232 résultats pour "formed"

• Suriname (country) - country.

  Tongo, a Creole language. Also known as Taki-Taki, Sranang Tongo includes elements of several languages and is the vehicle for most interethnic communication. Otherlanguages spoken in Suriname include Hindi, Javanese, Chinese, English, and French. Small numbers of Native Americans still speak indigenous languages. The main religions in Suriname are Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. The majority of Christians are Roman Catholics, and members of the Moravian Church predominateamong Protestants. E...

• Panama Canal - Geography.

  The size of ships using the Panama Canal has steadily increased. About 27 percent of the vessels that use the canal are built to the maximum dimensions that can passthrough it (a category called “Panamax”). This has prompted further widening of Gaillard Cut, so that the larger Panamax vessels may transit safely. However, some ofthe world’s commercial and military ships are too large for the canal. Since the 1940s, new U.S. battleships and aircraft carriers have been built exceeding the canal’sdi...

• Han Dynasty - History.

  However, these reforms faced serious opposition. The feudal barons formed an alliance and rebelled against Wang Mang. They were joined by members of the Liufamily, who were descended from Jingdi (Ching-ti), a former Han emperor, and a civil war followed. As the empire fell into disorder, militant secret societies formedarmed bands and attacked villages and towns. Wang Mang had believed that proper institutions would eventually bring peace to China, but in AD 23, an army led by the Liu clan brea...

• Europe - geography.

  movement of a segment of the Earth’s crust against the stable shield during the Caledonian orogeny (about 500 to 395 million years ago) raised the mountains of Ireland,Wales, Scotland, and western Norway. Subsequent erosion has rounded and worn down these mountains in the British Isles, but the peaks of Norway still reach 2,472 m(8,110 ft). The second major geological region, a belt of sedimentary materials, sweeps in an arc from southwestern France northward and eastward through the Low Countri...

• Supernova - astronomy.

  The term hypernova has been proposed for an extremely massive core-collapse supernova—possibly more than 100 times the mass of the Sun. A hypernova is thought to form a black hole. Just before it explodes, a hypernova may release a huge burst of gamma rays in a jet from the rotating black hole at its center. These jets mayexplain the so-called long gamma-ray bursts detected by astronomers. According to some researchers, massive stars with over 40 solar masses may sometimescollapse directly int...

• Philadelphia (city, Pennsylvania) - geography.

  national trend of migration from eastern cities to the warmer climate of the Sun Belt. Whereas in 1950 Philadelphia contained more than 2 million people and ranked as the third largest city in America, the city's population plunged to 1,517,550 by 2000.In 2006, the city's population was estimated at 1,448,394. While the city proper was decreasing in population, the metropolitan area centered on Philadelphia grew. In 2006 the region had 6.2 million inhabitants. Philadelphiaranked as the nation’s...

• Slavery in the United States - U.

  tripled, from about 1.2 million to almost 4 million in 1860. The natural growth of the slave population meant that slavery could survive without new slave imports. Natural population growth also hastened the transition from an African to an African American slave population. By the 1770s, only about 20 percent of slaves in thecolonies were African-born, although the concentration of Africans remained higher in South Carolina and Georgia. After 1808 the proportion of African-born slavesbecame tin...

• New Orleans - geography.

  D Metropolitan Region The New Orleans metropolitan region covers 8,800 sq km (3,400 sq mi) and includes the counties—known in Louisiana as parishes— of Orleans, Jefferson, Saint Bernard, Saint Charles, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Tammany, Saint James, and Plaquemines. At the center is the city of New Orleans, which is coextensive withOrleans Parish. It has a land area of 468 sq km (181 sq mi). Extending from this base are numerous suburban towns in the surrounding parishes. Metairie, Harahan...

• William Shakespeare I INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English playwright and poet, recognized in much of the world as the greatest of all dramatists.

  Shakespeare’s reputation today is, however, based primarily on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin toappear in 1594, when the theaters reopened with the passing of the plague that had closed them for 21 months. In December of 1594 his play The Comedy of Errors was performed in London during the Christmas revels at Gray’s Inn, one of the London law schools. In March of the following year he received payment for two playsthat had been per...

• William Shakespeare.

  Shakespeare’s reputation today is, however, based primarily on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin toappear in 1594, when the theaters reopened with the passing of the plague that had closed them for 21 months. In December of 1594 his play The Comedy of Errors was performed in London during the Christmas revels at Gray’s Inn, one of the London law schools. In March of the following year he received payment for two playsthat had been per...

• Western Music I INTRODUCTION Bizet's Carmen Georges Bizet's Carmen, first performed in Paris in 1875, was a milestone in the history of French opera.

  church ceremonies during the period from the 5th to the 7th century. Roman chant became known as Gregorian chant after Pope Gregory I, the Great, who may havecomposed some of the melodies and who actively encouraged an orderly, ritualized use of music by the church. Because Gregory and later popes preferred Gregorianchant to the varieties that had developed elsewhere in Europe, Gregorian chant eventually superseded most of the others. Gregorian and other chant styles arepreserved in many manuscr...

• Child Development.

  developmental scientists have studied how cultural values guide the skills and attitudes that children acquire as they mature, and how brain maturation influences thedevelopment of thinking and feeling. For a more detailed discussion of child development theories, see the Theories of Child Development section of this article. III BASIC QUESTIONS A Nature and Nurture Scholars have long debated the relative importance of nature (hereditary influences) and nurture (environmental influences) i...

• Belgium - country.

  European Union (EU) directives aimed at improving Belgium’s environmental conditions concern water treatment and water quality, both significant issues in such anindustrial center. Before these directives were issued, the Meuse River, a major source of drinking water, had become polluted from steel production wastes. Otherrivers were polluted with animal wastes and fertilizers. However, Belgium failed to meet EU targets set for the early 2000s for protecting its rivers from farm pollutionand for...

• Saudi Arabia - country.

  C Natural Resources Some of the world’s largest oil and natural gas fields lie beneath Saudi Arabia and its offshore waters, representing the country’s most economically important naturalresource. In 2007 Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves were estimated at 264 billion barrels. Before the discovery and exploitation of these reserves in the mid-20th century,Saudi Arabia was one of the poorest countries in the world. Its relatively small population subsisted in a harsh environment with little agricultur...

• Ancient Greece.

  The first culture of Aegean civilization on the Greek mainland is named Mycenaean for the palace at Mycenae on the Pelopónnisos. Scholars call the Mycenaeans the“earliest Greeks” because they are the first people known to have spoken Greek. Mycenaean culture developed later than Minoan. The ancestors of the Mycenaean people wandered onto the mainland from the north and the east from about 4000 to2000 BC, mixing with the people already there, and by about 1400 BC the Mycenaeans had become very...

• Ancient Greece .

  The first culture of Aegean civilization on the Greek mainland is named Mycenaean for the palace at Mycenae on the Pelopónnisos. Scholars call the Mycenaeans the“earliest Greeks” because they are the first people known to have spoken Greek. Mycenaean culture developed later than Minoan. The ancestors of the Mycenaean people wandered onto the mainland from the north and the east from about 4000 to2000 BC, mixing with the people already there, and by about 1400 BC the Mycenaeans had become very...

• Ancient Greece - USA History.

  The first culture of Aegean civilization on the Greek mainland is named Mycenaean for the palace at Mycenae on the Pelopónnisos. Scholars call the Mycenaeans the“earliest Greeks” because they are the first people known to have spoken Greek. Mycenaean culture developed later than Minoan. The ancestors of the Mycenaean people wandered onto the mainland from the north and the east from about 4000 to2000 BC, mixing with the people already there, and by about 1400 BC the Mycenaeans had become very...

• Florida - USA History.

  accidentally introduced into the region in the 1880s, and it spread with alarming rapidity throughout the upper reaches of the river. The plant is very difficult toeradicate, and it has also clogged the channels of other Florida rivers. To increase drainage of the Everglades, which drain naturally to Florida Bay and the Gulf ofMexico, a number of drainage channels and canals have been built across southern Florida. Among the rivers flowing from the peninsula to the Gulf of Mexico are the Suwanne...

• Illinois - geography.

  the state before joining the Mississippi River at Grafton. The Illinois has been deepened and straightened and forms part of the Illinois Waterway. The watershed between rivers that flow into the Mississippi river system and rivers that flow into the Great Lakes is low and in many places is not easily discernible. Inwhat is now the Chicago area, explorers had little difficulty portaging, or carrying, their canoes over the low watershed between the Des Plaines River, which flows intothe Illinois,...

• Illinois - USA History.

  the state before joining the Mississippi River at Grafton. The Illinois has been deepened and straightened and forms part of the Illinois Waterway. The watershed between rivers that flow into the Mississippi river system and rivers that flow into the Great Lakes is low and in many places is not easily discernible. Inwhat is now the Chicago area, explorers had little difficulty portaging, or carrying, their canoes over the low watershed between the Des Plaines River, which flows intothe Illinois,...

• Earth (planet).

  Milky Way to complete one revolution around the Galaxy’s center. Earth’s axis of rotation is inclined (tilted) 23.5° relative to its plane of revolution around the Sun. This inclination of the axis creates the seasons and causes the height of the Sun in the sky at noon to increase and decrease as the seasons change. The Northern Hemisphere receives the most energy from the Sun when it is tiltedtoward the Sun. This orientation corresponds to summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the S...

• Earth (planet) - astronomy.

  Milky Way to complete one revolution around the Galaxy’s center. Earth’s axis of rotation is inclined (tilted) 23.5° relative to its plane of revolution around the Sun. This inclination of the axis creates the seasons and causes the height of the Sun in the sky at noon to increase and decrease as the seasons change. The Northern Hemisphere receives the most energy from the Sun when it is tiltedtoward the Sun. This orientation corresponds to summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the S...

• Algerian War of Independence.

  commander. In Paris, General Charles de Gaulle was called to form a new government to save the situation. In June 1958 in Algiers, de Gaulle reassured the colons with the ambiguous phrase, “Je vous ai compris” (“I have understood you”). His September 1958 proposals forgreater Algerian integration into France failed to address the colons’ fears. In September 1958 the FLN created its own Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic(GPRA), with Ferhat Abbas as president. By 1959 de Gaulle realiz...

• Rock (mineral).

  pressure mineral assemblage. In a sense, the rock is stuck in a state that is characteristic of its earlier high-temperature and high-pressure environment. Thus,metamorphic rocks carry with them information about the history of temperatures and pressures to which they were subjected. The size, shape, and distribution of mineral grains in a rock are called the texture of the rock. Many metamorphic rocks are named for their main texture. Textures giveimportant clues as to how the rock formed. As t...

• Regina - Geography.

  in 1883, was incorporated as a city in 1903, and was made the capital of Saskatchewan when the province was created in 1905. The headquarters of the police forcewere moved in 1920 to Ottawa, the nation’s capital, but the force’s training facility remained in Regina. Regina has been associated with a number of important historical events. In 1885 Louis Riel, leader of the Northwest Rebellion, was tried for treason and executedthere. In 1933 Canada’s newly formed socialist party, the Co-operative...

• Latvia - country.

  The population of Latvia is about 2,245,423 (2008 estimate), yielding an average population density of 35 persons per sq km (91 per sq mi). Latvia is highly urbanized.Some 66 percent of the population lives in urban areas, with nearly one-third of the total population residing in the capital, Rīga. Other important cities includeDaugavpils, an industrial center in the southeast, on the Daugava River; Liep āja, an important port on the Baltic Sea; Jelgava, an industrial center near Rîga; J ūrmala,...

• Astronomy - astronomy.

  Telescopes may use either lenses or mirrors to gather visible light, permitting direct observation or photographic recording of distant objects. Those that use lenses arecalled refracting telescopes, since they use the property of refraction, or bending, of light ( see Optics: Reflection and Refraction ). The largest refracting telescope is the 40-in (1-m) telescope at the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, founded in the late 19th century. Lenses bend different colors of light by d...

• Star (astronomy) - astronomy.

  absorbing the missing colors of light. For example, the set of dark lines made by hydrogen includes a dark red line, the set of dark lines made by sodium includes a pairof dark yellow lines, and the set of dark lines made by iron includes lines of nearly every color. Each element in the gaseous outer layer of a star produces its ownparticular pattern of dark spectrum lines, depending on the temperature and pressure of the gas. Astronomers have observed spectrum lines, or spectra, for hundredsof...

• Mfecane.

  The Kololo, a Sotho people, entered the same region in the early 1820s after being driven from their homeland south of the Vaal River by the Ngwane-Hlubi wars. In1823 the Kololo clashed with the Griqua and turned north into the Kalahari Desert. They eventually crossed the Zambezi and finally settled in what is now westernZambia after overthrowing the powerful Lozi Kingdom in 1840. D Founding of the Sotho Nation The Ngwane-Hlubi wars also drove loosely organized Sotho communities north into the...

• Photosynthesis - biology.

  P680 in Photosystem II is now electron deficient because it has donated electrons to P700 in Photosystem I. P680 electrons are replenished by the water that has beenabsorbed by the plant roots and transported to the chloroplasts in the leaves. The movement of electrons in Photosystems I and II and the action of an enzyme split thewater into oxygen, hydrogen ions, and electrons. The electrons from water flow to Photosystem II, replacing the electrons lost by P680. Some of the hydrogen ions maybe...

• Arab Music I INTRODUCTION Umm Kulthum Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum was revered throughout Egypt, North Africa, and the Near East for her powerful voice and improvisational skill.

  The rhythmic structure of Arab music is similarly complex. Rhythmic patterns have up to 48 beats and typically include several downbeats (called dums ) as well as upbeats (called taks) and silences, or rests. To grasp a rhythmic mode, the listener must hear a relatively long pattern. Moreover, the performers do not simply play the pattern; they elaborate upon and ornament it. Often the pattern is recognizable by the arrangement of downbeats. The Rhythm in Arab Music illustration demonstratesa...

• Cameroon - country.

  seminomadic herders of the north. Cattle, goats, and fowl are the most commonly raised animals. B Forestry and Fishing Timber is traditionally one of Cameroon’s most valuable exports, consisting mainly of mahogany, ebony, and teak. The timber cut in 2006 amounted to 11.4 million cu m(401 million cu ft). Most of the fish caught in Cameroon come from the country’s rivers and lakes and are consumed locally. However, deep-sea fishing activity isincreasing, especially from the port of Douala. Some 1...

• Army. I INTRODUCTION Army, military land forces of a nation, assembled, drilled, disciplined,

  disappearance for several centuries of large standing armies in Europe. A Middle Ages Feudalism was based on a concept of local defense, each baron or landowner governing land that had been given him by the king, and each lord having his ownpersonal protective forces recruited from among men who worked for him. In return, each lord and his men were pledged to annual service to the monarch and couldbe called on in special instances, as in the defense of Christendom during the Crusades. National...

• Ancient Egypt.

  around 4500 BC. The style and decoration of the pottery found at these sites differ from those of pottery found in Upper Egypt. The northern type eventually fell out of use. Other differences between the peoples in Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt include the nature of their architecture and the arrangements for burial of the dead, thelatter perhaps signifying differing religious beliefs. B Unification and Early Dynastic Period By 3500 BC, the settlement of Hierakonpolis, located on the west bank...

• Comoros - country.

  Since 1981 the currency has been the Comorian franc. The Comorian franc had a fixed exchange rate with the French franc of 50 to 1 until 1994, when the rate was changed to 75 Comorian francs to 1 French franc. In 2006, the Comorian franc exchanged at an average of 392 to U.S.$1. Transport between the islands is mostly by air, and there is an international airport at Hahaia on Njazidja where jets can land. Road networks have been built betweenmost of the main island settlements, but the mountai...

• Italy - country.

  C Natural Resources Italy is poor in natural resources. Much of the land is unsuitable for agriculture because of mountainous terrain or unfavorable climate. Italy, moreover, lacks substantialdeposits of basic natural resources such as coal, iron, and petroleum. Natural gas is the country’s most important mineral resource. Other deposits include feldspar andpumice. Many of Italy’s mineral deposits on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia had been heavily depleted by the early 1990s. Italy is rich...

• Franklin Pierce.

  At the end of the war, Pierce returned home to his wife and six-year-old son. His law partnership had been dissolved, and he took a new partner. The new firm, like theold one, was highly successful. D Elder Statesman Pierce was by nature a politician. Although still in his early forties, as a retired U.S. senator he became New Hampshire's elder statesman and head of a group of lawyer-politicians called the Concord Clique, or the Regency. The group controlled the state's Democratic Party. Pierce...

• Franklin Pierce

  At the end of the war, Pierce returned home to his wife and six-year-old son. His law partnership had been dissolved, and he took a new partner. The new firm, like theold one, was highly successful. D Elder Statesman Pierce was by nature a politician. Although still in his early forties, as a retired U.S. senator he became New Hampshire's elder statesman and head of a group of lawyer-politicians called the Concord Clique, or the Regency. The group controlled the state's Democratic Party. Pierce...

• Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901).

  homesteaders against pressure from the powerful railroads. He fought vigorously for Civil War veterans, supported high taxes on imports (called tariffs), payments todisabled and opposed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which stopped Chinese immigration to the U.S. for 10 years ( see Immigration: From 1840 to 1900 ). He also introduced 101 special pension and relief bills in six years. Harrison's name was well known by the Republican National Convention in 1884. In spite of this, Congressman and forme...

• Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901) - Histoire

  homesteaders against pressure from the powerful railroads. He fought vigorously for Civil War veterans, supported high taxes on imports (called tariffs), payments todisabled and opposed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which stopped Chinese immigration to the U.S. for 10 years ( see Immigration: From 1840 to 1900 ). He also introduced 101 special pension and relief bills in six years. Harrison's name was well known by the Republican National Convention in 1884. In spite of this, Congressman and forme...

• James Buchanan.

  John Slidell. Slidell was instructed to insist that Mexico recognize the annexation of its former province, Texas, and that it pay certain long-standing claims of UnitedStates citizens. As payment for the claims, Slidell was told to press for the Mexican territory lying between Texas and the Pacific Ocean. The American demands werenot met, and soon afterward the Mexican War broke out in 1846. D3 Cuba While secretary of state, Buchanan also tried to further one of his favorite projects, the purc...

• James Buchanan

  John Slidell. Slidell was instructed to insist that Mexico recognize the annexation of its former province, Texas, and that it pay certain long-standing claims of UnitedStates citizens. As payment for the claims, Slidell was told to press for the Mexican territory lying between Texas and the Pacific Ocean. The American demands werenot met, and soon afterward the Mexican War broke out in 1846. D3 Cuba While secretary of state, Buchanan also tried to further one of his favorite projects, the purc...

• Pan-Africanism.

  (in New York City). These congresses were attended by increasing numbers of representatives from the United States, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. Severalimportant factors affected the growing popularity of the congresses. First, many delegates were sponsored by international labor movements, which were growing insize and power in the 1920s. A second factor was the growth of the black nationalist movement of Marcus Garvey. The Garvey movement was important in the UnitedStates as a popular ex...

• Isaac NewtonIINTRODUCTIONIsaac Newton (1642-1727), English physicist, mathematician, and natural philosopher, considered one of the most important scientists of all time.

  B Calculus (Newton’s “Fluxional Method”) In 1669 Newton gave his Trinity mathematics professor Isaac Barrow an important manuscript, which is generally known by its shortened Latin title, De Analysi . This work contained many of Newton’s conclusions about calculus (what Newton called his “fluxional method”). Although the paper was not immediately published, Barrowmade its results known to several of the leading mathematicians of Britain and Europe. This paper established Newton as one of the...

• Isaac Newton.

  B Calculus (Newton’s “Fluxional Method”) In 1669 Newton gave his Trinity mathematics professor Isaac Barrow an important manuscript, which is generally known by its shortened Latin title, De Analysi . This work contained many of Newton’s conclusions about calculus (what Newton called his “fluxional method”). Although the paper was not immediately published, Barrowmade its results known to several of the leading mathematicians of Britain and Europe. This paper established Newton as one of the t...

• Sir Robert Borden.

  of the British Empire, Laurier proposed creating a Canadian navy that in case of war could be incorporated into the British navy. The plan was opposed by theConservatives, who thought that Canada should simply provide ships for the British navy. The Québec nationalists also opposed the plan because they did not wantCanada either to participate in the British navy or to have a navy of its own. At the last moment before election day in 1911 it looked as if the Liberals might win. The government ne...

• Sir Robert Borden - Canadian History.

  of the British Empire, Laurier proposed creating a Canadian navy that in case of war could be incorporated into the British navy. The plan was opposed by theConservatives, who thought that Canada should simply provide ships for the British navy. The Québec nationalists also opposed the plan because they did not wantCanada either to participate in the British navy or to have a navy of its own. At the last moment before election day in 1911 it looked as if the Liberals might win. The government ne...

• Brian Mulroney.

  At the party convention Mulroney was one of the candidates who ran against Clark. This time Mulroney did not have to contend with a rival candidate from Québec. Healso had the support of the remnants of the Diefenbaker faction—who disliked Clark even more than they disliked Mulroney. Mulroney was also endorsed by asubstantial group of members of Parliament; this endorsement helped allay concerns about whether he could provide effective leadership in Parliament. Mulroney waselected leader of the...

• Brian Mulroney - Canadian History.

  At the party convention Mulroney was one of the candidates who ran against Clark. This time Mulroney did not have to contend with a rival candidate from Québec. Healso had the support of the remnants of the Diefenbaker faction—who disliked Clark even more than they disliked Mulroney. Mulroney was also endorsed by asubstantial group of members of Parliament; this endorsement helped allay concerns about whether he could provide effective leadership in Parliament. Mulroney waselected leader of the...

• Cold War.

  With this, all the countries of Eastern Europe were under Communist control, and the creation of the Soviet bloc was complete. The events of 1948 contributed to agrowing conviction among political leaders in both the United States and the USSR that the opposing power posed a broad and fundamental threat to their nation’sinterests. The Berlin blockade and the spread of Communism in Europe led to negotiations between Western Europe, Canada, and the United States that resulted in the NorthAtlantic...