:: wikimiki.org ::
| Santa María La Antigua Del Darién |
Santa María la Antigua del DariénSanta María la Antigua del Darién (Darién) is a city in what is now Darién Province, Panama.
Established in 1510 by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa, it is the oldest still-existing European colony in the Americas.
It is nearby Darien National Park.
Darién ProvinceDarién is a province in eastern Panama. It is hot, humid, heavily forested, and sparsely populated.
Europeans first discovered the region in 1501, and Christopher Columbus sighted it on his fourth voyage in 1503. The Spanish established the first European colony in South America, Santa María la Antigua del Darién, in Darién in 1510. The settlement did not prosper, however, and was soon abandoned. From this town Vasco Núñez de Balboa made his march to the Pacific in 1513. Some of the refugees from Santa María went on to found Panama City in 1519.
In 1698 Scottish Protestants launched another attempt to colonize Darién: the Darién scheme. It too ended in failure.
Today the chief town in Darién is La Palma, located where the Tuira River empties into the Bay of San Miguel.
The province was formed in 1922 from Panamá province.
The province is divided in 2 districts.
District (Capital)
# Chepigana (La Palma)
# Pinogana (El Real de Santa María)
See also: Darién Gap
Category:Provinces of Panama
Panama
Panama (Spanish: Panamá) is the southernmost country of North America. A transcontinental country, its isthmus constitutes the last part of a natural land bridge between the North American and South American continents. It borders Costa Rica to the west and Colombia to the east, and the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south.
History
Main article: History of Panama
Much of Panama's domestic politics and international diplomacy in the 20th century were tied to the Panama Canal and the foreign policy of the United States. At the turn of the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt pursued United States diplomatic efforts to facilitate a deal with Colombia that would allow it to take over French canal operations started by Ferdinand de Lesseps. In November 1903, a small number of wealthy Panamanian landowners lead by a covert Separatist Junta presided by Dr. Manuel Amador Guerrero, were encouraged to secede from Colombia with support from the United States.
On November 3, Panama declared its independence from Colombia after controlling the Colombian army. The President of the Municipal Council, Demetrio H. Brid[http://www.demetriohbrid.com/Biografia.html], highest authority at the time, became its de facto President, appointing on November 4 a Provisional Government to run the affairs of the new republic. The United States was the first country to recognize the new Republic of Panama and sent troops to protect the nation. The 1904 Constituent Assembly elected Dr. Manuel Amador Guerrero, a prominent member of the Conservative political party, as the first constitutional President of the Republic of Panama.
In December 1903 representatives of the republic signed the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty which granted rights to the United States to build and administer indefinitely the Panama Canal, which was opened in 1914. This treaty became a contentious diplomatic issue between the United States and Panama until the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties in 1977.
Although the original intent of the founding fathers was to bring harmony amongst the two major political parties (Conservatives and Liberals), the Panamanian government went through periods of political instability and corruption and at various times in its history, the mandate of an elected president terminated prematurely. In 1968, Gen. Omar Torrijos toppled the government of the recently elected Arnulfo Arias Madrid and became the virtual uncontested leader of Panama until his death in an airplane accident in 1981. After Torrijos's death, power eventually became concentrated in the hands of Gen. Manuel Noriega, a former head of Panama's secret police and a former CIA operative. Relations with the United States government soured by the end of the 1980s, with Noriega being accused of drug trafficking.
In December 1989, the United States invaded Panama in a large military operation codenamed Operation Just Cause involving 25,000 United States troops. Ostensibly, the death of an unarmed U.S. soldier in plain clothes in Panama at a Panamanian Defence Forces roadblock was one of the precipitating causes for the invasion along with drugtrafficking charges and Noriega's refusal to hand over power after being defeated in elections. However, according to the Panamanian government at the time, the officer's vehicle attempted to drive through the roadblock which was located near a sensitive military location. A few hours after the invasion, in a ceremony that took place inside a US military base in the former Panama Canal Zone, Guillermo Endara was sworn in as the new president of Panama. The invasion occurred just days before the Panama Canal administration was to be turned over to Panamanian control, according to the timetable set up by the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. After the invasion, Noriega sought asylum in the Vatican diplomatic mission represented by Monsignior Jose S. Laboa, but after a few days turned himself in to the American military. Noriega was immediately taken to Florida where he was formally charged and arrested by United States federal authorities. He is eligible for parole in 2007.
Under the Torrijos-Carter Treaty, on December 31, 1999, the United States returned all canal-related lands to Panama, but reserves the right to military intervention in the interest of its national security. Panama also gained control of canal-related buildings and infrastructure as well as full administration of the canal.
Politics
Main article: Politics of Panama
Panama is a republic with three branches of government: executive and legislative branches elected by direct vote for 5-year terms, and an independently appointed judiciary. The executive branch includes a president and two vice presidents (second vice presidential seat will be eliminated in May 2009 elections). The legislative branch consists of a 78-member unicameral Legislative Assembly (legislative branch will decrease to 71 members in May 2009 elections). The judicial branch is organized under a nine-member Supreme Court and includes all tribunals and municipal courts. An autonomous Electoral Tribunal supervises voter registration, the election process, and the activities of political parties. Everyone over the age of 18 is required to vote, although those who fail to do so are not penalized.
General elections were held on May 2, 2004; the presidential contest was won by Martín Torrijos, son of the former strongman Omar Torrijos. Martín Torrijos assumed the presidency on September 1, 2004. The former president had been Mireya Moscoso, widow of the political leader Arnulfo Arias.
Administrative subdivisions
Main article: Provinces of Panama
Panama is divided into 9 provinces (provincias) and 3 provincial-level indigenous territories (comarcas indígenas). There are also 2 sub-provincial comarcas.
The provinces are:
- Bocas del Toro
- Chiriquí
- Coclé
- Colón
- Darién
- Herrera
- Los Santos
- Panamá
- Veraguas
The provincial-level comarcas are:
- Emberá
- Kuna Yala
- Ngöbe-Buglé
The sub-provincial comarcas are Kuna de Madugandí and Kuna de Wargandí, which are part of Panamá and Darién provinces, respectively.
:See also List of cities in Panama
Geography
List of cities in Panama
Main article: Geography of Panama
Panama is located in both North and South America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Colombia and Costa Rica. Its location on the eastern end of the isthmus forming a landbridge connecting Central and South America is strategic. By 1999, Panama controlled the Panama Canal that links the North Atlantic Ocean via the Caribbean Sea with the North Pacific Ocean.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Panama
Because of its key geographic location, Panama's economy is service-based, heavily weighted toward banking, commerce, and tourism. The handover of the canal and military installations by the US has given rise to new construction projects. The Moscoso administration inherited an economy that is much more structurally sound and liberalized than the one inherited by its predecessor. However, Moscoso was criticized for several failed or halted schemes to develop the former Canal Zone area, including the Ciudad del Saber. The economy also experienced a downturn with the departure of thousands of expatriate Canal professionals.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Panama
Demographics of Panama
Demographics of Panama]
Demographics of Panama
Demographics of Panama
The culture, customs, and language of the Panamanians are predominantly Caribbean Spanish. Ethnically, the majority of the population is mestizo or mixed Spanish, Indian, Chinese, and West Indian. Spanish is the official and dominant language; English is a common second language spoken by the West Indians and by many in business and the professions. More than half the population lives in the Panama City–Colón metropolitan corridor.
The majority of Panamanians are Roman Catholic, accounting for over 80% of the population. Although the Constitution recognises Catholicism as the religion of the majority, Panama has no official religion. Evangelical Christians are now estimated to be around 10% of the population. Other major religions in Panama are Islam (5%), the Bahá'í Faith (1%), Judaism (0.4%), and Hinduism (0.3%). The Jewish community, with over 10,000 members, is by far the biggest community in the region (including Central America, Colombia and the Caribbean). Jewish immigration began in the late 19th Century, and at present there are three synagogues in Panama City, as well as two Jewish schools. Within Latin America, Panama has one of the largest Jewish communities in proportion to its population, surpassed by Uruguay and Argentina.
Also in regards to the Bahá'í Faith, Panama hosts one of only seven Bahá'í Houses of Worship in the world. Completed in 1972 in Panama City, it is perched on a high cliff overlooking the canal, and is constructed of local stone laid in a pattern reminiscent of Native American fabric designs.
Panama, because of its historical reliance on commerce, is above all a melting pot. This is shown, for instance, by its considerable population of Chinese origin, who number around 150,000, or about 5% of the population. (See main article at Chinatowns in Latin America—Panama). Many Chinese immigrated to Panama to help build the Panama Canal more than 100 years ago. A term for "corner store" in Panamanian Spanish is el chino, reflecting the fact that many corner stores are owned and run by Chinese immigrants. (Other countries have similar social patterns, for instance, the "Arab" corner store of France.)
The country is also the smallest in Latin America in terms of population, with Uruguay as the second-smallest (by almost 400,000). However, since Panama has a faster birth rate, it is likely that in the coming years its population will surpass Uruguay's.
Culture
Main article: Culture of Panama
- Music of Panama
See also
- Balboa (currency)
- Communications in Panama
- Foreign relations of Panama
- List of hospitals in Panama
- List of Panamanians
- Military of Panama
- Orden de Manuel Amador Guerrero
- Panama Canal
- Public holidays in Panama
- Transportation in Panama
- Panamanian Spanish
External links
- [http://www.thepanamanews.com Panama News in English]
- [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/viviendo_en_panama/ Viviendo en Panama]
- [http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/panamaforum The Panama Forum]
- [http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/cascoviejo UNESCO World Heritage site, El Casco Antiguo]
- [http://www.chiriquichatter.net/blog Chiriqui Chatter - Blog in the Chiriqui Province]
- [http://www.mef.gob.pa/ Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas]-(In Spanish)
- [http://www.mire.gob.pa/ Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores]-(In Spanish)
- [http://www.info-panama.com/panama-gallery/index.php?lang=english Panama Pictures]
- [http://www.presidencia.gob.pa/ Presidencia de la República]-(In Spanish)
- [http://www.up.ac.pa/ Universidad de Panamá]
- [http://www.demetriohbrid.com/ Demetrio H. Brid First de facto President 1903]-(Spanish)
Category:Central American countries
ko:파나마
ms:Panama
ja:パナマ
th:ประเทศปานามา
1510
Events
- Conquest of Pskov by Grand Prince Vasili III of Muscovy.
- Formation of the Holy League to defend the Italian States.
- Peter Henlein builds the first pocketwatch.
Births
- March 30 - Antonio de Cabezón, Spanish composer and organist (died 1566)
- April 2 - Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun (died 1550)
- July 22 - Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence (died 1537)
- October 6 - Rowland Taylor, English protestant martyr (died 1555)
- November 6 - John Caius, English physician (died 1573)
- Francis Borgia, General of the Jesuits (died 1572)
- Jörg Breu the Younger, German painter (died 1547)
- Francis David, Hungarian founder of the Unitarian Church (died 1579)
- Andrea Gabrieli, Italian composer and organist (died 1586)
- Claude Goudimel, French composer and music theorist (died 1572)
- Matsunaga Hisahide, Japanese warlord (died 1577)
- Aloysius Lilius, Italian inventor of the Gregorian calendar (died 1576)
- Solomon Luria, Polish-born Kabbalist (died 1574)
- Luis de Morales, Spanish religious painter (died 1586)
- Oda Nobuhide, Japanese warlord (died 1551)
- Bernard de Palissy, French potter and writer
- Ambroise Paré, French surgeon (died 1590)
- Guillaume Postel, linguist (died 1581)
- Lope de Rueda, Spanish dramatist and author
- Lawrence Sheriff, Elizabethan gentleman and grocer (died 1567)
- Claudio Veggio, Italian composer
- Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, French naval officer (died 1571)
Deaths
- February 28 - Juan de la Cosa, Spanish cartographer and explorer
- March 1 - Francisco de Almeida, Portuguese soldier and explorer
- March 10 - Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg, German preacher (born 1445)
- May 17 - Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (born 1445)
- August 17 - Edmund Dudley, English statesman
- December 14 - Friedrich of Saxony (b. 1473)
- December 31 - Bianca Maria Sforza, wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1472)
- Agueybana, Taino chief
- Ambrogio Calepino, Italian lexicographer (born 1450)
- Catherine Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus
- Richard Empson, English statesman
- Giorgione, Italian painter
- Bohuslav Hasištejnský z Lobkovic, Bohemian writer
- Florian Zamoyski, Polish nobleman
Category:1510
ko:1510년
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (c. 1475, born in Jerez de los Caballeros or in Badajoz, Extremadura, Castile, Spain – January 21, 1519, in Acla, near Darién, Panama) was a Spanish conquistador who founded the colony of Darién in Panama, the oldest still-existing European settlement in the mainland of the Americas. He was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from America.
Balboa sailed to with Rodrigo de Bastidas and an expedition in 1501, Bastidas had a liscense to bring back many treasures for the king and queen, and keep four fifts for himself. They explored the north coast of South America, until they realized they did not have enough men and sailed to Hispaniola also known as Dominican Republic and Haiti. Balboa made a living s a pig farmer. He accumulated many debts and finally decided to leave in 9 years. However, Hispaniola did not allow people to leave if they had debts, so he stowed away on the ship captained by a cruel man named Enciso. Enciso was going to throw Balboa and his dog Leoncico overboard, but his crew would have started a mutiny if that was so. When they reached the destination, the place was burned down so Balboa took over the expedition and created a colony in a new place and named it Darien.
While under way, they met Francisco Pizzaro (the future conqueror of Peru), who led the colony in San Sebastián and told them almost all members of the colony had been massacred by the local people. Enciso nevertheless decided to go on to San Sebastián, but his ship was wrecked, the men being rescued by Pizarro but all supplies and livestock being lost. The colony was found in ashes. Balboa, by now accepted as a crew member of Enciso's, convinced them to try again in the area around Darién.
They subdued the local population, started a colony and built a village. Balboa made the colonists reject both Enciso's authority and that of Diego de Nicuesa, who was sent to Darién as governor after Enciso had sought redress with King Ferdinand. Balboa became de facto leader of the colony. Both the colony and Balboa himself thrived under his policies, making friends with surrounding peoples, and subduing and looting those who did not want to. He heard of a great sea on the other side of the mountains and of a land of great wealth called Birú (later altered to Perú), turning out to be the Tahuantinsuyu (the Inca Empire) to the south of this sea. As Balboa soon heard that the king wanted to send him back to be tried for his conduct towards Enciso and Nicuesa, he decided he had to move fast.
On September 1, 1513, he sailed to San Blas (a lucky choice, as it just happens to be the narrowest part of the isthmus), and went south across the isthmus. As before he befriended the locals who were so inclined, and captured, tortured and looted those that remained hostile, thus gaining substantial treasure. Finally he reached a top from where he could see the Pacific Ocean on September 25, 1513. When the others had joined him a Te Deum was chanted, a cross erected, and the sea was christened Mar del Sur ("South Sea"). He pushed on to the edge of the ocean, in the Gulf of San Miguel and Balboa claimed the ocean and all adjacent lands for Spain.
On the road back they captured a Native American chief called Tubanama and got a huge ransom, but some members almost died of hunger because they had loaded treasure in preference to provisions. On January 18, 1514, Balboa was back in Darién.
While Balboa was away, Pedro Arias de Ávila (generally known as Pedrarias) had been sent to Darién as a governor. Although this time Balboa did not oppose him openly, tension between them remained, Pedrarias being envious because Balboa was much more popular than himself. They established a relative peace when Balboa agreed to marry Ávila's daughter, Doña María. The girl was in Spain, and her mother went to get her. Meanwhile, Balboa embarked on a new, courageous expedition by building ships on the Pacific coast. The transport of the materials across the isthmus cost the lives of many native slaves. Balboa made one expedition with the ships, to the Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama. He tried to head south from there, but found the wind unfavorable.
Pedrarias was convinced that Balboa wanted to establish a government of his own on the west coast. Around this time, Pedrarias was dismissed by the king of Spain, who sent another governor, Pedro de Lugo. Balboa went to Acla to see if this governor had arrived, but due to pressure exerted by Pedrarias he was arrested in the jungle by Francisco Pizarro, tried for treason, convicted, and sentenced to death. Balboa was beheaded on January 21, 1519 in Acla, with three other companions.
References
- [http://www.win.tue.nl/~engels/discovery/balboa.html Original version] (copied with permission)
Balboa, Vasco Núñez de
Balboa, Vasco Núñez de
Balboa, Vasco Núñez de
Balboa, Vasco Núñez de
Europe:This article is about the continent. For other meanings, see Europe (disambiguation).
Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula or subcontinent, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. It is conventionally considered a continent, which, in this case, is more of a cultural distinction than a geographic one. It is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and to the south by the Mediterranean and Black Seas and the Caucasus. Europe's boundary to the east is vague, but has traditionally been given as the Ural Mountains and Caspian Sea to the southeast: the Urals are considered by most to be a geographical and tectonic landmark separating Asia from Europe.
:See also Continent, Bicontinental country, and Table of European territories and regions.
Table of European territories and regions
Table of European territories and regions
Europe is the world's second-smallest continent in terms of area, covering around 10,790,000 km² (4,170,000 sq mi) or 2.1% of the Earth's surface, and is only larger than Australia. In terms of population, it is the third-largest continent (Asia and Africa are larger) with a population of more than 700,000,000, or about 11% of the world's population.
Etymology
Africa.]]
In Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess who was abducted by Zeus in bull form and taken to the island of Crete, where she gave birth to Minos. For Homer, Europé (Greek: Ευρωπη; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was a mythological queen of Crete, not a geographical designation. Later Europa stood for mainland Greece, and by 500 BC its meaning had been extended to lands to the north.
The Greek term Europe has been derived from Greek words meaning broad (eurys) and face (ops) -- broad having been an epitheton of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion; see Prithvi (Plataia). A minority, however, suggest this Greek popular etymology is really based on a Semitic word such as the Akkadian erebu meaning "sunset" (see also Erebus). From the Middle Eastern vantagepoint, the sun does set over Europe, the lands to the west. Likewise, Asia is sometimes thought to have derived from the Akkadian word asu, meaning "sunrise", and is the land to the east from a Mesopotamian perspective.
History
Europe has a long history of cultural and economic achievement, starting as far back as the Palaeolithic, although this is true for the rest of the Old World as well. The recent discovery at Monte Poggiolo, Italy, of thousands of hand-shaped stones, tentatively carbon-dated to 800,000 years ago, may prove to be of particular importance.
The origins of Western democratic and individualistic culture are often attributed to Ancient Greece, though numerous other distinct influences, in particular Christianity, can also be credited with the spread of concepts like egalitarianism and universality of law.
The Roman Empire divided the continent along the Rhine and Danube for several centuries. Following the decline of the Roman Empire, Europe entered a long period of changes arising from what is known as the Age of Migrations. That period has been known as the "Dark Ages" to Renaissance thinkers. During this time, isolated monastic communities in Ireland and elsewhere carefully safeguarded and compiled written knowledge accumulated previously. The Renaissance and the New Monarchs marked the start of a period of discovery, exploration, and increase in scientific knowledge. In the 15th century Portugal opened the age of discoveries, soon followed by Spain. They were later joined by France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in building large colonial empires with vast holdings in Africa, the Americas, and Asia.
After the age of discovery, the ideas of democracy took hold in Europe. Struggles for independence arose, most notably in France during the period known as the French Revolution. This led to vast upheaval in Europe as these revolutionary ideas propagated across the continent. The rise of democracy led to increased tensions within Europe on top of the tensions already existing due to competition within the New World. The most famous of these conflicts was when Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power and set out on a conquest, forming a new French empire that soon collapsed. After these conquests Europe stabilised, but the old foundations were already beginning to crumble.
The Industrial Revolution started in the United Kingdom in the late 18th century, leading to a move away from agriculture, much greater general prosperity and a corresponding increase in population. Many of the states in Europe took their present form in the aftermath of World War I. From the end of World War II through the end of the Cold War, Europe was divided into two major political and economic blocks: Communist nations in Eastern Europe and capitalist countries in Western Europe. Around 1990, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Eastern bloc disintegrated.
Geography and extent
Eastern bloc
Geographically Europe is a part of the larger landmass known as Eurasia. The continent begins at the Ural Mountains in Russia, which define Europe's eastern boundary with Asia. The southeast boundary with Asia isn't universally defined. Most commonly the Ural or, alternatively, the Emba river can serve as possible boundaries. The boundary continues with the Caspian Sea, and then the Araxes river in the Caucasus, and on to the Black Sea; the Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles conclude the Asian boundary. The Mediterranean Sea to the south separates Europe from Africa. The western boundary is the Atlantic Ocean, but Iceland, much farther away than the nearest points of Africa and Asia, is also often included in Europe. There is ongoing debate on where the geographical centre of Europe is.
At times "Europe" is defined with greater regard to political, economic, and other cultural considerations. This has led to there being several different Europes that are not always identical in size, including or excluding countries according to the definition of Europe used.
Almost all European countries are members of the Council of Europe, the exceptions being Belarus, and the Holy See (Vatican City).
The idea of the European continent is not held across all cultures. Some non-European geographical texts refer to the continent of Eurasia, or to the European peninsula, given that Europe is not surrounded by sea. In the past concepts such as Christendom were deemed more important.
In another usage, Europe is increasingly being used as a short-form for the European Union (EU) and its members, currently consisting of 25 member states. A number of other European countries are negotiating for membership, and several more are expected to begin negotiations in the future (see Enlargement of the European Union).
Physical features
In terms of shape, Europe is a collection of connected peninsulas. The two largest of these are "mainland" Europe and Scandinavia to the north, divided from each other by the Baltic Sea. Three smaller peninsulas (Iberia, Italy and the Balkans) emerge from the southern margin of the mainland into the Mediterranean Sea, which separates Europe from Africa. Eastward, mainland Europe widens much like the mouth of a funnel, until the boundary with Asia is reached at the Ural Mountains.
Land relief in Europe shows great variation within relatively small areas. The southern regions, however, are more mountainous, while moving north the terrain descends from the high Alps, Pyrenees and Carpathians, through hilly uplands, into broad, low northern plains, which are vast in the east. This extended lowland is known as the Great European Plain, and at its heart lies the North German Plain. An arc of uplands also exists along the northwestern seaboard, beginning in the western British Isles and continuing along the mountainous, fjord-cut spine of Norway.
This description is simplified. Sub-regions such as Iberia and Italy contain their own complex features, as does mainland Europe itself, where the relief contains many plateaus, river valleys and basins that complicate the general trend. Iceland and the British Isles are special cases. The former is a land unto itself in the northern ocean which is counted as part of Europe, while the latter are upland areas that were once joined to the mainland until rising sea levels cut them off.
Due to the few generalisations that can be made about the relief of Europe, it is less than surprising that its many separate regions provided homes for many separate nations throughout history.
Biodiversity
Having lived side-by-side with agricultural peoples for millennia, Europe's animals and plants have been profoundly affected by the presence and activities of man. With the exception of Scandinavia and northern Russia, few areas of untouched wilderness are today to be found in Europe, except for different natural parks.
The main natural vegetation cover in Europe is forest. The conditions for growth are very favourable. In the north, the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Drift warm the continent. Southern Europe could be described as having a warm, but mild climate. There are frequent summer droughts in this region. Mountain ridges also affect the conditions. Some of these (Alps, Pyrenees) are oriented east-west and allow the wind to carry large masses of water from the ocean in the interior. Others are oriented south-north (Scandinavian Mountains, Dinarides, Carpathians, Apennines) and because the rain falls primarily on the side of mountains that is oriented towards sea, forests grow well on this side, while on the other side, the conditions are much less favourable. Few corners of mainland Europe have not been grazed by livestock at some point in time, and the cutting down of the pre-agricultural forest habitat caused disruption to the original plant and animal ecosystems.
Eighty to ninety per cent of Europe was once covered by forest. It stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Arctic Ocean. Though over half of Europe's original forests disappeared through the centuries of colonisation, Europe still has over one quarter of the world's forests - spruce forests of Scandinavia, vast pine forests in Russia, chestnut rainforests of the Caucasus and the cork oak forests in the Mediterranean. During recent times, deforestation has been stopped and many trees were planted. However, in many cases conifers have been preferred over original deciduous trees, because these grow quicker. The plantations and monocultures now cover vast areas of land and this offers very poor habitats for European forest dwelling species. The amount of original forests in Western Europe is just two to three per cent (in the European part of Russia five to ten per cent). The country with the smallest forest-covered area is Ireland (eight per cent), while the most forested country is Finland (72 per cent).
In "mainland" Europe, deciduous forest prevails. The most important species are beech, birch and oak. In the north, where taiga grows, a very common tree species is the birch tree. In the Mediterranean, many olive trees have been planted, which are very well adapted to its arid climate. Another common species in Southern Europe is the cypress. Coniferous forests prevail at higher altitudes up to the forest boundary and as one moves north within Russia and Scandinavia, giving way to tundra as the Arctic is approached. The semi-arid Mediterranean region hosts much scrub forest. A narrow east-west tongue of Eurasian grassland—the steppe—extends eastwards from Ukraine and southern Russia and ends in Hungary and traverses into taiga to the north.
Glaciation during the most recent ice age and the presence of man affected the distribution of European fauna. As for the animals, in many parts of Europe most large animals and top predator species have been hunted to extinction. The woolly mammoth and aurochs were extinct before the end of the Neolithic period. Today wolves (carnivores) and bears (omnivores) are endangered. Once they were found in most parts of Europe. However, deforestation caused these animals to withdraw further and further. By the Middle Ages the bears' habitats were limited to more or less inaccessible mountains with sufficient forest cover. Today, the brown bear lives primarily in the Balkan peninsula, in the North and in Russia; a small number also persist in other countries across Europe (Austria, Pyrenees etc.), but in these areas brown bear populations are fragmented and marginalised because of the destruction of their habitat. In the far North of Europe, polar bears can also be found. The wolf, the second largest predator in Europe after the brown bear, can be found primarily in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans.
Other important European carnivores are Eurasian lynx, European wild cat, foxes (especially the red fox), jackal and different species of martens, hedgehogs, different species of snakes (vipers, grass snake...), different birds (owls, hawks and other birds of prey)
Important European herbivores are snails, amphibians, fish, different birds, and mammals, like rodents, deers and roe deers, boars, and living in the mountains, marmots, steinbocks, chamoises among others.
Sea creatures are also an important part of European flora and fauna. The sea flora is mainly phytoplankton. Important animals that live in European seas are zooplankton, molluscs, echinoderms, different crayfish, squids and octopuses, fish, dolphins, and whales.
Some animals live in caves, for example proteus and bats.
Demographics
Almost all of Europe was possibly settled before or during the last ice age ca. 10,000 years ago. Neanderthal man and modern man coexisted during at least some of this time. Roman road building helped with the interbreeding of the native Europeans' genetics. In contemporary times Europe has one of the lowest inbreeding rates in the world because of an extensive transport network paired with open borders.
Europe passed well over 600 million people before the turn of the 20th century, but now is entering a period of population decline, for a variety of social factors.
Territories and divisions
Political divisions
Independent states
interbreeding on this map.]]
:See also: Table of European territories and regions
The following independent states have territory in Europe:
2 Azerbaijan and Georgia lie partly in Europe according to the usual definition which consider the crest of the Caucasus as the boundary with Asia.
3 Kazakhstan's European territory consists of a portion west of the Ural and Emba Rivers.
4 The name of this state is a matter of international dispute. See Republic of Macedonia for details.
5 Those territories of Russia lying west of the Ural Mountains are considered as part of Europe.
6 State union of Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro.
7 European Turkey comprises territory to the west and north of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits.
2, 3, 5, 7 See Countries in both Europe and Asia for details.
Dependent territories
The European territories listed below are recognised as being culturally and geographically defined. Most have a degree of autonomy. In the list below, each territory is followed by its legal status.
- Faroe Islands (autonomous region of Denmark)
- Gibraltar (UK overseas territory)
- Guernsey (British crown dependency)
- Jersey (British crown dependency)
- Man, Isle of (British crown dependency)
- Svalbard (autonomous region of Norway)
Note that this is not a list of all dependencies of all European countries. Dependencies located on other continents are not listed.
Unilaterally seceded territories
Following are breakaway regions of independent states. These regions have declared and de facto achieved independence, but this is not recognised de jure by their home state or by the other independent states.
- Abkhazia (from Georgia)
- Nagorno-Karabakh (disputed by Armenia and Azerbaijan)
- South Ossetia (from Georgia)
- Transnistria (from Moldova)
Territories under United Nations administration
- Kosovo and Metohia (province of Serbia)
Table of European territories and regions
Notes:
1 Continental regions as per UN categorisations/map. Depending on definitions, various territories cited below (notes 2-6, 8, 9) may be in one or both of Europe and Asia.
2 Armenia is sometimes considered a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Western Asia (as per UN categorisations/map).
3 Azerbaijan is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion only.
4Cyprus is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Southern Europe; population and area figures are for de jure Greek-administered portion only.
5Georgia is often considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion only.
6Kazakhstan is sometimes considered a transcontinental country in Central Asia (UN region) and Eastern Europe.
7Netherlands population for July 2004; Amsterdam is the de facto capital, while The Hague is the country's administrative seat.
8Russia is generally considered a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe (UN region) and Asia; population and area figures are for European portion only.
9Turkey is generally considered a transcontinental country in Western Asia (UN region) and Southern Europe; population and area figures are for European portion only, including all of Istanbul.
Linguistic and cultural regions
The sub-division in several linguistic and cultural regions is much less subjective than the geographical sub-division, since they correspond to people's cultural connections. There are three main groups:
Germanic Europe
Germanic Europe, where Germanic languages are spoken. This area corresponds more or less to north-western Europe and some parts of central Europe. The main religion of the region is Protestantism, even if there are also some countries with Catholic majority (particularly Austria). This region consists of: United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands, German-speaking Switzerland, the Flemish part of Belgium, the Swedish-speaking municipalities of Finland, and the South Tyrol part of Italy.
Latin Europe
Latin Europe, where the Romance languages are spoken. This area corresponds more or less to south-western Europe, with the exception of Romania and Moldova which are situated in Eastern Europe. The major religion is Catholicism, except in Romania and Moldova. This area consists of: Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Romania, Moldova, French-speaking Belgium and French speaking Switzerland, and Italian and Romansh speaking Switzerland as well.
Slavic Europe
Slavic Europe, where Slavic languages are spoken. This area corresponds, more or less, to Central and Eastern Europe. The main religions are Orthodox Christianity and Catholicism, with large Muslim populations in some parts formerly ruled by the Ottoman Empire. This area consists of: Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Macedonia, Poland, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.
Others
Outside of these three main groups we can find:
- The Celtic nations: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Cornwall (within the United Kingdom); the Isle of Man (a British Crown dependency); the Republic of Ireland; Brittany (within France). These are all nations where a Celtic language is spoken, or was spoken into modern times, and there is a degree of shared culture (see Pan Celticism). Also considered Celtic nations, by some, are both Galicia (Spain) and Asturias, (within Spain), whose own Celtic language died out several hundred years ago.
- Greece, the only country of "Hellenic Europe".In Hellenic Europe we can consider also the Greek Cypriot community It is sometimes associated with the Latin countries, due to the geographical and cultural ties to the Mediterranean Sea, and sometimes to the Slavic-Orthodox part of Europe due to the importance or Orthodoxy in Greece.
- Armenia has a language that constitutes a separate branch of Indo-European family of languages. The Armenian language is spoken in Armenia and other European countries with Armenian communities (such as France, Greece, Belgium, Russia, Germany etc.).
- Ibero-Caucasian, a group that includes ethnic groups throughout the Caucasus region (both North and South). Ibero-Caucasian languages are not linked to the Indo-European languages. This group includes Georgians, Abkhaz, Chechens, Balkars, and a number of other smaller ethnic groups that reside in the Caucasus.
- Turkey, having an Altaic language not of Indo-European origin, and mainly a Muslim country, unlike the main regions' different versions of Christianity.
- Hungary, having a language related to Finnish and Estonian. Due to its location Hungary is normally grouped with Central or Eastern European countries.
- Finland and Estonia, whose languages are related to Hungarian. Despite this connection (not a close one), Finland and Estonia are normally associated with northern European countries (of an even farther connection).
See also
- Eurasia
- Culture of Europe
- Economy of Europe
- Geography of Europe
- History of Europe
- Politics of Europe
- Transport in Europe
- Eurozone
- European Union
- Euroregion
- Europium
Lists and tables
- General
- Table of European territories and regions
- Demographics
- Area and population of European countries
- European Union Statistics
- The most populous metropolitan areas in Europe
- The most populous urban areas of the European Union
- Economy
- Economy of the European Union
- Financial and social rankings of European countries
- GDP of European Countries
- Political
- Alternative names of European cities
- Date of independence of European countries
- International Organisations in Europe (table of membership)
- Other
- List of Europe-related topics
External links
-
- [http://www.democracyineurope.com Democracy in Europe]
- [http://www.holidayhomeseuro.com European holiday homes]
- [http://phoenicia.org/europa.html Europa, the Phoenician Princess] - overwhelmed Zeus with love
- [http://www.europestartpage.com EUROPEstartpage.com, travel and city guide to Europe]
- [http://www.limitlesseurope.com LimitlessEurope.com : information guide to Europe]
- [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=13266 Europe at Night] at NASA Earth Observatory
- [http://www.geog.tamu.edu/~prout/GVmidtermTwo.html Regions of Europe]
- [http://p086.ezboard.com/balbanau Evropa / Europa / Europe]
- [http://www.eufpc.org EUFPC European Foreign Policy Council]
- [http://www.itmaps.com/?modul=map Map of Europe]
- [http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/index.html Physical Map of Europe]
- [http://www.parks.it/europa/Eindex.html Parks in Europe] - National parks, nature parks, reserves and other protected areas.
Category:Continents
als:Europa
roa-rup:Evropa
zh-min-nan:Europa
ko:유럽
ms:Eropah
ja:ヨーロッパ
simple:Europe
th:ทวีปยุโรป
Darien National ParkDarien National Park is a world heritage site in Panama. It is about 325 kilometers from Panama City, and is the most extensive of all national parks of Panama and is one of the most important world heritage sites in Central America.
It was categorized in 1981 as a worldwide patrimony and in 1983 as a biosphere reserve. Its most common species include macaw, parrot, and tapirs. The harpy eagle also calls this national park home. It is noted for its incredible genetic value. The sheer beauty of the landscape and forest generally captivate visitors. Visitors will usually fly into El Real, the closest town to the park.
Category:National parks of Panama Dog On Wheels
Dog On Wheels is a 1997 EP by Belle & Sebastian.
Tracklist
- Dog On Wheels
- The State I Am In
- String Bean Jean
- Belle & Sebastian
External link
- [http://www.belleandsebastian.com/recordings.php?release=15 Album info]
- [http://www.jeepster.co.uk/showdisc.php?id=12¤tsection= Album Info]
mBank Strona Informacyjna zujer katpar Aloes ruletka
|
|
|
|
