Independence Day Independent State of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea, island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It encompasses the eastern half of New Guinea, the world’s second largest island (the western half is made up of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua); the Bismarck Archipelago (New Britain, New Ireland, the Admiralty Islands, and several others); Bougainville and Buka (part of the Solomon Islands chain); and small offshore islands and atolls. The national capital, Port Moresby, is located in southeastern New Guinea on the Coral Sea. The islands that constitute Papua New Guinea were settled over a period of 40,000 years by the mixture of peoples who are generally referred to as Melanesians. Since the country achieved independence in 1975, one of its principal challenges has been the difficulty of governing many hundreds of diverse, once-isolated local societies as a viable single nation. Land Papua New Guinea stretches from just south of the Equator to the Torres Strait, which separates New Guinea from Cape York Peninsula to the south, the northernmost extension of Australia. Mainland Papua New Guinea reaches its maximum north-south expanse of some 510 miles (820 km) along its western border with Indonesian Papua. Almost completely straight, the boundary is formed primarily by the line of longitude 141° E and curves only briefly westward to follow the Fly River for approximately 50 miles (80 km), starting just southwest of Kiunga. From the western border the land tapers—with a substantial indentation in the south coast formed by the Gulf of Papua—to a fingerlike shape that points southeast toward the D’Entrecasteaux Islands and the Louisiade Archipelago. Off the mainland are a number of small islands and island groups scattered to the north and east and, farther northeast, Bougainville Island and the Bismarck Archipelago; the latter forms a crescent that arcs from the Admiralty Islands in the north to New Britain and Umboi Island, off the mainland’s Huon Peninsula. Relief Papua New Guinea’s magnificent and varied scenery reflects a generally recent geologic history in which movements of the Earth’s crust resulted in the collision of the northward-moving Australian Plate with the westward-moving Pacific Plate. The low-lying plains of southern New Guinea are geologically part of the Australian Plate. Indeed, New Guinea was separated physically from Australia only some 8,000 years ago by the shallow flooding of the Torres Strait. The southern New Guinea plains, called the Fly-Digul shelf (named for the Fly and Digul rivers), are geologically stable. Northward lies a belt of limestone country of varying width, most prominent in the Kikori River–Lake Kutubu area. This forms an extraordinarily harsh environment of jumbled karst, dolines, rock towers, and seemingly endless ridges of jagged rock, all covered in virtually impenetrable lowland rainforest. A mountainous zone called the Highlands, extending from the west to the southeast, occupies the central part of the island of New Guinea. In Papua New Guinea those mountains reach elevations in excess of 13,000 feet (4,000 metres), rising to the country’s highest point of 14,793 feet (4,509 metres) at Mount Wilhelm in the Bismarck Range, part of the Central Range. The Highlands also feature enclosed upland basins whose floors are usually at 4,500 feet (1,370 metres) or higher. The basins contain lake deposits, formed in the recent geologic past by impeded drainage; soil wash from the surrounding mountains; and layers of volcanic ash, or tephra, deposited from nearby volcanoes, some of them recently active. Such basins, therefore, are usually very fertile. The north coast of the mainland, unlike the swampy south coast, drops sharply to the sea. The country’s most northerly zone consists of a complex unstable volcanic arc in the Bismarck Sea stretching southeastward from the Schouten Islands (not to be confused with the Indonesian island group of the same name) to the Huon Peninsula and eastward through the island of New Britain. There the arc bifurcates, one arm sweeping northwestward through New Ireland and the Admiralty Islands, the other proceeding southeastward through Buka, Bougainville, and the country of Solomon Islands. Drainage and soils Steeply sloping mountain areas, exceptionally heavy rainfall, geologic instability in all except the most southerly areas, and the rapid growth of both population and commercial enterprise have combined to create some of the highest soil-erosion rates in the world, rivaling those of the Himalaya region. Consequently, while rivers are usually quite short in length, they carry extraordinarily high sediment loads, which have built up vast swampy plains and deltas, especially along the Sepik, Ramu, Fly, and Purari river systems. Once they leave the Highlands, often through spectacular gorges, such rivers meander slowly across the sediment plains. For example, some 510 miles (820 km) from its mouth, the elevation of the Fly River is a mere 60 feet (18 metres) above sea level, an average downhill gradient of only about 1.5 inches per mile (2.4 cm per km). The high deposition rates create major problems for any proposed human use of those rivers, such as transportation or hydroelectricity generation. The northern volcanic fringe contains some of the most fertile soils of the islands. Climate of Papua New Guinea Although all the climatic regions of Papua New Guinea are basically tropical, they are nevertheless varied. In the lowlands, mean annual maximum temperatures range from about 86 to 90 °F (30 to 32 °C), and the minimums are between 73 and 75 °F (23 and 24 °C). Seasonal variation in temperature is slight, and the daily variation approximates the annual variation. Cooler conditions prevail in the Highlands, where night frosts are common above 7,000 feet (2,100 metres); daytime temperatures there generally exceed 72 °F (22 °C) regardless of season. Each variation in elevation creates new ecological zones for plant and animal life. Rainfall, rather than temperature, is the determinant of season. Precipitation is dependent on two wind systems—the southeast trade winds and the northwesterly turbulence zone (the monsoon)—and on the three site characteristics of latitude, elevation, and exposure. The southeasterlies blow for approximately seven months (May to November) on the extreme southeast of the country (Milne Bay) and for gradually shorter periods in northern areas, predominating for only three months in the Admiralty Islands. Conversely, northwesterlies are more common on the north coast and in the Bismarck Archipelago, but they affect Port Moresby for only three to four months of the year (the rainy season, December through March). The Highlands seem to have their own airflow systems, receiving rain throughout the year—totaling between 100 and 160 inches (2,500 and 4,000 mm)—except for a midyear dry phase. With the northwesterlies, rain is frequently from heated saturated air that loses its moisture as it cools and rises (convectional storms), and rain shadow effects are reduced. With the southeasterlies, however, exposure is particularly important. The Port Moresby coastal area is parched throughout the period of the southeasterlies, which flow parallel to the coast, yet where mountainous land lies athwart the airflow, as in New Britain or the southward-facing slopes of the Highlands, rainfall is extremely heavy, frequently exceeding 300 inches (7,600 mm). Port Moresby receives less than 50 inches (1,300 mm) of precipitation annually, which affects the water supply and the generation of hydroelectric power. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Papua-New-Guinea

2022/09/16

Independence Day of United Mexican States

Mexico, country of southern North America and the third largest country in Latin America, after Brazil and Argentina. Mexican society is characterized by extremes of wealth and poverty, with a limited middle class wedged between an elite cadre of landowners and investors on the one hand and masses of rural and urban poor on the other. But in spite of the challenges it faces as a developing country, Mexico is one of the chief economic and political forces in Latin America. It has a dynamic industrial base, vast mineral resources, a wide-ranging service sector, and the world’s largest population of Spanish speakers—about two and a half times that of Spain or Colombia. As its official name suggests, the Estados Unidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States) incorporates 31 socially and physically diverse states and the Federal District. More than half of the Mexican people live in the centre of the country, whereas vast areas of the arid north and the tropical south are sparsely settled. Migrants from impoverished rural areas have poured into Mexico’s cities, and nearly four-fifths of Mexicans now live in urban areas. Mexico City, the capital, is one of the most populous cities and metropolitan areas in the world. Mexico has experienced a series of economic booms leading to periods of impressive social gains, followed by busts, with significant declines in living standards for the middle and lower classes. The country remains economically fragile despite the forging of stronger ties with the United States and Canada through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Mexico’s urban growing pains are in sharp counterpoint to the traditional lifestyles that prevail in more-isolated rural areas. In states such as Oaxaca or Chiapas, small communal villages remain where indigenous peasants live much as their ancestors did. The cultural remnants of great pre-Columbian civilizations, such as Teotihuacán or the Mayan pyramids at Chichén Itzá and Tulum, provide a contrast to colonial towns such as Taxco or Querétaro. In turn, these towns appear as historical relics when compared with the modern metropolis of Mexico City. Yet even the bustling capital city, which has been continually built and rebuilt on the rubble of past civilizations, reveals Mexico’s wide range of social, economic, and cultural struggles. As the renowned Mexican poet and intellectual Octavio Paz observed, Past epochs never vanish completely, and blood still drips from all their wounds, even the most ancient. Sometimes the most remote or hostile beliefs and feelings are found together in one city or one soul, or are superimposed like [pre-Columbian] pyramids that almost always conceal others. It is this tremendous cultural and economic diversity, distributed over an enormously complex and varied physical environment, that gives Mexico its unique character. Land Sharing a common border throughout its northern extent with the United States, Mexico is bounded to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, to the east by the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, and to the southeast by Guatemala and Belize. Mexico also administers such islands and archipelagoes as the Tres Marías in the Pacific and Cozumel and Mujeres off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. Including these insular territories, the roughly triangular country covers an area about three times the size of Texas. While it is more than 1,850 miles (3,000 km) across from northwest to southeast, its width varies from less than 135 miles (217 km) at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to more than 1,200 miles (1,900 km) in the north. Relief - Geologic origins Mexico is located in one of the Earth’s most dynamic tectonic areas. It is a part of the circum-Pacific “Ring of Fire”—a region of active volcanism and frequent seismic activity. Among its towering volcanic peaks are Citlaltépetl (also called Orizaba), which forms the highest point in the country at 18,406 feet (5,610 metres), and the active volcano Popocatépetl, which rises to 17,930 feet (5,465 metres) to the southeast of Mexico City. These and other Mexican volcanoes are young in geologic terms, from the Paleogene and Neogene periods (about 65 to 2.6 million years ago), and are examples of the volcanic forces that built much of the central and southern parts of the country. Mexico is situated on the western, or leading, edge of the huge North American Plate, whose interaction with the Pacific, Cocos, and Caribbean plates has given rise to numerous and severe earthquakes as well as the earth-building processes that produce southern Mexico’s rugged landscape. It is in this dynamic and often unstable physical environment that the Mexican people have built their country. Physiographic regions Mexico can be divided into nine major physiographic regions: Baja California, the Pacific Coastal Lowlands, the Mexican Plateau, the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Cordillera Neo-Volcánica, the Gulf Coastal Plain, the Southern Highlands, and the Yucatán Peninsula. The Baja California peninsula in northwestern Mexico is an isolated strip of extremely arid land extending between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). Unevenly divided between the states of Baja California and Baja California Sur, the peninsula is nearly 800 miles (1,300 km) long but seldom more than 100 miles (160 km) wide. The central core of the peninsula is a granitic fault block with peaks of more than 9,000 feet (2,700 metres) above sea level in the Sierra San Pedro Mártir and Sierra de Juárez. The gently sloping western side of these mountain ranges is in contrast to the steep eastern escarpment, which makes access from the Gulf of California extremely difficult. The Sonoran Desert extends onto the peninsula along the northern end of the gulf. The Pacific Coastal Lowlands begin near Mexicali and the Colorado River delta in the north and terminate near Tepic, some 900 miles (1,450 km) to the south. For most of that distance, they face the Gulf of California while traversing the states of Sonora, Sinaloa, and Nayarit. Bounded on the east by the steep-sided Sierra Madre Occidental, the lowlands are a series of coastal terraces, mesas, and small basins interspersed with riverine deltas and restricted coastal strips. Although the vast Sonoran Desert dominates their northern section, parts of the lowlands have been irrigated and transformed into highly productive farmland. The largest and most densely populated region is the inland Mexican Plateau, which is flanked by the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental. The plateau consists of the vast Mesa del Norte (Northern Plateau) and the smaller but heavily populated Mesa Central (Mesa de Anáhuac). The Mesa del Norte begins near the U.S. border; covers great stretches of the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas, Jalisco, and Aguascalientes; and ends near San Luis Potosí city. From there the Mesa Central stretches to a point just south of Mexico City. The plateau tilts gently upward from the north toward the south; at its northern end, the Mesa del Norte is about 4,000 feet (1,200 metres) above sea level. Throughout the region, relatively flat intermontane basins and bolsones (ephemeral interior drainage basins) are interrupted by mountainous outcrops. In the north the Chihuahuan Desert covers a section of the plateau that is more extensive than the U.S. state of California. The Mesa Central covers large parts of Michoacán, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Hidalgo, and México states and the Federal District (Mexico City). Its southern end rises 7,000–9,000 feet (2,100–2,700 metres) in the vicinity of Mexico City. The Mesa Central, moister and generally flatter than the Mesa del Norte, is divided into a series of fairly level intermontane basins separated by eroded volcanic peaks. The largest valleys rarely exceed 100 square miles (260 square km) in area, and many others are quite small. Among the generally fertile basins is the Bajío (El Bajío, or the Basin of Guanajuato), the traditional breadbasket of the country, which is located in the northern part of the Mesa Central. Many of the basins were once sites of major lakes that were drained to facilitate European and mestizo settlement. Around Mexico City the weak, structurally unstable soils that remain have caused the colonial-era Metropolitan Cathedral and other buildings to shift on their foundations and, over many years, to list or sink unevenly into the ground. The largely volcanic Sierra Madre Occidental, which forms the western border of the Mexican Plateau, has an average elevation of 8,000–9,000 feet (2,400–2,700 metres) and extends roughly 700 miles (1,100 km) from north to south. It has been highly incised by westward-flowing streams that have formed a series of gorges, or barrancas, the most spectacular of which is the complex known as Copper Canyon (Barranca del Cobre) in southwestern Chihuahua state. The Sierra Madre Oriental, a range of folded mountains formed of shales and limestones, is situated on the eastern side of the Mexican Plateau. Often considered an extension of the Rocky Mountains (which are cut by the Rio Grande but continue in New Mexico and western Texas), it runs roughly 700 miles (1,100 km) from north to south before merging with the Cordillera Neo-Volcánica. Its average elevations are similar to those of the Sierra Madre Occidental, but some peaks rise above 12,000 feet (3,650 metres). The mountains have major deposits of copper, lead, and zinc. The Cordillera Neo-Volcánica, also called the Neo-Volcanic Axis or Trans-Volcanic Axis, is a geologically active mountain range whose smoldering cinder cones link the Sierra Madre Occidental with the Sierra Madre Oriental at the southern edge of the Mesa Central. As it crosses Mexico from Cape Corrientes on the west coast to Xalapa and Veracruz on the eastern coast, it forms a mountainous backdrop to the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, México, Morelos, and Puebla as well as the Federal District. This volcanic range includes the spectacular peaks Citlaltépetl, Popocatépetl, and Iztaccíhuatl (Ixtacihuatl), among others. One of the world’s youngest volcanoes, Parícutin emerged violently from the fields of Michoacán between 1943 and 1952. The region is rich in silver, lead, zinc, copper, and tin deposits. The hot, dry Balsas Depression, which takes its name from the major river draining the region, is immediately south of the Cordillera Neo-Volcánica. The depression is formed of small, irregular basins interrupted by hilly outcrops, which give the area a distinctive physical landscape. The Gulf Coastal Plain, which is much wider than its Pacific coast counterpart, extends some 900 miles (1,450 km) along the Gulf of Mexico from Tamaulipas state (on the Texas border) through Veracruz and Tabasco states to the Yucatán Peninsula; it includes the Tabasco Plain in its southeastern section. The triangular northern portion of the plain, which is characterized by lagoons and low-lying swampy areas, reaches a width of more than 100 miles (160 km) near the U.S. border but tapers toward the south. North of the port of Tampico, an outlier of the Sierra Madre Oriental reaches the sea and interrupts the continuity of the Gulf Coastal Plain. South from there the plain is narrow and irregular, widening at the northern end of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The Southern Highlands are a series of highly dissected mountain ranges and plateaus, including the Sierra Madre del Sur, Mesa del Sur, and the Chiapas Highlands, also called the Sierra Madre de Chiapas. On their southwestern side, approximately from Puerto Vallarta to the Gulf of Tehuantepec, are a series of relatively low ranges known collectively as the Sierra Madre del Sur. The crystalline mountains, which achieve elevations of 7,000–8,000 feet (2,100–2,400 metres), often reach the sea to create a rugged coastal margin, part of which is known as the Mexican Riviera. Several coastal sites, such as Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Acapulco, and Puerto Escondido, have become alluring tourist destinations. However, the less-hospitable inland basins provide a difficult environment for traditional peasant farmers. Farther northeast is the Mesa del Sur, with numerous stream-eroded ridges and small isolated valleys some 4,000–5,000 feet (1,200–1,500 metres) above sea level. The picturesque Oaxaca Valley is the largest and most densely settled of these, with a predominantly indigenous population. It is one of the poorest areas of Mexico. Bisecting the Southern Highlands is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a low-lying, narrow constriction of land that reaches an elevation of less than 900 feet (275 metres). Its hilly central area descends to narrow coastal plains on the south and to the Tabasco Plain on the north. The Chiapas Highlands are an extension of the mountain ranges of Central America. Within the highlands the low, crystalline Sierra de Soconusco range lies along the Pacific coast. To the northwest and paralleling the coast is the Grijalva River valley. A group of highly dissected, folded, and faulted mountains is located between the valley and the Tabasco Plain, a southeastern extension of the Gulf Coastal Plain. Among the active volcanic peaks of the region is El Chichón, which destroyed several villages in 1982. The Yucatán Peninsula lies to the northeast of the Tabasco Plain and extends northward, forming a divider between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. The peninsula’s limestone (karst) terrain is generally pockmarked and uneven but seldom exceeds 500 feet (150 metres) in elevation. There is little surface drainage, and subterranean erosion has produced caverns and sinkholes (cenotes), the latter being formed when cavern roofs collapse. The islands of Cozumel and Mujeres lie off the peninsula’s northeastern tip, near the resort boomtown of Cancún. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Mexico

2022/09/16

COSTA RICA VACATION - THE BEST OF COSTA RICA TRAVEL HD

his video highlights the best of Costa Rica Travel. It is our first Official Costa Rica Promo Trailer to show you the best of what Costa Rican Vacations can offer. Filing took place during 2012/13 around the whole country. Costa Rica is rich with wildlife and adventure and offers something for everyone. We look forward to seeing you soon!

2022/09/15

Nowy konsul z wizytą u marszałka

Peter Herr, nowy konsul Republiki Federalnej Niemiec w Opolu spotkał się z marszałkiem Andrzejem Bułą i wicemarszałek Zuzanną Donath-Kasiurą. Było to pierwsze oficjalne spotkanie konsula, obejmującego placówkę w naszym regionie, z władzami województwa.

2022/09/15

INTRODUCING GUATEMALA

Start exploring Guatemala with Lonely Planet’s video guide to getting around, when to go and the top things to do while you're there. For more travel tips, head to discover it!

2022/09/15

Independence day of the Republic of El Salvador

El Salvador, country of Central America. El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated of the seven Central American countries. Despite having little level land, it traditionally was an agricultural country, heavily dependent upon coffee exports. By the end of the 20th century, however, the service sector had come to dominate the economy. The capital is San Salvador. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, El Salvador was the focus of international attention, owing to its civil war and to external involvement in its internal conflicts. The war, which pitted a militarily and politically capable left-wing insurgency against the U.S.-backed Salvadoran Armed Forces, was caused by decades of repressive, military-dominated rule and profound social inequality. Following the United Nations-mediated 1992 peace accords, which contained fundamental provisions for El Salvador’s democratization (including the removal of the military from political affairs), the country began to recover from years of political and economic turmoil, only to be devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and by a major earthquake in 2001. Skyrocketing crime, faltering economic growth, and persistent social inequality have further hampered full postwar reconstruction. The Pipil (descendants of the Aztecs), the predominant tribe in the region prior to the Spanish conquest, named their territory and capital Cuscatlán, meaning “Land of the Jewel”; the name is still sometimes applied to El Salvador today. The mixing of the Pipil and other tribes with European settlers is reflected in the modern-day ethnic composition of the country. El Salvadorans are known for their industriousness, and the country has produced several internationally acclaimed artists, including poet Roque Dalton. Land El Salvador is bounded by Honduras to the north and east, by the Pacific Ocean to the south, and by Guatemala to the northwest. Its territory is situated wholly on the western side of the isthmus, and it is therefore the only Central American country that lacks a Caribbean coast. The entire territory of El Salvador is located on the Central American volcanic axis, which determines the major geographic regions of the country. Relief Relief in El Salvador is dominated by the central highlands, consisting largely of a west-east line of volcanoes (some of which are still active) crossing the centre of the country. This volcanic range includes 20 cones, from the westernmost Izalco Volcano (6,447 feet [1,965 metres]), through those of San Salvador (6,430 feet [1,960 metres]) and San Miguel (6,988 feet [2,130 metres]), to that of Conchagua (4,078 feet [1,243 metres]) in the extreme east. These volcanoes are separated by a series of basins (commonly referred to as El Salvador’s central plain), lying at elevations of between 3,500 and 5,000 feet (1,000 and 1,500 metres), whose fertile soils, derived from volcanic ash, lava, and alluvium, have for centuries supported the cultivation of crops. To the south, where the central highlands give way to the Pacific coast, is a narrow coastal plain with average elevations of between 100 and 500 feet (30 and 150 metres). North of the central highlands, and parallel to them, a broad interior plain drained by the Lempa River is situated at elevations between 1,300 and 2,000 feet (400 and 610 metres). Intermittently broken by ancient dormant volcanic structures and adversely affected by poor drainage and high soil acidities, this interior plain has provided a less-attractive environment for human habitation. Extending along the entire northern border region are a range of highlands, with average elevations of 5,000 to 6,000 feet (1,500 to 1,800 metres), formed by ancient and heavily eroded volcanic structures. The steepness of slope, excessive forest clearance, and overuse of soils have led to serious deterioration of the environment of this northern region. In the extreme northwestern part of the country, there are limited outcrops of limestone rock associated with the older nonvolcanic structures of Honduras. Drainage Two principal river systems and their associated tributaries drain the major part of the country. Most important is the Lempa, which enters El Salvador from Guatemala in the northwestern corner of the country and flows eastward for 80 miles (130 km) across the interior plain to form part of the border with Honduras before turning sharply south to run 65 miles (105 km) through the central highlands and across the coastal plain to its mouth on the Pacific. The Lempa was navigable for several miles inland prior to the construction of two major hydroelectric installations on its middle reaches in the mid-1950s. The eastern part of the country is drained by the Rio Grande de San Miguel system. A series of short north-south streams drain directly from the central highlands to the Pacific. Flooded volcanic craters constitute the country’s largest bodies of water: Lakes Coatepeque (15 square miles [39 square km]), Ilopango (40 square miles [100 square km]), and Olomega (20 square miles [52 square km]). Soils Less than one-fifth of El Salvador’s soils are suitable for agriculture. The central plain and interior valleys have mostly volcanic soils that are relatively fertile but that are also vulnerable to erosion. The southern coast has level, fertile alluvial soils, deposited by the numerous small rivers draining from the central highlands. Combined with high year-round temperatures and abundant rainfall, they provide favourable conditions for plant growth and agriculture. Climate The climate of El Salvador is tropical but is moderated by elevation in the interior; in general it is warm rather than hot, varying between the high 50s and low 70s F (about 15 and 23 °C). Heavy rains, known as the temporales, fall in the winter season, from May to October. The dry summer season lasts from November to April. There is considerable climatic variation in the different regions. The Pacific lowlands and low areas in the middle Lempa River valley have mean monthly temperatures between the high 70s and mid-80s F (about 25 and 29 °C). In San Salvador, the capital, which is 2,238 feet (682 metres) above sea level, the maximum monthly mean temperature is in the mid-90s F (about 34 °C), in March, and the lowest monthly mean is in the low 60s F (about 17 °C), in January. In the mountains, above 4,800 feet (1,460 metres), mean monthly temperatures vary between the low 60s and low 70s F (about 17 and 22 °C). Annual precipitation on the Pacific lowlands averages about 65 to 70 inches (about 1,700 mm); on the southern and northern mountain ranges, at elevations between 2,000 and 3,500 feet (600 and 1,060 metres), the average is between 70 and 100 inches (1,800 and 2,500 mm); the higher mountains receive a little more. Annual precipitation recorded in the deeper valleys and surrounding plateaulike areas is between about 45 and 60 inches (1,100 and 1,500 mm). More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/El-Salvador

2022/09/15

Independence day of the Republic of Nicaragua

Nicaragua, country of Central America. It is the largest of the Central American republics. Nicaragua can be characterized by its agricultural economy, its history of autocratic government, and its imbalance of regional development. Almost all settlement and economic activity are concentrated in the western half of the country. The country’s name is derived from Nicarao, chief of the indigenous people living around present-day Lake Nicaragua during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Nicaragua has a unique history in that it was the only country in Latin America to be colonized by both the Spanish and the British. Nicaragua’s population is made up mostly of mestizos (people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry). The national capital is Managua, which also is the country’s largest city and home to about one-sixth of the population. The family of Anastasio Somoza García dominated Nicaragua from 1936 to 1979, when it was toppled by an insurrection led by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional; FSLN). The land, economic, and educational reforms initiated by the socialist-oriented Sandinista regime were negated when it became embroiled in guerrilla warfare with a U.S.-backed insurgency beginning in the early 1980s. The Sandinista-dominated government was finally defeated by the U.S.-funded National Opposition Union, a coalition of parties, in the 1990 presidential elections. The election results, which were deemed free and fair by the international community, signaled an end to the armed conflict in Nicaragua. The Sandinistas returned to power after winning a national election in 2006 but promised to uphold many of the economic reforms of their predecessors. Present-day Nicaragua is still recovering from its legacy of dictatorship and civil war. There are ongoing disputes over land ownership, and Nicaragua continues to be dependent on foreign aid, mainly from the United States. Moreover, the country’s infrastructure was severely damaged in 1998 by Hurricane Mitch, which killed more than 1,800 Nicaraguans and destroyed several villages. On the other hand, the country has been home to many prominent artists, writers, and intellectuals, and it began to attract a significant income from tourism in the early 21st century. Land Nicaragua is bounded by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Relief The western half of Nicaragua is made up generally of valleys separated by low but rugged mountains and many volcanoes. This intricately dissected region includes the Cordillera Entre Ríos, on the Honduras border; the Cordilleras Isabelia and Dariense, in the north-central area; and the Huapí, Amerrique, and Yolaina mountains, in the southeast. The mountains are highest in the north, and Mogotón Peak (6,900 feet [2,103 metres]), in the Cordillera Entre Ríos, is the highest point in the country. To the west and south of the central mountain core is a string of 40 volcanoes—some of which are active—that stretches northwest-southeast along the Pacific coast. These volcanoes are surrounded by low plains extending from the Gulf of Fonseca in the north to the Bay of Salinas in the south and are separated from the mountains by the great basin that contains Lakes Nicaragua, Managua, and Masaya. They are divided into two groups: the Cordillera de los Marrabios in the north and the Pueblos Mesas in the south. The highest volcanoes include San Cristóbal (5,840 feet [1,780 metres]), Concepción (5,282 feet [1,610 metres]), and Momotombo (4,199 feet [1,280 metres]). The eastern half of Nicaragua has low, level plains. Among the widest Caribbean lowlands in Central America, these plains average 60 miles (100 km) in width. The coastline is broken by river mouths and deltas and large coastal lagoons as well as by the coral reefs, islands, cays, and banks that dot Nicaragua’s continental shelf—the widest in Central America. Drainage The central mountains form the country’s main watershed. The rivers that flow to the west empty into the Pacific Ocean or Lakes Managua and Nicaragua. They are short and carry a small volume of water; the most important are the Negro and Estero Real rivers, which empty into the Gulf of Fonseca, and the Tamarindo River, which flows into the Pacific. The eastern rivers are of greater length. The 485-mile- (780-km-) long Coco River flows for 295 miles (475 km) along the Nicaragua-Honduras border and empties into the Caribbean on the extreme northern coast. The Río Grande de Matagalpa flows for 267 miles (430 km) from the Cordillera Dariense eastward across the lowlands to empty into the Caribbean north of Pearl Lagoon on the central coast. In the extreme south the San Juan River flows for 124 miles (200 km) from Lake Nicaragua into the Caribbean in the northern corner of Costa Rica. Other rivers of the Caribbean watershed include the 158-mile- (254-km-) long Prinzapolka River, the 55-mile- (89-km-) long Escondido River, the 60-mile- (97-km-) long Indio River, and the 37-mile- (60-km-) long Maíz River. The west is a region of lakes. Lake Nicaragua, with an area of 3,149 square miles (8,157 square km), is the largest lake in Central America. The lake is bisected by a chain of volcanos which has led to the formation of numerous islands, the largest of which is Ometepe Island. Located in the southern isthmus, the lake and its distributary, the San Juan River, have long been discussed as a possible canal route between the Caribbean and the Pacific. There are six freshwater lakes near the city of Managua. They include Lake Managua, which covers an area of 400 square miles (1,035 square km), Lake Asososca, which acts as the city’s reservoir of drinking water, and Lake Jiloá, which is slightly alkaline and is a favourite bathing resort. Lake Masaya is prized for its swimming and fishing facilities; the sulfurous waters of Lake Nejapa have medicinal properties ascribed to them; and Lake Tiscapa is located in the capital city. Other lakes in the Pacific watershed include Lake Apoyo, near Lake Masaya; Lake Apoyeque, picturesquely located between two peaks on Chiltepe Point, which juts into Lake Managua; and the artificial Lake Apanás on the Tuma River, which generates much of the electricity consumed in the Pacific zone. Soils Soils on the Caribbean coast are varied and include fertile alluvial types along waterways and relatively infertile types in the pine-savanna and rainforest regions. On the Pacific coast the soil is volcanic, and about four-fifths of its area is fertile. Climate The climate is slightly cooler and much wetter in the east than in the west. The Pacific side is characterized by a rainy season from May to November and a dry season from December to April. The annual average temperature there is in the low 80s °F (about 27 °C), and annual precipitation averages 75 inches (1,905 mm). On the Caribbean side of the country, the rainy season lasts for about nine months of the year, and a dry season extends from March through May. The annual average temperature is about the same as on the Pacific side, but annual precipitation averages almost 150 inches (3,810 mm). In the northern mountains temperatures are cooler and average about 64 °F (18 °C). Prevailing winds are from the northeast and are cool on the high plateau and warm and humid in the lowlands. Plant and animal life Although Nicaragua’s forests suffer from poorly regulated commercial exploitation and the increasing human footprint of the country’s burgeoning population, they are still the largest in Central America. Covering more than one-third of the country, they vary considerably in terms of elevation and rainfall. Nicaragua’s forests contain valuable cedar, mahogany, and pine timber as well as quebracho (axbreaker), guaiacum (a type of ironwood), guapinol (which yields resin), and medlar (which produces a crab-apple-like fruit). Although rapidly being depleted, Nicaragua’s fauna includes mammals such as pumas, jaguars, ocelots, margays, various monkeys, deer, and peccaries; birds range from eagles to egrets to macaws to pelicans; reptiles include crocodiles, snakes, turtles, and lizards; and a variety of toads, frogs, fishes, mollusks, and insects are also found. Fauna, like the flora, varies considerably from one ecosystem to another. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Nicaragua      

2022/09/15

Independence Day of the Republic of Costa Rica

Costa Rica, country of Central America. Its capital is San José. Of all the Central American countries, Costa Rica is generally regarded as having the most stable and most democratic government. Its constitution of 1949 provides for a unicameral legislature, a fair judicial system, and an independent electoral body. Moreover, the constitution abolished the country’s army, gave women the right to vote, and provided other social, economic, and educational guarantees for all of its citizens. Throughout the 1970s and ’80s Costa Rica managed to stay relatively peaceful compared with its war-torn neighbours. It has one of the highest literacy rates (more than nine-tenths) in the Western Hemisphere and a solid educational system from the primary grades through the university level. Several renowned universities and an active network of bookstores and publishing houses tend to make San José the nucleus of intellectual life in Central America. Because of the country’s peaceful reputation and its commitment to human rights, several nongovernmental organizations and pro-democracy foundations have their headquarters in San José. Costa Rica is also known for its strong commitment to the environment and for protecting its numerous national parks. These factors, along with an established ecotourism industry, have attracted foreign investment, which shifted the country’s once agriculture-based economy to one dominated by services and technology by the late 20th century. Ticos, as the people of Costa Rica are called, use the phrase pura vida (“pure life”) in their everyday speech, as a greeting or to show appreciation for something. Ticos are generally proud of their political freedoms and their relatively stable economy. Costa Rica’s well-populated heartland, formed in and around the upland basin known as the Valle Central or Meseta Central, is devoted to the cultivation of coffee, one of the country’s most important exports. In the region’s outlying reaches, bananas—the principal export—are grown. Pineapples have become a significant export, surpassing coffee as the number two export by the late 20th century. Land Extending from northwest to southeast, Costa Rica is bounded by Nicaragua to the north, by the Caribbean Sea along the 185-mile (300-km) northeastern coastline, by Panama to the southeast, and by the Pacific Ocean along the 630-mile (1,015-km) southwestern coastline. At the country’s narrowest point, the distance between the Pacific and the Caribbean is only about 75 miles (120 km). Relief Two mountain chains together run almost the entire length of Costa Rica. These are, in the north, the Cordillera Volcánica, noted for its volcanic activity, as the name implies, and, in the south, the Cordillera de Talamanca. The Cordillera Volcánica may be divided into three ranges, from northwest to southeast: the Cordillera de Guanacaste, the Cordillera de Tilarán, and the Cordillera Central. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983, the Cordillera de Talamanca is a massive granite batholith, quite different geologically from the volcanically active northern ranges. Costa Rica’s highest point, Mount Chirripó (12,530 feet [3,819 metres]), is in the Talamanca system. Two of the highest peaks in the Cordillera Volcánica, Irazú (11,260 feet [3,432 metres]) and Poás (8,871 feet [2,704 metres]), have paved roads reaching to the rims of their active craters. These volcanoes, overlooking the Valle Central, pose a serious natural hazard, as do earthquakes for most of the country. Arenal Volcano (5,358 feet [1,633 metres]), about 56 miles (90 km) northwest of San José, is the country’s youngest stratovolcano. Its last major eruption, in 1968, destroyed two villages, and the volcano continued to spew lava and breccia into the early 21st century. The Valle Central is separated into two parts by the continental divide. The eastern part is drained by the Reventazón River to the Caribbean, and the western sector forms part of the basin of the Grande de Tárcoles River, which flows into the Pacific. Another large structural valley, the Valle del General, lies at the base of the Cordillera de Talamanca in the southern part of the country. To the north and east of the mountainous central spine lie the Caribbean lowlands, constituting about one-fifth of the country and reaching less than 400 feet (120 metres) in elevation. The Pacific lowlands, which contain several small valleys and plains, include only about one-tenth of Costa Rica’s territory. Climate Thermal convection and onshore breezes bring abundant rains to the Pacific coast in the wet season, generally May to October in the north and April to December in the south. Northeasterly trade winds on the Caribbean provide ample year-round precipitation for the country’s east coast, with the heaviest amounts occurring in the Barra del Colorado region. The higher mountain ranges have warm temperate climates, and the Pacific slopes have alternating wet and dry seasons. Situated in the Valle Central at an elevation of 3,800 feet (1,160 metres), San José enjoys moderate temperatures and ample rainfall. Average monthly rainfall there ranges from well under 1 inch (25 mm) in February to more than 12 inches (300 mm) in September, with a yearly average of more than 70 inches (1,800 mm). Temperatures vary with elevation. San José has a mean temperature of 69 °F (21 °C), while means of 59 °F (15 °C) and 80 °F (27 °C) have been reported at stations located at 7,665 feet (2,340 metres) and 682 feet (210 metres), respectively. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Costa-Rica

2022/09/15

Independence Day of the Republic of Honduras

Honduras, officially Republic of Honduras, Spanish República de Honduras, country of Central America situated between Guatemala and El Salvador to the west and Nicaragua to the south and east. The Caribbean Sea washes its northern coast, the Pacific Ocean its narrow coast to the south. Its area includes the offshore Caribbean department of the Bay Islands. The capital is Tegucigalpa (with Comayagüela), but—unlike most other Central American countries—another city, San Pedro Sula, is equally important industrially and commercially, although it has only half the population of the capital. The bulk of the population of Honduras lives a generally isolated existence in the mountainous interior, a fact that may help to explain the rather insular policy of the country in relation to Latin and Central American affairs. Honduras, like its neighbours in the region, is a developing nation whose citizens are presented with innumerable economic and social challenges, a situation that is complicated by rough topography and the occasional violence of tropical weather patterns, including the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. The land - Relief More than three-fourths of the land area of Honduras is mountainous, lowlands being found only along the coasts and in the several river valleys that penetrate toward the interior. The interior takes the form of a dissected upland with numerous small peaks. The main surface features have a general east-west orientation. There is a narrow plain of alluvium bordering the Gulf of Fonseca in the south. The southwestern mountains, the Volcanic Highlands, consist of alternating layers of rock composed of dark, volcanic detritus and lava flows, both of middle to early Cenozoic age (i.e., about 2.6 to 65 million years old). The northern mountains in other regions are more ancient, with granite and crystalline rocks predominating. Climate The climate is generally hot, with high humidity in the tropical coastal lowlands becoming modified by elevation toward the interior. Lowlands below 1,500 feet (460 metres) have mean annual temperatures between 79 and 82 °F (26 and 28 °C). The north coast is occasionally affected from October to April by cool northern winds of continental origin. Mountain basins and valleys, from 2,000 to 4,000 feet (600 to 1,200 metres), have mean annual temperatures of 66 and 73 °F (19 and 23 °C). At Tegucigalpa, located on hilly terrain at an elevation of 3,200 feet (975 metres), the rainy season starts in May and continues until mid-November, with temperatures sometimes reaching 90 °F (32 °C) in May and dropping to 50 °F (10 °C) in December, the coolest month. Around 7,000 feet (2,100 metres) mean annual temperatures are about 58 °F (14 °C). In the northern and eastern coastal and alluvial plains and on adjacent mountains, mean annual precipitation ranges from 70 to 110 inches (1,800 to 2,800 mm) or more, with a less rainy season from March to June; these areas occasionally have summer hurricanes that are accompanied by heavy rains. Pacific plains and mountain slopes get 60 to 80 inches (1,500 to 2,000 mm) of rain annually but from December to April receive little or no rain. Interior sheltered mountain basins and valleys receive 40 to 70 inches (1,000 to 1,800 mm) annually. Plant and animal life In eastern Honduras the coastal and lagoon swamps have mangrove and palm forests, and west of these are low, rainy, sandy plains with pine (Pinus caribaea) savanna, extending inland for 40 miles (65 km) or more. West of the pine savanna, in low valleys and on lower mountains, which are rainy all year, and on the low, rainy northern mountains are broad belts of dense evergreen broad-leaved forests with many species of large trees, including mahogany, lignum vitae, Spanish cedar, balsa, rosewood, ceiba, sapodilla, and castilloa rubber. The high, rainy mountain slopes of highland Honduras support excellent oak-pine forests. Open, dry, deciduous woodlands and temperate grasslands are spread throughout the interior highland basins and valleys. The Pacific plains and adjacent mountain slopes have deciduous tropical forests and savannas. Mangroves occupy the low coastal swamps. Insects, birds, and reptiles are the most conspicuous animal forms. There are many species of butterflies, moths, beetles, bees, wasps, spiders, ants, flies, and mosquitoes, many of them beautifully coloured. Waterfowl in large numbers inhabit the coastal areas. Crocodiles, snakes, lizards (giant iguana and others), and turtles are found in the tropical forest areas. The fauna also includes deer, peccaries, tapir, pumas, jaguars, and ocelots. Fish and mollusks are abundant in lagoons and coastal waters. Deforestation of some interior regions since the Spanish conquest has led to serious soil erosion, and, since the mid-20th century, pesticides used by banana producers have caused environmental damage along coastal regions. To safeguard native flora and fauna, numerous national parks, protected forests, and biological reserves were established in the late 1980s and ’90s, including Mount Bonito National Park (1987), which covers 434 square miles (1,125 square kilometres), and the protected forests Cuero y Salado (1987) and Isopo Point (1992). Extending more than 60 square miles (155 square km) near the Guatemalan border is Mount Azul de Copán National Park (1987), an area of rainforest that surrounds the famous Mayan ruins of Copán. La Tigra National Park was established in 1980 and covers 92 square miles (238 square km) of cloud forest near Tegucigalpa. The people of Honduras Honduras has been inhabited since well before the 1st century ce. The ruins at Copán in western Honduras indicate that the area was the centre of Mayan civilization before the Maya migrated to the Yucatán Peninsula. Most of the American Indians are Lenca and are now found in the southwest, near the Guatemala border, close to the most important Indian centres of the pre-Columbian period. Small, isolated groups of non-Spanish-speaking Indians—such as the Jicaque, Miskito (Mosquito), and Paya—continue to live in the northeast, although their numbers are declining. Of the total population, about nine-tenths is mestizo (a mixture of Spanish and Indian). Blacks of West Indian origin and Garifuna (Black Caribs) make up a significant part of the population along the Caribbean coast, an area where English is widely spoken. The official language of Honduras is Spanish, and the predominant religion is Roman Catholicism, some two-thirds of the population being adherents. The largest of the remaining groups are Protestant, with notable congregations in the east and on the Bay Islands. There has been rapid growth in Protestant churches, especially since the upheaval caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. A pronounced shift in population took place during the early part of the 20th century from the interior to the hot, humid northern coast, where employment opportunities were provided by the United Fruit Company. These northwestern lowlands and the western and southern highlands constitute the most densely populated parts of the country. The population grew extremely fast during the mid-20th century, posing a considerable problem in employment and housing. Although the rate of growth slowed somewhat by the 1990s, it remained well above the world average. The majority of the population is rural, living in small villages or isolated settlements; more than half of Hondurans are urban residents. During the 1980s and ’90s there was an especially rapid increase in urban population in and around Tegucigalpa, with accompanying overcrowding of housing, suburban development, air and water pollution, and rising crime rates. In the rest of the country, the mountainous, forested terrain and poor roads added to the local isolation. More … Score: https://www.britannica.com/place/Honduras

2022/09/15