast of the ancient ruins. Since 1896, the Corinth excavations by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens have revealed large parts of the ancient city. Recent excavations by the Greek Ministry of Culture have brought to light important new discoveries.

paragraphs: During Middle Ages, it was an important city with a fortification. In 1460 it came under Turkish rule and it was liberated in 1830, after the Greek War of Independence.


title: Cross

paragraphs: A cross is a symbol, which is used for many things.


title: Peloponnese

paragraphs: The Peloponnese is a large peninsula in Greece. It is the part of Greece which is south of the Isthmus of Corinth.

paragraphs: The Peloponnese has many mountains and a long jagged coastline. The highest part is Mount Taygetus in the south.

paragraphs: There are four south-pointing peninsulas within the Peloponnese. They are called Messenia, the Mani Peninsula, Epidaurus, and the Argolid.

paragraphs: There are also two groups of islands near the Peloponnese. In the east there are the Argo-Saronic Islands and in the west there are the Ionian Islands. There is also the island of Kythira, which is near to the Epidaurus peninsula. Kythira is often thought of as part of the Ionian Islands.

paragraphs: The Peloponnese has had people living on it since prehistoric times. Its name means "Island of Pelops". Pelops was a person from Greek mythology, who took over the island. During the Middle Ages and the Ottoman Empire, the peninsula was known as the Morea.


title: Isthmus of Corinth

paragraphs: The Isthmus of Corinth is a narrow bit of land which connects the Peloponnese peninsula with mainland Greece. It is near to the city of Corinth. The narrow Corinthian Canal cuts through the isthmus, connecting the Aegean Sea to the Gulf of Corinth.


title: Tripoli

paragraphs: Tripoli is a city in Libya. It is the capital of the country. It was originally a Phoenician colony. Later it became in turn part of Greek Cyrenaica, a Roman colony, a pirate port, and the capital of the Italian empire in North Africa.


title: Argos

paragraphs: Argos is a city in south Greece, the capital of Argos-Mycenae Municipality. It is in the Argolis prefecture, which is on the Peloponnese peninsula. It is named after the child of Zeus and Niobe in Greek mythology. It is the biggest city in Argolida prefecture but the capital of prefecture is Nauplion. Argos is very historical city. The first residents arrived more than 7,000 years ago. It is considered the oldest city in Greece from ancient Greek writers.

paragraphs: The city houses numerous archaeological monuments. Agriculture is an important sector of the local economy.


title: Sparta

paragraphs: Sparta is a city in Greece. It is the capital of the Laconia prefecture. It is in the south of Peloponnese peninsula. During antiquity, it was extremely powerful. Today, it is a small city. 16,726 people lived there according to the 2001 census.

paragraphs: The word "Spartan" is used to describe somebody who lives a simple life or somebody who suffered a lot without crying or showing that they suffered. It can also mean a life of simplicity, without anything fancy or costly.

paragraphs: Sparta is in the mountainous region of Laconia. This is in the south-east of the Peloponnese. Ancient Sparta was built on the banks of the Evrotas River. The river flows through a valley with mountains on each side. To the west is the Taygetus Range (highest point 2407 m) and to the east is the Parnon Range (highest point 1935 m). Because the ancient Spartans had such good natural defenses, they did not need city walls.

paragraphs: In Ancient Greece Sparta was a city-state with a very strong army and a government that was well led. Sparta was known as one of the strongest city-states in Greece. Only the strongest survived in Sparta, male or female. The Spartans killed weak children. If they believed that a baby was too weak, they left it out to die of exposure beside a slope on Mount Taygetus. This place was called the "Apothetae", which meant 'the place of rejection'.

paragraphs: Sparta had a government with checks and balances. The executive branch was led by two kings. The legislative branch was led by the citizens. and the judicial branch was controlled by the elders. There was also a committee of five men who were in charge of the education process that young boys and girls went through. Boys and girls were taken from their parents at the age of 7. Boys went to live in barracks with other boys their age. Girls went to school to learn gymnastics, wrestling, and other activities.

paragraphs: "Laconophilia" is love or liking of Sparta and of the Spartan culture. Sparta was often admired when it ruled. Long ago, "Many of the noblest and best of the Athenians always considered (thought) the Spartan state nearly as an ideal theory realised in practice". Many Greek philosophers, especially Platonists, would often describe Sparta as a good state, strong, brave, and free.

paragraphs: Sparta was also seen as a model of social purity by Revolutionary and Napoleonic France.

paragraphs: Adolf Hitler thought Sparta was very good. He said in 1928 that Germany should be like them by making smaller "the number allowed to live". The Spartans had created "the first racialist state".

paragraphs: Young Spartans boys were taken from their homes at the age of seven to begin a military life. The Spartans became soldiers at age 20, citizens at age 30, and retired at age 60. Men trained hard to become warriors of the Spartan army. Women were encouraged to keep healthy so that they could produce healthy, fit babies to grow up to be strong. Spartans saw little moral value in the concept of childbirth; unless the child was fit to become a Spartan, he would die.

paragraphs: Spartan men married when they were 30 years old. Plutarch writes of the strange custom of the Spartans for their wedding night:

paragraphs: The custom was to capture women for marriage...The...'bridesmaid' took charge of the captured girl. She first shaved her head...then dressed her in a man's cloak and sandals, and laid her down alone on a mattress in the dark. The bridegroom...first had dinner...then would slip in...lift her and carry her to the bed. The husband kept on visiting his wife in secret for some time after the marriage. Only Spartans did these customs. Some people think that the cutting off of the wife's hair was a ceremony that showed she was going into a new life.

paragraphs: Sparta conquered the people of Messenia and Lakonia (the surrounding countryside) at around 680560 BC. These people became known as the "helots". They were "not" slaves: they were serfs. They had a lower position in society, like serfs in mediaeval Europe.

paragraphs: Helots spent their lives farming their Spartan masters "kleros" (land granted to Spartan citizens). The Spartan poet Tyrtaios says helots were allowed to marry and keep half the fruits of their labor. At most times, the helots outnumbered their Spartan masters 10 to 1. They rebelled often, but they were never able to overthrow their oppressors.

paragraphs: Once a Spartan reached the age of 20, he or she would then become a "homoios". A homoios was a member of the ruling class (a citizen). Both men and women were citizens. Sparta was an unusual society for women's rights, because women were considered to be equal.

paragraphs: The Spartan army used the phalanx formation. This contributed to the many battles Sparta won. Their most famous loss is the Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Spartans held off a large Persian army for a week.


title: Olympia

paragraphs: Olympia ( "Olympía") was a place in ancient Greece. It was in Elis, which is now called Ilia; and is in the east of the city Pyrgos. It was the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, the most famous games in history. The Olympic Games were held every four years throughout Classical Antiquity, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. The first Olympic Games were in honour of Zeus.

paragraphs: Olympia was a sanctuary, consisting of various buildings. These included a hippodrome, Palaestra, Gymnasium and several temples. The Olympic Games began here in 776 BC. They were founded by king Pelopas. They happened every four years, in the summers. All the ancient Greek towns competed. The winners of the Olympic games were important people. The Olympic games were abolished by emperor of Byzantium Theodosius I, in 394 AD.

paragraphs: During ancient history, Olympia was a powerful and rich town. It ruled over the west of Peloponnese. Olympia kept its strength and during Roman period. During the Middle Ages it began an unimportant city.

paragraphs: The Gymnasium at Olympia was a large, open air, quadrangle surrounded on all four sides by colonnades of the Doric order. Only the southern and eastern sides survive. They date to the second century BC. The River Kladeos has destroyed the western side. The gymnasium was used by runners and pentathlon athletes for training. Athletes trained in the nude. In bad weather, training took place under the eastern colonnade (210.51 meters) and the other three colonnades. Little of the gymnasium has been excavated. About 200 BC, a portico of the Corinthian order was built to join the gymnasium and the palaestra.

paragraphs: The Hippodrome was the site of horse and chariot races at Olympia, Greece. It was 1,153 meters long. It was south of the stadium, but none of it survives. It was washed away by the Alpheios River.


title: Pyrgos

paragraphs: Pyrgos is a city in Greece. It is the capital of the Ilia prefecture on the Peloponnese peninsula. Pyrgos is in the west of Peloponnese peninsula. It is in the south of Patras and in the north of Kalamata. It has 24,765 people. Near Pyrgos is the ancient town of Olympia.


title: Thessaloniki

paragraphs: Thessaloniki is the second-largest city in Greece after Athens. There were 325,182 people at the census of 2011. Including the suburbs, there were 1,110,312 people. It is in the region of Macedonia in northern Greece. It is the capital of the Thessaloniki prefecture and it is the capital of the periphery of central Macedonia. It is the largest city in the geographical region of Macedonia. It has a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa" in the Köppen climate classification). The average rainfall is relatively low, due to the rain shadow from the Pindos mountains. Unlike in Athens, there are frequent frosts and snow every winter.

paragraphs: Thessaloniki was established by King Cassander of Macedon, friend of Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C. He named the city after the sister of Alexander the Great, princess Thessalonike, which in Greek means "victory over Thessaly".

paragraphs: From late antiquity to the late Middle Ages (330AD-1430AD) it was the second most important city of Byzantine Empire. Then Thessaloniki faced many invasions from enemies such as the Avaroi, Bulgars and others. In the year 1204, the crusaders conquered Thessaloniki and created the Kingdom of Thessalonica. Later it was liberated by Byzantines and then sold to the Republic of Venice but the year 1430, it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire.

paragraphs: Thessaloniki was a part of Ottoman Empire for approximately 500 years and in 1912 it became part of Greece when Greece acquired Macedonia following the Balkan Wars. Many famous people have lived or were born here, such as the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero, many saints like Cyril and Methodius, who invented the Cyrillic alphabet, and Saint Demetrius, who is the patron saint of the city, and many politicians, such as the founder of modern-day Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Most of the city was completely destroyed in a large fire in 1917 and was rebuilt in the 1920s. Thessaloniki was place to both the Salonica and Macedonian fronts during World War 1, this fronts were made of French, Serbian, English, Italian, and a Russian division. This fronts were key in 1918 to the Entente victory over both Bulgaria and Austria. It was later occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War, during the Greek Invasion.

paragraphs: Thessaloniki has many sights. The most famous sight in Thessaloniki is the white tower. The White tower was a part of Thessaloniki's ancient walls that were built many times through the ages. Thessaloniki was the second-most well-fortified city in the Byzantine Empire, after Constantinople (Istanbul). The walls can still be seen above the city today and despite the many earthquakes, they are still standing. The city was home to a Roman imperial palace and mausoleum. The palace ruins can be seen today but the mausoleum together with a Roman arch can be still seen standing today. Very important sights of Thessaloniki are the medieval churches such as Agios Dimitrios, Agios Georgios and Agia Sofia. Agios Dimitrios it the largest and oldest Basilica in Greece. Thessaloniki's Christian monuments are part of the UNESCO World Heritage initiative. The city also has many Ottoman monuments, such as the Bey Hammam and the old district of the city near the walls, with its distinctly Turkish architecture. Many museums are in the city and some of them are: Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, Jewish Museum, Ethnological Museum of Macedonia and others.

paragraphs: Thessaloniki is known throughout Greece and the countries nearby as a city with a great nightlife even in winter, when most famous Greek tourist destinations are closed. It is also widely considered the Greek city of love due to its many romantic streets and alleys.


title: Florina

paragraphs: Florina is a city in Greece in the region of Macedonia. It is the capital of the Florina prefecture. Its population is 15,265 inhabitants. Florina is build at the foot of Varnus mountain. It is built at an altitude of 600 meter approximately. Around Florina there are many forests.


title: Argolis

paragraphs: Argolis is one of 51 prefectures of Greece. It is on the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital of Argolis is the Nafplio.


title: Ilia

paragraphs: Ilia is one of 51 prefectures of Greece. It is on the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital of Ilia is the Pyrgos.


title: Achaea

paragraphs: Achaea is one of 51 prefectures of Greece. It is on the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital of Achaea is Patras.


title: Arcadia

paragraphs: Arcadia is one of 51 prefectures of Greece. It is on the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital of Arcadia is Tripoli.


title: Laconia

paragraphs: Laconia is one of 51 prefectures of Greece. It is on the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital of Laconia is Sparta.


title: Pella

paragraphs: Pella is one of 51 prefectures of Greece. The capital of Pella is the Edessa and the largest town is Giannitsa. It is also the site of the ancient city of Pella, the capital of the kingdom of Macedon where Alexander the Great and Philip II of Macedon lived.