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Mariana Islands

Mariana Islands

The Mariana Islands (sometimes called The Marianas; up to the early 20th century sometimes called the Islas de los Ladrones or Islands of Thieves) are a group of islands made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the Pacific Ocean. They are the southern part of a submerged mountain range that extends 1,565 miles (2,519 km) from Guam to near Japan. The Marianas are the northernmost islands of a larger island group called Micronesia. The Marianas have a total land area of 396 square miles (1026 km²). Guam is a US territory, and the rest of the islands (including the main inhabited islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota) comprise the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The first European to discover the island group was Ferdinand Magellan in 1521. In 1667 Spain formally claimed them, and named them after Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria. Following the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded Guam to the United States, and sold the northern remainder to Germany. After World War I the former German islands were entrusted by the League of Nations to the control of Japan. The island chain saw fighting between the US and Japanese forces in 1944 during World War II. The United States wanted to capture the islands for use as a bombing base to raid the Japanese mainland. Once captured, the islands of Saipan and Tinian were used extensively by the United States military as they finally put mainland Japan within round-trip range of American bombers. In fact, both the Enola Gay and the Bockscar (which bombed Nagasaki) took off from Tinian’s “North Field.” Category:German colonies Category:Archipelagoes ja:マリアナ諸島

Island

in New York, USA]] An island or isle is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water. Very small islands are called islets. Although seldom adhered to, it is also proper to call an emergent land feature on an atoll an islet, since an atoll is a type of island. A key or cay is also another name for a relatively small island. Groups of related islands are called archipelagos. There are three main types of islands: continental islands, river islands, and volcanic islands. There are also some artificial islands. The word island derives ultimately from the Old English word igland. It was originally spelled phonetically: iland. The letter "s" was added out of the mistaken belief that it derived from isle (< Old French < Latin insula) + land, where no such etymological relationship existed.

Continental islands

Continental islands are bodies of land that are connected by the continental shelf to a continent. That is, these islands are part of an adjacent continent and are located on the continental shelf of that continent. Examples include Greenland and Sable Island off North America, Barbados and Trinidad off South America, Sicily off Europe, Sumatra and Java off Asia, New Guinea and Tasmania off Australia. A special type of continental island is the microcontinental island, which results when a continent is rifted. The best example is Madagascar off Africa. The Kerguelen Islands and some of the Seychelles are also examples. Another subtype is the barrier island: accumulations of sand on the continental shelf.

River islands

River islands occur in river deltas and in large rivers. They are caused by deposition of sediment at points in the flow where the current loses some of its carrying capacity. In essence, they are river bars, isolated in the stream. While some are ephemeral, and may disappear if the river's water volume or speed changes, others are stable and long-lived.

Volcanic islands

Volcanic islands are built by volcanoes. Mid-ocean examples are not geologically part of any continent. One type of volcanic island is found in a volcanic island arc. These islands arise from volcanoes where the subduction of one plate under another is occurring. Examples include the Mariana Islands, the Aleutian Islands, and most of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean. Some of the Lesser Antilles and the South Sandwich Islands are the only Atlantic Ocean examples. Another type of volcanic island occurs where an oceanic rift reaches the surface. There are two examples: Iceland, which is the world's largest volcanic island, and Jan Mayen—both are in the Atlantic. The last type of volcanic island are those formed over volcanic hotspots. A hot spot is more or less stationary relative to the moving tectonic plate above it, so a chain of islands results as the plate drifts. Over long periods of time, this type of island is eventually eroded down and "drowned" by isostatic adjustment, becoming a seamount. Plate movement across a hot-spot produces a line of islands oriented in the direction of the plate movement. An example is the Hawaiian Islands, from Hawaii to Kure, which then extends beneath the sea surface in a more northerly direction as the Emperor Seamounts. Another chain with similar orientation is the Tuamotu Archipelago; its older, northerly trend is the Line Islands. The southernmost chain is the Austral Islands, with its northerly trending part the atolls in the nation of Tuvalu. Tristan da Cunha is an example of a hotspot volcano in the Atlantic Ocean. An atoll is an island formed from a coral reef that has grown on an eroded and submerged volcanic island. The reef rises above the surface of the water and forms a new island. Atolls are typically ring-shaped with a central, shallow lagoon. Examples include the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and Bora Bora in the Pacific.

External links

- [http://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part8.htm Definition of island] from United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Category:Islands Category:Landforms zh-min-nan:Tó-sū ko:섬 ms:Pulau ja:島 simple:Island th:เกาะ

Guam

The Territory of Guam (Guåhån in Chamorro) is an island in the Western Pacific Ocean and is an organized unincorporated territory of the United States. Its indigenous people are the Chamorros, who first inhabited the island approximately 3,500 years ago. The capital is Hagåtña, formerly Agana (pronounced Agaña). Guam's economy is mainly supported by tourism (particularly from Japan) and United States armed forces bases. The latter takes up one-third of the entire land mass of the island. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes Guam on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

History of Guam

Guam's history of colonialism is the longest among the Pacific islands. Guam's first contact with western civilization occurred when Ferdinand Magellan reached the island in 1521 during his around the world voyage. General Miguel López de Legazpi claimed Guam for Spain in 1565. Spanish colonization commenced in 1668. Between 1668 and 1815, Guam was an important resting stop on the Spanish trade route between the Philippines and Mexico. While Guam's Chamorro culture is unique (even when compared to neighboring Northern Mariana Islands), the cultures of both Guam and the Northern Marianas were heavily influenced by Spanish culture and traditions. The United States took control of the island in 1898 after the Battle of Guam of 1898 in the Spanish-American War. Guam was the southernmost island in the Marianas Group and this poltical change started Guam and the Northern Marianas (including Saipan and Tinian) down separate paths. Guam came to serve as a way station for American ships traveling to and from the Philippines. During World War II, Guam was attacked and invaded by the Japanese armed forces in 1941. The Northern Mariana islands had become a Japanese protectorate before the war. The Northern Mariana Chamorros, as a result, were allies of the Japanese. The Guam Chamorros were treated as an occupied enemy by the Japanese military. The United States returned and fought the Battle of Guam in 1944 to recapture the island from Japanese military occupation. While the Northern Marianas were also liberated from Japanese rule and came under the U.S. political rule and commonwealth status, some cultural rift between Guam and Northern Mariana Chamorros remains. The Organic Act of 1950 established Guam as an unincorporated organized territory of the United States, provided for the structure of the island's government, and granted the people United States citizenship.

Politics of Guam

The population of Guam is largely proud of its U.S. connection, and its economy is greatly dependent on the US military base. The U.S. connection also contributes to Guam's status as a Japanese tourist destination. The Guamanian population is generally culturally sympathetic toward the U.S., based especially in common tribulations during WWII, and on good relations with the U.S. military since. Maintenance of the status quo vis-à-vis the current political relationship between the territory and the U.S. is, however, not without controversy. There is a significant movement in favor of Guam becoming a commonwealth in political union with the U.S. (i.e., the political status of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands). Competing movements with less significant influence exist, one of which advocates political independence from the United States, while another movement advocates statehood. These proposals however, are not seen as favorable or realistic within the U.S. federal government, who argue Guam does not have the financial stability or self sufficiency to warrant such status. The same sources quickly provide evidence of Guam’s increasing reliance on Federal spending, and question how commonwealth status or statehood would benefit the United States as a greater whole. In whatever form it takes, most people on Guam favor a modified version of the current territorial status, involving greater autonomy from the federal government (similar to the autonomy of individual states). Perceived indifference by the U.S. Congress regarding a change-of-status petition submitted by Guam has led many to feel that the territory is being unjustly deprived of the benefits of a more equitable union with the U.S. See: List of Guam Governors

Transportation and Communications in Guam

:Main articles: Communications in Guam, Transportation in Guam Guam is served by Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport.

Economy

Guam's economy depends primarily on tourism, the United States military base presence, and other federal spending. Although Guam receives no foreign aid, it does receive large transfer payments from the general revenues of the US Federal Treasury into which Guam pays no income or excise taxes; under the provisions of a special law of Congress, the Guam Treasury, rather than the US Treasury, receives federal income taxes paid by military and civilian Federal employees stationed in Guam. Guam is a favorite destination for Japanese tourists. Guam is a relatively short flight from Japan compared to Hawaii, and a series of tourist hotels and golf courses were built to cater to the tourists. Today, about 90 percent of tourists to Guam are Japanese. The main tourist beach, Tumon Bay has beautiful white sand, and Tumon Bay is now a marine preserve, teeming with fish. Recently completed infrastructure projects have brought underground fiber-optics and new roads to the busy Tumon area. The economy had been booming since 2000 due to Japanese tourists, but took a downturn with the rest of Asia. Guam has a 14% unemployment rate, and the government suffered a $314 million shortfall in 2003 alone.[http://pacificweb.org/guam/2004%20Guam%20Yearbook/2004_Guam_Yearbook_FinalR2_Full%20Version.pdf] The following is the amount in billion of dollars, that the Government of Guam has spent in Federal grants for various government and economic expenditures minus those of the United States Armed Forces:[http://investguam.com/Stats/FedExp93-03guam.pdf] ::1993 - $1.004 ::1994 - $1.061 ::1995 - $0.809 ::1996 - $0.829 ::1997 - $0.846 ::1998 - $0.998 ::1999 - $0.844 ::2000 - $0.841 ::2001 - $0.907 ::2002 - $1.113 ::2003 - $1.538 "The Compact of Free Association between the United States of America, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands was signed in 1982, and ratified in 1986. It accorded the former entities of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands a political status of 'free association.'" [http://www.fm/jcn/compact/introfr.html Compact of Free Association] The Compact was an agreement to which the Guam was not a party. However, Guam along with Hawaii and California have borne the economic brunt of this treaty.

Geography

:Main articles: Geography of Guam Guam is located at . Guam has an area of 212 mi² (549 km²). The northern part of the island is a coralline limestone plateau while the south contains volcanic peaks. A coral reef surrounds most of the island. Guam is the southernmost island in the Mariana Island chain and is the largest island in Micronesia. Guam lies along the Marianas Trench, a deep subduction zone at the edge of the Pacific plate. The Challenger Deep, the deepest point on earth, is southwest of Guam at 35,838 ft (10,923 meters) deep. The island experiences occasional earthquakes. In recent years, quakes with epicenters near Guam have had magnitudes ranging from 7.0 to 8.2. The island is divided into 19 municipalities (often called villages).

Weather

The climate is characterized as tropical marine. The weather is generally warm and humid with little seasonal temperature variation. The average mean temperature in 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) with an average annual rainfall of 86 inches (2,180 millimeters). The dry season runs from December through June. The remaining months constitute the rainy season. The highest risk of typhoons is during October and November. An average of three tropical storms and one typhoon pass within 180 nautical miles (330 km) of Guam each year. The most intense typhoon to pass over Guam recently was Typhoon Pongsona which struck Guam in December 2002.

Miscellaneous

earth The island is also known as a prominent example for the disastrous effects of bioinvasion: A stowaway on U.S. military transport at the end of World War II, the slightly venomous, but rather harmless, brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) came north to Guam and killed almost the entire native bird population on the previously snake-free island. This snake has no natural predators on the island; nowadays, Guam is one of the areas with the highest snake density in the world (an estimated 2,000 snakes/km²). Even so, residents rarely see these snakes. They curl up and hide during the day, and move about on trees and fences at night. As prodigious tree climbers, the snakes allegedly caused frequent blackouts in neighborhoods across the Island. Now all power poles have a slick metal sheath that prevent the snakes from climbing up. In the 1996 film version of Roald Dahl's "Matilda", Matilda's family decide to move to Guam to avoid the arrest of Harry Wormwood, Matilda's father. Matilda protests and is quickly adopted by her teacher Miss Honey. Another noteworthy mention of Guam is made by author Gordon Korman in his Island trilogy series. Guam is the setting in the first book, Shipwreck, where six "naughty" kids are put on a ship and become shipwrecked, but learn skills of survival, trust, and friendship along the way.

External links

- [http://ns.gov.gu/ Official Guam Webpage]
- [http://www.guampedia.com/ Guampedia]
- [http://www.guamhumanitiescouncil.org/ Guam Humanities Council]
- [http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage Pacific Daily News, Guam's Primary Newspaper]
- [http://kuam.com/ KUAM, Guam's Primary News Channel]
- [http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/micronesia/index.html Map of Micronesia]
- [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/guam.html Maps - Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection]
- [http://www.mymicronesia.com/guam/ myMicronesia/Guam section]
- [http://www.mesc.usgs.gov/resources/education/bts/bts_home.asp The Brown Tree Snake on Guam] How the arrival of one invasive species damaged the ecology, commerce, electrical systems, and human health on Guam: A comprehensive information source.
- [http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/hispanic/guam/guam.html U.S. Library of Congress - Portals to the World]
- [http://www.guampowerauthority.com/servingyoubetter/SWAC.htm Guam Power Authority Sea Water Air Conditioning Project]
- Category:Insular areas of the United States Category:Micronesia Category:Oceanic dependencies zh-min-nan:Guahan ja:グアム simple:Guam

Micronesia

Micronesia (from Greek: μικρός small, νῆσος island) is the name of a region in the Pacific Ocean. The Philippines lie to the west, Indonesia to the south west, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the south-east and east.

Geography and history

This region of Oceania consists of many hundreds of small islands spread over a large region of the western Pacific. The only empire known to have originated in Micronesia was based in Yap. The term "Micronesia" was first proposed to distinguish the region in 1831 by Jules Dumont d'Urville; before this the term "Polynesia" was in use to generally describe the islands of the Pacific. Politically, Micronesia is divided between eight territories:
- the Federated States of Micronesia (sometimes referred to simply as "Micronesia", or alternatively abbreviated "FSM");
- the Republic of the Marshall Islands;
- the Republic of Palau;
- the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
- the Republic of Nauru;
- the Republic of Kiribati;
- the Territory of Guam.
- the Territory of Wake Island. Much of the area was to come under European domination quite early. Guam, the Northern Marianas, and the Caroline Islands (what would later become the FSM and Palau) were colonized early on by the Spanish. Full European expansion did not come, however, until the late 19th century, when the area would be divided between:
- the United States, which took Guam and Wake Island;
- Germany, which took Nauru and the Marshall, Caroline, and Northern Mariana Islands; and
- the British Empire, which took the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati). During the First World War, Germany's Pacific island territories were taken from it and were made into League of Nations Mandates. Nauru became an Australian mandate, while Germany's other territories were given as mandates to Japan. This remained the situation until Japan's defeat in the Second World War, when its mandates became a United Nations Trusteeship ruled by the United States, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Today, all of Micronesia (with the exceptions of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Wake Island, which are U.S. territories) are independent states.

Languages

The native languages of the various Micronesian indigenous peoples are classified under the Austronesian language family. Almost all of these languages belong to the Oceanic subgroup of this family; however, three exceptions are noted in Western Micronesia, which belong to the Western Malayo-Polynesian subgroup:
- Chamorro in the Mariana Islands,
- Yapese in the Federated States of Micronesia, and
- Palauan in Palau. This latter subgroup also includes quite a few languages spoken today in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia (Kirch, 2000: pp. 166-167). On the eastern edge of the Federated States of Micronesia, the languages Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi represent an extreme westward extension of Polynesian.

References

- pp. 166-167.

External links

- [http://www.mapsouthpacific.com/micronesia/index.html Map of Micronesia]
- [http://www.southpacific.org/micro.html Moon Handbooks Micronesia]
- [http://www.mymicronesia.com/ myMicronesia.com]
- [http://nature.org/wherewework/asiapacific/micronesia/ Micronesia conservation and nature] Category:Islands Category:Biodiversity hotspots Category:Micronesia Category:Oceania zh-min-nan:Micronesia ko:미크로네시아 ja:ミクロネシア

Guam

History of Guam

Politics of Guam

Transportation and Communications in Guam

:Main articles: Communications in Guam, Transportation in Guam Guam is served by Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport.

Economy

Geography

Weather

Miscellaneous

External links

Saipan

Saipan (IPA: in English) is the largest island and site of the capital of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, (a chain of 14 tropical islands in the western Pacific Ocean) with a total area of 120 km² (46.5 sq mi). The 2000 estimated population was 62,392. 2000 Located at , about 200 km (120 mi) north of Guam, Saipan is about 20 km (12.5 mi) long and 9 km (5.5 mi) wide. The western side of the island has beaches and a coral reef, while the eastern shore is comprised primarily of rugged rocky cliffs. Its highest point is the extinct volcano Mount Tapochau at 474 m (1,554 ft). Despite an annual rainfall of 80-100", Commonwealth Utilities Corporation, the local government-run water utility company on Saipan, is unable to deliver 24-hour-a-day potable water to its customers. As a result, several of the large hotels use desalination plants to produce fresh water for their customers. Most homes and small businesses have cisterns to store rainwater, unlike Guam which has limestone aquifers,. Spain originally claimed Saipan as part of its claim to the Marianas. Around 1815, many Carolineans from atolls near Chuuk (formerly Truk) settled in Saipan. Saipan was under German rule from 1899 to 1914, when the Japanese took over the island. The Japanese developed both fishing and sugar industries, and in the 1930s garrisoned Saipan heavily, with nearly 30,000 troops on the island by 1941. 1941 During World War II, the U.S. Marines landed on June 15, 1944, on the beaches of the southwestern side of the island, and spent more than three weeks in hard fighting to secure it in the battle of Saipan. This engagement was dramatized in John Woo's 2002 film "Windtalkers." Despite its status as a U.S. Commonwealth, Saipan is exempt from some federal laws, including key labor and immigration laws. As a result, a number of garment factories with wages around half of the U.S. minimum wage have been set up on the island to supply the U.S. market. Goods manufactured in U.S. Commonwealths, including Saipan, may be labeled "Made in the USA". In January 1999, a coalition of U.S.-based pressure groups and labor unions began a class action lawsuit on behalf of around 30,000 garment-industry workers who they claimed had been mistreated in such factories, being submitted to what was, in effect, indentured servitude. In April 2003, a settlement worth $20 million was reached with 27 garment manufacturers and 27 leading retailers, including The Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, and Polo Ralph Lauren. The firm of Levi Strauss & Co. refused to settle, however; in January 2004, the case against the company was dismissed. Garapan is the largest village and the center of the tourism industry on the island.

External links

- [http://www.cnmi-guide.com Marianas guide, see "Saipan Virtual Tour"]
- [http://net.saipan.com/personal/hooper/saipanpics.htm Photos of Saipan]
- [http://saipan.keithtarrier.com Saipan - A Collection of Photos by Keith Tarrier]
- [http://www.saipansucks.com/ SaipanSucks.com - A site critical of Saipan] Category:Northern Mariana Islands Category:Capitals in Oceania Category:Capitals of U.S. political divisions ja:サイパン島

Tinian

Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. Tinian is about 5 miles (8km) southwest of its sister island, Saipan. It has a land area of about 40 sq.mi. (100 km²). Lightly populated, but heavily garrisoned by Japanese forces in World War II, Tinian, with its sister islands, had passed through Spanish and German hands prior to becoming a Protectorate of Japan after World War I. Under Japanese administration, Tinian was largely a sugar plantation. Tinian was captured by the United States in July 1944 in the battle of Tinian. The island was transformed into the busiest airfield of the war, with six 8,000 foot (2400 m) runways. It was from Tinian that the bombers carrying the atomic bombs Little Boy and Fat Man were launched against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The airfields now lie overgrown and abandoned. There is a memorial on the old airfield at the bombbay loading pits, which had been filled in for safety reasons but were both recently excavated in conjunction with the 60th Anniversary Commemoration of the Battles of Saipan and Tinian. Originally the pits had been dug to fit the large bombs into the planes which would be maneuvered over top of a pit with their cargo holds open in order to facilitate loading. Each bomb was too large to fit under the respective planes otherwise. Today the island is still underdeveloped. It has only three gas stations and its main attraction is the Tinian Dynasty Casino. The airport is rather small and it takes a 5 minute flight in a small plane with no airconditioning to get from Tinian to Saipan and vice versa. Category:Northern Mariana Islands Category:Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ja:テニアン島

Rota (island)

Rota, also known as the "peaceful island", is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It lies slightly northwest of the United States territory of Guam. Songsong village is the largest and most populated followed by Sinapalo village. Rota stands out as a pristine and untarnished island boasting white sandy beaches, a diverse flora and fauna, and breathtaking panoramas. This image has been attributed to the lack of overt development which has been seen in the two larger islands of Saipan and Tinian. The current mayor is Benjamin Manglona, also a former lieutenant governor, senator and congressman of the CNMI.

Stats

- Latitude: 14° 09' 13" N (14.153611)
- Longitude: 145° 12' 11" E (145.203056)
- Area: 85 square kilometers (32.8 sq.miles)
- Dimensions (approximately):
- 16.9-kilometers (10.5-miles) long
- 4.8-kilometers (3-miles) wide
- Coastline: 61.6 kilometers (38.3 miles)
- Highest point: Mt. Manira - 495 meters (1,625 ft)
- Population: 3,283 (2000 - U.S. Census Bureau[http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2001/cb01cn173.html])
- Distances:
- Guam - 76 kilometers (47 miles; south)
- Tinian - 101 kilometers (63 miles; north)
- Saipan - 117 kilometers, 73 miles; north) Category:Insular areas of the United States Category:Northern Mariana Islands Category:Micronesia ja:ロタ島

Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)

For other uses of Commonwealth, see Commonwealth. In the terminology of the United States insular areas, a commonwealth is an organized territory that has established with the Federal Government a more highly developed relationship, usually embodied in a written mutual agreement. There are currently two United States insular areas holding the status of commonwealth, the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico. The Philippine Islands was an insular area that held commonwealth status from March 24, 1934 until July 4, 1946, when the United States recognized the independence and sovereignty of the Philippines (see: Commonwealth of the Philippines). The term must be distinguished from its usage in the names of the U.S. states of Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky, which officially describe themselves as "commonwealths" but hold the same legal and political status as other states of the Union. Of the U.S. insular areas, the term was first used by Puerto Rico in 1952 as its formal name in English ("Commonwealth of Puerto Rico") since a strict translation of its name in Spanish would have been unacceptable to the U.S. Congress. The formal name in Spanish for Puerto Rico is "Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico," which translates exactly into "Free Associated State of Puerto Rico." The name "Estado Libre Asociado" summarizes the aspirations of many of those who want to maintain and even "improve" the relationship with the U.S., with greater autonomy and perhaps sovereignty, albeit with a U.S. passport. It is noted that the Commonwealthers present their status as an association with the United States under common citizenship, common defense and common currency. As of November of 2004, roughly half of the voters appear to have a preference for Commonwealth, the other half being for statehood with the U.S. A small portion (roughly 3 percent) seems to back independence. Category:Insular areas of the United States

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).

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

1521

Events

- January 3 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
- January 28 - Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
- March 6 - Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam.
- March 16 - Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines.
- April 7 - Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu.
- April 16 - 18 - Martin Luther is examined before Emperor Charles V and the German Diet of Worms.
- April 26 - Martin Luther leaves Worms and disappears for a year - he is rumored to be murdered but really is in hiding.
- April 27 - Magellan killed in the Philippines.
- May - Outbreak of war between Emperor Charles and the King of France.
- May 20 - Battle of Pampeluna.
- May 25 - The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.
- June 30 - Battle of Esquiroz - French forces under Henri d'Albret, exiled King of Navarre, are defeated by the Spanish and forced to abandon their attempt to recover Henri's kingdom.
- August 8 - Hernan Cortes and allied local Indians defeat Aztec forces of Cuautemoc, the last Aztec Emperor, in the Battle of Tenochtitlan.
- August 13 - Emperor Cuauhtémoc surrenders to Hernan Cortes.
- August 29 - Capture of Belgrade by the Turkish army of Suleiman I after a brave resistance.
- November 23 - Spanish-German-Papal forces under Prosper Colonna force French Marshal Odet de Lautrec to abandon Milan.
- Berengairo da Garbi notices appendix.

Births

- March 21 - Maurice, Elector of Saxony (d. 1553)
- May 8 - Petrus Canisius, Dutch Jesuit (died 1597)
- August 4 - Pope Urban VII (died 1590)
- December 1 - Takeda Shingen, Japanese warlord (d. 1573)
- December 13 - Pope Sixtus V (died 1590)
- Anne Askew, English protestant martyr (died 1546)
- John Aylmer, English divine (died 1594)
- Thomas Chaloner, English statesman and poet (died 1565)
- Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma (died 1586)
- Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer (died 1603)
- Thomas Wyatt the younger, English rebel (died 1554)

Deaths

- April 20 - Zhengde Emperor of China (born 1491)
- April 27 - Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese explorer
- May 10 - Sebastian Brant, German humanist and satirist (born 1457)
- May 17 - Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (executed)
- June 15 - Tamás Bakócz, Hungarian Catholic cardinal and statesman (born 1442)
- August 27 - Josquin Des Prez, Flemish composer
- December 1 - Pope Leo X (born 1475)
- December 13 - King Manuel I of Portugal (b. 1469)
- Piero di Cosimo, Italian artist (born 1462)
- Leonardo Loredano, Doge of Venice (born 1436)
- Edward Poyning, Lord Deputy to King Henry VII of England (born 1459)
- Juan Ponce de León, Spanish conquistador (born 1460)
- Stephen Hawes, English poet (born 1502) Category:1521 ko:1521년 simple:1521

Spain

The Kingdom of Spain (Spanish and Galician: Reino de España or España; Catalan: Regne d'Espanya; Basque: Espainiako Erresuma). To west (and, in Galicia, south), it borders Portugal. To south, it borders Gibraltar and Morocco. To the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it borders France and the tiny principality of Andorra. It includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the cities of Ceuta and Melilla in north Africa, and a number of uninhabited islands on the Mediterranean side of the strait of Gibraltar, known as Plazas de soberanía, such as the Chafarine islands, the "rocks" (peñones) of Vélez and Alhucemas, and the tiny Isla Perejil (disputed). In the Northeast along the Pyrenees, a small exclave town called Llívia in Catalonia is surrounded by French territory.

History

Main article: History of Spain

Prehistory

The aboriginal peoples of the Iberian peninsula, consisting of a number of separate tribes, are given the generic name of Iberians. This may have included the Basques, the only pre-Celtic people in Iberia surviving to the present day as a separate ethnic group. The most important culture of this period is that of the city of Tartessos. Beginning in the 9th century BC, Celtic tribes entered the Iberian peninsula through the Pyrenees and settled throughout the peninsula, becoming the Celtiberians. The seafaring Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians successively settled along the Mediterranean coast and founded trading colonies there over a period of several centuries. Around 1,100 BC Phoenician merchants founded the trading colony of Gadir or Gades (modern day Cádiz) near Tartessos. In the 8th century BC the first Greek colonies, such as Emporion (modern Empúries), were founded along the Mediterranean coast on the East, leaving the south coast to the Phoenicians. The Greeks are responsible for the name Iberia, after the river Iber (Ebro in Spanish). In the 6th century BC the Carthaginians arrived in Iberia while struggling with the Greeks for control of the Western Mediterranean. Their most important colony was Carthago Nova (Latin name of modern day Cartagena).

Roman Empire

The Romans arrived in the Iberian peninsula during the Second Punic war in the 2nd century BC, and annexed it under Augustus after two centuries of war with the Celtic and Iberian tribes and the Phoenician, Greek and Carthaginian colonies becoming the province of Hispania. It was divided in Hispania Ulterior and Hispania Citerior during the late Roman Republic; and, during the Roman Empire, Hispania Taraconensis in the northeast, Hispania Baetica in the south and Lusitania in the southwest. Hispania supplied the Roman Empire with food, olive oil, wine and metal. The emperors Trajan, Hadrian and Theodosius I, the philosopher Seneca and the poets Martial and Lucan were born in Spain. The Spanish Bishops held the Council at Elvira in 306. Many of Spain's present languages, religion, and laws originate from this period.

Muslim Spain

Main articles: Al-Andalus and Reconquista In the 8th century, nearly all the Iberian peninsula, which had been under Visigothic rule, was quickly conquered (from 711), by Muslims (the Moors), who had crossed over from North Africa, as part of the conquests of the Christian kingdoms there by the religiously inspired Umayyad empire. Only three small counties in the north of Spain kept their independence: Asturias, Navarra and Aragon, which eventually became kingdoms. Very soon the Muslim emirate split into small kingdoms. Christian and Muslim kingdoms fought and allied among themselves, with the Christians driving the Moorish forces out of the northern most parts of the peninsula within a few decades. The Muslim taifa kings competed in patronage of the arts, and the Jewish population of Iberia set the basis of Sephardic culture. Much of Spain's distinctive art originates from this seven-hundred-year period, and many Arabic words made their way into Castilian (Spanish) and Catalan, and from them to other European la

Mariana Islands

Island

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Guam

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Transportation and Communications in Guam

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Micronesia

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References

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Guam

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Saipan

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Rota (island)

Stats

Commonwealth (U.S. insular area)

Europe

Etymology

History

Geography and extent

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Biodiversity

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Table of European territories and regions

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Others

See also

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1521

Events

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Spain

History

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Roman Empire

Muslim Spain