The World Portal
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique while others talk of a "plurality of worlds". Some treat the world as one simple object while others analyze the world as a complex made up of many parts. In scientific cosmology the world or universe is commonly defined as "[t]he totality of all space and time; all that is, has been, and will be". Theories of modality, on the other hand, talk of possible worlds as complete and consistent ways how things could have been. Phenomenology, starting from the horizon of co-given objects present in the periphery of every experience, defines the world as the biggest horizon or the "horizon of all horizons". In philosophy of mind, the world is commonly contrasted with the mind as that which is represented by the mind. Theology conceptualizes the world in relation to God, for example, as God's creation, as identical to God or as the two being interdependent. In religions, there is often a tendency to downgrade the material or sensory world in favor of a spiritual world to be sought through religious practice. A comprehensive representation of the world and our place in it, as is commonly found in religions, is known as a worldview. Cosmogony is the field that studies the origin or creation of the world while eschatology refers to the science or doctrine of the last things or of the end of the world.
In various contexts, the term "world" takes a more restricted meaning associated, for example, with the Earth and all life on it, with humanity as a whole or with an international or intercontinental scope. In this sense, world history refers to the history of humanity as a whole or world politics is the discipline of political science studying issues that transcend nations and continents. Other examples include terms such as "world religion", "world language", "world government", "world war", "world population", "world economy" or "world championship". (Full article...)
Selected articles - show another
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Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the process by which towns and cities are formed and become larger as more people begin living and working in central areas.
Although the 2 concepts are sometimes used interchangeably, urbanization should be distinguished from urban growth. Urbanization/urban growth/suburbanisation/anti-urbanism refers to the proportion of the total national population living in areas classified as urban, whereas urban growth strictly refers to the absolute number of people living in those areas. It is predicted that by 2050 about 64% of the developing world and 86% of the developed world will be urbanized. That is equivalent to approximately 3 billion urbanites by 2050, much of which will occur in Africa and Asia. Notably, the United Nations has also recently projected that nearly all global population growth from 2017 to 2030 will be by cities, with about 1.1 billion new urbanites over the next 10 years. (Full article...) - Image 2
Post-classical history, as used in global history, generally runs from about 500 CE to 1500 CE (roughly corresponding to the European Middle Ages). The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and development of trade networks between civilizations.
In Asia, the spread of Islam created a new empire and Islamic Golden Age with trade among the Asian, African and European continents, and advances in science in the medieval Islamic world. East Asia experienced the full establishment of power of Imperial China, which established several prosperous dynasties influencing Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. Religions such as Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism spread in the region. Gunpowder was developed in China during the post-classical era. The Mongol Empire connected Europe and Asia, creating safe trade and stability between the two regions. In total the population of the world doubled in the time period from approximately 210 million in 500 AD to 461 million in 1500 AD. Population generally grew steadily throughout the period but endured some incidental declines in events including the Plague of Justinian, the Mongol invasions, and the Black Death. (Full article...) - Image 3
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool that measures and tracks hunger globally as well as by region and by country, prepared by European NGOs of Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe. The GHI is calculated annually, and its results appear in a report issued in October each year.
The 2021 Global Hunger Index indicates a critical hunger situation described as arising from the devastating combination of the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increasingly severe and protracted conflicts. Progress toward achieving the SDG "Zero Hunger by 2030", which was already far too slow, has stagnated or even, in some countries, seen reversals. (Full article...) - Image 4
The International Map of the World or IMW (also called the Millionth Map of the World, after its scale of 1:1 000 000) was a project to create a complete map of the world according to internationally agreed standards. It was first proposed by the German geographer Albrecht Penck in 1891.
The Central Bureau of the Map of the World was established in London. After the Second World War, UNESCO took over the project. By 1953, 400 sheets had been produced. The completed sheets became outdated before the project had produced a full set of maps, and by the 1960s was being dismissed as being of no practical use. The project was no longer monitored by the 1990s. (Full article...) - Image 5
The global temperature record shows the fluctuations of the temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans through various spans of time. There are numerous estimates of temperatures since the end of the Pleistocene glaciation, particularly during the current Holocene epoch. Some temperature information is available through geologic evidence, going back millions of years. More recently, information from ice cores covers the period from 800,000 years before the present time until now. A study of the paleoclimate covers the time period from 12,000 years ago to the present. Tree rings and measurements from ice cores can give evidence about the global temperature from 1,000-2,000 years before the present until now. The most detailed information exists since 1850, when methodical thermometer-based records began. (Full article...) - Image 6A global cuisine is a cuisine that is practiced around the world. A cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific region, country or culture. To become a global cuisine, a local, regional or national cuisine must spread around the world, its food served worldwide. There have been significant improvements and advances during the last century in food preservation, storage, shipping and production, and today many countries, cities and regions have access to their traditional cuisines and many other global cuisines. (Full article...)
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A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven regions are: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Variations with fewer continents may merge some of these, for example some systems include Afro-Eurasia, the Americas or Eurasia as single continents. Zealandia, a largely submerged mass of continental crust, has also been described as a continent.
Oceanic islands are frequently grouped with a nearby continent to divide all the world's land into geographical regions. Under this scheme, most of the island countries and territories in the Pacific Ocean are grouped together with the continent of Australia to form a geographical region called Oceania. (Full article...)
General images - load new batch
Image 1Geologic map of North America, color-coded by age. From most recent to oldest, age is indicated by yellow, green, blue, and red. The reds and pinks indicate rock from the Archean.
Image 2A reconstruction of human history based on fossil data. (from History of Earth)
Image 3Earth's rotation imaged by Deep Space Climate Observatory, showing axis tilt (from Earth)
Image 5St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. (from Human history)
Image 7Trilobites first appeared during the Cambrian period and were among the most widespread and diverse groups of Paleozoic organisms. (from History of Earth)
Image 8Pangaea was a supercontinent that existed from about 300 to 180 Ma. The outlines of the modern continents and other landmasses are indicated on this map. (from History of Earth)
Image 9A brass "Benin Bronze" from Nigeria (from Human history)
Image 10Change in average surface air temperature and drivers for that change. Human activity has caused increased temperatures, with natural forces adding some variability. (from Earth)
Image 11Monumental Cuneiform inscription, Sumer, Mesopotamia, 26th century BCE (from Human history)
Image 12A banded iron formation from the 3.15 Ga Moodies Group, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Red layers represent the times when oxygen was available; gray layers were formed in anoxic circumstances. (from History of Earth)
Image 13Astronaut Bruce McCandless II outside of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984 (from History of Earth)
Image 14Hubble Space Telescope seen in orbit from Space Shuttle Atlantis (from Earth)
Image 15World War I trench warfare (from Human history)
Image 16Notre-Dame de Paris in Paris, France: is among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of Christendom. (from Human history)
Image 17Moai, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) (from Human history)
Image 18The first airplane, the Wright Flyer, flew, 1903. (from Human history)
Image 19Empires of the world in 1898 (from Human history)
Image 20Cross-section through a liposome (from History of Earth)
Image 21Schematic of Earth's magnetosphere, with the solar wind flows from left to right (from Earth)
Image 22Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia, early 12th century (from Human history)
Image 24China urbanized rapidly in the 21st century (Shanghai pictured). (from Human history)
Image 25Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci epitomizes the advances in art and science seen during the Renaissance. (from History of Earth)
Image 26Artist's conception of Devonian flora (from History of Earth)
Image 27Watt's steam engine powered the Industrial Revolution. (from Human history)
Image 28An artist's rendering of a protoplanetary disk (from History of Earth)
Image 29Obelisk of Axum, Ethiopia (from Human history)
Image 30Processes leading to movements and phase changes in Earth's water (from Earth)
Image 31Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man (c. 1490), Renaissance Italy (from Human history)
Image 32The Pantheon in Rome, Italy, originally a Roman temple, now a Catholic church (from Human history)
Image 33The replicator in virtually all known life is deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA is far more complex than the original replicator and its replication systems are highly elaborate. (from History of Earth)
Image 34A 580 million year old fossil of Spriggina floundensi, an animal from the Ediacaran period. Such life forms could have been ancestors to the many new forms that originated in the Cambrian Explosion. (from History of Earth)
Image 35Earth's history with time-spans of the eons to scale (from History of Earth)
Image 36Earth's land use for human agriculture (from Earth)
Image 37Taj Mahal, Mughal Empire, India (from Human history)
Image 38Tiktaalik, a fish with limb-like fins and a predecessor of tetrapods. Reconstruction from fossils about 375 million years old. (from History of Earth)
Image 39University of Timbuktu, Mali (from Human history)
Image 40Tracy Caldwell Dyson in the Cupola module of the International Space Station observing the Earth below (from Earth)
Image 41Graph showing range of estimated partial pressure of atmospheric oxygen through geologic time (from History of Earth)
Image 43Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia, founded 670 CE (from Human history)
Image 44Earth topological map, the area is redder if it is raised higher in real-life (from Earth)
Image 45Maya observatory, Chichen Itza, Mexico (from Human history)
Image 46Artist's impression of the enormous collision that probably formed the Moon (from History of Earth)
Image 47Crusader Krak des Chevaliers, Syria (from Human history)
Image 48Earth–Moon system seen from Mars (from Earth)
Image 49Image of the physical world, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope (from World)
Image 50Earth's axial tilt and its relation to the rotation axis and planes of orbit (from Earth)
Image 51Machu Picchu, Inca Empire, Peru (from Human history)
Image 52The Buddha (from Human history)
Image 53Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt (from Human history)
Image 55Artist's conception of Hadean Eon Earth, when it was much hotter and inhospitable to all forms of life. (from History of Earth)
Image 56Top of Earth's blue-tinted atmosphere, with the Moon at the background (from Earth)
Image 57Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey (from Human history)
Image 58Battle during 1281 Mongol invasion of Japan (from Human history)
Image 59Persepolis, Achaemenid Empire, 6th century BCE (from Human history)
Image 60Lithified stromatolites on the shores of Lake Thetis, Western Australia. Archean stromatolites are the first direct fossil traces of life on Earth. (from History of Earth)
Image 61Pillar erected by India's Maurya Emperor Ashoka (from Human history)
Image 62Dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates throughout most of the Mesozoic (from History of Earth)
Image 63A reconstruction of Pannotia (550 Ma). (from History of Earth)
Image 64Gutenberg Bible, ca. 1450, produced using movable type (from Human history)
Image 65Planetary disk of a star, the inner ring has a radius equal to Earth and the Sun (from Earth)
Image 66Chloroplasts in the cells of a moss (from History of Earth)
Image 67Ming dynasty section, Great Wall of China (from Human history)
Image 68World population, from 10000 BCE to 2000 CE, with projection to 2100 CE (from Human history)
Image 69Artist's impression of earth during the Archean eon, showing falling meteor, erupting volcano, round stromatolites, and barren landscape (from Earth)
Image 70Cave painting, Lascaux, France, c. 15,000 BCE (from Human history)
Image 71Hagia Sophia, in Istanbul, is among the most recognizable symbols of the Byzantine civilization. (from Human history)
Image 72Yggdrasil, a modern attempt to reconstruct the Norse world tree which connects the heavens, the world, and the underworld. (from World)
Image 73Last Moon landing: Apollo 17 (1972) (from Human history)
Image 74Chennakesava Temple, Belur, India (from Human history)
Image 75Atomic bombings: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, 1945 (from Human history)
Image 761570 world map, showing Europeans' discoveries (from Human history)
Image 77Civilians (here, Mỹ Lai, Vietnam, 1968) suffered greatly in 20th-century wars. (from Human history)
Megacities of the world - show another
Beijing (/beɪˈdʒɪŋ/ bay-JING; Chinese: 北京; pinyin: Běijīng; Mandarin pronunciation: [pèɪ.tɕíŋ] (listen)), alternatively romanized as Peking (/piːˈkɪŋ/ pee-KING), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 million residents within an administrative area of 16,410.5 km2 (6336 sq. mi.). Nevertheless, its built-up area, the third largest in China after Guangzhou and Shanghai, is slightly bigger, including three districts in Hebei (Sanhe, Dachang Hui and Zhuozhou) being conurbated but with Miyun and Pinggu Districts in Beijing not agglomerated yet. It is located in Northern China, and is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of the State Council with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts. Beijing is mostly surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin to the southeast; together, the three divisions form the Jingjinji megalopolis and the national capital region of China.
Beijing is a global city and one of the world's leading centres for culture, diplomacy, politics, finance, business and economics, education, research, language, tourism, media, sport, science and technology and transportation. A megacity, Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by urban population after Shanghai and is the nation's cultural, educational, and political center. It is home to the headquarters of most of China's largest state-owned companies and houses the largest number of Fortune Global 500 companies in the world, as well as the world's four biggest financial institutions by total assets. Beijing is the "billionaire capital of the world" with the highest number of billionaires living in the city. It is also a major hub for the national highway, expressway, railway, and high-speed rail networks. The Beijing Capital International Airport has been the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic (Asia's busiest) since 2010, and, , the city's subway network is the busiest and longest in the world. The Beijing Daxing International Airport, a second international airport in Beijing, is the largest single-structure airport terminal in the world. (Full article...)Did you know - load new batch
- ... that Russian-Jewish medical student Leo Osnas won the first Cross of St. George of the First World War by saving his regiment's colours from capture?
- ... that after the end of the First World War, thousands of former British Army officers were forced to sleep rough in Hyde Park?
- ... that Orgill, Inc., now the world's largest independently owned distributor of hardlines, began as a hardware store in 1847, making it the oldest Memphis-founded company still in operation?
- ... that the Khalili Collection of Enamels of the World includes a throne table made for the 18th-century Qianlong Emperor?
- ... that Walkiria Terradura was a member of the Italian resistance movement during World War II and a specialist in blowing up bridges?
- ... that Eric Sbraccia made his professional wrestling debut at the age of fourteen as a "junior member" for Tony Rumble in International Championship Wrestling?
- ... that during the Second World War, Abkhazian female pilot Meri Avidzba flew 477 combat sorties and dropped 63 tonnes of bombs onto the enemy?
- ... that at 2.5 miles (4.0 km), New York City's South Beach Boardwalk was cited as the fourth longest boardwalk in the world in 2010?
Countries of the world - show another
The Republic of the Congo (French: République du Congo, Kituba: Repubilika ya Kôngo), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the west of the Congo river. The country is bordered to the west by Gabon, to its northwest by Cameroon and its northeast by the Central African Republic, to the southeast by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to its south by the Angolan exclave of Cabinda and to its southwest by the Atlantic Ocean. French is the official language of the Republic of the Congo.
The region was dominated by Bantu-speaking tribes at least 3,000 years ago, who built trade links leading into the Congo River basin. Congo was formerly part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa. The Republic of the Congo was established on 28 November 1958 and gained independence from France in 1960. It was a Marxist–Leninist state from 1969 to 1992, under the name People's Republic of the Congo. The sovereign state has had multi-party elections since 1992, although a democratically elected government was ousted in the 1997 Republic of the Congo Civil War, and President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who first came to power in 1979, has now ruled for over four decades. (Full article...)Related portals
Protected areas of the world - load new batch
- Image 1
This is a list of protected areas of Alberta. Protected areas are managed by the Government of Canada or the Government of Alberta. The provincial government owns 60% of Alberta's landmass but most of this has not been formally protected. The total protected area throughout Alberta including federal and provincial protected areas is approximately 90,700 km2 (35,000 sq mi). (Full article...) - Image 2The Protected areas of Portugal (Portuguese: Áreas protegidas de Portugal) are classified under a legal protection statute that allows for the adequate protection and maintenance of biodiversity, while providing services for ecosystem that maintains the natural and geological patrimony. (Full article...)
- Image 3Protected areas of Slovakia are areas that need protection because of their environmental, historical or cultural value to the nation. Protected areas in Slovakia are managed by institutions and organizations governed by the Ministry of the Environment.
Types of protected areas:- National Park (Slovak: Národný park; abbr. NP)
- Protected Landscape Area (Chránená krajinná oblasť; CHKO)
- National Nature Reserve (Národná prírodná rezervácia; NPR)
- Nature Reserve (Prírodná rezervácia; PR)
- National Nature Monument (Národná prírodná pamiatka; NPP)
- Nature Monument (Prírodná pamiatka; PP)
- Protected Site (Chránený areál; CHA)
- Protected Landscape Element (Chránený krajinný prvok; CHKP)
- Protected Bird Area* (Chránené vtáčie územie; CHVÚ) *Technically Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EU Bird's Directive
- Protected Tree (Chránený strom; CHS)
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Protected areas of South Australia consists of protected areas located within South Australia and its immediate onshore waters and which are managed by South Australian Government agencies. As of March 2018, South Australia contains 359 separate protected areas declared under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, the Crown Land Management Act 2009 and the Wilderness Protection Act 1992 which have a total land area of 211,387.48 km2 (81,617.16 sq mi) or 21.5% of the state's area. (Full article...) - Image 7The state of Johor in Malaysia is noted for its national parks and forest reserves which preserve virgin rainforests known for its biodiversity and endangered species of animals.
Mangrove swamps and coral reefs are also protected within these parks. (Full article...) - Image 8This is a list of the nationally-designated protected areas of China. There are many forms of protected areas in China. Based on their relative importance, each type of protected area can be further graded into two to three levels (national, provincial and prefectural/county level). Nevertheless, the highest rank for "pocket nature preserve" (social and mass-based), "no-hunting area", "no-fishing area", "no-logging area", "wild medicinal material resources conservation area", "crop germplasm resources conservation area", "forest tree germplasm resources conservation area" or "source water protection area" is practically restricted to provincial level. The local government at county level is also responsible for the delimitation and declaration of "basic farmland protection area" and "basic grassland". Qinling National Botanical Garden, said to be the world's largest (639 km2, of which 575.31 km2 being set aside for in-situ conservation purposes), was opened (Phase 1) to the public on September 27, 2017.
Take note that many protected areas in China have multiple official designations, and the statutory boundaries of these multi-designated PAs may be identical or may vary one from the other. For instance, the boundaries of Huangshan NSHA coincide with those of the Huangshan NGP, whereas Fujian province's Wuyi Mountains NNR, NSHA and NFP are adjacent to each other. In Heilongjiang, 27,642.14 hectares out of 115,340.27 hectares of Huzhong NFP are intersected with the experiment zone of Huzhong NNR. (Full article...) - Image 9This is a list of protected areas of Afghanistan.
- Ab-i-Estada Nature Reserve, Ghazni Province
- Ajar Valley Nature Reserve, Bamyan Province
- Bamiyan National Heritage Park, Bamyan Province
- Bamiyan Plateau Protected Landscape, Bamyan Province
- Band-e Amir National Park, Bamyan Province
- Darqad (Takhar) Wildlife Reserve, Takhar Province
- Dasht-i-Nawar Waterfowl Sanctuary, Ghazni Province
- Hamun-i-Puzak Waterfowl Sanctuary, Farah and Nimroz provinces
- Imam Sahib (Kunduz) Wildlife Reserve, Kunduz Province
- Khulm Landmark Protected Area, Balkh Province
- Koh-e Baba (Shah Foladi) Protected Landscape, Bamyan province
- Kol-i-Hashmat Khan Waterfowl Sanctuary, Kabul Province
- Northwest Afghanistan Game Managed Reserve, Herat Province
- Nuristan National Park and Wildlife Reserve, Nuristan Province
- Pamir-i-Buzurg Wildlife Reserve, Badakhshan Province
- Registan Desert Wildlife Managed Reserve, Kandahar Province
- Wakhan National Park, Badakhshan Province
- Zadran National Reserve, Paktia Province
- Image 10Protected areas of Sri Lanka are administrated by Department of Forest Conservation and Department of Wildlife Conservation of Sri Lanka.There are 501 protected areas in Sri Lanka. The protected areas that fall under supervision of the Department of Forest Conservation include forests defined in National Heritage Wilderness Area Act in 1988, forest reservations, and forests managed for sustainability. Sinharaja Forest Reserve is an example for a National Heritage forest (it is also a World Heritage Site). There are 32 forests categorized as conservation forests including Knuckles Mountain Range. Strict nature reserves, national parks, nature reserves, forest corridors, and sanctuaries recognized under the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance are managed by Department of Wildlife Conservation. Total of all protected areas is 1,767,000 ha. Protected areas in Sri Lanka account for 26.5 percent of the total area. This is a higher percentage of protected areas than in all of Asia and much of the World. (Full article...)
- Image 11Protected areas of West Bengal cover 4% of the state area. Forests make up 14% of the geographical area of West Bengal, which is lower than the national average of 33%. West Bengal has a wide variety of fauna, including Bengal tigers, Indian leopards, sloth and Himalayan black bears, chital and sambar (deer), Indian boars, pygmy hogs, Indian elephants, Indian peafowl, great Indian hornbills, Eurasian spoonbills, brahminy ducks, king and Indian cobras, white-lipped pit viper, Indian and reticulated pythons, mugger crocodiles, saltwater crocodiles, gharials, and many more. A huge montane forest, Dooars, is situated in the Northern West Bengal districts of Alipur Duar, Darjeeling, and Kalimpong.Part of the world's largest mangrove forest, Sundarbans, is located in southern West Bengal.
There are 6 national parks and 15 wildlife sanctuaries in West Bengal. (Full article...) - Image 12
- Image 13Illinois has a variety of protected areas, including 123 state protected areas - state parks, wildlife areas, recreation areas, nature reserves, and state forests. There are also federal and local level protected areas in the state. These levels interact to provide a variety of recreation opportunities and conservation schemes, sometimes in a small area. For instance, 1,500-acre (6.1 km2) Shabbona Lake State Park lies in DeKalb County which has its own 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) forest preserve system, while the City of DeKalb has a 700-acre (2.8 km2) park system.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site in Illinois, Cahokia, is protected as State-owned historic site. (Full article...) - Image 14The country of Burundi in Africa has the following national parks and other protected areas. (Full article...)
- Image 15
Svalbard is an Arctic wilderness archipelago comprising the northernmost part of Norway. There are twenty-nine protected natural areas, consisting of seven national parks, six nature reserves, fifteen bird sanctuaries and one geotope protected area. In addition, human traces dating from before 1946 are automatically protected. The protected areas make up 39,800 square kilometers (15,400 sq mi) or 65% of the land area, and 78,000 square kilometers (30,000 sq mi) or 86.5% of the territorial waters. The largest protected areas are Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve and Søraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve, which cover most of the areas east of the main island of Spitsbergen, including the islands of Nordaustlandet, Edgeøya, Barentsøya, Kong Karls Land and Kvitøya. Six of the national parks are located on Spitsbergen. Ten of the bird sanctuaries and the Moffen Nature Reserve are located within national parks. Five of the bird sanctuaries are Ramsar sites and fourteen of the bird sanctuaries are islands. Svalbard is on Norway's tentative list for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The supreme responsibility for conservation lies with the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, which has delegated the management to the Governor of Svalbard and the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. The foundation for conservation was established in the Svalbard Treaty of 1920, and has been further specified in the Svalbard Environmental Act of 2001. The first round of protection took force on 1 July 1973, when most of the current protected areas came into effect. This included the two large nature reserves and three of the national parks. Moffen Nature Reserve was established in 1983, followed by four national parks, three nature reserves and one geotope protection area between 2002 and 2005. (Full article...)
Selected world maps
Image 1A plate tectonics map with volcano locations indicated with red circles
Image 2The world map by Gerardus Mercator (1569), the first map in the well-known Mercator projection
Image 31516 map of the world by Martin Waldseemüller
Image 4Only a few of the largest large igneous provinces appear (coloured dark purple) on this geological map, which depicts crustal geologic provinces as seen in seismic refraction data
Image 5Time zones of the world
Image 6The Goode homolosine projection is a pseudocylindrical, equal-area, composite map projection used for world maps.
Image 7Index map from the International Map of the World (1:1,000,000 scale)
Image 8Mollweide projection of the world
Image 9United Nations Human Development Index map by country (2016)
World records
- List of Olympic records in athletics
- List of world records in athletics
- List of junior world records in athletics
- List of world records in masters athletics
- List of world youth bests in athletics
- List of IPC world records in athletics
- List of world records in canoeing
- List of world records in chess
- List of cycling records
- List of world records in track cycling
- List of world records in finswimming
- List of world records in juggling
- List of world records in rowing
- List of world records in speed skating
- List of world records in swimming
- List of IPC world records in swimming
- List of world records in Olympic weightlifting
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