User:Wiki User 68/My Portal

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Wiki User 68/My Portal

Flag of England
Flag of England
English Coat of arms
English Coat of arms
Location on the world map
Location on the world map
Location on the world map

Wiki User 68 hails from the Great British Isles specifically England /ˈɪŋɡlənd/ which is a country that is part of the United Kingdom.[1][2][3] Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population,[4] whilst its mainland territory occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain. England shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west and elsewhere is bordered by the North Sea, Irish Sea, Celtic Sea, Bristol Channel and English Channel. The capital is London, the largest urban area in Great Britain, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most, but not all, measures.[5]

England became a unified state in the year 927 and takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled there during the 5th and 6th centuries. It has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world[6] being the place of origin of the English language, the Church of England, and English law, which forms the basis of the common law legal systems of countries around the world. In addition, England was the birth place of the Industrial Revolution and the first country in the world to industrialise.[7] It is home to the Royal Society, which laid the foundations of modern experimental science.[8] England is the world's oldest parliamentary system[9] and consequently constitutional, governmental and legal innovations that had their origin in England have been widely adopted by other nations.

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Selected Article

Porthcurno Beach
Porthcurno Beach

Cornwall (/ˈkɔrnwɔːl/, Cornish: Kernow [ˈkɛrnɔʊ]), constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a county of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of 526,300, covering an area of 1,376 square miles (3,563 km²).[10] The administrative centre and only city is Truro.

The area now known as Cornwall was first inhabited by Neolithic and then Bronze Age peoples, and later (in the Iron Age) by Celts. Cornwall is part of the Brythonic (Celtic) area of Britain, separated from Wales after the Battle of Deorham, often coming into conflict with the expanding English kingdom of Wessex before King Athelstan set the boundary between English in 922 A.D. and Cornish people at the Tamar.[11] Absorption into England (or not) is highly problematic, and it should be noted that the Cornish language continued to be spoken until the late 18th century, when the last native speaker of Cornish died in 1777.[12][13] A revival of Cornish was begun in the early 20th century, led by Henry Jenner and has progressed further over recent decades; 300 people were in 2000 said to speak Cornish fluently (study by Kenneth MacKinnon). Today, Cornwall's economy struggles after the decline of the mining and fishing industries, and has become more dependent on tourism. The area is noted for its wild moorland landscapes, its extensive and varied coastline and its mild climate.

Cornwall is the homeland of the Cornish people and diaspora, and is considered one of the six "Celtic nations" by many residents and scholars.[14] The County and Duchy continues to retain its distinct identity, with its own history, language and culture. Some inhabitants question the present constitutional status of Cornwall, and a self-government movement seeks greater autonomy. [15][16]

Selected Picture

Pyramids of Gezah, from the Nile. lithograph.

Selected Natural History

The Daintree Rainforest, Australia
The Daintree Rainforest, Australia

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm (68-78 inches).

From 40 to 75% of all species on Earth are indigenous to the rainforests.[17] It has been estimated that many millions of species of plants, insects, and microorganisms are still undiscovered. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth", and the "world's largest pharmacy", because of the large number of natural medicines discovered there.[18] Rainforests also supply 28% of the worlds oxygen,[19] processing it through photosynthesis from carbon dioxide.

The undergrowth in a rainforest is restricted in many areas by the lack of sunlight at ground level. This makes it possible to walk through the forest. If the leaf canopy is destroyed or thinned, the ground beneath is soon colonized by a dense, tangled growth of vines, shrubs, and small trees called a jungle. There are two types of rainforest, tropical rainforest and temperate rainforest.

Selected Technology

Bio Fuel Systems is a wholly Spanish owned firm that has developed a method of breeding plankton and turning the marine plants into oil, providing a potentially inexhaustible source of clean fuel. It was formed in 2006 in eastern Spain after three years of research by scientists and engineers connected with the University of Alicante.

The process it has developed converts energy, based on three elements: solar energy, photosynthesis and an electromagnetic field. Its new fuel is said to reduce CO2, is free of other contaminants like sulphur dioxide and would be cheaper than standard fossil fuel that is available now. Their system of bioconversion is about 400 times more productive than any other plant-based system producing oil or ethanol.[citation needed]

In the news

World News
World News
In the news
In the news


25 May 2024 – 2023–24 FA Cup
Manchester United win their 13th FA Cup title after beating the defending champions, Manchester City, by a score of 2–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium in London, England. (The Guardian)
21 May 2024 – Singapore Airlines Flight 321
A Singapore Airlines flight from London, England, to Singapore makes an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, after experiencing severe air turbulence over the Bay of Bengal, resulting in one death and at least 30 injuries. (BBC News)
4 May 2024 – 2024 London mayoral election
Sadiq Khan wins re-election as mayor of London, England, with 43.8% of the vote, becoming the first London mayor to be elected to a third term. (BBC News)
30 April 2024 – 2024 Hainault sword attack
A man attacks people with a sword after crashing a car into a house in Hainault, London, England, United Kingdom, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, including two police officers. (BBC News) (The New York Times)

Selected Biography

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was an author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger. He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction.

Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to an English father of Irish descent, Charles Altamont Doyle, and an Irish mother, née Mary Foley, who had married in 1855.[20] Although he is now referred to as "Conan Doyle", the origin of this compound surname is uncertain.[21] Conan Doyle's father was a chronic alcoholic, and was the only member of his family who, apart from fathering a brilliant son, never accomplished anything of note.

Selected Geography

Medieval map of the Black Sea
Medieval map of the Black Sea

The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula (Turkey) and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to the Aegean Sea region of the Mediterranean. These waters separate eastern Europe and western Asia. The Black Sea also connects to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch.

The Black Sea has a positive water balance, which results in a net outflow of water 300 km³ per year through the Bosphorus into the Aegean Sea (part of the Mediterranean Sea). Mediterranean water flows into the Black Sea as part of a 2-way hydrological exchange. The Black Sea outflow is less salinated and cool, therefore floats over the warm, relatively more salinated Mediterranean inflow. The Black Sea also receives river water from large Eurasian fluvial systems to the north of the Sea, of which the Don, Dnieper and Danube are the most significant.

In the past, the water level has varied significantly. Depending on the water level in the basin, more or less of the surrounding shelf and associated aprons are aerially exposed. At certain critical depths, it is possible for connections with surrounding water bodies to become established. It is through the most active of these connective routes, the Turkish Straits System (TSS), that the Black Sea joins the global ocean system. When this hydrological link is not present, the Black Sea is a lake, operating independently of the global ocean system. Currently the Black Sea water level is relatively high, thus water is being exchanged with the Mediterranean. The TSS connects the Black and Aegean Seas and comprises the Strait of Bosphorus Strait (Strait of Istanbul), the Marmara sea and the Strait of Dardanelles (Strait of Canakkale). The Black Sea also connects to the Sea of Azov via the Strait of Kerch

Categories

Selected quote

You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.

Khalil Gibran
mystic, poet, and artist (1883-1931)

Did you know?

  • ...that optimistic estimations of peak oil production forecast the global decline will begin by 2020 or later, and assume major investments in alternatives will occur before a crisis, without requiring major changes in the lifestyle of heavily oil-consuming nations. These models show the price of oil at first escalating and then retreating as other types of fuel and energy sources are used?[22]
  • ...that if the Greenland ice-sheet melted through global warming, it would raise the global sea level by 7 meters, or 22 feet?

Topics

Cities: AmsterdamBangkokBarcelonaBrusselsCalcuttaCologneFlorenceGibraltarLas VegasLisbonLos AngelesLondonMaastrichtMarbellaMarrakechMumbaiOttawaPaphosSan FranciscoTokyoTorontoYokohama

Climate change: Global warmingGlobal dimmingFossil fuelsSea level riseGreenhouse gas

Conservation: The British IslesSpecies extinctionPollinator declineCoral bleachingHolocene extinction eventInvasive speciesPoachingEndangered species

Computer science: Artificial intelligenceCompilersComputer programmingCryptographyOperating systemsProgramming languages

Geography: GeologyClimateOceansIslandsRivers

History: Prehistoric BritainRoman BritainAnglo-Saxon EnglandHouse of LancasterHouse of Stuart

Linguistics: Anthropological linguisticsEurolinguisticsWriting systems

Resource depletion: Acid mine drainageClearcuttingConsumerismOver-consumptionBlast fishingBottom trawlingCyanide fishingDeforestationGhost netsIllegal loggingIllegal, unreported and unregulated fishingLoggingMountaintop removal miningOverfishingShark finningWhaling

Science: AstronomyBiologyChemistryFormal scienceGeologyMathmaticsPhysics

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Things to do

Things you can do!
Things you can do!
  • Keep finishing off the various Portals that need creating/completing and start writing content on the relevant interested issues.
  • Be bold. Wikipedia is for the people, by the people and needs YOU as a contributor to spread global knowledge.

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  1. ^ The Countries of the UK statistics.gov.uk, accessed 10 October, 2008
  2. ^ "Countries within a country". 10 Downing Street. Retrieved 2007-09-10. The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
  3. ^ "ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Date: 2007-11-28 No I-9. "Changes in the list of subdivision names and code elements" (Page 11)" (PDF). International Organisation for Standardisation codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions -- Part 2: Country subdivision codes. Retrieved 2008-05-31. ENG England country
  4. ^ National Statistics Online - Population Estimates. Retrieved 6 June 2007.
  5. ^ The official definition of LUZ (Larger Urban Zone) is used by the European Statistical Agency (Eurostat) when describing conurbations and areas of high population. This definition ranks London highest, above Paris (see Larger Urban Zones (LUZ) in the European Union); and a ranking of population within municipal boundaries also puts London on top (see Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits). However, research by the University of Avignon in France ranks Paris first and London second when including the whole urban area and hinterland, that is the outlying cities as well (see Largest urban areas of the European Union).
  6. ^ England - Culture. Britain USA. Retrieved 12 September 2006.
  7. ^ "Industrial Revolution". Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  8. ^ "History of the Royal Society". The Royal Society. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
  9. ^ "Country profile: United Kingdom". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
  10. ^ "T 09: Quinary age groups and sex for local authorities in the United Kingdom; estimated resident population Mid-2006 Population Estimates". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  11. ^ Stenton, F. M. (1947) Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Clarendon Press; p. 337
  12. ^ Ellis, P. B. (1974) The Cornish Language and its Literature. London: Routledge; ch. 5: the death of the language (pp. 95-124)
  13. ^ [1]
  14. ^ Payton, Philip (1996). Cornwall. Fowey: Alexander Associates
  15. ^ The Duchy of Cornwall - history supported by references to primary source material
  16. ^ "Country profiles: England". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
  17. ^ "Rainforests.net - Variables and Math". Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  18. ^ Rainforests at Animal Center
  19. ^ Killer Inhabitants of the Rainforests
  20. ^ Lellenberg, Jon; Daniel Stashower; Charles Foley (2007). Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters. HarperPress. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-0-00-724759-2. Stashower, Daniel (2000). Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle. Penguin Books. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-8050-5074-4.
  21. ^ Stashower says that the name originated from his great-uncle Michael Conan, a distinguished journalist, from whom Arthur and his elder sister, Annette, received the compound surname of "Conan Doyle" (Stashower 20 – 21). The same source points out that in 1885 he was describing himself on the brass nameplate outside his house, and on his doctoral thesis, as "A. Conan Doyle". However, other sources (such as the 1901 census) indicate that Conan Doyle's surname was "Doyle", and that the form "Conan Doyle" was only used as a surname in his later years.[citation needed]
  22. ^ "CERA says peak oil theory is faulty". Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA). 2006-11-14. Retrieved 2008-07-27.