Home About us Products Services Contact us Bookmark
:: wikimiki.org ::
Amaranthus Mantegazzianus

Amaranthus mantegazzianus

Amarant redirects here, for the Final Fantasy IX character, see: Amarant Coral
See text The amaranths (also called pigweeds) comprise the genus Amaranthus, a widely distributed genus of short-lived herbs, occurring mostly in temperate and tropical regions. Although there remains some confusion over the detailed taxonomy, there are about 60 Amaranthus species. Several of them are cultivated as leaf vegetables, cereals, or ornamental plants. Members of this genus share many characteristics and uses with members of the closely related genus Celosia.

Cultivation and uses

Several species are raised for amaranth grain in Asia and the Americas. Amaranth grain is a crop of moderate importance in the Himalaya. It was one of the staple foodstuffs of the Incas, and it is known as kiwicha in the Andes today. It was also used by the ancient Aztecs, who called it huautli, and other Amerindian peoples in Mexico to prepare ritual drinks and foods. To this day, amaranth grains are toasted much like popcorn and mixed with honey or molasses to make a treat called alegría (literally "joy") in Mexican Spanish. Amaranth was used in several Aztec ceremonies, where images of their gods (notably Huitzilopochtli) were made with amaranth mixed with honey. The images were cut to be eaten by the people. This looked like the Christian communion to the Catholic priests, so the cultivation of the grain was forbidden for centuries. Because of its importance as a symbol of indigenous culture, and because it is very palatable, easy to cook, and its protein particularly well suited to human nutritional needs, interest in grain amaranth (especially A. cruentis and A. hypochondriaca) was revived in the 1970s. It was recovered in Mexico from wild varieties and is now commercially cultivated. It is a popular snack sold on almost every block of Mexico City, sometimes mixed with chocolate or puffed rice, and its use has spread to Europe and North America. Besides protein, amaranth grain provides a good source of dietary fiber and dietary minerals such as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and especially manganese. Amaranth greens, also called Chinese spinach, hinn choy or yin tsoi (), callaloo, tampala, or quelite, are a common leaf vegetable throughout the tropics and in many warm temperate regions. They are a very good source of vitamins including vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, riboflavin, and folate, and dietary minerals including calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese. However their moderately high content of oxalic acid inhibits the absorption of calcium, and also means that they should be avoided or eaten in moderation by people with kidney disorders, gout, or rheumatoid arthritis. The flowers of the Hopi Red Dye amaranth were used by the Hopi Indians as the source of a deep red dye. This dye has been supplanted by a coal tar dye known as Red No. 2 in North America and E123 in the E.E.C., also known as amarynth. The genus also contains several well-known ornamental plants, such as A. caudatus (love-lies-bleeding), a native of India and a vigorous, hardy annual with dark purplish flowers crowded in handsome drooping spikes. Another Indian annual, A. hypochondriacus (prince's feather), has deeply-veined lance-shaped leaves, purple on the under face, and deep crimson flowers densely packed on erect spikes. Amaranths are recorded as food plants for some Lepidoptera species including The Nutmeg.

Myth, Legend and Poetry

Amaranth, or Amarant (from the Greek amarantos, unwithering), a name chiefly used in poetry, and applied to Amaranth and other plants which, from not soon fading, typified immortality. Thus, in Milton's Paradise Lost, iii. 353:
:"Immortal amarant, a flower which once :In paradise, fast by the tree of life, :Began to bloom; but soon for man's offence :To heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows, :And flowers aloft, shading the fount of life, :And where the river of bliss through midst of heaven :Rolls o'er elysian flowers her amber stream: :With these that never fade the spirits elect :Bind their resplendent locks."
It should be noted that the original spelling of the word is amarant; the more common spelling amaranth seems to have come from a folk etymology that the final syllable derives from the Greek word anthos ("flower"), which enters into a vast number of botanical names. In ancient Greece the amaranth (also called chrusanthemon and elichrusos) was sacred to Ephesian Artemis. It was supposed to have special healing properties, and as a symbol of immortality was used to decorate images of the gods and tombs. In legend, Amarynthus (a form of Amarantus) was a hunter of Artemis and king of Euboea; in a village of Amarynthus, of which he was the eponymous hero, there was a famous temple of Artemis Amarynthia or Amarysia (Strabo x. 448; Pausan. i. 31, p. 5). Amaranth is also the name of the otherworldly pantheon that amuses itself by toying with individuals' luck in Tim Lebbon's novella "The Unfortunate". In White Wolf Game Studio's Vampire: The Dark Ages books and role-playing games, Amaranth is the medieval name of what then was widely known as Diablerie (consuming the blood and soul of another vampire). Amarantine is the name of a 2005 album and single by Irish vocal artist Enya.

Selected species


- Amaranthus acanthochiton (Greenstripe)
- Amaranthus acutilobius (Sharplobe Amaranth)
- Amaranthus albus (White Pigweed, Prostrate Pigweed, Pigweed Amaranth)
- Amaranthus arenicola (Sandhill Amaranth)
- Amaranthus australis (Southern Amaranth)
- Amaranthus bigelovii (Bigelow's Amaranth)
- Amaranthus blitoides (Mat Amaranth, Prostrate Amaranth, Prostrate Pigweed)
- Amaranthus blitum (Purple Amaranth)
- Amaranthus brownii (Brown's Amaranth)
- Amaranthus californicus (California Amaranth, California Pigweed)
- Amaranthus cannabinus (Tidal-marsh Amaranth)
- Amaranthus caudatus (Loves-lies-bleeding, Pendant Amaranth, Tassel Flower, Quilete)
- Amaranthus chihuahuensis (Chihuahuan Amaranth)
- Amaranthus chlorostachys
- Amaranthus crassipes (Spreading Amaranth)
- Amaranthus crispus (Crispleaf Amaranth)
- Amaranthus cruentus (Purple Amaranth, Red Amaranth, Mexican Grain Amaranth)
- Amaranthus deflexus (Large-fruit Amaranth)
- Amaranthus dubius (Spleen Amaranth, Khada Sag)
- Amaranthus fimbriatus (Fringed Amaranth, Fringed Pigweed)
- Amaranthus floridanus (Florida Amaranth)
- Amaranthus greggii (Gregg's Amaranth)
- Amaranthus hybridus (Smooth Amaranth, Smooth Pigweed, Red Amaranth)
- Amaranthus hypochondriacus (Prince-of-Wales-feather, Princess Feather)
- Amaranthus leucocarpus
- Amaranthus lineatus (Australian Amaranth)
- Amaranthus lividus
- Amaranthus mantegazzianus (Quinoa de Castilla)
- Amaranthus minimus
- Amaranthus muricatus (African Amaranth)
- Amaranthus obcordatus (Trans-Pecos Amaranth)
- Amaranthus palmeri (Palmer's Amaranth, Carelessweed)
- Amaranthus paniculus (Reuzen Amaranth)
- Amaranthus polygonoides (Tropical Amaranth)
- Amaranthus powelii (Green Amaranth, Powell Amaranth, Powell Pigweed)
- Amaranthus pringlei (Pringle's Amaranth)
- Amaranthus pumilus (Seaside Amaranth)
- Amaranthus quitensis (Ataco, Sangorache)
- Amaranthus retroflexus (Red-root Amaranth, Redroot Pigweed, Common Amaranth)
- Amaranthus rudis (Tall Amaranth, Common Waterhemp)
- Amaranthus scleropoides (Bone-bract Amaranth)
- Amaranthus spinosus (Spiny Amaranth, Prickly Amaranth, Thorny Amaranth)
- Amaranthus standleyanus
- Amaranthus thunbergii (Thunberg's Amaranth)
- Amaranthus torreyi (Torrey's Amaranth)
- Amaranthus tricolor (Joseph's-coat)
- Amaranthus tuberculatus (Rough-fruit Amaranth, Tall Waterhemp)
- Amaranthus viridis (Slender Amaranth, Green Amaranth)
- Amaranthus watsonii (Watson's Amaranth)
- Amaranthus wrightii (Wright's Amaranth)

References and external links


- Lenz, Botanik der alt. Greich. und Rom. Botany of old. (1859)
- J. Murr, Die Pflanzenwelt in der griech. Mythol. Plants in Greek Mythology. (1890)
- [http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/images/thumbnails/html/amaranthus_hybridus_thumbnails.htm Amaranthus hybridus]
- [http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/images/thumbnails/html/amaranthus_spinosus_thumbnails.htm Amaranthus spinosus]
- [http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/images/600max/html/starr_010520_0109_amaranthus_viridis.htm Amaranthus viridis]
- [http://flora.huh.harvard.edu:8080/flora/browse.do?flora_id=1&taxon_id=101257 Flora online : Flora of North America]
- [http://amaranth.twoday.net/topics/Amaranthus+Info/ Amaranthus Info] Image:Amaranthus caudatus1.jpg|Loves-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus) Image:Amaranthus.hybridus1web.jpg|Green Amaranth (A. hybridus) Image:Seabeach Amaranth.jpg|Seabeach amaranth (A. pumilus), an endangered species of amaranth Image:Illustration Amaranthus retroflexus0.jpg|Red-root Amaranth (A. retroflexus) - from Thomé, Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885 Image:Amaranthus.spinosus1web.jpg|Spiny Amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus) Image:Amaranthus spinosus c.jpg|Callaloo (Amaranthus spinosus "calaloo") Image:Amaranthus.viridis1web.jpg|Green Amaranth (Amaranthus viridis) Category:Caryophyllales Category:Leaf vegetables Category:Cereals

Final Fantasy IX

Final Fantasy IX is a computer role-playing game developed by Square Co., Ltd. in 2000. It was published in Japan by Square, in North America by Square Electronic Arts, in continental Europe by Infogrames, and in the United Kingdom and Australia by Square Europe. It was the last original game in the Final Fantasy series to be produced for the PlayStation. This incarnation of the series was influenced heavily by the original Final Fantasy, and Vivi as well as several of the bosses have nostalgic qualities for long time fans of the series.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Final Fantasy IX is fairly standard console RPG fare. Playable characters fight to earn experience points and levels, which increase their strength, speed, defensive capabilities, and other characteristics, all of which are described numerically for each individual character. Every character in Final Fantasy IX has unique abilities known only to that character: Zidane can steal items from enemies, Freya can perform a jump attack with her spear, Quina has the ability to learn special attacks from monsters, and so on. New skills, both active and passive, are learned by equipping weapons and armor, each of which contain various skills. Each skill lists a certain number of Ability Points(AP); when the character has earned enough of them (through battle), they will learn the skill permanently; the skill is also available while the item itself is equipped. experience point The battle system in Final Fantasy IX is different in several ways from those of its PlayStation predecessors, Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII. Some changes in the battle system include:
- Four character battle party. Battle parties in Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII consisted of only three characters at any one time. Final Fantasy IX, however, returns to the precedent set by the pre-PlayStation installments, and allows for four characters to participate in battle at the same time.
- The trance system. This system is similar to the Limit Break system from Final Fantasy VII. Every time a character receives damage in battle, their 'trance bar' fills up slightly. When the bar is completely full, the characters 'go into trance', which means that they become more powerful and in some cases can use special attacks or moves. However, there are differences between the Trance and the Limit Break. They are:
  - On average, it takes longer to fill the Trance bar than the Limit bar.
  - The "attack" command is not replaced by Trance Abilities; instead, one of the special abilities of the character is replaced with a souped-up version. For example, Vivi's Black Magic is replaced with Double Black Magic.
  - Each character involuntarily enters trance as soon as the bar fills, whereas limit breaks are chosen.
  - Every time you attack with a character in Trance, the Trance bar goes down according to the power of that attack, unlike Limit breaks where you only perform your one Limit move and the bar becomes empty.
  - Once you fill up the Trance bar, it only lasts for that one battle, whereas in Final Fantasy VII the Limit bar would stay full until you chose to use the Limit Break move in battle. This has been known to cause severe frustration when an enemy's dying attack causes a character's Trance bar to fill, as the potential attacks will be permanently lost when the battle ends a moment later.
- Multi-target magic. Most magic spells can be targeted at multiple enemies or characters simply by pressing the R1 or R2 button on the PlayStation game controller; no special items, material, etc. are needed to target all. Some spells can only target one enemy or character, while others will always multi-target.
- Summoned monsters. Eidolons (summoned creatures) are treated like traditional white and black magic, and can only be used by the white mage characters (Dagger and Eiko). Each eidolon has two attack animations, the longer animation attacks with the full power of the eidolon, while the shorter animation is at reduced power. The first time an eidolon is called, it will attack at full power; after that the eidolon will randomly use either animation—usually the shorter one, with the longer being a "critical" attack—but can be forced to always use the full power attack by equipping the Boost ability on the summoner.
- Quasi-Multi-Player. In the 'Config' menu, a play can set the controls to allow a friend control any number of characters in battle. For example: Player 1 can control Zidane and Vivi while Player 2 can control Amarant and Dagger. However, this co-op ability only works when in a battle, so many players choose not to use this function.

Mognet

black magic Mognet is a fictional postal system used by the Moogles. As the player progresses through the game, s/he will find Moogles inhabiting most of the known world. When the player talks to a Moogle, they allow the player to save their game, restore life energy, or purchase items. The Moogle may also request that the player character act as a courier by delivering a letter to another Moogle via Mognet. It is also possible (albeit less frequently) that the player may receive a letter from another character in the game. Later on in the game, it is revealed that the Moogles are only requesting that the player deliver letters because Mognet Central, where Moogle letters are usually sorted, is having mechanical problems, and as a result, letter deliveries have become sporadic. It is later revealed that the malfunctions are caused by the letter carrier Artemicion, who decorated his coat with the oil used to lubricate Mognet's machines, causing them to break down. The player may optionally help the Moogles restore Mognet Central's functionality as a sidequest, but only if all the Moogle letters have been delivered.

Characters

sidequest

Playable Characters


- Zidane Tribal: Member of Tantalus, a group of thieves, and an inveterate womanizer. Originally, he plotted to abduct the Princess of Alexandria, but his plan was foiled when she revealed to him that she wanted to be kidnapped. He now serves as her protector. His only clues to his true origins are his inexplicable tail and the memory of a strange, blue light.
- Vivi Ornitier : Young Black Mage, but very pure of heart. He met Zidane through an accident in a play in Alexandria. His past is something of a mystery, even to himself. It is also significant that his name, as written in Japanese (ビビ or "Bibi") is a slang term for a crybaby or someone who simply insecure, which suits his personality perfectly.
- Garnet Til Alexandros (a.k.a. Dagger): The Princess of Alexandria. Concerned about her mother's erratic behavior, she escapes from the castle and meets with Zidane. Whilst travelling, she assumes the name "Dagger" to disguise her identity. She has a strange connection to "Eidolons".
- Adelbert Steiner: The Captain of the Knights of Pluto. His sworn duty is to protect the Princess, and he is intensely loyal and concerned about her safety, but he rarely realizes how capable Garnet is on her own. Although he does not get along with Zidane, he assists him in protecting Garnet. Although Steiner comes across as stubborn, he is actually easily quieted by Garnet. Steiner also has fallen in love with his ex-rival General Beatrix as a result of Eiko's failed love letter.
- Freya Crescent: A Dragon Knight from the destroyed city of Burmecia. She left home in search of Sir Fratley, her long-lost love. An old friend of Zidane, she meets him again in Lindblum and participates with him in the Festival of the Hunt. When she hears of the destruction of Burmecia, she hurries home to aid her fellow Burmecians in their escape and defend her country once again as a Dragon Knight.
- Quina Quen: Genderless Qu whose master wants him/her to travel the world so that s/he will learn that there are other foods in the world besides those in the swamp and that there's more to life than food. Abilities in battle include eating enemies to absorb their magic spells which is called blue magic.
- Eiko Carol: Six-year-old girl living in Madain Sari, the lost village of the summoners. She develops a crush on Zidane when they meet each other. She lives with the Moogles ever since her parents and grandparents died when she was very little. Boisterous and precocious, she sees Dagger as her biggest rival for Zidane's affection (though no one else seems to notice).
- Amarant Coral (Salamander Coral): One of the most wanted bandits in Treno. He's actually innocent, but he doesn't tell anyone because he hates revealing his personal life. The person who actually committed the crime was Zidane, and Amarant was merely the guard who tried to stop him and was instead framed for it. Works as a bounty hunter with Lani until Zidane beats him, and he follows the thief around to understand his philosophies on fighting and friendship.

Major non-player characters


- Baku, Blank, Cinna, Marcus, Ruby, and the Nero Brothers: Zidane's friends and fellow members of Tantalus. They pose as actors to steal various items. Although Ruby is a member, she prefers to overlook the group's less-than-honorable dealings as long she gets a chance to pursue her dream of being an actress. Blank, Cinna and Marcus join the party intermittently throughout Disc 1, making them technically player characters, but they do not have the extensive character development, skillsets and membership duration of the previous eight.
- Kuja: The main antagonist. Little is known about this mysterious man. He is obsessed with power and will do anything to get what he wants. He is first introduced as the provider of Queen Brahne's magical weapons, the Black Mages. Somehow, he knows Zidane's true identity. He is connected to the eidolons, Madain Sari, Iifa tree and the mysterious world of Terra.
- Zorn and Thorn: Queen Brahne's court jesters perform all her dirtiest work and have the odd habit of speaking in constant antimetabole: repeating what the other says, but in reverse syntactical order. Also have the unique ability to extract eidolons from summoners. Even by the end of the game, their origin is never truly explained.
- General Beatrix: The greatest Alexandrian knight who ever lived. Blinded by her devotion to the Queen, she performs various destructive duties in the name of the queen's greed. Later, she is shown the true side of Queen Brahne by Steiner, and repents for her actions by helping Zidane's group in their quest. antimetabole Like Blank, Cinna and Marcus, Beatrix joins the party for a short time; unlike the Tantalus members, she can be added to the party permanently using a GameShark cheat device, though bringing her into certain plot-related battles may cause the game to hang. She also falls in love with Steiner after Eiko's failed love letter plan. She wields a deadly sword, known as the 'Save The Queen'. Hades, a hidden boss at the end of the game, can forge a replica of this amazing blade using a Phoenix Pinion and a Thunder Blade, but Steiner can't equip it. Also, during the times you get to use her, she has a command called 'Seiken'. These are Holy Knight moves such as 'Thunder Blade', 'Stock Break', 'Climhazzard', and the notorious 'Shock'.
- Queen Brahne: Queen of Alexandria, and mother of Garnet/Dagger. She is willing to stop at nothing to expand the Empire of Alexandria, even if it means the death of her daughter. She is very greedy and is involved with the mysterious Kuja.
- Regent Cid Fabool: Present ruler of Lindblum. He was turned into an oglop by his wife, Hilda, because of his womanizing. Technology expert who is fond of creating new airships. He was best friends with Dagger's father. He also ordered Tantalus to kidnap Dagger because he was concerned for her safety, based on the erratic and abnormal tendencies of her mother as of late.
- Stiltzkin: World-travelling Moogle who frequently asks Zidane and company to provide him with monetary backing to continue his journey and in return bestows sometimes rare and useful items. He sends letters to other moogles to fill them in on recent events in the world.
- Puck: Prince of Burmecia, but prefers to keep a low profile diguised as a street urchin. He was Vivi's first friend when they met in Alexandria while trying to get into see a play.
- Sir Fratley: Freya's long-lost love. He went out on a journey to improve his combat skills and never returned. He appears later in Cleyra with no memory of his past, or the woman he left behind. He is also a thinly-veiled reference to Michael Flatley, which is made all the more obvious by the look of the Burmecian ceremonial dance, which bears more than a passing resemblance to Riverdance.
- Doctor Tot: Scholar from Alexandria who moved to Treno once Queen Brahne began acting strangely. He was Garnet's tutor when she was a little girl. The group often consults him on important matters because of his extensive knowledge of just about everything.
- Hilda Garde: Cid's wife who turned him into an oglop for his womanizing. After transforming him, she escaped Lindblum on Cid's latest airship, which he had, ironically, named "Hilda Garde." She is captured by Kuja, who uses her airship for his own purposes and who voluntarily reveals his plans to her.
- Lani: Bounty hunter Queen Brahne hires to retrieve the Pendant stolen by Princess Garnet and to kill the black mage travelling with her. She works with Amarant, whom she calls "Red". Eventually she sees the error in her ways and can be found living in Madain Sari with Eiko's moogles by the end of the game. During the battle in Fossil Roo, she wields an awfully large axe.
- Mikoto: A female genome whom the heroes rescued from Terra and brought back to Gaia, and is the interest of the Black Mage Village by the end of the game. Aside form Kuja and Zidane, she is the only other Genome with a soul.

Locations

Black Mage Main article: List of Final Fantasy IX locations The world of Final Fantasy IX is divided into four continents: Mist Continent, which takes up most of the map, Forgotten Continent, a large land in the west where the sun sets, Lost Continent, to the northwest, almost entirely covered in ice, and Outer Continent, an arid desert wasteland to the North.

Story

Located at Final Fantasy IX Story (so far incomplete)

References and Nostalgia

Final Fantasy IX was intended, in many ways, to be a salute to the history of the series, and as such, it is filled with references to previous games. One of the most apparent is the similarity of the character Vivi to the Black Mage from the original Final Fantasy. Unfortunately, despite the high quality of the translation overall, care was not taken to ensure that all of the various names and references matched up to those used in the previous English-language releases. Because of this, many of the references with which the game abounds are completely missed by the non-Japanese audience. Some examples are included below.
- The victory fanfare is an updated version of the victory music used in the first six Final Fantasy games.
- Rufus Welcoming Ceremony - During an ATE in the Evil Forest, the player can see the band aboard the theater ship playing the "Rufus Welcoming Ceremony" song from Final Fantasy VII.
- Final Fantasy III Music - The player MUST have the Doga's Artifact and Une's Mirror. After the world of Terra has been destroyed, at the beginning of disc four and onwards, returning to Black Mage Village, and examine the gramophone at the Black Mage Village inn, the background music will change to a melody taken from the Final Fantasy III soundtrack. This melody continues on until the player leave the Black Mage Village.
- Squall and Cloud At the end of the game, it shows text saying No cloud or squall shall hinder us, refering to the protagonists of the previous two games.
- Gulug Volcano was meant to be Gurgu Volcano, as seen in the original Final Fantasy. The name is written in Japanese as グルグ, or "Gurugu."
- The dwarves of Conde Petie use the same greeting as the dwarves of Final Fantasy IV (ラリホ, or "rariho"). However, the original saying "Lali-ho" was changed to "Rally-ho" in Final Fantasy IX. It can be explained, since "l" in Japanese is "r" in English. These mistranslations are often throughout the series.
- The Pumice item in Final Fantasy IX, which is used to summon Ark, the massive, transforming airship, is known as "Fuyuuishi" (ふゆう石, or "floating stone"). In Final Fantasy, this item was translated as "FLOATER," and was used to lift the ancient airship from the desert.
- The giant boss creature, Hilgigars, was actually meant to be Hill Gigas. "Gigas" is the common name in the series for its oversized humanoids, most frequently seen in Final Fantasy VI.
- The Eidolon, Madeen, is mis-Romanized as well. It was meant to invoke the name of Final Fantasy VIs Maduin (which, in the original Japanese versions of both games, was written as マディーン, or "madiin"). Incidentally, the slightly-nonsensical name of its attack, "Terra Homing," was also intended to be "Terraforming."
- The four elemental fiends which appear in Memoria are named Marilith, Tiamat, Kraken, and Lich, recalling their counterparts in the Final Fantasy. (In the anglicized version of Final Fantasy, the fiend of fire was called "Kary," although the name "Marilith" was restored in the Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls version.)
- The tune that plays in the Crystal World at the end of the game is quite similar to the Crystal Theme that's in most Final Fantasy games.

Criticisms and low sales

Final Fantasy IX, though a top seller at the time, is the lowest selling original game in the main Final Fantasy series since the move to Sony with Final Fantasy VII—Final Fantasy XI notwithstanding. There are several reasons why this game failed to live up to the sales of Final Fantasy VIII.
- A divergence from Final Fantasy VII and VIII: Final Fantasy IX was seen as an attempt to return the Final Fantasy series to its fantasy roots, after the other two PlayStation incarnations featured many Sci-fi elements and were darker than the older versions. Although this appealed to older fans, fans of the newer games were likely turned off by the change in direction; in particular:
  - Zidane was more cheery and hyperactive than Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII or Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy VIII.
  - The game returned to the super deformed style as opposed to the more realistic designs in the previous game; and was more colorful than Final Fantasy VII.
  - It re-introduced non-human characters like Vivi, Freya and Quina; while Final Fantasy VIII had an all human cast.
  - The battle system was considered slower than the battle systems in its two predecessors.
- It was the sequel to Final Fantasy VIII: Amongst older Final Fantasy fans, Final Fantasy VIII was seen as a major departure from previous games; though it was loved by many, it was also criticized. Some suggest that it was riding on Final Fantasy VII's coattails, owing its success to its predecessor's fame, and Final Fantasy IX was punished with low sales by people turned off by VIII.
- The Next Generation: Final Fantasy IX had the misfortune of coming out shortly after Sony's next-gen console, the PlayStation 2. While the PS2 could play old PlayStation games, people who bought the new system spent their money on new games to get the full power out of it, instead of older titles.
- The Strategy Guide: With its release, Square tried a new marketing push for its PlayOnline service, by releasing a stripped-down strategy guide that had links to the web site to get more in-depth info. In Japan, there was no strategy guide at all, and all the info was on-line. This was widely regarded as a bad move, as people buy strategy guides to have the info conveniently collected and in front of them while playing; this was especially true for Final Fantasy games, because of the many secret locations, side-quests and hidden items. Also the book's given links are no longer accessible on the PlayOnline website.
- PC Vaporware: There was also supposed to be a PC version, but aside from a brief announcement, no such game ever materialized; although this wouldn't affect sales of the PlayStation version, it did reduce the visibility of the game, and cut off a potential avenue of sales.
- There were other concerns people had over the game. Some felt the game used too many FMVs, like Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII; the Trance system had certain shortcomings (see Gameplay); and Tetra Master was seen by many fans as an inferior mini-game compared to Final Fantasy VIII's Triple Triad.

Packaging artwork

Image:Final Fantasy IX JAP Box Art.jpg|Final Fantasy IX
Sony PlayStation
Japan, 2000 Image:Ffixbox.jpg|Final Fantasy IX
Sony PlayStation
North America, 2000 Image:Final Fantasy IX European box art.jpg|Final Fantasy IX
Sony PlayStation
Australia, United Kingdom, 2001

External links


- [http://www.square-enix.com/games/FFIX-gamesite/ Final Fantasy IX Official Website (North America)]
- [http://www.square-enix-europe.com/ff9/ Final Fantasy IX Official Website (Europe)]
- [http://www.ffinsider.net/ff9/ Final Fantasy IX Insider]
- Final Fantasy 09 Final Fantasy 09 Final Fantasy 09 Final Fantasy 09 ja:ファイナルファンタジーIX th:ไฟนอลแฟนตาซี IX

Amarant Coral

Amarant Coral (Salamander Coral in the Japanese version) is a fictional character from the PlayStation video game Final Fantasy IX. He is one of the most wanted bandits in Treno. He's actually innocent, but he doesn't tell anyone because he hates revealing his personal life. The person who actually committed the crime was Zidane, and Amarant was merely the guard who tried to stop him, but was instead framed for it. He worked as a bounty hunter with Lani until Zidane defeated him. After his defeat, he follows the thief to understand his philosophies on fighting and friendship. Believed to be based on another character of the same appearance also named Salamander that appeared in Final Fantasy III. Coral, Amarant

Herb

A herb (pronounced "hurb" in Commonwealth English and "urb" in American English) is a plant grown for culinary, medicinal, or in some cases even spiritual value. The green, leafy part of the plant is typically used. General usage differs between culinary herbs and medicinal herbs. A medicinal herb may be a shrub or other woody plant, whereas a culinary herb is a non-woody plant. By contrast, spices are the seeds, berries, bark, root, or other parts of the plant, even leaves in some cases; although any of these, as well as any edible fruits or vegetables, may be considered "herbs" in medicinal or spiritual use. Culinary herbs are distinguished from vegetables in that they are used in small amounts and provide flavor rather than substance to food. In botany, a herb is a plant that does not produce a woody stem, and dies, either completely (annual herb) or back to the roots (perennial herb), at the end of the growing season. The term herbaceous means either having the characteristic of a herb or being leaf-like in color and texture. A related term, used only in the United States, is forb, which means a non-woody plant that is not a grass and is not grass-like. This means that the term forb excludes sedges (Cyperaceae) and rushes (Juncaceae) along with grasses (Poaceae).

See also


- Apothecary
- Herbaceous perennials
- Herbalism
- Herbology
- List of herbs and spices
- Remedy
- Herb farm

External links


- [http://herbsociety.org/ The Herb Society of America] Category:Plants Category:Herbs ja:ハーブ

Cereal

:This article is about grains. See also breakfast cereal Cereal crops are mostly grasses cultivated for their edible seeds (actually a fruit called a caryopsis). Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities worldwide than any other type of crop and provides more food energy to the human race than any other crop. In some developing nations, cereal grains constitute practically the entire diet of common folk. In developed nations, cereal consumption is more moderate but still substantial. The word cereal has its origin in the Roman goddess of grain, Ceres. Staple food grains are traditionally called corn in Britain, though that word became specified for maize in the United States. And a merchant of corn was in Britain called a chandler, which in the United States is an obsolete word for someone who sells candles. maize

Cereal crops

True cereals

The cereal crops are (in approximate order of greatest annual production):
- wheat, the primary cereal of temperate regions
- rice, the primary cereal of tropical regions
- maize, a staple food of peoples in North America, South America, and Africa and of livestock worldwide; called "[Indian] corn" in North America and Australia
- millets, a group of similar but distinct cereals that form an important staple food in Asia and Africa.
- sorghums, important staple food in Asia and Africa and popular worldwide for livestock
- rye and triticale, important in cold climates
- oats, formerly the staple food of Scotland and popular worldwide for livestock
- barley, grown for malting and livestock on land too poor or too cold for wheat
- teff, popular in Ethiopia but scarcely known elsewhere
- wild rice, grown in small amounts in North America
- spelt, a close relative of wheat Cereal

Pseudocereals

In addition, several non-grasses that are grown for their seed may also be referred to as cereals. These pseudocereals include (in no particular order):
- buckwheat
- amaranth
- quinoa
- kañiwa
- cockscomb

Cultivation

cockscomb.]] While each individual species has its own peculiarities, the cultivation of all cereals crops is similar. All are annual plants; consequently one planting yields one harvest. Wheat, rye, triticale, oats, barley, and spelt are the cool-season cereals. These are hardy plants that grow well in moderate weather and cease to grow in hot weather (approximately 30 °C but this varies by species and variety). The other warm-season cereals are tender and prefer hot weather. Barley and rye are the hardiest cereals, able to overwinter in the subarctic and Siberia. Wheat is the most popular. All cool-season cereals are grown in the tropics, but only in the cool highlands, where it may be possible to grow multiple crops in a year.

Planting

The warm-season cereals are grown in tropical lowlands year-round and in temperate climates during the frost-free season. Cool-season cereals are well-adapted to temperate climates. Most varieties of a particular species are either winter or spring types. Winter varieties are sown in the autumn, germinate and grow vegetatively, then become dormant during winter. They resume growing in the springtime and mature in late spring or early summer. This cultivation system makes optimal use of water and frees the land for another crop early in the growing season. Winter varieties do not flower until springtime because they require vernalization (exposure to low temperature for a genetically determined length of time). Where winters are too warm for vernalization or exceed the hardiness of the crop (which varies by species and variety), farmers grow spring varieties. Spring cereals are planted in early springtime and mature later that same summer, without vernalization. Spring cereals typically require more irrigation and yield less than winter cereals.

Harvest

Once the cereal plants have grown their seeds, they have completed their life cycle. The plants die and become brown and dry. As soon as the parent plants and their seed kernels are reasonably dry, harvest can begin. In developed countries, cereal crops are universally machine-harvested, typically using a combine harvester, which cuts, threshes, and winnows the grain during a single pass across the field. In developing countries, a variety of harvesting methods are in use, from combines to hand tools such as scythes. If a crop is harvested during wet weather, the grain may not dry adequately in the field to prevent spoilage during its storage. In this case, the grain is sent to a dehydrating facility, where artificial heat dries it. In North America, farmers commonly deliver their newly harvested grain to a grain elevator, a large storage facility that consolidates the crops of many farmers. The farmer may sell the grain at the time of delivery or maintain ownership of a share of grain in the pool for later sale.

Food value

Cereal grains supply most of their food energy as starch. They are also a significant source of protein, though the amino acid balance is not optimal. Whole grains (see below) are good sources of dietary fiber, essential fatty acids, and other important nutrients. Rice is eaten as cooked entire grains, although rice flour is also produced. Oats are rolled, ground, or cut into bits (steel-cut oats) and cooked into porridge. Most other cereals are ground into flour or meal, that is milled. The outer layers of bran and germ are removed (see grain (fruit) and seed). This lessens the nutritional value but makes the grain more resistant to degredation and makes the grain more appealing to many palates. Health-conscious people tend to prefer whole grains, which are not milled. Overconsumption of milled cereals is sometimes blamed for obesity. Milled grains do keep better because the outer layers of the grains are rich in rancidity-prone fats. The waste from milling is sometimes mixed into a prepared animal feed. Once (optionally) milled and ground, the resulting flour is made into bread, pasta, desserts, dumplings, and many other products. Besides cereals, flour is sometimes made from potatoes, chestnuts and pulses (especially chickpeas). In American English, cold breakfast cereals and porridges are simply called cereal. Cereals are the main source of energy providing about 350 kcal per 100 grams Cereal proteins are poor in nutritive quality, being deficient in essential amino acid lysine. The proteins of maize are still poor, being deficient in lysine and tryptophan (a precursor of niacin) Rice proteins are richer in lysine than other cereal proteins and for this reason, rice protein is considered to be of better quality. Rice is a good source of B group vitamins, especially Thiamine. It is devoid of Vitamines A, D, C and is a poor source of Calcium and Iron.

See also


- Zadok scale
- List of edible seeds Category:Grains ja:穀物 ms:Bijirin simple:Corn

Celosia


- Celosia argentea
- Celosia cristata
- Celosia nitida
- Celosia palmeri
- Celosia plumosa
- Celosia trigyna
- Celosia virgata Celosia is a small genus of edible and ornamental plants, similar in appearance and uses to the amaranths. They are sometimes called cockscombs or woolflowers for their brightly colored, woolly flower heads. The name "cockscomb" may be restricted to those whose flower heads are crested by fasciation. Celosia argentea is grown as a leaf vegetable and cereal crop, especially in West Africa, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia. It is the most important leaf vegetable of southern Nigeria, where it is known as soko. Celosia cristata is a common garden ornamental plant in China and other places. Category:Caryophyllales Category:Leaf vegetables Category:Cereals

Asia

Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia, and the world's largest continent. Defined by subtracting Europe from Eurasia, Asia is either regarded as a landmass of its own, or as part of Eurasia. The demarcation between Asia and Africa is the isthmus of Suez (although the Sinai Peninsula, being a part of Egypt east of the canal, is often geopolitically considered a part of Africa). The boundary between Asia and Europe runs via the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, to the Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Ural River to its source, and the Ural Mountains to the Kara Sea at Kara, Russia. About 60 percent of the world's human population lives in Asia. Asia as a political division consists of the eastern part of Eurasia and nearby islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, often excluding Russia. Pacific Ocean

Etymology

The word Asia entered English, via Latin, from Ancient Greek Ασία (Asia; see also List of traditional Greek place names). This name is first attested in Herodotus (c. 440 BC), where it refers to Asia Minor; or, for the purposes of describing the Persian Wars, to the Persian Empire, as opposed to Greece and Egypt. Even before Herodotus, Homer knew of a Trojan ally named Asios, son of Hyrtacus, a ruler over several towns, and elsewhere he describes a marsh as ασιος (Iliad 2, 461). The Greek term may be derived from from Assuwa, a 14th century BC confederation of states in Western Anatolia. Hittite assu- "good" is probably an element in that name. Alternatively, the ultimate etymology of the term may be from the Akkadian word (w)aṣû(m), cognate of Hebrew יצא, which means "to go out", referring to the direction of the sun at sunset in the Middle East. This may be compared to a similar etymology proposed for Europe, as being from Semitic erēbu "to enter" or "set" (of the sun). These etymologies presuppose an originally Mesopotamian or Middle Eastern perspective, which would explain how the term "Asia" first came to be associated with Anatolia as lying west of the Semitic speaking area.

Geographical Regions

See also Geography of Asia. As already mentioned, Asia is a subregion of Eurasia. For further subdivisions based on that term, see North Eurasia and Central Eurasia. Some Asian countries stretch beyond Asia. See Bicontinental country for details about the borderline cases between Asia and Europe, Asia and Africa and Asia and Oceania. Asia itself is often divided in the following subregions:
- North Asia
- Central Asia
- East Asia (or Far East)
- Southeast Asia
- South Asia (or Indian Subcontinent)
- Southwest Asia (or West Asia)

North Asia

This term is rarely used by geographers, but usually it refers to the bigger Asian part of Russia, also known as Siberia. Sometimes the northern parts of other Asian nations, such as Kazakhstan are also included in Northern Asia.

Central Asia

There is no absolute consensus in the usage of this term. Usually, Central Asia includes:
- the Central Asian Republics of Kazakhstan (excluding its small European territory), Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan.
- Afghanistan, Mongolia, and the western regions of China are also sometimes included.
- Former Soviet states in the Caucasus region. Central Asia is currently geopolitically important because international disputes and conflicts over oil pipelines, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Chechnya, as well as the presence of U.S. military forces in Afghanistan.

East Asia (or Far East)

This area includes:
- The Pacific Ocean islands of Taiwan and Japan.
- North and South Korea on the Korean Peninsula.
- China, but sometimes only the eastern regions Sometimes the nations of Mongolia and Vietnam are also included in East Asia. More informally, Southeast Asia is included in East Asia on some occasions.

Southeast Asia

This region contains the Malay Peninsula, Indochina and islands in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. The countries it contains are:
- In mainland Southeast Asia, the countries Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
- In Maritime Southeast Asia, the countries of Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia (some of the Indonesian islands also lie in the Melanesia region of Oceania). East Timor (also Melanesian) is sometimes included too. The country of Malaysia is divided in two by the South China Sea, and thus has both a mainland and island part.

South Asia (or Indian Subcontinent)

South Asia is also referred to as the Indian Subcontinent. It includes:
- the Himalayan States of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
- the Indian Ocean nations of Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Southwest Asia (or West Asia)

This can also be called by the Western term Middle East, which is commonly used by Europeans and Americans. Middle East (to some interpretations) is often used to also refer to some countries in North Africa. Southwest Asia can be further divided into:
- Anatolia (i.e. Asia Minor), constituting the Asian part of Turkey.
- The island nation of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea.
- The Levant or Near East, which includes Syria, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and the Asian portion of Egypt.
- The Arabian peninsula, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen and occasionally Kuwait.
- The Caucasus region, including Armenia, a tiny portion of Russia and almost the whole of Georgia and Azerbaijan.
- The Iranian Plateau, containing Iran and parts of other nations. Also see Gulf States, for a different grouping involving several of the above countries.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Asia In terms of gross domestic product (PPP), Asia's largest economy wholly within Asia is that of the PRC (People's Republic of China), however the economy of the E.U. (European Union), one state of which (Cyprus) lies within Asia, is the largest in the world. The E.U.'s status as a supranational union, rather than a sovereign state, makes the claim questionable, especially since, when considered alone, the economy of Cyprus is one of the smallest in both the E.U. and Asia, and not many times larger than that of East Timor, the Asian state with the smallest economy (although as of 2005 there is no reliable data for either Iraq or North Korea). Over the last decade, China's and India's economies have been growing rapidly, both with an average annual growth rate over 6%. PRC is the world's third largest economy after the E.U. and U.S.A., followed by Japan and India as the world's fourth and fifth largest economies respectively (then followed by the European nations: Germany, U.K., France and Italy). In terms of exchange rates however, Japan has the largest economy in Asia and the third largest in the world. Trade blocs:
- Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations
- Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement
- Commonwealth of Independent States
- South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
- South Asia Free Trade Agreement (proposed)

Natural resources

Asia is by a considerable margin the largest continent in the world, and is rich in natural resources, such as Petroleum and iron. High productivity in agriculture, especially of rice, allows high population density of countries in the warm and humid area. Other main agricultural products include wheat and chicken. Forestry is extensive throughout Asia except Southwest and Central Asia. Fishing is a major source of food in Asia, particularly in Japan.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing in Asia has traditionally been strongest in East and Southeast Asia, particularly in PRC, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. The industry varies from manufacturing cheap goods such as toys to high-tech goods such as computers and cars. Many companies from Europe, North America, and Japan have significant operations in the developing Asia to take avantage of its abundant supply of cheap labor. One of the major employers in manufacturing in Asia is the textile industry. Much of the world's supply of clothing and footwear now originates in Southeast Asia.

Financial and other services

Asia has three main financial centers. They are in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. Call centers are becoming major employers in India, due to the availablity of many well-educated English speakers. The rise of the business process outsourcing industry has seen the rise of India and China as the other financial centers.

Early history

Main article: History of Asia The history of Asia can be seen as the distinct histories of several peripheral coastal regions, East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East, linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian steppe. The coastal periphery was home to some of the world's earliest known civilizations, with each of the three regions developing early civilizations around fertile river valleys. The civilizations in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and the Yangtze shared many similarities and likely exchanged technologies and ideas such as mathematics and the wheel. Other notions such as that of writing likely developed individually in each area. Cities, states and empires developed in these lowlands. The steppe region had long been inhabited by mounted nomads, and from the central steppes they could reach all areas of Asia. The earliest known such central expansion out of the steppe is that of the Indo-Europeans, who spread their languages into the Middle East, India, and in the Tocharians to the borders of China. The northern part of Asia, covering much of Siberia, was inaccessible to the steppe nomads, due to the dense forests and the tundra. These areas were very sparsely populated. The centre and periphery were kept separate by mountains and deserts. The Caucasus, Himalaya, Karakum Desert and Gobi Desert formed barriers that the steppe horsemen could only cross with difficulty. While technologically and culturally, the urban city dwellers were more advanced, they could do little militarily to defend against the mounted hordes of the steppe. However, the lowlands did not have enough open grasslands to support a large horsebound force. Thus the nomads who conquered states in China, India, and the Middle East were soon forced to adapt to the local societies.

Population density

The following table lists countries and dependencies by population density in inhabitants and km2. Unlike the figures in the country articles, the figures in this table are based on areas including inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers) and may therefore be lower here. The whole of Egypt, Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey are referred to in the table, although they are only partly in Asia.

Religion

A large majority of the people in the world who practice a religious faith practice one which was founded in Asia. Religions founded in Asia and with a majority of their contemporary adherents in Asia include:
- Bahá'í Faith (slightly more than half of all adherents are in Asia)
- Buddhism (Japan,Sri Lanka, Korea, Singapore, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, India)
- Hinduism (India, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, Bali)
- Islam (Central, South, and Southwest Asia, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia)
- Jainism (India)
- Shinto (Japan)
- Sikhism(India, Malaysia, Hong kong)
- Taoism (China, Vietnam, Singapore, and Taiwan)
- Zoroastrianism (Iran, India, Pakistan) Religions founded in Asia that have the majority of their contemporary adherents in other regions include:
- Christianity (South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, East Timor, India and the Philippines)
- Judaism (slightly fewer than half of its adherents reside in Asia)

See also


- Assuwa
- Asia Minor

References

External links


- http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/asia.html
- http://www.freeworldmaps.net/asia/index.html
- [http://www.alloexpat.com AlloExpat - Asia Information & Forums]
- [http://www.asiaexpat.info Asia Expat Forum - Discuss this region with expatriates] Category:Continents zh-min-nan:A-chiu ko:아시아 ms:Asia ja:アジア simple:Asia th:ทวีปเอเชีย

Himalaya

. (annotated version)]] The Himalaya is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. By extension, it is also the name of the massive mountain system which includes the Himalaya proper, the Karakoram, the Hindu Kush, and a host of minor ranges extending from the Pamir Knot. Together, the Himalayan mountain system is the planet's highest and home to all fourteen of the world's highest peaks, the Eight-thousanders, including Mount Everest. To comprehend the enormous scale of Himalayan peaks, consider that Aconcagua, in the Andes, is the highest peak outside the Himalaya at 22,841 feet (6,962 m), while the Himalayan mountain system is home to over thirty peaks exceeding 25,000 feet (7,620 m). Etymologically Himalaya means "abode of snow" in Sanskrit ( from hima "snow", and alaya "abode"). The correct name for the range is Himalaya, though the plural Himalayas is often used. The Himalaya stretch across five nations — Pakistan, India, China, Bhutan and Nepal. It is the source of three of the world's major river systems — the Indus Basin, the Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin and the Yangtze Basin. An estimated 750 million people live in the watershed area of the Himalayan rivers, which also includes Bangladesh.

Geography

Bangladesh lie on the Himalayas.]] The Himalayan (pronounced with a long "a": Himaalayan) range runs for about 2400 km, from Nanga Parbat in the west to Namche Barwa in the east. The width varies between 250-300 km. The Himalayan range comprises three parallel ranges, arranged by elevation and geological age. Nanga Parbat plain is visible as the lighter area near the top.]] The youngest of the three is called the Sub-Himalayan range (Siwalik hills in India) and has an elevation of about 1200 m. This range is made up of erosion material from the rising Himalaya. Running parallel to this is the Lower Himalayan range, which has an elevation between 2000 — 5000 m. A number of Indian hill stations such as Shimla, Nainital and Darjeeling are located here. The northernmost range is called the Higher Himalaya and is also the oldest of the three. It has an elevation of more than 6000 m and contains a large number of the world's highest peaks including the three highest - Mount Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga. Vegetation across the Himalayan range varies with climate and altitude. While the sub-Himalayan range exhibits deciduous forests, the vegetation graduates to temperate forests, conifers and tundra in the Higher Himalayan range, before giving way to a permanent snow line in the topmost regions. The far eastern Himalaya also have evergreen rainforests. The Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh lie mostly in the Himalayas. The southern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China also lies on the Himalayas.

Origins and growth

China The Himalaya are among the youngest mountain ranges on the planet. According to the modern theory of plate tectonics, their formation is a result of a continental collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. The collision began in the Upper Cretaceous period about 70 million years ago, when the north-moving Indo-Australian Plate, moving at about 15 cm/year, collided with the Eurasian Plate. By about 50 million years ago this fast moving Indo-Australian plate had completely closed the Tethys Ocean, whose existence has been determined by sedimentary rocks settled on the ocean floor and the volcanoes that fringed its edges. Since these sediments were light, they crumpled into mountain ranges rather than sinking to the floor. The Indo-Australian plate continues to be driven horizontally below the Tibetan plateau, which forces the plateau to move upwards. The Arakan Yoma highlands in Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal were also formed as a result of this collision. The Indo-Australian plate is still moving at about 5 cm/year, and over the next 10 million years it will travel about 1500 km into Asia. About 2 cm/year of the India-Asia convergence is absorbed by thrusting along the Himalaya southern front. This leads to the Himalaya rising by about 5 mm/year, making them geologically active. The movement of the Indian plate into the Asian plate also makes this region seismically active, leading to earthquakes from time to time.

Glaciers and river systems

The Himalayan range encompasses a very large number of glaciers, notable among which is the Siachen Glacier, the largest in the world outside the polar region. Some of the other more famous glaciers include the Gangotri and Yamunotri (Uttaranchal), Nubra, Biafo and Baltoro (Karakoram region), Zemu (Sikkim) and Khumbu glaciers (Mount Everest region). The higher regions of the Himalaya are snowbound throughout the year in spite of their proximity to the tropics, and they form the sources for several large perennial rivers, most of which combine into two large river systems: perennial
- The western rivers combine into the Indus Basin, of which the Indus River is the largest. The Indus begins in Tibet at the confluence of Sengge and Gar rivers and flows southwest through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. It is fed by the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas, and the Sutlej rivers, among others.
- Most of the other Himalayan rivers drain the Ganga-Brahmaputra Basin. Its two main rivers are the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. The Ganga originates as the Bhagirathi from the Gangotri glacier and flows southeast through the plains of northern India, fed by the Alaknanda and the Yamuna among other tributaries. The Brahmaputra originates as the Tsangpo in western Tibet, and flows east through Tibet and west through the plains of Assam. The Ganga and the Brahmaputra meet in Bangladesh, and drain into the Bay of Bengal through the world's largest river delta. The eastern-most Himalayan rivers feed the Irrawaddy, which originates in eastern Tibet and flows south through Myanmar to drain into the Andaman Sea. The Salween, Mekong, the Yangtze and the Huang He (Yellow River) all originate from parts of the Tibetan plateau that are geologically distinct from the Himalaya mountains, and are therefore not considered true Himalayan rivers. Some geologists refer to all the rivers collectively as the circum-Himalayan rivers [http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/EAE03/13617/EAE03-J-13617.pdf]. In recent years scientists have monitored a notable increase in the speed of the glacial melt across the region as a result of global climate change. Although the affect of this won't be known for many years it potentially could mean disaster for the hundreds of thousands of people that rely on the glaciers to feed the rivers of northern India during the dry seasons.

Lakes

India The Himalaya region is dotted with hundreds of lakes. Most lakes are found at altitudes of less than 5,000 m, with the size of the lakes diminishing with altitude. The largest lake is the Pangong t'so, which is spread across the border between India and Tibet. It is situated at an altitude of 4,600 m, and is 8 km wide and nearly 134 km long. The highest lake is the Gurudogmar in North Sikkim 5,370 m (17,600 feet). Other major lakes include the Tsongmo lake, near the Indo-China border in Sikkim. The mountain lakes are known to geographers as tarns if they are caused by glacial activity. Tarns are found mostly in the upper reaches of the Himalaya, above 5,500 metres.

Impact on climate

tarns is clearly visible.]] The Himalaya has a profound effect on the climate of the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau. It prevents frigid, dry Arctic winds from blowing south into the subcontinent, which keeps South Asia much warmer than corresponding temperate regions in the other continents. It also forms a barrier for the monsoon winds, keeping them from traveling northwards, and causing heavy rainfall in the Terai region. The Himalaya are also believed to play an important part in the formation of Central Asian deserts such as the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts. Due to the mountain ranges, the western disturbances which appear from Iran during winter are prevented from travelling any further, resulting in snow in Kashmir and rainfall for parts of Punjab and northern India. Despite being a barrier to the cold northernly winter winds, the Brahmaputra valley receives part of the frigid winds, thus lowering the temperature in the northeast Indian states and Bangladesh. These winds also cause the North East monsoon during this season for these parts.

Mountain passes

Bangladesh River valley.]] The rugged terrain of the Himalaya makes few routes through the mountains possible. Some of these routes include:
- Gangtok in Sikkim to Lhasa in Tibet, via the Nathula Pass and Jelepla Passes (offshoots of the ancient Silk Route).
- Bhadgaon in Nepal to Nyalam in Tibet.
- Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh, India.
- The road from Srinagar in Kashmir via Leh to Tibet. This pass is now less used because of regional troubles.

Impact on politics and culture

Tibet The Himalaya, due to its large size and expanse, has been a natural barrier to the movement of people for a long time. In particular, this has prevented intermingling of people from the Indian subcontinent with people from China and Mongolia, causing significantly different languages and customs between these regions. The Himalaya has also hindered trade routes and prevented military expeditions across its expanse. For instance, Genghis Khan could not expand his empire south of the Himalaya into the subcontinent.

Himal

Himal is Nepalese for "range" and is used to name the various regions of the Himalaya. In Nepal, these are as follows:
- Annapurna Himal
- Ganesh Himal
- Khumbu Himal
- Langtang Himal
- Manang Himal
- Rolwaling Himal

Notable peaks

Religion and mythology

Rolwaling Himal center for Hindus]] Several places in the Himalaya are of religious significance in Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, the Himalaya have also been personified as the god Himavat, the father of Shiva's consort, Parvati.
- Haridwar, the place where the river Ganges enters the plains.
- Badrinath, a temple dedicated to Vishnu.
- Kedarnath, where one of the 12 Jyothirlingas is located.
- Deoprayag, where the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi merge to form the Ganges.
- Rishikesh, has a temple of Lakshmana.
- Mount Kailash, a 6,718 m high peak which is considered to be the abode of the Hindu god Shiva and is also venerated by Buddhists. Lake Manasarowar lies at the base of Mount Kailash, and is the source of the Brahmaputra.
- Amarnath, has a natural Shivalinga of ice which forms for a few weeks each year. Thousands of people visit this cave during these few weeks.
- A number of Tibetan Buddhist sites are situated in the Himalaya, including the residence of the Dalai Lama.
- The Yeti is one of the most famous creatures in cryptozoology. It is a large primate-like creature that is supposed to live in the Himalaya. Most mainstream scientists and experts consider current evidence of the Yeti's existence unpersuasive, and the result of hoaxes, legend or misidentification of mundane creatures.
- Shambhala is a mystical city in Buddhism with various legends associated with it. While some legends consider it to be a real city where secret Buddhist doctrines are being preserved, other legends believe that the city does not physically exist and can only be reached in the mental realm.

Himalaya in fiction


- Shangri-La is a fictional utopia situated somewhere in the Himalaya, based on the legendary Shambhala. It is described in the novel Lost Horizon, written by the British writer James Hilton in 1933.
- The Hollywood movie Vertical Limit (2000), is set in the K2 peak of the Himalaya.

See also


- Eight-thousander - a list of Himalayan peaks over 8000 metres
- List of mountains in Pakistan
- Geography of China
- Trekking peak

Further reading


- Michael Palin, Himalaya, Weidenfeld Nicolson Illustrated (2004) [ISBN 0297843710]
- John Hunt, Ascent of Everest, Hodder & Stoughton (1956) [ISBN 0898863619]
- Everest, the IMAX movie (1998), [ISBN 0788814931]

External links


- [http://comp1.geol.unibas.ch/zanskar/CHAPITRE2/page23.html The making of the Himalaya and major tectonic subdivisions]
- [http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~wittke/Tibet/Himalaya.html Geology of the Himalayan mountains]
- [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/earth/birth.html Birth of the Himalaya]
- [http://snobear.colorado.edu/Markw/Mountains/03/week11.html Some notes on the formation of the Himalaya]
- [http://www.8000metres.com Guide to the 8000m peaks]
- [http://himachalpardesh.blogspot.com Guide to the North Indian Himalayan state] Category:Asia Category:Biodiversity hotspots Category:Mountain ranges of Asia ko:히말라야 산맥 ms:Himalaya ja:ヒマラヤ山脈 simple:Himalaya th:เทือกเขาหิมาลัย

Andes

]] The Andes is a vast mountain system forming a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. It is roughly 7000 km (4400 mi) long, 500 km (300 mi) wide in some parts (widest between 18° to 20° S latitude), and of an average height of about 4000 m (13,000 ft). The Andean range is composed of two great principal chains with a deep intermediate depression, in which, and at the sides of the great chains, arise other chains of minor importance, the chief of which is that called the Cordillera de la Costa of Chile. This starts from the southern extremity of the continent and runs in a northerly direction, parallel with the coast, being broken up at its beginning into a number of islands and afterwards forming the western boundary of the great central valley of Chile. To the north this coastal chain continues in small ridges or isolated hills along the Pacific Ocean as far as Venezuela, always leaving the same valley more or less visible to the west of the western great chain. The Andes is the highest mountain range outside Asia, with its highest peak, Aconcagua, rising to 6,982m above sea level. The summit of Mount Chimborazo in the Ecuadorean Andes is the point on the Earth's surface most distant from its centre, due to the equatorial bulge.

External links


- [http://www.photoglobe.info/db_merced/ PhotoGlobe: Andes around Mt. Mercedario]
- [http://www.geo.arizona.edu/geo5xx/geo527/Andes/intro.html Andes geology Arizona Edu.] Category:Mountain ranges Category:Mountains of South America ko:안데스 산맥 ja:アンデス山脈 simple:Andes

Aztec

:The word "Aztec" is usually used as a historical term, although some contemporary Nahuatl speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. This article deals with the historical Aztec civilization, not with modern-day Nahuatl speakers. For other uses of the word see Aztec (disambiguation). The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. They were a civilization with a rich mythology and cultural heritage. Their capital was Tenochtitlan, built on raised islets in Lake Texcoco – the site of modern-day Mexico City. Mexico City

Terminology

In Nahuatl, the native language of the Aztec, "Azteca" means "someone who comes from Aztlán", a mythical place in northern Mexico. However, the Aztec referred to themselves as Mexica (IPA ) or Tenochca and Tlatelolca according their city of origin. Their use of the word azteca was like the modern use of Latino, or Mediterranean: a broad term that does not refer to a specific culture. The modern usage of the name Aztec as a collective term, applied to all the peoples linked by trade, custom, religion , and language to the Mexica state, the Triple Alliance, was suggested by Alexander von Humboldt and adopted by Mexican scholars of 19th century, as a way to distance "modern" Mexicans from pre-conquest Mexicans. "Mexica", the origin of the word Mexico, is a term of uncertain origin. Very different etymologies are proposed: the old Nahuatl word for the sun, the name of their leader Mexitli, a type of weed that grows in Lake Texcoco. The most renowned Nahuatl translator, Miguel León-Portilla, suggests that it means "navel of the moon" from Nahuatl metztli (moon) and xictli (navel) or, alternatively, it could mean navel of the maguey (Nahuatl metl).

Legends and traditions

:Main article: Aztec mythology. Aztec culture is generally grouped with the cultural complex known as the nahuas because of the common language they shared. According to legend, the various groups who were to become the Aztecs arrived from the north into the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco. The location of this valley and lake of destination is clear – it is the heart of modern Mexico City – but little can be known with certainty about the origin of the Aztec. In the legend, the ancestors of the Aztec came from a place in the north called Aztlán, the last of seven nahuatlacas (Nahuatl-speaking tribes, from tlaca, "man") to make the journey southward. The Aztec were said to be guided by their god Huitzilopochtli, meaning "Left-handed Hummingbird". When they arrived at an island in the lake, they saw an eagle perched on a nopal cactus full of its fruits (nochtli), a vision that fulfilled a prophecy telling them that they should found their new home on that spot. The Aztecs built their city of Tenochtitlan on that site, building a great artificial island, which today is in the center of Mexico City. This legendary vision is pictured on the Coat of Arms of Mexico. According to legend, when the Aztec arrived in the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco, they were considered by the other groups as the least civilized of all, but the Aztec decided to learn, and they took all they could from other peoples, especially from the ancient Toltec (whom they seem to have partially confused with the more ancient civilization of Teotihuacan). To the Aztec, the Toltecs were the originators of all culture; "Toltecayotl" was a synonym for culture. Aztec legends identify the Toltecs and the cult of Quetzalcoatl with the mythical city of Tollan, which they also seem to have identified with the more ancient Teotihuacan. Because the Aztec adopted and combined several traditions with their own earlier traditions, they had several creation myths; one of these describes four great ages preceding the present world, each of which ended in a catastrophe. Our age – Nahui-Ollin, the fifth age, or fifth creation – escaped destruction due to the sacrifice of a god (Nanahuatl, "full of sores", the smallest and humblest of the gods) who was transformed into the Sun. This myth is associated with the ancient city of Teotihuacan, which was already abandoned and destroyed when the Aztec arrived. Another myth describes the earth as a creation of the twin gods Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl. Tezcatlipoca lost his foot in the process of creating the world and all representations of these gods show him without a foot and with a bone exposed. Quetzalcoatl is also called "White Tezcatlipoca".

Rise of the Aztecs

Quetzalcoatl There were twelve rulers or tlatoque (singular: tlatoani) of Tenochtitlan:
- Legendary Founder: Tenoch
- 1375: Acamapichtli
- 1395: Huitzilihuitl
- 1417: Chimalpopoca
- 1427: Itzcoatl
- 1440: Moctezuma I (or Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina)
- 1469: Axayacatl
- 1481: Tizoc
- 1486: Auitzotl
- 1502: Moctezuma II (or Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, the famous "Montezuma", a.k.a. Motecuhzoma II)
- 1520: Cuitlahuac
- 1521: Cuauhtemoc After the fall of Tula, in the 12th century, in the valley of Mexico and surroundings, there were several city states of Nahua-speaking people: Cholula, Huexotzingo, Tlaxcala, Atzcapotzalco, Chalco, Culhuacan, Xochimilco, Tlacopan, etc. No single one of them was powerful enough to dominate other cities, and they were somewhat united by a common Toltec background. Aztec chronicles describe this time as a golden age, when music was established, people learned arts and crafts from surviving Toltecs, and rulers held poetry contests in place of wars. In the 13th and 14th centuries, around the Lake Texcoco in the Anahuac Valley, the most powerful of these city states were Culhuacan to the south, and Azcapotzalco to the west. Between them, they controlled the whole Lake Texcoco area. As a result, when the Mexica arrived to the Anahuac valley as a semi-nomadic tribe, they had nowhere to go. They settled temporarily in Chapultepec, but this was under the rule of Azcapotzalco, the city of the "Tepaneca", and they were soon expelled. They then went to the area dominated by Culhuacan and, in 1299, the ruler Cocoxtli gave them permission to settle in the empty barrens of Tizapan. They assimilated to Culhuacan culture: they took and married Culhuacan women, so that those women could teach their children. In 1323, they asked the new ruler of Culhuacan, Achicometl, for his daughter, in order to make her the goddess Yaocihuatl. The Mexica sacrificed her. The people of Culhuacan were horrified and expelled the Mexica. Forced to flee, in 1325 they went to a small islet in the center of the lake where they began to build their city "Mexico - Tenochtitlan", eventually creating a large artificial island. After a time, they elected their first tlatoani, Acamapichtli, following customs learned from the Culhuacan. Another Mexica group settled on the north shore: this would become the city of Tlatelolco. Originally, this was an independent Mexica kingdom, but eventually it merged with the islet. During this period, the islet was under the jurisdiction of Azcapotzalco, and the Mexica had to pay heavy tributes to stay there. Initially, the Mexica hired themselves out as mercenaries in wars between Nahuas, breaking the balance of power between city states. Eventually they gained enough glory to receive royal marriages. Mexica rulers Acamapichtli, Huitzilihuitl and Chimalpopoca were, in 1372–1427, vassals of Tezozomoc, a lord of the Tepanec nahua. When Tezozomoc died, his son Maxtla assassinated Chimalpopoca, whose uncle Itzcoatl allied with the ex-ruler of Texcoco, Nezahualcoyotl, and besieged Maxtla's capital Azcapotzalco. Maxtla surrendered after 100 days and went into exile. Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan formed a "Triple Alliance" that came to dominate the Valley of Mexico, and then extended its power beyond. Tenochtitlan gradually became the dominant power in the alliance. Itzcoatl's nephew Motecuhzoma I inherited the throne in 1449 and expanded the realm. His son Axayacatl (1469) surrounding kingdom of Tlatelolco. His sister was married to the tlatoani of Tlatelolco, but, as a pretext for war, he declared that she was mistreated. He went on to conquer Matlazinca and the cities of Tollocan, Ocuillan, and Mallinalco. He was defeated by the Tarascans in Tzintzuntzan (the first great defeat the Aztecs had ever suffered), but recovered and took control of the Huasteca region, conquering the Mixtecs and Zapotecs. In 1481 Axayacatl's son Tizoc ruled briefly, but he was considered weak, so he was replaced (possibly through assassination by poisoning) by his younger brother Ahuitzol who had reorganized the army. The empire was at its largest during his reign. His successor was Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin (better known as Moctezuma II), who was tlatoani when the Spaniards arrived in 1519.

The Empire

The Aztec