title: Zaragoza

paragraphs: Zaragoza (sometimes called Saragossa in English) is the capital of Aragon, in the Ebro Valley, in the crossroad from Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, and Bilbao. The population is 643,000. The most important monument is the Nuestra Señora del Pilar ("Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar").

paragraphs: Zaragoza has a semi-arid climate (BSh in the Köppen climate classification) with hot summers and cool winters.


title: Malaga

paragraphs: Malaga (Spanish: "Málaga") is a Spanish city in Andalusia, Spain on the Mediterranean coast. The city has 560,000 people. There are more than 1,000,000 people in the surrounding area. It is the second biggest city in Andalusia after Sevilla, and the sixth biggest in Spain. The 20th century artist Pablo Picasso was born in Málaga.

paragraphs: Málaga is southernmost large city in Europe, it lies on the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun) of the Mediterranean, about 100 km (62.14 mi) east of the Strait of Gibraltar and about 130 km (80.78 mi) north of Africa.

paragraphs: Málaga enjoys a subtropical–mediterranean climate. It has one of the warmest winters in Europe, with average temperatures of 17 °C (62.6 °F) during the day and 7–8 °C (45–46 °F) at night in the period from December through February.

paragraphs: The climate is subtropical-Mediterranean (Köppen climate classification: "Csa") with very mild winters and hot summers. Málaga enjoys plenty of sunshine throughout the year, with an average of about 300 days of sunshine and only about 40-45 with precipitation annually. Its coastal location with winds blowing from the Mediterranean Sea make the heat manageable during the summer.<ref name="malaga.com/geo"></ref>

paragraphs: Málaga experiences the warmest winters of any European city with a population over 500,000. The average temperature during the day in the period December through February is . During the winter, the Málaga Mountains ("Montes de Málaga") block out the cold weather from the north. Generally, the summer season lasts about eight months, from April to November, although in the remaining four months temperatures sometimes surpass . Its average annual temperature is during the day and at night. In the coldest month, January, the temperature ranges from during the day, at night and the average sea temperature is . In the warmest month, August, the temperature ranges from during the day, above at night and the average sea temperature is .

paragraphs: Large fluctuations in temperature are rare. The highest temperature ever recorded at the airport is on 18 July 1978. In the month of August 1881, the average reported daytime maximum temperature was a record . The coldest temperature ever recorded was on the night of 4 February 1954. The highest wind speed ever recorded was on 16 July 1980, measuring . Snowfall is virtually unknown; since the end of the XIX century, Málaga city has only recorded snow one day in the 20th century, on 2 February 1954.

paragraphs: Annual average relative humidity is 65%, ranging from 58% in June to 72% in December. Yearly sunshine hours is between 2,800 and 3,000 per year, from 5–6 hours of sunshine / day in December to average 11 hours of sunshine / day in July. Rain occurs mainly in winter, with summer being generally dry. Málaga is one of the few cities in Europe which are "green" all year round.


title: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

paragraphs: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the biggest city of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. The city, with a population of 383,308 in 2010, is the eighth-largest in Spain.

paragraphs: Together with Santa Cruz de Tenerife, it is the capital of the Comunidad Autónoma de

paragraphs: Canarias (Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands). It is also the capital of the island of Gran Canaria and of the province of Las Palmas. The islands of this province are Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

paragraphs: The city was founded in 1478. The town has a beautiful old area. This area (Vegueta) has a lot of houses from the 16th to the 19th Centuries. There is still a house where Christopher Columbus stayed in 1492. He stayed there before he went to the Americas. The interesting cathedral was begun in the year 1500.

paragraphs: Its port is one of the busiest in Spain and the biggest between Europe and Cape Town, in South Africa.

paragraphs: Las Palmas (for short) is famous for its very nice and dry weather all year round. It is also famous for its Las Canteras Beach. This beach is more than 3 kilometers long. The beach brings a lot of tourists to the city.

paragraphs: Main industries: trade, tourism, canned food, fishing, shipbuilding.

paragraphs: Places to visit: "Vegueta" (old area);" Triana" (traditional commercial area); "Playa de Las Canteras" (Las Canteras Beach); cathedral; "Casa de Colón" (Columbus House); "Museo Canario" (archaeology museum); "CAAM - Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno" (Modern Art Centre); "Museo Élder de la Ciencia" (science museum); "Museo Néstor" (museum with paintings); "Teatro Pérez Galdós" (theatre); "Auditorio Alfredo Kraus" (concert hall); "Jardín Canario" (Canary Garden, mostly with plants from the Canary Islands); Doramas Park.


title: Palma de Mallorca

paragraphs: Palma de Mallorca is the capital of the Balearic Islands and the Mallorca island, in the Mediterranean Sea, in front of the Iberian Peninsula. The city, with a population of 410,000, is the ninth-largest of Spain. It is a very important tourist center in the world, and is very popular for its sausages and llamas.


title: Córdoba, Andalusia

paragraphs: Córdoba is a city in Andalusia, Spain. It is the capital of Córdoba province. It had a population of about 326,000 in 2017.

paragraphs: Córdoba was the capital of the Caliphate of Cordoba, an Islamic empire in the Middle Ages, when the city was the biggest in Europe, with 250,000 people.

paragraphs: Córdoba is 138 kilometers (86 miles) northeast of the city of Seville and is on the Guadalquivir river. Córdoba has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa in the Köppen climate classification) with the hottest summers of all European cities.

paragraphs: The Romans occupied Córdoba in 206 B.C. The city was very important in the 900s CE as a famous center of Moorish art and culture. The Mezquita de Córdoba is the city's chief landmark. It was built as a mosque (Muslim house of worship) in the 700s and was made into a Roman Catholic cathedral in 1238. More than 1,000 pillars of stone including granite, onyx, marble and jasper support its arches.

paragraphs: A soft, fine-grained leather called "cordovan" is made in Córdoba. Córdoba is the center of an agricultural region. Farms produce grain, grapes, olives, and vegetables.


title: Alicante

paragraphs: Alacant or Alicante (, Valencian: ) is a city in Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante. It is in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper is about 332,067, as of 2014, ranking as the second-largest Valencian city. Including nearby municipalities, Alicante was populated by 458,843 residents. Population of the metropolitan area (including Elche and satellite towns) was 795,034 as of 2009. Based on population it is the eighth-largest metropolitan area of Spain.

paragraphs: The city is a sea port and a tourist centre. It has a hot semi-arid climate ("BSh" in the Koeppen climate classification).

paragraphs: The avenue Maisonnave is the principal commercial street in the city of Alicante. In fact, Maisonnave is the sixth most expensive avenue in the whole of Spain, which gives an idea of the importance that this street has. The Corte inglés has in this central street both branches that it possesses in Alicant, one at each end of the avenue.

paragraphs: Santa Barbara's Castle is 166 metres up the Benacantil mountain. It's very strong with great strategic value. It's called Santa Barbara's Castle because the 4th of December is Santa Barbara's day and the 4th of December in 1248 is when it was taken from the Arabs by Alfonso of Castilla.


title: Phonology

paragraphs: Phonology is part of linguistics. Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Phonology is the science that studies the way that sounds (phones) carry meaning in language. Sounds (phones) that carry meaning in language are called phonemes. Sounds that do not carry meaning in the language are called allophones.

paragraphs: Phonology focuses on the study of phonemes, "units of sound (speech) that distinguish one word from another in a particular language." Phonology also includes studies of how words are , or spoken.

paragraphs: Phonology refers to the sound patterns of a language. Phonology is different from phonetics. Phonology studies how sounds form meaning in language. Phonetics studies how those sounds are formed. Studies of phonology and phonetics are sometimes combined, which results in more specific areas of study.

paragraphs: In 300 BC, Panini was the first person to study phonology. He created a grammar (a set of language rules) for Sanskrit (an ancient Indian language). He also created a list of the phonemes in Sanskrit. He assigned a symbol to represent each phoneme. The symbols are still used today in phonology.

paragraphs: The first person to use the word "phoneme" was the French linguist (one who studies language) A. Dufriche-Desgenettes. In the 1800s, Jan Baudoin gave the definition of phoneme that is uses today.Soon afterward, Baudouin de Courtenay began the study of phonology.and worked on the theory of phonetic alternations, which predicts changes in the sounds of a language.

paragraphs: One of the best schools of phonology was the Prague school. In 1939, a student of that school, Prince Nikolai Trubetzkoy, published one of the most important studies on phonology. His work was titled "Principles of Phonology". Another important person in the Prague school was Roman Jakobson. Roman was the most well-known linguist in the 1900s.

paragraphs: In 1968, Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle published "The Sound Pattern of English" (SPE). This book described generative phonology, which studies how grammar changes how people use language.


title: Linguistics

paragraphs: Linguistics is the study of language. People who study language are called linguists.

paragraphs: There are five main parts of linguistics: the study of sounds (phonology), the study of parts of words, like "un-" and "-ing" (morphology), the study of word order and how sentences are made (syntax), the study of the meaning of words (semantics), and the study of the unspoken meaning of speech that is separate from the literal meaning of what is said (for example, saying "I'm cold" to get someone to turn off the fan (pragmatics).

paragraphs: There are many ways to use linguistics every day. Some linguists are theoretical linguists and study the theory and ideas behind language, such as historical linguistics (the study of the history of language, and how it has changed), or the study of how different groups of people may use language differently (sociolinguistics). Some linguists are applied linguists and use linguistics to do things. For example, forensic linguistics is used in crime investigations, and computational linguistics is used to help make computers understand languages, as in speech recognition).

paragraphs: Linguistics, in its broader context, includes evolutionary linguistics, which considers the origins of language; historical linguistics, which explores language change; sociolinguistics, which looks at the relation between linguistic variation and social structures; psycholinguistics, which explores the representation and function of language in the mind; neurolinguistics, which looks at language processing in the brain; language acquisition, how children or adults acquire language; and discourse analysis, which involves the structure of texts and conversations.

paragraphs: Although linguistics is the scientific study of language, a number of other intellectual disciplines are relevant to language and intersect with it. Semiotics, for example, is the general study of signs and symbols both within language and without. Literary theorists study the use of language in literature. Linguistics additionally draws on and informs work from such diverse fields as acoustics, anthropology, biology, computer science, human anatomy, informatics, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and speech-language pathology. Discourse analysis is the study of entire conversations or texts.

paragraphs: Many linguists compare languages to find similar properties. That makes it possible to find things shared by all the languages of the world and also learn the languages that are related in a language family. Linguists who study how languages are structured and how they work are said to study theoretical linguistics.

paragraphs: Another part of linguistics is involved in understanding how languages are used in society or in the world. Sociolinguistics studies how language is used in society, and historical linguistics studies how languages change over time and how languages were in the past. One part of historical linguistics is etymology, the study of the history of words.

paragraphs: The part of linguistics that aims to find out how languages works in the mind is known as psycholinguistics.

paragraphs: The study of language began in India with Pāṇini, the 5th century BC grammarian who wrote about the 3,959 rules of Sanskrit gramamr, which described the different kinds of vowels and consonants of Sanskrit as well as its verb and noun classes. In the Middle East, Sibawayh (سیبویه) wrote a book about Arabic in 760 AD, "Al-kitab fi al-nahw" (الكتاب في النحو, "The Book on Grammar") and was the first known author to talk about the difference between sounds and phonemes.

paragraphs: Linguistics started in the West as early as it did in the East, but western linguistics at that time was more like philosophy and less the study of language. Plato was the first western philosopher to write about semantics in his "Cratylus" in which he argues that words represent concepts that are eternal and exist in the world of ideas. The word "etymology" is first used to talk about the history behind a word's meaning.


title: Region of Murcia

paragraphs: The Region of Murcia is an autonomous community in the south-east of Spain. The region has 1,350,000 people. The capital is Murcia, with 410,000 people. Other important cities are Cartagena, Lorca, Molina de Segura, and Cieza.


title: Segura

paragraphs: Segura is a Spanish river that is 325 kilometers (200 miles) long. It flows through the provinces of Jaen, Albacete, Murcia, and Alicante, and the cities of Cieza, Molina de Segura, Murcia, Orihuela, Rojales, and Guardamar. It then flows into the Mediterranean Sea.


title: Orihuela

paragraphs: Orihuela is a city on the coast in Spain in the Alicante province, on the Segura river in a district called "Vega Baja". Oranges and lemons are grown. The city has a population of 75,000 with very important historical monuments like the Cathedral and the church of Santiago, the church of Santa Justa and Rufina and the Seminarium.


title: Province of Alicante

paragraphs: Alacant () province is the fifth largest Spanish province by population with 1,750,000, and the second largest in the Valencian Community. It is on the south-east Mediterranean coast and the capital is the city of Alicante, a sea- port with a University. It is a commercial city with monuments like Sainte Barbra Castle. Other important cities are Elche, 215,000 with palms trees and its important shoe industry; Torrevieja, 100,000, tourist centre with the world-famous Habaneras contest; Orihuela, 75,000, agricultural important center; Benidorm, 67,000, the Mediterranean Manhattan; Alcoi, 60,000; textile center, and Elda, 55,000, shoes industry.

paragraphs: The most important river is the Segura, in the south, which provides the water to Alicante, Elche, Torrevieja, Orihuela and other cities. There are others like Vinalopo, Serpis, Amadorio, Ravine of the Sheeps and Monnegre.

paragraphs: The biggest mountain is Aitana, and other mountains are Mariola, Puig Bell, Maigmo and Gold Head, near Alicante. In the coast there are islands, the most important is Tabarca, and other is the Benidorm island. An important coast success is the Penon of Ifach, in Calpe.

paragraphs: The activities in Alicante province are tourism, industry (shoes, carpets, plays, dolls, textiles) and modern agriculture of regadium (oranges, lemons, tomatoes, almonds, wine). There are two universities: University of Alicante and University of Michael Hernandez.


title: Turkmenistan

paragraphs: Turkmenistan officially the Republic of Turkmenistan is a country in South-Central Asia. It has borders with Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan. It has no ocean but it is on the Caspian Sea to the west. The capital of Turkmenistan is Ashghabat.

paragraphs: The majority of the country is Muslim at 93%.

paragraphs: Turkmenistan is a non-aligned and fully neutral country.

paragraphs: Turkmenistan was a part of the Soviet Union since its creation, in 1922. At first, Turkmenistan was an autonomous republic within Russian SFSR. In 1925 it was promoted to a Soviet republic. Turkmenistan is an independent country since 1991, after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Saparmurat Niyazov became Turkmenistan’s first president in 1991.

paragraphs: Turkmenistan is divided into five provinces and one capital city district. The provinces are divided into districts which may be either counties or cities.

paragraphs: Turkmenistan is one of the driest desert areas in the world. Some places have an average annual precipitation of only . The highest temperature recorded in Ashgabat is . Kerki, an extreme inland city located on the banks of the Amu Darya river, recorded in July 1983, but this value is unofficial. 50.1C is the highest temperature recorded at Repetek Reserve, recognized as the highest temperature ever recorded in the whole former Soviet Union.

paragraphs: Turkmenistan is the world's 52nd-largest country. It is slightly smaller than Spain and somewhat larger than the US state of California. Over 80% of the country is covered by the Karakum Desert.

paragraphs: The Turkmen shore along the Caspian Sea is long. The Caspian Sea is entirely landlocked, with no access to the ocean.

paragraphs: The major cities include Aşgabat, Türkmenbaşy (formerly Krasnovodsk) and Daşoguz.

paragraphs: Turkmenistan has a humid climate. Annual rainfall is low, particularly in summer. Winters are dry and mild. The wettest region in Turkmenistan is Köýtendağ Range. Köýtendağ is situated in southeastern Turkmenistan on the borders with Uzbekistan.


title: Caesium

paragraphs: Caesium (or cesium) is the chemical element with the atomic number 55 on the periodic table. Its symbol is Cs.

paragraphs: Caesium is an alkali metal. Its melting point is low (28 °C). It is extremely reactive. Because of its high reactivity, it is a dangerous chemical. It may set itself on fire (ignite) in air. It explodes on contact with water. It reacts more violently than the other alkali metals with water. Because of this, caesium is stored in mineral oil.

paragraphs: Caesium is a rare element. Since there is little caesium on the Earth, it is rather expensive. The human body does not need caesium. In large amounts, its chemical compounds are mildly poisonous because it is close to potassium, which the body does need.

paragraphs: Caesium was first described in 1861, by Gustav Robert Kirchhoff and Robert Wilhelm Bunsen. They were testing mineral water, from Bad Dürkheim. After they separated calcium, strontium, magnesium and lithium, they saw two lines in the "blue" range of the spectrum. Because of these lines, they concluded that in addition to the elements already found, there must be another unknown substance in the mineral water. They named this substance caesium, after the color blue.

paragraphs: Caesium has at least 39 known isotopes ranging in atomic mass from 112 to 151. Only one of these, Cs, is stable. Therefore, the naturally-occurring isotope of caesium is Cs, which is not radioactive. Cs is used in atomic clocks, its vibration frequency used to define the length of the second. Another isotope, Cs is not made naturally but is made after nuclear fission has been done. It is very radioactive and used as an industrial gamma ray source.

paragraphs: Caesium forms compounds with many other chemical elements. Caesium formate is used in oil drilling because of its high density.

paragraphs: Caesium is extremely reactive in air and water. Caesium rapidly oxidizes in air and can spontaneously combust (randomly catch on fire) at any moment. For this reason, it must be stored in kerosene or a mineral oil, like other group one elements (Lithium, Natrium, Rubidium, and Francium.) In water, Caesium violently reacts to make Caesium Hydroxide (2CsOH). The Caesium sinks for about one second, then explodes. The explosion is over 50 times the size of the size of the element dropped in the water, and the explosion is enough to break a common Pyrex Beaker, Flask, or Test Tube. You can find a video of the reaction here.


title: Rubidium

paragraphs: Rubidium is chemical element 37 on the periodic table. Its symbol is Rb. Its atomic mass is 85.47. It has 37 protons and 37 electrons. It is a soft silver colored metal. It was first discovered in 1861 by Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchoff in Heidelberg, Germany.

paragraphs: Rubidium melts at a very low temperature, for example it could melt in a person's hand. Rubidium is an alkali metal. It can make an amalgam with mercury.

paragraphs: Rubidium is very reactive. It will ignite in air because it reacts with many other elements in the air like oxygen and nitrogen. Rubidium reacts very violently with water to make hydrogen and rubidium hydroxide, a strong corrosive base. The reaction is normally very hot so the hydrogen ignites.

paragraphs: Rubidium forms chemical compounds in only one oxidation state: +1. Some rubidium compounds have a mixed oxidation state, though. Rubidium chloride is the most common rubidium compound. Rubidium hydroxide and rubidium carbonate are also used commonly. Rubidium compounds makes a red-violet color in a flame. Most rubidium compounds are colorless. Rubidium compounds are not as common as other alkali metal compounds, such get sodium compounds. Otherwise, they are similar.

paragraphs: Rubidium is about as common as zinc. It is the 23rd most common element in the Earth's crust. Most minerals only have a small amount of rubidium in them. It normally comes in small quantities in other minerals. It is made by reduction of rubidium ores with calcium. It is expensive because calcium is difficult to make and the rubidium needs to be kept in argon and away from water or air.

paragraphs: There are not many common uses for rubidium. Rubidium compounds are sometimes used in purple fireworks. It and its compounds are used mainly in science research though. It is also used to make superoxide ions. It is used in some special types of glass.

paragraphs: Rubidium compounds are not very dangerous in the human body; however, if a person gets too much from eating, they could get sick because it acts like other alkali metal ions such as sodium ions in sodium chloride. Rats can live with up to half of their potassium replaced with rubidium, though it is not likely for that to happen.

paragraphs: Rubidium metal is very dangerous. It reacts with air and water and makes the corrosive substance rubidium hydroxide.


title: Barium

paragraphs: Barium is chemical element 56 on the periodic table. Its symbol is Ba. It contains 56 protons and 56 electrons. Its mass number is about 137.3. It is a metal.

paragraphs: Barium is part of a group of elements known as the alkaline earth metals. It is a silvery metal that easily turns black. It is soft and ductile. It can form alloys with some metals that are partially alloys and partially chemical compounds.

paragraphs: Barium is reactive, and if you put pure barium metal in the air, it will react with oxygen. At first it will turn black, then white as barium oxide is formed. Barium reacts with water to make barium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. Barium also reacts very fast with acids to make a barium salt and hydrogen. Barium can form barium peroxide if it is burned in air.

paragraphs: Barium reacts with many other metal oxides and sulfides to make barium oxide or sulfide and the metal. It also reacts with carbon and nitrogen at a high temperature to make barium cyanide.

paragraphs: Barium is too reactive as a metal, so it is not found in the earth as a metal. It is found in chemical compounds. Barium only occurs in one oxidation state: +2. Most barium compounds are colorless. The ones that dissolve in water or stomach acid are very toxic. Barium sulfate is well known because it does not dissolve in water or acids. Barium compounds are quite heavy. Barium compounds put out a greenish flame when heated red-hot.

paragraphs: Barium is found as barium sulfate (barite) and barium carbonate (witherite) in the ground. Both of these minerals do not dissolve in water. Barium sulfate hardly dissolves in anything. Barium is found mainly in China, Germany, India, Morocco, and the US.

paragraphs: It is very hard to get barium from barium sulfate. So barium sulfate is reduced by carbon to make barium sulfide and carbon dioxide. The barium sulfide is dissolved in hydrochloric acid. This makes hydrogen sulfide and barium chloride. The barium chloride is melted and electrolyzed to get liquid barium metal. The barium metal is solidified and stored in oil.

paragraphs: Barium carbonate, the other ore of barium, is dissolved in hydrochloric acid to make barium chloride and carbon dioxide. The barium chloride is melted and electrolyzed, making barium metal.

paragraphs: Barium is used to remove oxygen from cathode ray tubes and vacuum tubes. It is placed inside and reacts with all of the oxygen, using it up. Barium is also used in spark plug wire.

paragraphs: Certain compounds of barium, such as barium sulfate, are not toxic and can be put in the body. We can see where the barium travels in the body by X-rays and this can tell us whether there are problems, such as blockages. The barium sulfate builds up inside the body accumulating in organ systems. Barium sulfate absorbs the X-Rays as they pass through the body and an image is formed from the points where the rays have not passed through. It is useful because it provides a reasonably detailed image from very limited radiation exposure, compared with a CT scan for instance. Barium sulfate can be used as a pigment, too.

paragraphs: Other barium compounds have several other uses.

paragraphs: Barium is a very toxic element, though, and is dangerous. There is a really small amount of barium in our food, and this does not cause problems. If we get barium from other places, though, it can cause many problems. Even 1 gram of barium can kill you. It is dangerous because it acts like other really important elements, such as calcium and magnesium. If barium replaces these elements, it messes up the body.


title: Scandium

paragraphs: Scandium is chemical element number 21 on the periodic table. Its symbol is Sc.

paragraphs: Scandium is a metal in a group known as the transition metals. It is also a rare earth metal. What this means is that there is not very much scandium found in the earth. Because of this, the pure metal can be expensive. The pure metal is very reactive, and will react with other elements like oxygen. The metal turns from shiny to gray.

paragraphs: Scandium is not very dangerous because there is not much of it on Earth, so there is not enough of it to harm us. It does not have many uses. Its main use is perhaps as a component in Mercury-vapor lamps. Such lamps are used to light Stadiums.


title: Vanadium

paragraphs: Vanadium is chemical element 23 on the periodic table. Its symbol is V. It is named after Vanadis, another name of Freyja.

paragraphs: Vanadium is a metal and is part of the group known as the transition metals. It is mostly used in steel where it helps strengthen the steel metal.

paragraphs: Vanadium is often found in aquatic forms of life. The human body may need a little bit of vanadium, but scientists are not really sure.

paragraphs: Vanadium can react with a variety of other elements, and the chemical compounds it forms often have beautiful colors.

paragraphs: The amount of vanadium in the universe is 0.0001%, making the element nearly as common as copper or zinc. Vanadium is detected by spectroscopy in light from the Sun, and sometimes in light from other stars.

paragraphs: Vanadium is the 22nd most common element in the Earth's crust. Metallic vanadium is rare in nature. However, vanadium compounds occur naturally in about 65 different minerals. Much of the world's vanadium production comes from vanadium-bearing magnetite found in ultramafic gabbro rocks. Vanadium is mined mostly in South Africa, north-western China, and eastern Russia. In 2013 these three countries mined more than 97% of the 79,000 tonnes of produced vanadium.

paragraphs: Vanadium is also in bauxite and in deposits of crude oil, coal, oil shale and tar sands.


title: Arsenic

paragraphs: Arsenic is chemical element 33 on the periodic table. Its symbol is As. Its atomic number is 33 and its atomic mass is 74.92. It is in the pnictogen group on the periodic table.

paragraphs: Arsenic is found in three allotropes. Gray arsenic is the most common. It is a brittle, somewhat soft metalloid that is a little shiny. It has a density of 5.73g/cm. It is a semiconductor. Yellow arsenic is unstable and rare. It is the most toxic allotrope. It is a soft and waxy nonmetal, similar to white phosphorus. It turns into gray arsenic in light. Its density is 1.97g/cm, much lighter than gray arsenic. It is created when arsenic vapor (made by heating arsenic very hot) is cooled very fast by something like liquid nitrogen. Black arsenic is similar to red phosphorus. It is a brittle, black, and shiny nonmetal. It does not conduct electricity. Since gray arsenic is the most common, it is usually referred to as arsenic.

paragraphs: Arsenic is found as one stable (nonradioactive) isotope, As. There are about 33 radioactive isotopes found. The longest lasting one is As, which has a half life of about 80 days.

paragraphs: Arsenic is a relatively chemically inert element, similar to copper in reactivity. It burns in air to make garlic-smelling arsenic trioxide. Arsenic, as well as some of its compounds, do not have a liquid state; they sublime. Arsenic reacts with fluorine to make arsenic pentafluoride. It reacts with the rest of the halogens to make the arsenic trihalides. Arsenic does not dissolve in hydrochloric acid. It dissolves in concentrated nitric acid to make arsenic acid and in dilute nitric acid to make arsenious acid. It reacts with concentrated sulfuric acid to make arsenic trioxide. Arsenic burns with a pale lavender flame.

paragraphs: Arsenic forms chemical compounds in three oxidation states: -3, +3, and +5. -3 compounds are reducing agents. They are the main form of arsenic in the ground (as arsenides). Arsine is a colorless, highly toxic gas with a garlic odor. The +3 state is the most common. They are weak oxidizing agents. Arsenic trioxide is a white solid. It dissolves in water to make a solution of arsenious acid. The arsenic trichlorides are low melting covalent solids. The +5 state is common, too. They are strong oxidizing agents. Arsenic pentafluoride, a colorless and highly reactive gas, is the only stable arsenic pentahalide. Arsenic pentoxide dissolves in water to make arsenic acid, which can make arsenate salts.

paragraphs: -3 compounds are reducing agents. They are found as arsenides and arsine. The metal arsenides have properties between an alloy and a salt.

paragraphs: +3 compounds are weak oxidizing agents. Many are colorless, although some are orange.

paragraphs: +5 compounds are strong oxidizing agents.

paragraphs: Arsenic is found sometimes as an element in the ground, but is normally found in minerals. Some arsenic minerals have a metal and sulfur along with arsenic. Arsenopyrite is iron arsenic sulfide. It is the same as pyrite with arsenic added. Other arsenic minerals have a metal and arsenic. Erythrite, a cobalt arsenide mineral, is an example. Other arsenic minerals are simple. Realgar and orpiment (arsenic sulfides), simple arsenic minerals, are ores of arsenic.

paragraphs: Arsenic is found as a less toxic variety in fish and mushrooms. Some people think that humans need very small amounts of arsenic to be healthy. Some bacteria can use arsenic instead of phosphorus for some things; they are called arsenic bacteria.

paragraphs: Most arsenic is made from the waste products after other metals are processed. Only China actually mines arsenic.

paragraphs: Arsenic is made from arsenopyrite by heating it. This makes arsenic trioxide which sublimes (along with sulfur dioxide), while the iron oxide stays behind. The arsenic trioxide is condensed, while the sulfur dioxide does not condense. The arsenic trioxide can be reduced with carbon. Another way is to heat the arsenopyrite without air. Then gray arsenic is made. Realgar can be heated to make arsenic trioxide as well.

paragraphs: Arsenic was known since antiquity. It was alloyed with bronze to make the bronze harder. Some people used arsenic as make-up, although it was toxic. Arsenic was well known as a poison. Since people used it to kill royalty and it was hard to detect, it was called the "Poison of Kings" and the "King of Poisons". An arsenic compound could have been the first organometallic compound (a metal bonded to an organic compound).

paragraphs: Arsenic compounds were used as a preservative for wood. Once people saw how toxic arsenic was, they stopped using it to preserve wood. Some feed for animals had arsenic in it to prevent disease. Lead arsenate was used as an insecticide in orchards but damaged the brains of those who put the insecticide on the trees.

paragraphs: Arsenic was used in medicines in the 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s. Arsenic trioxide was used to treat cancer. Very tiny doses of arsenic compounds can act as stimulants. Some arsenic compounds are used as poison gases.

paragraphs: Arsenic as an element is used in alloys. The lead in lead acid batteries has some arsenic in it to make it stronger. Some semiconductors have arsenic in them.

paragraphs: Copper arsenate was used as a coloring for sweets. Paris green, a green pigment having arsenic in it, made many people sick. Some bullets have arsenic in them. Arsenic is sometimes added to brass to prevent the zinc from coming out. Arsenic was used in optical glass but was taken out because it was toxic.

paragraphs: Arsenic and its compounds are highly toxic. They are carcinogens. Water near arsenic mines is normally contaminated with arsenic. Wood that was preserved with arsenic compounds can leach arsenic into the soil. Emissions from coke ovens have arsenic in them.


title: Manganese

paragraphs: Manganese is chemical element 25 on the periodic table. Its symbol is Mn. (Some people get it confused with magnesium, the symbol is Mg). Manganese is used a lot in steel to make it stronger. This is the main use for manganese metal. Manganese compounds, particularly manganese(IV) oxide, are used in alkaline cells and Leclanche cells. Manganese metal is also alloyed with aluminium.

paragraphs: Our bodies and plants need manganese to work right. If we do not get enough manganese, we can get sick. We get manganese from our food and vitamins also have some manganese to make sure that we get enough. It has 25 protons. Its mass number is 54.94.

paragraphs: Manganese is a silvery-gray metal and is part of the group known as the transition metals. It is similar to iron. It is hard to melt, but easy to oxidize. Manganese forms chemical compounds in several oxidation states: +2, +4, and +7 are the most common. Manganese compounds can be black, brown, pink, red, green, blue, and purple. Manganese(II) compounds are pink or light brown. They are unreactive. Manganese(II) chloride is a common example. Manganese(III) compounds are weak oxidizing agents. Manganese(IV) compounds are stronger oxidizing agents, but they are rarer. They are normally black in colour. Manganese(IV) oxide is an example.

paragraphs: Manganese(V) compounds are not stable and disproportionate easily. They are bright blue. They are very rare. Hypomanganates are the most common manganese(V) compounds. Manganese(VI) compounds are made in the process used to make permanganates. They disproportionate too. Manganates are weak reducing agents and moderate oxidizing agents. They are bright green.

paragraphs: Manganese(VII) compounds are purple-black and are powerful oxidizing agents. Permanganates contain the MnO ion. They are normally purple-black and strong oxidizing agents. Potassium permanganate is an example.

paragraphs: Manganese that is found in nature is made up of one stable isotope, which is manganese-55. Manganese has many radioisotopes ranging from manganese-44 to manganese-69. The most stable radioisotope is manganese-53. It has a half-life of 3.7 million years.

paragraphs: The Earth's crust contains about 1000 ppm of manganese. It is the 12th most abundant element in the Earth's crust. Soil contains 7–9000 ppm of manganese. Seawater only contains 10 ppm of manganese. The atmosphere contains 0.01 µg/m of manganese. Manganese mainly occurs as pyrolusite, braunite, psilomelane.

paragraphs: Manganese is sometimes found alloyed with iron naturally. These rocks, called meteorites, came from space. Pyrolusite is one of the main sources of manganese. It also occurs as manganese carbonate. Some silicates have manganese in them. The derivation of Manganese may have come from either the Latin 'magnes', meaning magnet, or from the black magnesium oxide, 'magnesia nigra'.

paragraphs: Manganese is normally made in an alloy with steel. This is made by mixing manganese ore and iron ore in a furnace and reducing it with carbon. This forms an alloy called ferromanganese. Pure manganese is made by reacting the manganese ore with sulfuric acid and electrolyzing it.

paragraphs: Manganese is used to make cheap stainless steel. Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl is used as an additive in gasoline that does not have lead to reduce engine knocking.

paragraphs: Manganese(IV) oxide is used as a reagent in organic chemistry for the oxidation of benzylic alcohols. Manganese dioxide is also used in the manufacture of oxygen and chlorine. It is also used to dry black paints. Sometimes, it is used as a brown pigment for paint. It is a component of natural umber.

paragraphs: Manganese compounds have been used as pigments to color ceramics and glass. Tetravalent manganese is used as an activator in phosphors that glow red. Manganese oxide is also used in Portland cement mixtures.

paragraphs: There are lots of classes of enzymes that have manganese cofactors. They are oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases, isomerases, ligases, lectins, and integrins. The reverse transcriptases of many retroviruses contain manganese.

paragraphs: Manganese is an essential nutrient. It is found as a coenzyme in many biological processes. They include macronutrient metabolism, bone formation, and free radical immune system. It is a very important component in lots of proteins and enzymes. The human body contains about 12 mg of manganese. Manganese is found in the bones, liver, brain and kidneys. In the human brain, the manganese is bound to manganese metalloproteins.

paragraphs: Manganese is also important in the photosynthetic oxygen evolution in the chloroplasts of plants. The oxygen-evolving complex is a part of photosystem II. The photosystem ll is found in the thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts. It is responsible for the photooxidation of water during the light reactions of photosynthesis. It has a metalloenzyme core that has four atoms of manganese.

paragraphs: Manganese dust can irritate lungs. Some manganese compounds cause toxicity when ingested. Manganese is less toxic than nickel or copper. Permanganates are the most toxic manganese compounds. When someone is exposed to manganese for a long time it can cause a problem with the nervous system.


title: Gallium

paragraphs: Gallium (chemical symbol: Ga) is chemical element 31 on the periodic table.

paragraphs: Gallium is a metal, but it has some unusual properties. It's melting point is 85.58 Fahrenheit. If it is held in a person's hand, it will melt. It makes a stain on your hand when put on your hand. Gallium is safe in your hands but is not edible. Some Gallium Compounds can be very dangerous. Gallium does not conduct electricity well, and is known as a semiconductor. That means gallium can be used in computers to make them work. It is very shiny, so it is used to create mirrors when its in its liquid form. In its purest extracted form, gallium is a vibrant silver color. As a solid, it is blue-gray. Gallium has been used in nuclear bombs to stabilize the crystal structure. It's related to aluminium, indium, and thallium.


title: Nikita Khrushchev

paragraphs: Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (15 April 1894 – 11 September 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. He ruled from 1953–1964.

paragraphs: Nikita was born in the town of Kalinovka in Russia. He later moved to Ukraine. He worked in mines, and became part of the Bolshevik movement. He was a political commissar in the Red Army in the Russian Civil War and again in World War II and moved his way up in the Communist Party, eventually becoming trusted by Joseph Stalin. When Stalin died, Georgy Malenkov and several others including Khrushchev shared power. Eventually Khrushchev became the leader.

paragraphs: He died of heart disease on 11 September 1971 in Moscow, aged 77.

paragraphs: When Nikita became the leader of the Soviet Union, he began something he called "De-Stalinization". He made a secret speech, in which he denounced Stalin as a man who committed many murders of innocent people. In early 1956, he took down all posters and statues of Joseph Stalin. Also, he moved Stalin's grave to a place where people could not see it.

paragraphs: He also had better contacts with the western countries like the USA, Britain, and France. This means the USSR and the western world were friendlier. He visited America in 1959. During this visit, Khrushchev spoke at the United Nations and visited where he wanted, including destinations such as New York and Hollywood. However, his visit to Disneyland was cancelled for security reasons.

paragraphs: But the USSR and the US still did not trust each other. In 1962 America and the USSR had a Cuban Missile Crisis which could have led to nuclear war but didn't. Khrushchev had bargained with the Americans to get rid of the missiles they had placed in Turkey, for the missiles in Cuba were the only way for withdrawal.

paragraphs: Also, during this time, the Soviet Union became a lot less friendly with China. Because the Chinese leader Mao Zedong liked Stalin, he did not like it when Khrushchev became friendlier with the west, and when Nikita Khrushchev began a "destalinization" campaign.


title: Rambla de las Ovejas

paragraphs: The Rambla de las Ovejas (which translates to Ravine of the Sheeps) is a water course of the province of Alicante, in Spain. It originates at the foot of the Maigmo, to 1,100 meters of height and gathers the waters of the sides of the Maigmo, Cid and others of minor height across numerous tributary ravines. It ends in the city of Alicante, between the neighborhoods of Babylon and Saint Gabriel.

paragraphs: The tributary ravines are those of Rambuchar, Pepior, Alabaster and Bramble, between the most important. The normally dry riverbed experiences forts grown as consequence of torrents, like the rains in 1982 it came to 400 m³/seg. in Alicante causing serious destruction and human losses. It has since been canalized providing to the riverbed of a potential capacity of 735 m³/seg. In the floods of 1997 it came to 100 m³/seg.


title: Guadalquivir

paragraphs: Guadalquivir is a river in southern Spain. It crosses the autonomous community of Andalusia. The name derives from the Arab "Wadi al-Kabir" ("big river"), whereas the Romans were called it "Betis".

paragraphs: Guadalquivir starts in the Glen of the Sources in the mountains near Cazorla (Jaen province) and ends in Sanlucar de Barrameda (Cadiz province). It goes through the provinces of Jaen, Cordoba, Seville and Cadiz. The river is long. The main tributaries are the rivers Genil (which flows through Granada), The Minor Guadiana, Guadalbullon, and Guadajoz on the left side, and Guadalmena, Jandula, and Guadiato on the right.

paragraphs: It is the only river in Spain with shipping traffic. At present, it only is navigable up to Seville. In the Roman epoch it was navigable up to Cordoba.


title: Ebro

paragraphs: Ebro is a Spanish river. It flows through Reinosa, Miranda de Ebro, Logrono, Tudela, Zaragoza, and Tortosa. It empties into the Mediterranean Sea in the province of Tarragona.


title: Toledo Province

paragraphs: Province of Toledo () is one of the provinces of Castile-La Mancha, in the center of Spain, near Madrid. The capital is Toledo and the biggest city is Talavera of the Queen. The population of the province is near 600,000.


title: Talavera de la Reina

paragraphs: Talavera of the Queen ("Talavera de la Reina" in Spanish) is a city of the interior of Spain. It is the capital of a wide region belonging to the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is located in the northwest of the province of Toledo. Talavera of the Queen is the second biggest city of Castile-La Mancha, and the first one of the province, with a population of 85.172 inhabitants.

paragraphs: Its mistress is "Our Lady of the Meadow".

paragraphs: As curiosity of this locality emphasizes that Gwyneth Paltrow is an adopted child of this locality.


title: Castilla–La Mancha

paragraphs: Castilla–La Mancha or Castile-La Mancha is an autonomous community in Spain with a population over 2,000,000. The capital is Toledo and the biggest cities are Albacete, Talavera of the Queen, Guadalajara, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, and Cuenca.


title: Ciudad Real

paragraphs: Ciudad Real (this translates to "Royal City") is a city in Spain. It is the capital of the province with the same name, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha.

paragraphs: The city has 69,063 people who live there. It is an average of 628 meters above sea level. The municipal area is 285 km². It is approximately 200 km to the south of Madrid.


title: Puertollano

paragraphs: Puertollano (which translates to Flatport, in English) is a city in Spain. It is the second biggest in Ciudad Real province, in the region of Castile-La Mancha. It is an important industrial center, with a population of 50,000.


title: NOFX

paragraphs: NOFX is a popular punk rock band from California. The band was formed in 1983 by Fat Mike. As of April 2009, NOFX has released eleven full-length albums. Their latest one, "Coaster", came out on April 28, 2009.


title: Toledo

paragraphs: Toledo is the name of several things. The best known cities are:


title: Methane

paragraphs: Methane is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an alkane with one carbon atom. It is often found as the main part of natural gas. Methane is a greenhouse gas 23 times more effective than carbon dioxide. It is also less stable and slowly oxidates by oxygen to carbon dioxide and water.

paragraphs: Methane is used in gas taps in places such as kitchens, chemistry classrooms, laboratories, etc. as it burns very easily because of its simple molecular structure.

paragraphs: Methane's molecular structure is very simple. It is a single carbon atom surrounded by four hydrogen atoms.

paragraphs: Methane can be made by many chemical ways, but usually is found in natural gas and is obtained by fractional distillation, after it has become liquid.


title: North Country

paragraphs: North Country is a 2005 American drama movie about a woman being harassed in a mining facility.


title: Dance Dance Revolution

paragraphs: Dance Dance Revolution is a series of video games made by Konami in which players step on arrows on a large pad or mat to match the arrows on screen. The arrows are in time with the music. Because players are moving themselves along to the music, they look like they are dancing. There is a large variety of music.

paragraphs: There is a bar at the top of the screen. If players make mistakes, the bar gets smaller. If players do not make mistakes, the bar grows. The game ends if the player makes too many mistakes.

paragraphs: Players can choose between three levels. They are called light, standard, and heavy. Light is easy and heavy is hard. On some of the newer games, there is a beginner mode, which is very easy, and a challenge mode, which is very hard.

paragraphs: Players are graded by their performance in letters (from lowest to highest, E, D, C, B, A, AA and AAA) based on how well they played the song. The better a player does on a song, the higher their grade is.

paragraphs: From "DDR SuperNOVA" to later versions, the levels are called beginner, basic, difficult, expert, and challenge.

paragraphs: There is a wide variety of music in "Dance Dance Revolution". Most of the songs are created by people at Konami, with some other well-known popular songs included as well. From the first "Dance Dance Revolution" game up until "DDR Extreme", the games had a partnership with Toshiba EMI, a record company which is now part of Virgin Records. This partnership meant that a lot of popular songs from Toshiba EMI's "Dancemania" series of dance music albums could appear in the games.

paragraphs: If the player gets an "AA" on the last stage in "Expert", "Heavy", or "Challenge", they can play an extra stage. Usually, on the extra stage, the game ends if four mistakes are made. If the player performs well enough on the extra stage, an Encore extra stage is played. In the Encore extra stage, one missed step will cause the game to end.

paragraphs: Some educators even believe DDR should be in schools as exercise.


title: Street Fighter II

paragraphs: Street Fighter II is a 1991 fighting game made by Capcom.

paragraphs: The player controls a martial arts fighter and has to knock out the opponent. There are many playable characters, including Ryu, Ken Masters, Guile and Chun Li. Each character has special moves that require special commands to perform. The game has 4 bosses - Balrog (M. Bison in Japan), Vega (Balrog in Japan), Sagat, and M. Bison (Vega in Japan). (Balrog and Sagat were also featured in the first Street Fighter game). There have been many follow-up games to "Street Fighter II". The franchise for the games became popular. The game was released for arcades and different consoles.


title: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

paragraphs: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is a television series which ran for 3 seasons (one season of television is made in a year), which is longer than the "Power Rangers" shows after this series have lasted. This series has 155 episodes in total. This series aired on Fox from 1993 to 1996. This series re-aired on ABC Kids in January 2010. The next show after the third season is called "Power Rangers: Zeo". There are many different versions of Power Rangers, and most of them were made with better technology, yet many still prefer this one more than any other. Like all Power Rangers shows, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is based on Super Sentai shows & from Japan. Each season of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" is based on a different Super Sentai show (Zyuranger, Dairanger & Kakuranger) from Japan.

paragraphs: Five teenagers battle against the witch Rita Repulsa and the wizard Lord Zedd to defend the earth. They have large robots called Zords and battle suits for their fights. They are armed with special weapons like swords, axes, bows, daggers and lances to help them fight monsters. Rita and Lord Zedd have an army of fighters known as Putties, which get destroyed and broken into many pieces when they are hit by their weak spot - a Z plate on their chest.

paragraphs: Rita is in a prison on the Moon. When she gets out of it, she wants to destroy Earth, because that's what she wanted to do before she was put in prison. She brings along her helpers, who were also in prison. One of them is called Goldar. He is a blue gorilla in gold armor who can fight better than anyone. To stop her, five teenagers are chosen by a wizard called Zordon. Zordon has an robot called Alpha 5 who helps him. The teenagers are given special magic coins that turn them into Power Rangers.

paragraphs: Rita has her own magic coin, and uses it to make her own evil Power Ranger, the Green Ranger. The Green Ranger fights the good Power Rangers, because Rita is controlling his mind. They free him from Rita's evil magic, but his magic coin stops working the right way, and begins to hurt him when he uses it. The Green Ranger gives up his magic coin to the Red Ranger who will not get hurt by it.

paragraphs: When Lord Zedd comes into the show, he destroys the Power Rangers' Zords. Zordon takes the Green Ranger's magic coin and uses it to make new Zords for the Power Rangers. These new Zords are mostly fairy tale animals, like the unicorn and the dragon. The old Zords were Dinosaurs, like Triceratops and T-Rex. Lord Zedd also puts Rita back in her prison and throws her away into space, because she was not doing a good enough job of being evil.

paragraphs: But one day, a new Power Ranger appears. His costume is White Ranger, and his Zord is a White Tiger. No one knows who he is, but he turns out to be the old Green Ranger. Later, three of the Power Rangers have to leave the team and go to Switzerland. They choose three teenagers from another school to take their powers.

paragraphs: Rita comes back, too, and gives Lord Zedd a love potion. He falls in love with her, and they get married. Goldar gives Lord Zedd another potion to stop the love potion, but Lord Zedd's love for Rita turns out to be true and they stay married.

paragraphs: Rita's brother, Rito Revolto, comes to visit his sister. He looks like a skeleton. Rito does what Rita and Lord Zedd could not do, and destroys the Power Ranger's magic coins. The Power Rangers go and find Ninjor, a powerful ninja (a ninja is a type of fighter from Japan), who made the magic coins. He agrees to help them and makes new coins and new Zords for them. They become Ninja Power Rangers, and their new Zords are animals like the wolf and the frog.

paragraphs: Near the end of this season, Rita and Rito's father Master Vile comes to help conquer Earth. He is very powerful, even more powerful than his children together. He uses his powers to turn back time, turning the Power Rangers into Powerless kids. Zordon calls upon his proteges the Alien Rangers of Aquitar to protect the Earth from Master Vile's monsters and to help work on a machine that would return the child rangers to their proper ages. Unfortunately, only Billy returns to normal as the machine which required the power coins as a power source is stolen by Rito & Goldar allowing Rita & Zedd to destroy the coins. The child rangers then travel throughout time to gather the fragments of the Zeo Crystal to bring time back to normal. During her journey in Africa, Aisha meets Tanya Sloan and realizes that she can do more help to stop the sickness plaguing the wildlife and sends Tanya back with her Zeo Crystal.


title: Office Space

paragraphs: Office Space is a 1999 American comedy movie starring Ron Livingston and Jennifer Aniston. The movie was directed by Mike Judge. The movie is a satire of white collar office work in the United States.

paragraphs: Office Space received mostly positive reviews from reviewers, which means that most of them thought that it was a good movie. However, it did not make very much money at movie theaters, only earning $10,827,810 from movie tickets. The movie went on to become a cult classic, becoming more popular over time.


title: Syriana

paragraphs: Syriana is an 2005 American drama thriller movie, which has won Academy Award and Golden Globe Awards. It is directed by Stephen Gaghan and produced by Jennifer Fox, Michael Nozik, Georgia Kacandes, Steven Soderbergh, George Clooney. The movie stars Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, and William Hurt.

paragraphs: The movie is about a lot of people doing complicated things. One of the people is a CIA agent (Clooney) who is angered when his boss tries to invade his privacy. Another person, Damon, whose child dies, gets a better job working for a king. Then another person, a lawyer, Jeffrey Wright finds out that the oil company is actually not good and should be removed from power immediately. The last part of the movie is about two Muslims who become suicide bombers because they feel offended.


title: Shareware

paragraphs: The user will get a preview or demo of the software for free. This way, the user can decide if he or she likes the program or not before buying the complete program.

paragraphs: Users can get games for free this way but most of the time these games do not have all the levels. Sometimes Internet Relay Chat clients let users have a demo of their client for 30 days, but after that, in order to keep using it, the user will have to pay money.


title: Brokeback Mountain

paragraphs: Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 American romantic drama movie by Ang Lee. The film is set in Wyoming during the years from 1963 to 1981. The story is about two bisexual cowboys, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, who are in love with each other. During that time it was difficult to have homosexual relationships. The movie is based on a short story of the same name by Annie Proulx.

paragraphs: "Brokeback Mountain" was a big success. It won many important prizes: the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Best Picture and Best Director at the BAFTA and the Golden Globe awards. It also received 8 nominations at the 78th Academy Awards, where it won 3 Oscars: Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Adapted Screenplay. It is in the 12th place for romantic movies that made the most money.

paragraphs: In 1963, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) are hired by Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid). They need to look after his sheep up in Brokeback Mountain for the summer. One night, Jack makes a move on Ennis and the two men end up having sex. Soon an emotional relationship develops. Before leaving at the end of the summer they have a fight.

paragraphs: When they return home, Ennis marries Alma Beers (Michelle Williams) and has two daughters with her. Jack goes back the next summer but does not get hired because Joe had seen him with Ennis the year before. He moves to Texas, where he marries a rodeo rider, Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway). After four years, Jack goes back to meet Ennis. They kiss and Alma sees them. Jack would like to go and live with him but Ennis does not want to. They decide to continue meeting from time to time for fishing trips.

paragraphs: The marriages of both Jack and Ennis get worse. Alma and Dennis divorce in 1975. Later Alma tells Ennis she knows about Jack. They have a fight and do not see each other again. Lureen becomes a businesswoman and her father wants Jack to stop being a cowboy. Jack asks Ennis again to live together, but Ennis does not want to leave his children. At the end of one fishing trip, Ennis and Jack have another argument.

paragraphs: Later, Ennis sends a postcard to Jack. It is given back to him with a "DECEASED" stamp. Lureen tells Ennis that Jack had an accident. Ennis instead thinks that he was killed by a gang because he was gay. Ennis goes to Jack's parents to get his ashes. Jack wanted them to be thrown on Brokeback Mountain but his father does not give them to Ennis. However, his mother lets him have a look around Jack's room. Ennis finds the shirts that they were wearing all those years ago when they first had a fight.

paragraphs: Some time later, Ennis is living alone in a trailer. His daughter, Alma Jr., comes to tell him that she wants to marry a guy. Ennis tells her he will be there at the wedding. When she leaves, he opens his wardrobe where he keeps the shirts and a photo of Brokeback Mountain. He whispers "Jack, I swear..." before walking away.


title: A Christmas Carol

paragraphs: A Christmas Carol is a novella by the British writer Charles Dickens. It was first published on 19 December 1843 by Chapman & Hall in London. The illustrations were drawn by John Leech. The first edition was a beautiful and expensive book. It was sold out by Christmas Eve, but Dickens never made the money he expected on the tale due to the book's high production costs.

paragraphs: The novella was written at a time when the British were longing for the traditional merry Olde English Christmas. Christmas customs of the past were being revived. New Christmas customs such as the Christmas tree and the greeting card were making their first appearances. Old carols were being sung. The novella has been credited with restoring the festive spirit of Christmas after a period of Puritan sobriety and solemnity.

paragraphs: The story is about a Christmas-hating miser named Ebenezer Scrooge. On Christmas Eve, he is visited by four ghosts who transform him into a kind and generous man. The story has a strong moral messages about greed and poverty. It is usually read at Christmas time and has been adapted to theatre, movies, radio, and television many times.

paragraphs: Ebenezer Scrooge is a Christmas-hating old miser and businessman. One Christmas Eve, Scrooge declines an invitation to his nephew's house for Christmas dinner, telling his nephew that Christmas is "Humbug". He then refuses to give a donation to two men who are collecting for charity.

paragraphs: Later that evening, he is visited by the ghost of his dead business partner Jacob Marley, a man whose greed and selfishness have doomed him to eternal hellfire. He tells Scrooge that he must change his ways or that hellfire will be his fate. Marley warns him that during the night he will be visited by three more ghosts. These will show him where he went wrong in his life, and how to be a better person in the future.

paragraphs: The first ghost is the Ghost of Christmas Past. This ghost shows him his unhappy childhood and how he did not get married. The second ghost is the Ghost of Christmas Present. This ghost shows him things which are happening now, such as how his clerk, Bob Cratchit, is having a nice Christmas despite not having much money. He also shows him Bob's youngest son, called Tiny Tim, who is crippled.

paragraphs: Later, the ghost shows him how his nephew is having a good Christmas, and how Scrooge is missing out. The third ghost is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. This ghost shows Scrooge what Christmas will be like in the future if he does not change. First, people are shown celebrating a man's death and robbing his house. The ghost also shows him that Tiny Tim has died. Scrooge is then shown his own grave, and realizes that the celebrations were for his death.

paragraphs: On Christmas morning, Scrooge wakes up and realizes that he has to change. He decides to celebrate Christmas, and help Tiny Tim get well. He sends the Cratchit family a prize turkey for their holiday dinner. Through the ghosts' help, Scrooge becomes a better man.

paragraphs: The book made popular the phrase "Merry Christmas" as well as the name "Scrooge" and the ejaculation "Bah! Humbug". The book spurred charitable giving in the years following its first publication. Its lasting legacy is returning to Christmas the merriment and festivity the day lost after a period of Puritan sobriety.


title: Aruba

paragraphs: Aruba is an island in the Caribbean Sea, just a short distance north of the Venezuelan Paraguaná Peninsula, and it forms a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, it has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. This climate has helped tourism, because visitors to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny weather.

paragraphs: The island broke off from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986, hoping to gain its independence by 1996. In 1990, that effort stopped at the request of the island people.

paragraphs: Aruba is one of the four countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The other nations are the Netherlands, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The citizens of these countries all share a single nationality: Dutch.

paragraphs: About three quarters of the Aruban gross national product is earned through tourism or related activities.

paragraphs: The island came into the news after U.S. high school student Natalee Holloway disappeared on a graduation trip on May 30, 2005. Today, some refer to Aruba as "One Happy Island".

paragraphs: Aruba is a generally flat, riverless island. It is in the southern part of the Caribbean Sea. The western and southern beaches have white sandy beaches. They are generally protected from the ocean currents. This is one of the reasons Aruba is a popular tourist location.

paragraphs: Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, Aruba forms a group referred to as the ABC islands. Collectively, Aruba and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean.

paragraphs: Aruba has no administrative subdivisions. For census purposes, it is divided into eight regions. Its capital is Oranjestad.

paragraphs: According to estimates, Aruba is about 75% Mixed, 15% Black, and 10% White.


title: Kingdom of the Netherlands

paragraphs: The Kingdom of the Netherlands (), commonly called the Netherlands is a transcontinental sovereign state whose form of government is a constitutional monarchy.

paragraphs: The country was formed in 1954 and is now made up of four countries:

paragraphs: The "Caribbean Netherlands" are special municipalities ('public body') of the Netherlands (see ) and consists of:

paragraphs: The "Netherlands Antilles" doesn't exist anymore and were made up of the six above mentioned Caribbean islands.

paragraphs: Suriname was also part of the Kingdom until it became independent in 1975.


title: Kill Bill

paragraphs: Kill Bill is an American crime movie directed by Quentin Tarantino. It was released in two parts; "Volume 1" and "Volume 2". In most countries it is rated for adult viewing only because of extreme violence and profanity.


title: Drive-by shooting

paragraphs: A drive-by shooting is when a gun is fired from a moving vehicle, at a target outside the vehicle.

paragraphs: Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls were killed because of a drive-by shooting.


title: Andalusia

paragraphs: Andalusia () is the first in population among the 17 Autonomous communities in Spain and the second, after of Madrid, in area. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga and Seville. Its capital is the city of Seville (Spanish: "Sevilla").

paragraphs: Andalusia is in the south of the Iberian peninsula, just to the south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha; west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea; east of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean; and north of the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar. The small British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar shares a land border with the Andalusian province of Cádiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar.

paragraphs: The name Andalusia is the modern version of the Arabic language "Al-Andalus" (الأندلس), name used by the Muslims for all of the territory of the Iberian Peninsula under their control. During that period, northern Iberian Peninsula was controlled by Christian kings and the southern Iberian Peninsula was controlled by Muslims.

paragraphs: In 711 CE, the Muslims invaded the Iberian Peninsula, then controlled by Christians of Visigothic origin. By 719 the Muslims conquered all of the peninsula except for a small area in the northern Pyrenees Mountains. The Muslims used the name Al-Andalus for all of the territory of the Iberian Peninsula under their control.

paragraphs: Christians in the north waged war for more than seven centuries against the Muslims, gradually taking over more and more of the southern areas. This process of war is called the "Reconquista" (a Spanish and Portuguese word meaning "to conquest again"). In the year 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain retook the last stronghold in the southern area at Granada. In that same year, the Muslims and Jews were forced to leave Spain.

paragraphs: The Andalusian coat of arms shows the figure of Hercules and two lions between the two pillars of Hercules that tradition puts on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar. The words below read "Andalucía por sí, para España y la Humanidad" ("Andalusia by herself, for Spain and Humanity"). Over the two columns is an arch in the colors of the flag of Andalusia, with the Latin words "Dominator Hercules Fundator".

paragraphs: The official flag of Andalusia has three equal horizontal stripes, colored green, white, and green respectively; the Andalusian coat of arms is on the central stripe. It was approved in a meeting in 1918 of Andalusian nationalists at Ronda, a city in the province of Málaga.

paragraphs: The anthem of Andalusia was composed by José del Castillo Díaz with lyrics by Blas Infante. The music was inspired by "Santo Dios", a religious folk song sung at harvest time by peasants.

paragraphs: The national holiday, the "Día de Andalucía", is celebrated on 28 February.

paragraphs: Andalusia is one of the 17 Spanish autonomous communities and is in the southwestern region of the European Union. It has a surface area of , 17.3 percent of the territory of Spain. By area, it is the second Spanish autonomous community.

paragraphs: The natural limits of Andalusia are: to the south, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea; to the north, the Sierra Morena, mountain range that separates Andalusia from the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha; to the west is Portugal; and to the east is Murcia.

paragraphs: Andalusia has the Iberian peninsula's highest mountains and nearly 15 percent of its terrain over . The picture is similar for areas under (with the Baetic Depression), and for the variety of slopes.

paragraphs: The Atlantic coast is mostly beach and gradually sloping coasts; the Mediterranean coast has many cliffs. These differences divide the region naturally into Upper Andalusia (two mountainous areas) and Lower Andalusia (the broad basin of the Guadalquivir).

paragraphs: The three main geographical regions of Andalusia are:

paragraphs: In general, Andalusia has a Mediterranean climate, except in the Valley of Granada (), with occasional heavy rains and extremely hot temperatures.

paragraphs: Rainfall decreases from west to east. The place in Andalusia with the highest rainfall is in the Sierra de Grazalema ( per year) and the driest place is Cabo de Gata, the place with the least amount of rainfall in Europe with only of rain per year.

paragraphs: The average temperature in Andalusia throughout the year is over . Averages in the cities range from in Baeza to in Málaga. Much of the Guadalquivir valley and the Mediterranean coast has an average of about . The coldest month is January when Granada at the foot of the Sierra Nevada experiences an average temperature of . The hottest are July and August, with an average temperature of for Andalusia as a whole. Córdoba is the hottest provincial capital, followed by Seville.

paragraphs: The mountain ranges are cooler than the plains and have a higher rainfall with some snow in winter. The Sierra Nevada, above , is snow covered for most of the year.

paragraphs: Andalusia has rivers that flow into both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Flowing to the Atlantic are the Guadiana, Odiel-Tinto, Guadalquivir, Guadalete, and Barbate. Flowing to the Mediterranean are the Guadiaro, Guadalhorce, Guadalmedina, Guadalfeo, Andarax (also known as the Almería) and Almanzora. Of these, the Guadalquivir is the longest in Andalusia and fifth longest on the Iberian peninsula, at .

paragraphs: Andalusia consists of eight provinces. Each of the Andalusian provinces bears the same name as its capital:

paragraphs: The Andalusians are the inhabitants of Andalusia of the southern region in Iberian Peninsula. They are generally considered an ethnically distinct peoples because of the two of the most important markers of distinctiveness: their own language and an awareness of a presumed common origin. Andalusian is said to be a distinct dialect of Spanish, although it is debatable, according to the nationalists. The Andalusians have a rich culture which includes the famous flamenco style of music and dance, even though it was adopted by the Spanish gypsies who have changed it and monopolized into their own culture.


title: Granada

paragraphs: Granada is a Spanish city, capital of the province of Granada, in Andalusia. With 233,000 inhabitants, it is an important artistic and cultural center. The city has many famous monuments, such as the Alhambra, the Cathedral, the "Alcaiceria", and the "Corral del Carbon". It is near Sierra Nevada, the highest mountain range in Spain, in the valley where the Genil and Darro rivers meet. The Darro runs through the "Albaicin" and the" Sacromonte", two charming historical areas of the city.

paragraphs: Realejo is where the Jewish people of Granada lived for hundreds of years. In 1492, Isabella of Castile forced the Jewish people of Granada to leave Spain. Now, it is known for its street art and food.

paragraphs: Cartuja is named after an old monastery in this district. The area also contains many buildings that are part of the University of Granada.

paragraphs: This district is named after a big, important gate built by the Nasrid dynasty. The name means "Gate of the Ears." Bib-Rambla is in the middle of the city, and it has many important landmarks like the Cathedral.

paragraphs: The Sacromonte is in the northern half of Granada, near the Albaicin. It is famous for the Romani people that have lived there. It has many houses made from caves dug into the hill. It is famous for flamenco dancing, as well as its views of the Alhambra.

paragraphs: The Albaicin is one of the oldest areas of Granada. In fact, before the city of Granada, there was an older city here called Elvira. Like the Sacromonte, it is famous for its views of the Alhambra.

paragraphs: Zaidin is an area in the far south of Granada. It has the most people of any district in Granada.


title: Cadiz

paragraphs: Cadiz is a Spanish city, capital of the Province of Cadiz, in Andalusia. It is the southernmost capital in the Iberian Peninsula. The population is 130,000, but it is the centre of a metropolitan area, the Bay of Cadiz, with more than 500,000 inhabitants.

paragraphs: Cadiz is known for its attractive beaches where many nautical sports can be practiced. This is possible thanks to the excellent climate all year round. It is one of the oldest cities in Western Europe and it used to be one of the most imporant Spanish ports during the Spanish Golden Age and the Age of Discovery.


title: Merida

paragraphs: Mérida () is the capital of Extremadura, an autonomous community in Spain. It has 55,000 inhabitants and is an important Roman center, with the theatre and the bridge over the Guadiana river.


title: Cuenca

paragraphs: Cuenca is a Spanish city, capital of the Cuenca province, in Castile-La Mancha. Around 50,000 are living there. It is famous for its monuments: The hanging houses, the Cathedral and other churches. It is located over the Jucar river, near the Serrania of Cuenca.


title: Balearic Islands

paragraphs: The Balearic Islands (officially and in Catalan Illes Balears) are an autonomous community of Spain, formed by the "Balearic Islands province". The main Balearic islands are Mallorca (also called in English "Majorca"), Minorca, Eivissa or Ibiza, and Formentera. The capital is Palma de Mallorca, and other cities are Mahon, Ibiza, Inca, Ciutadella, and Calvia.


title: Henry Fonda

paragraphs: Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American movie, stage, television, radio, and voice actor. He was the head of a family of actors: son Peter, daughter Jane, granddaughter Bridget and grandson Troy Garity. He has won an Academy Award.

paragraphs: Fonda starred in movies including "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940), "12 Angry Men" (1957), "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968) and "Yours, Mine and Ours" (1968). His last performance was in 1981's "On Golden Pond".

paragraphs: Fonda was born on May 16, 1905 in Grand Island, Nebraska. He studied at the University of Minnesota.

paragraphs: He was married to Margaret Sullavan from 1931 until they divorced in 1932. Then he was married to Frances Ford Seymour from 1936 until her death in 1950. Then he was married to Susan Blanchard from 1950 until they divorced in 1956. Then he was married to Afdera Franchetti from 1957 until they divorced in 1961. Then he was last married to Shirlee Mae Adams from 1965 until his death in 1982.

paragraphs: Fonda died on August 12, 1982 from heart disease in Los Angeles, California. He was 77.


title: Provinces of Spain

paragraphs: There are fifty parts of Spain called provinces. They are:


title: Cartagena

paragraphs: Cartagena is a city in the Region of Murcia, in Spain. In the south of the region, at the Mediterranean Sea. The population of the city is 205,000 and it is an industrial centre. Cartagena was founded by the Carthaginese as "Qart Hadasht" and the name means "New City".


title: Palermo

paragraphs: Palermo is a Italian city. It is the capital and largest city of Sicily. It has 720,000 people, with more than 1,000,000 in the metropolitan area. It has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. The city started as a colony of Phoenicia. It was later Roman -for a century Islamic- and Norman and part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. After Italian unification Palermo grew rapidly. The city was bombed heavily in 1942 and 1943.


title: Bosnia and Herzegovina

paragraphs: Bosnia~Herzegovina or Bosnia-Herzegovina (locally: "Bosna i Hercegovina/Босна и Херцеговина", most commonly abbreviated as "BiH/БиХ") is a country in Southeastern Europe, with an area of 51,197 km and 4,600,000 people. Countries around Bosnia and Herzegovina are Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro. The capital is Sarajevo, and other important cities are Banja Luka, Mostar, Zenica and Tuzla.

paragraphs: The first state in Bosnia and Herzegovina was in the Middle Ages. During the Ottoman Empire, it was a very important province in the Balkans and the capital, Sarajevo, had 100,000 people. In 1878, it became a province of Austria-Hungary when the Empire took over Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908. In 1914 the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated in Sarajevo, leading to World War I. From 1918 until 1992, the country was a part of the former Yugoslavia. After a 3-year long war, Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaimed independence as a country consisting mostly of Serbs, Croats and Bosnian Muslims.

paragraphs: The country is divided into two entities: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. These are then divided into 10 cantons.

paragraphs: This is a list of the ten largest towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only Sarajevo and Banja Luka have more than 200,000 people.

paragraphs: Bosnia and Herzegovina has produced many athletes. Many of them were famous in the Yugoslav national teams before Bosnia and Herzegovina's independence.

paragraphs: The most important international sporting event in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina was the hosting of the 14th Winter Olympics, held in Sarajevo.

paragraphs: The Borac handball club has won seven Yugoslav Handball Championships, as well as the European Championship Cup in 1976 and the International Handball Federation Cup in 1991.

paragraphs: The Bosna basketball club from Sarajevo were European Champions in 1979. The Yugoslav national basketball team medaled in every world championship from 1963 through 1990. The team included Bosnian players such as Dražen Dalipagić and Mirza Delibašić. Bosnia and Herzegovina regularly qualifies for the European Championship in Basketball. Jedinstvo Aida women's basketball club, based in Tuzla, has won the 1989 European Championships in Florence.

paragraphs: Bosnia has many world-class basketball players, notably Mirza Teletović, the first Bosnian in the NBA. Among others are, Elmedin Kikanović, Nihad Đedović, Ognjen Kuzmić, Jusuf Nurkić, Nedžad Sinanović, and Nemanja Mitrović.

paragraphs: The Tuzla-Sinalco karate club from Tuzla has won the most Yugoslav championships, as well as four European Championships and one World Championship.

paragraphs: The Bosnian chess team has been Champion of Yugoslavia seven times. In addition the club ŠK Bosna Sarajevo won four Chess Club Cup : 1994 in Lyon, 1999 in Bugojno, 2000 in Neum, and 2001 in Kallithea Elassonos. Chess grandmaster Borki Predojević has also won European Championships: Under-12 years Litochoro (Greece) in 1999, and Under-14 years Kallithea Elassonos (Greece) in 2001, and in 2003 won World Championship Under-16 years Halkidiki (Greece).

paragraphs: Middle-weight boxer Marijan Beneš has won several Championships of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslav Championships and the European Championship. In 1978 he won the World Title against Elisha Obed from the Bahamas. Another middle-weight boxer, Anton Josipović won the Olympic Gold in Los Angeles, 1984. He also won Yugoslav Championship in 1982, the Championship of the Balkans in 1983, and the Belgrade Trophy in 1985.

paragraphs: Association football is the most popular sport in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It dates from 1903, but its popularity grew significantly after World War I. At the local level, FK Sarajevo (1967 and 1984), Željezničar (1972) have both won the Yugoslav Championship. The former Yugoslav national football team has included a number of Bosnian players, such as Josip Katalinski, Blaž Slišković, Dušan Bajević, Enver Marić, Mehmed Baždarević, Ivica Osim, Safet Sušić, Vahidin Musemić and Mirsad Fazlagić.

paragraphs: Today, the team of Bosnia and Herzegovina has modern footballers like Edin Džeko, Zvjezdan Misimović, Vedad Ibišević, Emir Spahić, Asmir Begović, Miralem Pjanić, Sejad Salihović, Senad Lulić and others. The independent Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team has not qualified for a European or World Championship but has played twice in the play-off stages.

paragraphs: Bosnian national teams have struggled to draft the best national players. Many players born in Bosnia and Herzegovina choose to play for other countries because of their ethnic identification. For example, Nikica Jelavić and Vedran Ćorluka were both born in Bosnia and Herzegovina but play for Croatia. Other internationally famous players from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who have made similar choices, are: Dejan Lovren, Mladen Petrić, Mario Stanić, Neven Subotić, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Marko Marin, Boris Živković, Zlatko Junuzović, Savo Milošević, and Zdravko Kuzmanović.

paragraphs: Bosnia and Herzegovina was the world champion of volleyball at the 2004 Summer Paralympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics. Many among those on the team lost their legs in the Bosnian War.

paragraphs: Bosnian cuisine uses many spices, in moderate quantities. Most dishes are light, as they are cooked in lots of water. The sauces are fully natural, with little more than the natural juices of the vegetables in the dish. Typical ingredients include tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, dried beans, fresh beans, plums, milk, paprika and cream called Pavlaka. Bosnian cuisine is balanced between Western and Eastern influences. As a result of the Ottoman administration for almost 500 years, Bosnian food is closely related to Turkish, Greek, and other former Ottoman and Mediterranean cuisines. However, because of years of Austrian rule, there are many influences from Central Europe. Typical meat dishes include mostly beef and lamb. Some local specialties are ćevapi, burek, dolma, sarma, pilaf, goulash, ajvar and a whole range of Eastern sweets. Local wines come from Herzegovina where the climate is suitable for growing grapes. Herzegovinian loza (similar to Italian Grappa but less sweet) is very popular. Plum or apple alcohol beverages are made in the north. In the south, distilleries used to produce vast quantities of brandy. Brandy is the base of most alcoholic drinks.

paragraphs: Coffeehouses, where Bosnian coffee is served in džezva with rahat lokum and sugar cubes, are in many places in Sarajevo and every city in the country. Coffee drinking is a favorite Bosnian pastime and part of the culture. Bosnians are believed to be some of the heaviest coffee drinkers in the world.


title: Black bass

paragraphs: A black bass is a type of fresh water fish. The black basses are found throughout a large area east of the Rocky Mountains in North America, from the Hudson Bay basin in Canada to northeastern Mexico. Several species, notably the Largemouth and Smallmouth, have been very widely introduced throughout the world. Black bass of all species are highly sought-after game fish, and bass fishing is an extremely popular sport. These fish are well known as strong fighters, and taste good.

paragraphs: Black bass are found in running and still waters, with or without aquatic vegetation (plants that live in water). they need food and some form of cover. Generally, they can tolerate a wide range of water clarities and bottom types. Most prefer water temperatures from 20 to 30°C, and are often found at depths less than 20 feet. Smallmouth prefer clear water and usually like deeper water than Largemouth.

paragraphs: The feeding habits of bass change with its size. Young fish mainly feed on microscopic animals (plankton). Fingerling bass eat insects and small fishes. Adult bass will eat whatever is available, including fish, crabs, frogs, salamanders, snakes, mice, turtles, and even birds.

paragraphs: Age and growth - Growth rates are highly variable with differences attributed mainly to their food supply and length of growing season. Female bass live longer than males and are much more likely to reach trophy size. By age two or three, females grow much faster than male bass. At five years of age females may be twice the weight of males. The oldest bass from Florida whose age has been determined by fisheries' biologists was 16 years of age.

paragraphs: The largemouth bass is a very popular fresh water game fish. Much of its popularity is due to its aggressive attitude and willingness to strike a bait with explosive force. They can be caught with almost every bait. The value of the largemouth as a sport fish has prompted a movement toward catch and release fishing.

paragraphs: A bass of 22 pounds, 4 ounces was caught in Montgomery Lake, Georgia (U.S. state) in 1932.

paragraphs: Sport fishing for Black bass, particularly largemouth and smallmouth, has seen extraordinary growth in popularity. In Texas alone, fishermen spent $28 billion on equipment, licenses and fishing trips in 1996. That same year Texas sport fishing was responsible for creating 80,000 jobs and brought in over $180 million to the state in taxes. Many talented fishermen have turned the sport of bass fishing into a business by becoming a professional and competing in tournaments. Kevin VanDam is the top-rated money winner in professional bass fishing, having earned more than $5.6 million.


title: Reinheitsgebot

paragraphs: The Reinheitsgebot is a regulation about the purity of beer. The regulation started in Ingolstadt, in Bavaria, in Germany, in 1516.

paragraphs: Some people talk about the "Bavarian" Reinheitsgebot, or the "German" Reinheitsgebot. They all mean the same thing. There are similar acts in the other states which later became known as Germany.

paragraphs: The Reinheitsgebot is no longer part of German law. It has been replaced by the Provisional German Beer Law

paragraphs: , which allows things prohibited in the "Reinheitsgebot", such as wheat malt and cane sugar, but which no longer allows unmalted barley.

paragraphs: Yeast was not a part of beer until Louis Pasteur discovered what it did during fermentation. This was around the year 1800. Brewers (the people brewing beer) usually re-used some of the sediments of the fermentation. They took some sediments of an older brew and added those sediments to the next brew.

paragraphs: Hops were added as a method of preservation (to stop the beer going bad quickly). Hops were allowed to stop other things (like adding certain mushrooms to the beer, which was done in the Middle Ages) being done to preserve beer. Other herbs, like stinging nettles had been used. The stinging nettle is part of the same plant family as hops.

paragraphs: A brewer who broke the "Reinheitsgebot" was punished: The beer barrels were taken by the state and destroyed and he/she did not receive any money for the loss.

paragraphs: Even today, many brewers are proud of the "Reinheitsgebot"; most German breweries say they follow it. Some only use it as a marketing tool. The "Reinheitsgebot' says that beer is made of barley, so all wheat beers were not allowed by the original Reinheitsgebot).

paragraphs: Belgian beers are different. The brewers often add sugar (to boost fermentation). Nevertheless, Belgian beers have a brewing tradition at least as long as those of Germany. They taste totally different from the German ones.


title: Maß

paragraphs: A Maß or Mass is an old unit of measurement of liquid. Literally translated, it means "mass". It is equal to 1.069 litre. Today, it is only used for measuring quantities of beer (one litre). Beer is usually served as 0.2 or 0.3 l ("small beer") or as 0.5 l ("big beer"), but at some occasions (like the Oktoberfest) and some places it is also served as a "Maß".

paragraphs: Usually this Maß is served in special mugs. These used to be made of ceramics, especially clay. During the 19th and 20th centuries most were replaced by ones made of glass.


title: Wolverine

paragraphs: The wolverine or glutton ("Gulo gulo") is the largest member of the Mustelidae family (the weasels). It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more like a small bear than other mustelids. The wolverine, a solitary animal, has a reputation for ferocity, and can kill prey many times larger than itself. It is a powerful and versatile predator and scavenger.

paragraphs: There is a clear difference between two subspecies: the Old World form "Gulo gulo gulo" and the New World form "G. g. luscus".

paragraphs: The male is about tall, the female . Their length ranges from (female) to (male) and they reach a weight of around . Their tail measures about . Their brown fur protects them from the extremely cold temperatures and their big feet enable them to walk on top of snow.

paragraphs: Wolverines live primarily in isolated arctic and alpine regions of northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia, and Scandinavia. they are also native to European Russia, the Baltic countries, northeast China and Mongolia. In 2008 and 2009, wolverines were sighted as far south as the Sierra Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, for the first time since 1922. They are also found in low numbers in the Rocky Mountains and northern Cascades of the United States, and have been sighted as far south and east as Michigan. However, most New World wolverines live in Canada.

paragraphs: Wolverines feed on almost every type of food that they can find: mice, rats, birds, bird eggs, reindeer and other large prey. Wolverines prefer to hunt larger prey in winter, when the snow slows down the prey and gives the wolverine an advantage.

paragraphs: Wolverines are highly territorial. Wolverines reproduce every two or three years. The female gives birth to one to three young (called kits) in a tunnel called a den deep underneath snowdrifts.

paragraphs: Humans are the wolverine’s main enemy. The wolverine’s thick, warm fur is used to manufacture the trim of a parka's hood or other winter clothes, as the dense guard hairs do not collect frost.

paragraphs: In February 2013, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service proposed giving Endangered Species Act protections to the wolverine largely because climate change (global warming) is whittling away its wintry habitat in the northern Rockies. Wolverines have poor eyesight but a keen sense of smell, they can smell prey 20 feet under the snow.


title: Bismarck (ship)

paragraphs: The German battleship Bismarck was one of the most famous warships of World War II. It only sailed for one mission, Operation "Rheinübung", before sinking in the Atlantic Ocean. Nearly 3500 seamen lost their lives in the battle which lasted around 8 days.

paragraphs: The whole ship with all the oil reserves weighed 53165 tonnes. It was about long and wide.

paragraphs: The ship had eight big guns: cannons, called the heavy artillery. There were 12 smaller cannons, and several anti-aircraft "FLAK" cannons too.

paragraphs: It had very thick armour, even for warships today. The thickest plating was around the heavy artillery, where the metal was thick.

paragraphs: First the "Bismarck" had to reach the open sea. This because it was a huge battleship few other ships would be able to get close enough to attack without being destroyed, so it could control a large area of sea.

paragraphs: The first problem the "Bismarck" had was how to pass the British Isles. It took the way near the Fjords of Norway. There it met the other German ship "Prinz Eugen". Both ships reached the open sea in the Denmark straits. The Royal Navy's battleships HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales were sent to sink the "Bismarck". The "Hood" lost this battle. The "Hood" was more than a ship for the British military leaders. It was kind of a myth. So the British Navy sent a large number of ships to hunt the "Bismarck". There were some cruisers, many battleships and some aircraft-carriers. There was a very dramatic hunt, because the Bismarck was damaged but escaped from the nearest British ships.

paragraphs: Finally the "Bismarck" was found by a some aircraft from one of the ships, and its rudder and propeller were broken by the torpedoes they carried. then the British battleships, HMS King George V and HMS Rodney moved down to their shortest range (3km) and fired straight into the ships towers, one 16 inch shell hit the bridge and killed the captain and the German admiral. Now the Bismarck could not move, send radio or fight back due to its fire control taking a direct hit, and it was already taking on water due to its duel with HMS Hood, and the abandon ship order had been given so all the of the British ships, except two cruisers to pick the German sailors, left the Bismarck. But they had to leave lots behind because a U-boat (U49) had been sent to find and take the Bismarcks log book back to Germany. With the risk of the Bismarck being captured, her sailors seriously damaged her, and she sank at 10:39. Over 2000 men went down with her.


title: Republic of Mahabad

paragraphs: The Republic of Mahabad (also Republic of Kurdistan), established in Iranian Kurdistan, was the second independent Kurdish state of the 20th century after the Republic of Ararat in Turkey. Its capital was the Kurdish city of Mahabad in northwestern Iran. The Republic was part of the Iran crisis a conflict between the United States and USSR.

paragraphs: The republic was led by President Qazi Muhammad and Minister of Defense Mustafa Barzani. Prime Minister was Hadschi Baba Scheich. The Republic of Mahabad declared independence on January 22, 1946, but the movement was defeated a year later by the army of the central government of Iran. . After the collapse of the republic in 1947, Qazi Muhammad was hanged in public in Chuwarchira Square in the center of Mahabad.

paragraphs: Massoud Barzani, the current President of Iraqi Kurdistan, was born in Mahabad when his father, the late General Mustafa Barzani, was chief of the military of Mahabad declared in Iranian Kurdistan .

paragraphs: Archibald Roosevelt son of the former US-President Theodore Roosevelt, wrote in ""The Kurdish Republic of Mahabad"", that a main problem of the peoples Republic of Mahabad, was the kurds needed the power of the USSR. Only with the Red army they had a chance. But these close relationship to Stalin and the USSR let many kurdish tribes to be in opposition with this kurdish state.


title: Coat of Arms of Iran

paragraphs: The Emblem of Iran was made after the Islamic Revolution in that country, in 1979. After the revolution, Iran decided to use a new flag. The old flag had a picture of a golden lion and a sabre, that was a symbol for the Shah (king) of Iran. This emblem is a symbol for the whole country and the Islamic character of the new government. It is drawn to look like a version of the word الله which means "God" in Persian (the language of Iran) and also in the Arabic language. It looks like a tulip, which is an old symbol for Iran.