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The "Caminito del Rey" is an awesome walkway constructed on the steep and deep cliffs of the "Desfiladero de los Gaitanes", a canyon in Andalusia, southern Spain. Originally built near the end of the 19th century and in serious state of decay, the path was off limits until a mayor restoration was undertaken only recently. Now, visitors can safely enjoy the breathtaking views and experience the excitement of just having a few planks, or this glass floor balcony (!) beneath their feet preventing a sheer drop of over 300ft... Well worth a visit, but not for those with more than casual vertigo.
Basílica de la Virgen de la Peña, Graus, La Ribagorza, Huesca, Aragón, España.
La antigua basílica de la Virgen de la Peña se levanta en la villa española de Graus (Ribagorza, provincia de Huesca, Aragón). El actual templo se levantó a mediados del siglo XVI sobre un edificio románico anterior. Consta de iglesia, patio y hospital de peregrinos con un bello claustro-mirador.
Proponemos a los visitantes que comiencen la visita desde el interior de la iglesia. Allí quedan restos del edificio románico, en concreto en la parte inferior del muro del evangelio, donde hay una pequeña puerta en alto y sillares más pequeños. El edificio actual presenta, una nave única de dos tramos, cubiertos con bóvedas de terceletes (la de los pies era originalmente estrellada) y una cabecera plana sobre la que se levanta una torre poligonal rematada en chapitel. LLama la atención el achaflanamiento de los ángulos de los pies de la nave.
La puerta de entrada tiene arco de medio punto y abundante decoración: (candelieri, casetones, angelotes, escudos y guirnaldas) y se enmarca por columnas unidas por un entablamento. Frente a ella, el pórtico imita sus formas corintias. En su friso se encuentra la firma de Joan Tellet en dos cartelas junto a una pequeña ménsula que llama la atención del observador. Allí está también la puerta de la capilla de San Juan de Letrán y una escalinata que une el pórtico con el patio. la esquina de la iglesia nos hace comprender el achaflanamiento interior, ya que si no se hubiera adoptado esta solución los contrafuertes exteriores ocuparían el solar de esta escalinata.
La arquería del hospital se abre al patio. Allí vemos cómo la estructura de este edificio apoya sobre la de la iglesia. Otra arcada sobre columnas torsas nos ofrece una espléndida vista de Graus y de la confluencia de los ríos Ésera e Isábena. Al salir, bajando por la rampa, veremos la otra esquina de la iglesia y de nuevo entendemos el achaflanamiento interior la nave, pues otro contrafuerte exterior hubiera impedido el camino de acceso al conjunto.
Desde el exterior se observan diferencias en los dos tramos de la iglesia:
la primera fase de las obras articula sus paños con molduras y contrafuertes
la segunda, obra de Tellet, que presenta paños y esquinas lisos.
En el conjunto del hospital también se ven dos fases:
un modesto edificio de cuatro plantas (apoyado sobre la iglesia y sobre la entrada al conjunto) fue seguramente el primero en construirse y debía servir de residencia del clero
una ampliación, mucho más ambiciosa, de tres plantas: la primera, con la arcada de arcos de medio punto que cobija la rampa de acceso; la segunda, con el mirador de columnas torsas; y la última, de ladrillo y totalmente reconstruida, donde se hallaban habitaciones destinadas a hospital de peregrinos y donde se ubica actualmente un museo de iconos.
The ancient basilica of the Virgen de la Peña stands in the Spanish town of Graus (Ribagorza, province of Huesca, Aragon). The current temple was built in the mid-16th century on a previous Romanesque building. It consists of a church, patio and pilgrim hospital with a beautiful cloister-viewpoint.
We suggest visitors begin their visit from inside the church. There are remains of the Romanesque building, specifically in the lower part of the gospel wall, where there is a small high door and smaller ashlars. The current building has a single nave with two sections, covered with triplet vaults (the one at the foot was originally star-shaped) and a flat head on which rises a polygonal tower topped with a spire. The chamfering of the angles of the feet of the nave is striking.
The entrance door has a semicircular arch and abundant decoration: (candelieri, coffers, angels, shields and garlands) and is framed by columns joined by an entablature. In front of it, the porch imitates its Corinthian forms. On its frieze there is the signature of Joan Tellet in two cartouches along with a small corbel that draws the observer's attention. There is also the door to the chapel of San Juan de Letrán and a staircase that connects the portico with the patio. The corner of the church makes us understand the interior chamfering, since if this solution had not been adopted the exterior buttresses would occupy the site of this staircase.
The hospital archway opens to the patio. There we see how the structure of this building supports that of the church. Another archway on twisted columns offers us a splendid view of Graus and the confluence of the Ésera and Isábena rivers. As we leave, going down the ramp, we will see the other corner of the church and once again we understand the interior chamfering of the nave, since another exterior buttress would have prevented the access path to the complex.
From the outside, differences are observed in the two sections of the church:
The first phase of the works articulates its panels with moldings and buttresses
the second, a work by Tellet, which presents smooth panels and corners.
In the hospital as a whole there are also two phases:
a modest four-story building (leaning on the church and on the entrance to the complex) was surely the first to be built and was to serve as the residence of the clergy.
a much more ambitious extension, with three floors: the first, with the archway of semicircular arches that shelters the access ramp; the second, with the viewpoint of twisted columns; and the last one, made of brick and completely rebuilt, where there were rooms used as a pilgrim hospital and where a museum of icons is currently located.
I've spent a lot of time in the garden doing insect photography recently and this little chap has always been close by. This is possibly due to the odd handful of buggy nibbles I scatter to prevent the subjects getting eaten!
This might be a good name for a band..."Now, coming at you live...it's LOCAL HONEEEEEEEEEYYY!"...hmmmmm...
This shot is actually of what will hopefully turn out to be an allergy preventative. If you've been following my stream for the past couple of weeks, you've likely picked up that I've been under the weather - sore throat (to the point I thought it was strep), congestion, cough, etc.. This has been going on for two+ weeks! As the congestion seemed to be going deeper into my chest and I was starting to worry about pneumonia, I paid another visit to the doc yesterday.
He ordered an x-ray just to be safe and everything came back clean. And he concluded that I've likely been dealing with an upper respiratory infection brought on by allergies. Enter the local honey.
A friend shared that an allergy-sufferer friend of hers started eating 1 teaspoon of locally produced honey daily and her allergies all but stopped; when she moved to a different state, she did the same thing with the same result. The premise is that ingesting honey produced from local pollens helps the body develop immunity to those same pollens during allergy season. On the surface, this makes sense.
So, old wives tale or truth, I'm game for anything at this point. I've never been an allergy-sufferer, but obviously something changed this spring and I'm ready to meet it and defeat it. Not sure how much honey I'll need to ingest to allow the body to develop a fortress, but going to give it a go with the hope that next spring is less eventful.
The sightless eyes don't prevent this spiritual monk from being a skilled warrior.
It's only 6 days left until the rebellion begins. I'm so amped for the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story! Have you already bought tickets?
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Palacio de los Arias en nuestra ciudad. El cual el pasado enero de 2023, el Ayuntamiento de Molina de Aragón tomó la controvertida decisión de llevar a cabo una demolición controlada del edificio histórico que alguna vez fue un orgullo arquitectónico para la comunidad. Esta medida, que pretendía conservar únicamente la fachada, marca un triste hito en la gestión del patrimonio cultural de la localidad. La inclusión en la lista roja de Hispania Nostra, una organización dedicada a la defensa del patrimonio, no hace más que confirmar la crítica situación en la que se encuentra. La decisión de realizar una demolición controlada, aunque se argumente en la necesidad de garantizar la seguridad, plantea preguntas incómodas sobre la efectividad de las medidas de conservación implementadas hasta ahora. ¿Cómo es posible que un edificio llegue a tal punto de deterioro sin intervenciones preventivas significativas por parte de las autoridades competentes?
"McDougall Church at Morley, Alberta, was built in 1875 by Reverend George McDougall. It had long been the desire of George McDougall to open a mission among the Stoney-Nakoda and Blackfoot people of southern Alberta. Numerous factors had, up to that time, prevented a missionary effort, but by the early 1870s, McDougall felt the time was right. The Morley mission would not only serve the Aboriginal people, but also afford an opportunity to establish a more permanent relationship with the Blackfoot Nation.
Established during a period of discontent among the Aboriginal population, the Morley mission was received with mixed feelings. Many welcomed the arrival of the missionaries, Others among the tribe, however, were less receptive and kept their distance. Today, this historical mission church is a popular stop for photographers." - www.mcdougallstoneymission.com/about.php
Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.
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The strawberry guava is also called Cattley guava or cherry guava.
The whole fruit can be eaten as both the thin skin and juicy interior are soft and tasty. It can also be used to make jam and juices.
In many countries it is regarded as an invasive species, which prevents regrowth of native species.
Submitted: 18/10/2024
Accepted: 21/10/2024
Published:
- Funke Digital GmbH (Germany) 06-Oct-2025
- Funke Digital GmbH (Germany) 07-Nov-2025
Full moon and clouds prevented the nice stary and milky way shot... And a few stars can be seen anyway.
This spot is so famous for sunrise that as much as 70 photographers were there at the time the sun went up. And even beeing there two hours before sunrise (plus having a one hour drive) does not make you the first guy on the spot. A pitty.
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If you are interested in a digital copy or a print of this photograph (or other photographs), please drop me an Email: derliebewolf@web.de
Wenn jemand Interesse an einem digitalen Abzug oder einem Ausdruck von diesem Foto (auch von anderen Fotos von mir) hat, schreibt mir einfach eine Email an derliebewolf@web.de
The reflection of the full moon on the water always is so beautiful. This was taken from my window and difficult to capture in one shot. A cargo ship with its lights on can be seen in the distant shoreline of an area called Kitsilano, an area of Vancouver, BC. At this point clouds were starting to go across the moon, preventing a clear image.
90019 'Multimodal' leads 3 class 325 EMUs past Lower Hatton while working 1s96, the 1605 Willesden (London) to Shieldmuir (Glasgow).
During the summer of 2019 mail trains were diverted from the west coast route to avoid engineering work at Acton Grange Junction. Although the diversionary route via Manchester's Castlefield corridor and the Chat Moss line was electrified, paperwork issues prevented the mail units from operating under their own power, requiring them to be dragged by class 90 locomotives.
Mail trains operated on the west coast route from its opening. As has been well documented, dedicated mail trains in the UK ceased in September 2024.
Photograph taken using a camera mounted pole.
Moon prevented good visibility of the Milky Way for most of the night. I decided to sleep under the stars and happen to wake up around 2:30 am, the moon had set making the sky dark enough to clearly see the milky way. This picture was taken from the comfort of my sleeping bag!
«La Prévention Routière»,
66, r, de la Rochefoucauld,
Paris 9ᵉ
Tél. : PIG. 99-09
Peugeot 203 x2
Peugeot 403 Berline x2
Peugeot 403 Berline Taxi x2
Simca Aronde x2
Simca Aronde Grand Large Coupé
Simca Aronde P60 x2
Simca Ariane
Simca Vedette Chambord V8 x2
Simca Vedette Marly Break
Simca Vedette Versailles
Citroën Traction
Citroën 2 CV x4
Citroën 2 CV Camionnette
Citroën ID 19 Taxi
Citroën DS
Renault 4 CV MkI
Renault 4 CV MkII x2
Renault Dauphine x5
Renault Frégate
Ford Vedette V8
Events and horrendous menopausal mood swings have prevented me getting out much recently, but finally broke through and headed sort of mountainward. Llanberis in fact and did something I have never done before, taken the Llanberis Lake Railway. A very pleasant hour spent pootling along the side of Llyn Padarn. The views were pretty gorgeous, but with the sky being flat and grey, the pics aren't as good as I had hoped, but gives me an excuse to do it again!
I have let the Roger of York winter rainbow group slide a bit, but thank you to everyone who has added a colourful pic to the group.
Rain didn't prevent this Big Fellow from Fishing for Salmon along a river in Katmai National Park, Alaska.
The Alaska Peninsula Brown Bear is a member of the grizzly bear family that lives in the coastal regions of southern Alaska.
Alaska Peninsula brown bears are a very large brown bear subspecies, usually ranging in weight from 800 to 1,200 pounds. They are found in high densities along the southern Alaskan coast due to the large amount of clams and sedge grass and the annual salmon run. This allows them to attain huge sizes, some of the biggest in the world.
They gather in large numbers at feeding sites in Katmai National Park.
Alaska Peninsula brown bears are the second largest type of brown bear in the world, only after the giant bears of Kodiak Island. They usually measure 8 feet in length, usually have a shoulder height of about 4-1/2 feet. The average weight for a coastal male is around 900 lbs. For a female, the average weight is approximately 500 lbs.
Although variable from blond to nearly black, grizzly bear fur is typically brown in color with white tips. A pronounced hump appears on their shoulders; the hump is a good way to distinguish a black bear from a grizzly bear, as black bears do not have this hump.
Brown bears on the Alaskan Peninsula usually feed on spawning salmon, and use many different ways to catch them. These include waiting at the bottom of the falls for the fish to jump, or standing at the top of the falls waiting to catch the fish in midair (sometimes in their mouths). Bears also have much experience at chasing fish around and pinning the slippery animals with their claws. After the salmon runs, berries and grass make the mainstay of the bears' diets, after which they put on sufficient fat reserves and go into hibernation.
Smart Hawker Siddeley Andover XS644 of 115 Squadron at RAF Wyton in 1983. The aircraft started life with the RAF as a C.1 transport and was converted to an E.3 for radio and airport navigation aid calibration duties. The fuselage doors and rear ramp are open, showing the versatility of this small transport aircraft for carrying cargo and passengers. The main undercarriage could kneel to help with loading and unloading through the rear ramp. Note also the rear prop to prevent it being a tail-sitter :o)
Copied from a transparency.
An ES44AC and an SD70M bring UP train MTPKC-02 up to Hickory St on Main Track 2 of the UP KC Metro Sub as it meets "Run 12", CPKC train YKK12-02, with a KCS Belle trio including a pair of GP40-3's and an SD70MAC. These guys are holding on Main Track 1 with a transfer from CPKC's Knoche Yard to UP's 18th St. Yard, and they're waiting on a better signal at Kaw Tower.
The transfer is waiting on another westbound ahead of it on 1 to clear up, which itself is waiting on traffic around 18th St. to clear. With a train working 18th St on Main 1, that westbound ahead of the transfer will cross over to 2 at K004 once the MTPKC is through, and this will then allow the transfer to continue its way west behind it. The MTPKC will have to hold here at Hickory St until the transfer gets moving, as the transfer is strung out through Broadway and preventing the MTPKC from crossing over there. So basically, everybody's waiting on everybody. Confused?
Off to the left at State Line Yard is the KCRR SW1500 No. 3408, a former Frisco switcher assigned to Jaguar Transport Holdings, LLC's Kansas City West Bottoms Railroad, which will begin operations this week. 3/2/25.
Madrid - Affiche de la guerre civile - Augusto.
Being Modern - MoMA in Paris -
LACPIXEL - 2017
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preventchildabuse.org/resource/pinwheels-for-prevention/
Virginia Beach each year in April puts out a display of blue pinwheels as part of the Prevent Child Abuse Program. You can click on the link to learn more about it.
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«La Prévention Routière»,
66, r, de la Rochefoucauld,
Paris 9ᵉ
Tél. : PIG. 99-09
Renault Dauphine 8366 GH 75
Citroën 2CV
Simca Aronde
Peugeot 203
I want to share with you the story of a client who was afraid to come to me.
In fact, she was afraid not so much of me as of an uncomfortable environment for herself.
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At such moments, I always clarify: what is missing, what prevents you from relaxing? Believe me, I am the same person who worries before shooting, and I always think about how to establish contact and make the process easy and positive.
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I offered this girl an additional meeting. As a rule, after the dating stage is passed, it becomes much easier to work. We drank coffee, found common topics for conversation, outlined the desired result, and the shyness with fear left.
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Now this girl is my regular customer.
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Do not treat the photo shoot as an exam, imagine that it is a small holiday! And I will always help you!
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Ph: @safronoviv_photo
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#coffee #coffeecup #cup #drinkware #food #ingredient #saucer #singleorigincoffee #tableware #teacup #NikonD4 #safronoviv_photo
The present ruins date from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though built on the site of an early medieval fortification. Founded in the 13th century, Urquhart played a
role in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century. It was subsequently held as a royal castle, and was raided on several occasions by the MacDonald Earls
of Ross. The castle was granted to the Clan Grant in 1509, though conflict with the MacDonalds continued. Despite a series of further raids the castle was
strengthened, only to be largely abandoned by the middle of the 17th century. Urquhart was partially destroyed in 1692 to prevent its use by Jacobite forces, and
subsequently decayed. In the 20th century it was placed in state care and opened to the public: it is now one of the most-visited castles in Scotland.
Colorado just passed a law allowing rain barrels to collect rainwater in people's yards. Water rules are so strict in the American West and Southwest that there are/were laws prohibiting people from collecting rain on their property/leaseholds because this might keep precious water from reaching the holders of water rights in their area. Seriously.
This is a ditch gate to control water flow both in the ditches and to help prevent flooding when all that rain barrel water pours into the streams.
Many environmentalists and futurists are concerned that water may be the cause of increasing global strife.
When you reach for the stars, you are reaching for the farthest thing out there. When you reach deep into yourself, it is the same thing, but in the opposite direction. If you reach in both directions, you will have spanned the universe.
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"No one will prevent you from living according to the reason of your own nature." Marco Aurelio.
This is one of the two cottages that were used in the movie "Gladiator" as home of its main character. Although it says that Maximo lives in Emérita Augusta (now known as Mérida, located in the center of Spain), two Tuscan locations were chosen to film the scenes of its house.
In this photography, the greatest difficulty lies in introducing the camera lens with care through the entrance gate bars of the farm and in choosing a moment when the sun illuminates the scene.
In this case the picture was taken early in the morning. We had chosen to photograph the "Cappella di Vitaleta" at dawn, but although we decided to try it despite the rain and the strong wind, we could not even get out of the car because of bad weather. Luckily, after a couple of hours the weather got better and we got this other pretty image.
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"Nadie te impedirá vivir según la razón de tu propia naturaleza." Marco Aurelio.
Ésta es una de las dos casas de campo que fueron utilizadas en la película "Gladiator" como hogar del personaje principal de la misma. A pesar de que se dice que Máximo vivía cerca de Emérita Augusta (la actual Mérida en el centro de España), se eligieron dos localizaciones de la Toscana para rodar las escenas de su casa.
En cuanto a la fotografía, la mayor dificultad se encuentra en introducir el objetivo de la cámara con cuidado a través de las barras de la cancela de entrada a la finca y en elegir un momento en el que sol ilumine la escena.
En este caso la fotografía está realizada por la mañana temprano. Habíamos optado por fotografiar la "Cappella di Vitaleta" al amanecer, pero aunque decidimos intentarlo a pesar de la lluvia y el fuerte viento, no pudimos ni siquiera salir del coche por las malas condiciones climáticas. Por suerte, un par de horas después mejoró el tiempo y conseguimos esta otra bonita imagen.
Ieri è giunto in paese questo giovane spinone sfuggito a un cacciatore, una volta tanto c’ era il cellulare impresso sul collare ma finché il padrone non è venuto a riprenderlo ho dovuto rinchiuderlo nel fondo per gli attrezzi sennò i gatti lo facevano a fette. Non capisco perché un cane così buono e mite sia addestrato alla caccia.
Oral CBD Prevented COVID-19 Infection in Real-World Patients, Study Suggests.
While not a substitute for vaccines, "CBD has the potential to prevent infections, such as breakthrough infections," the study's lead author said. Cannabidiol—the non-psychoactive cannabis compound better known as CBD—is a potent blocker of SARS-CoV-2 replication in human cells, new research shows. Not only that, but a survey of real-world patients taking prescribed CBD found a “significant” negative relationship between CBD consumption and COVID-19 infection.
As detailed in a paper published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances by a team of 33 researchers at the University of Chicago and University of Louisville, a survey of 1,212 U.S. patients taking prescribed CBD found that people taking 100 milligrams-per-milliliter oral doses of CBD returned positive COVID-19 tests at much lower rates than control groups with similar medical backgrounds who did not take CBD.
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According to the study, all of the patients were people who had seizure-related conditions, which CBD is often prescribed to treat. Of this group, 6.2 percent returned positive COVID-19 tests or a diagnosis, compared to 8.9 percent in the control group. Among a smaller subset of patients who were likely taking CBD on the dates of their first COVID-19 test, the effect was even more pronounced: Only 4.9 percent of people taking CBD became infected with COVID-19, compared to 9 percent in the control group.
"Our results suggest that CBD and its metabolite 7-OH-CBD can block SARS-CoV-2 infection at early and even later stages of infection,” the study states.
Besides looking at real-world data, the scientists conducted lab tests. Lead author Dr. Marsha Rosner, a professor in the Ben May Department for Cancer Research at the University of Chicago, and her team treated human lung cells for two hours with CBD before infecting them with SARS-CoV-2, and left them for 48 hours while monitoring them for the presence of the COVID spike protein. They found that CBD inhibits the replication of genes required for the growth and spread of the virus throughout the body. They performed the same tests on three COVID-19 variants and found the same result.
“As a bottom line, what this says is that CBD has the potential to prevent infections, such as breakthrough infections, which might be one of the most useful applications,” Rosner told Motherboard.
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The researchers strove to identify the mechanism through which CBD inhibited infection; while they found a negligible effect at the point at which viruses enter cells, they found CBD to be “very effective” at preventing protein expression in cells two and six hours after infection, and “partially effective” at doing so 15 hours after infection. They also found that CBD’s metabolite, 7-OH-CBD—the compound created in the body when CBD is processed in the liver and intestines—has similar antiviral effect and was non-toxic to cells.
The study offers strong evidence that CBD can treat and slow the transmission of COVID-19. It comes just one week after an initial revelation out of Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Sciences University that cannabis precursors (the acids that, when combusted, turn into CBD and THC) can halt the infection of cells by SARS-CoV-2 in lab tests.
Tech
A Q&A With the Scientist Who Discovered Cannabis Can Prevent COVID-19
AUDREY CARLETON
12.1.22
The authors of that study were careful to note that cannabis-derived products, while a potentially important public health intervention, are no substitute for vaccination campaigns. However, in the all-out fight to end the pandemic, they could end up becoming a much-needed supplement.
“Despite recent vaccine availability, SARS-CoV-2 is still spreading rapidly, highlighting the need for alternative treatments, especially for populations with limited inclination or access to vaccines,” the University of Chicago researchers write in their study.
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“What we don't want… is people just running out and thinking, ‘I can take CBD, and then I don't have to get vaccinated or I don't have to be masked,’” Rosner said. “This is what we really don't want to see.”
It seems like there’s a flood of scientific news about the promise of cannabis in preventing or treating COVID-19. Last week, a different group of researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, identified CBD as a primer to a process called apoptosis, or natural cell death—in the case of COVID-19, their research suggests that CBD spurs on the death of infected cells, stopping viral spread in its tracks and slowing the transmission to others.
The studies, in tandem, contribute to a growing body of research identifying cannabis as a tool in the global COVID-19 response arsenal. Rosner and her team first laid the ground for this work in March of 2021, when they identified cannabidiol as a potential treatment for COVID-19 for its ability to hamper viral replication in lung cells in a lab. As detailed in a pre-print, the team found that in quantities similar to those that are prescribed as treatment for epilepsy, CBD inhibits the replication of genes that are required for viruses to spread throughout the body.
Rosner and her team caution against conflating their findings with the suggestion to use recreational cannabis as a treatment for COVID-19: THC may inhibit CBD’s antiviral effects, the authors note, and smoking is bad for your lungs. Without clinical trials, they also can’t recommend that people go out and buy CBD at a dispensary.
“We strongly caution against the temptation to take CBD in presently available formulations including edibles, inhalants or topicals as a preventative or treatment therapy at this time,” the authors write. “Especially without the knowledge of a rigorous randomized clinical trial with this natural product.”
Rosner notes that it’s impossible to know what CBD dosage and formula will be most effective at treating COVID-19 infection until her research moves into clinical trials on humans. After all, Rosner said, “we can only do so much in mice; we really need to do this in people.”
“We think it has a potential, both to be a preventative—so for instance, you can imagine that I'm going traveling and CBD is something that, if we can make the right product accessible, it should be widely available, it should be something people could anticipate needing,” she said. “Or you go and get tested and immediately start taking it. The hope is that it would prevent more serious disease, but we don't know yet. And we would need a clinical trial.” Source: www.vice.com/en/article/bvn743/oral-cbd-prevented-covid-1...
Der Große Tiergarten in Berlin ist eine zentral im Ortsteil Tiergarten des Bezirks Mitte gelegene Parkanlage, die sich auf 210 Hektar (2,1 km²) erstreckt. Einige breite Straßen durchschneiden den Park; sie kreuzen sich am Großen Stern, in dessen Mitte die Siegessäule steht. Ein erster Tiergarten wurde schon 1527 an anderer Stelle angelegt, nämlich in der Nähe des Berliner Schlosses, westlich der Berliner Stadtmauer. Das kleine Gebiet wurde seit 1530 nach Westen und Norden hin durch Zukäufe erweitert, bis zu den Grenzen des heutigen Tiergartens und darüber hinaus. Man setzte Wildtiere aus und hinderte sie durch Zäune daran, auf die umliegenden Äcker zu entweichen. Das Gelände diente als Jagdrevier der Kurfürsten von Brandenburg. Als die Stadt Berlin wuchs, wurde das Jagdgebiet nach und nach verkleinert. Friedrich der Große schätzte die Jagd nicht. 1742 gab er den Auftrag, die Zäune niederreißen zu lassen und den Tiergarten zu einem barocken Lustpark für die Bevölkerung umzugestalten. Ab 1818 gestaltete ihn Peter Joseph Lenné zu einem Landschaftspark nach englischem Vorbild um. In der Form, die Lenné ihm gegeben hatte, bestand der Park nahezu unverändert bis zur Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Im Zweiten Weltkrieg wurde der Tiergarten durch Luftangriffe der Alliierten schwer beschädigt. Unmittelbar nach Kriegsende diente die Ost-West-Achse zeitweise als Flugpiste, auf der Siegessäule war ein Kontrollposten stationiert. In der Nachkriegszeit wurden Bäume und Sträucher aufgrund des Kohlemangels verheizt, auf den freien Flächen wurden Kartoffeln und Gemüse angebaut, eine offiziell von den britischen Besatzungstruppen genehmigte vorübergehende Nutzung: es entstanden etwa 2550 Parzellen. Von ehemals rund 200.000 Bäumen standen noch etwa 700. Die Gewässer waren verschlammt, alle Brücken zerstört, die Denkmäler umgestürzt und beschädigt. Am 2. Juli 1945 beschloss der Magistrat von Berlin die Wiederherstellung des Großen Tiergartens.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gro%C3%9Fer_Tiergarten
Großer Tiergarten "Great Animal Garden") in Berlin is a park centrally located in the Tiergarten district of the Mitte borough, covering 210 hectares (2.1 km²). Several wide streets cut through the park; they intersect at the Großer Stern, in the centre of which stands the Victory Column. A first Animal Garden was laid out elsewhere as early as 1527, near the Berlin Palace, to the west of the Berlin city wall. From 1530 onwards, the small area was extended to the west and north by acquisitions, up to and beyond the boundaries of today's Großer Tiergarten. Wild animals were released and prevented by fences from escaping to the surrounding fields. The area served as a hunting ground for the Electors of Brandenburg. As the city of Berlin grew, the hunting ground was gradually reduced. Frederick the Great did not appreciate hunting. In 1742 he ordered the fences to be torn down and the Tiergarten to be transformed into a Baroque pleasure park for the people. From 1818, Peter Joseph Lenné redesigned it into a landscape park based on the English model. In the form that Lenné had given it, the park existed almost unchanged until the middle of the 20th century. During the Second World War, the GroßerTiergarten was severely damaged by Allied air raids. In the post-war period, trees and shrubs were burned in the peoples' homes due to the lack of coal, and potatoes and vegetables were grown on the vacant land, a temporary use officially approved by the British occupation forces: about 2550 plots were created. Only about 700 of the former 200,000 trees were left standing. The waters were silted up, all bridges destroyed, the monuments overturned and damaged. On 2 July 1945, the Berlin City Administration decided to restore the Großer Tiergarten.
The man in the photo belongs to Breslov Hasidic stream. This stream of Judaism stresses the emotional aspects of the worship (rather than the rational, scholastic ones). It attracts many young people that did not find their place, until they joined the stream. They can often be seen singing and dancing (as a mean to prevent pain).
Prevents piss poor performance.
When planning on going out to do wire wool and swirly orb shots, remember to take your lighter and acrylic rod with you as without it you're bunkered. Unless you want to clean the burrs from the end of copper pipe under different coloured mood lighting instead.
Fortunately remembered my orb tool and my torch.
sooc and all that.
Snowy owl ( Bubo scandiacus ) 12-31-2016 The last bird for 2016 seen and photographed . I went to the most reliable location in Ilinois for Snowy owls and found two , peculiarities of the place prevent anyone of taking good pictures at this location but sometimes they can leave early their roosting place and give some opportunities for a quick shot . Hopefully the first day of the new year I can find some other owls.
Almost every autumn there are fires and smoke in Jackson Hole Valley. Whether controlled burns or lightning fires, like this one several years ago, smoke can be a challenge. Also, as with this fire, some of the trails are closed, preventing hiking to some of the more beautiful places. Wonder what this year is like?
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA
© All Rights Reserved
Deutschland / Sachsen-Anhalt - Harz
Teufelsmauer (Devil's Wall) - Trail between Blankenburg and Timmenrode
Teufelsmauer - Kammweg zwischen Blankenburg und Timmenrode
The Teufelsmauer (Devil's Wall) is a rock formation made of hard sandstones of the Upper Cretaceous in the northern part of the Harz Foreland in central Germany. This wall of rock runs from Blankenburg (Harz) via Weddersleben and Rieder to Ballenstedt. The most prominent individual rocks of the Teufelsmauer have their own names. The Teufelsmauer near Weddersleben is also called the Adlersklippen ("Eagle Crags").
Many legends and myths have been woven in order to try to explain the unusual rock formation. It was placed under protection as early as 1833 and, in 1852, by the head of the district authority in order to prevent quarrying of the much sought-after sandstone. The Teufelsmauer near Weddersleben has been protected since 1935 as a nature reserve and is thus one of the oldest nature reserves in Germany.
The band of rock that forms the Teufelsmauer outcrops at three places between Ballenstedt in the southeast and Blankenburg (Harz) in the northwest, over a distance of 20 km. It begins with an outcrop known as the Gegensteine northwest of Ballenstedt and is continued in the shape of the Teufelsmauer which runs from south of Weddersleben to Warnstedt. Here, the formations of the Königstein, the Mittelsteine and the Papensteine rear up from a line of rock about 2 km long running from southeast to northwest. Away to the northwest it continues as a ridge between Timmenrode and Blankenburg (Harz) which includes the Hamburger Wappen, the Heidelberg (331.5 m above NN) and the crags of the Großvater and Großmutter (317 m above NN).
The rock formations of the Teufelsmauer are all accessible by footpath. They are among the attractions of the towns of Thale and Blankenburg. In order to conserve protected plant species, it has become necessary to implement measures for visitor management in the Teufelsmauer nature reserve. The rocks may be reached from hiking trails and vantage points are protected by safety railings. Several of the rocks in the Teufelsmauer at Blankenburg may be climbed.
There are checkpoints in the Harzer Wandernadel hiking system at various points along the Teufelsmauer: at Gasthaus Großvater, the inn below the Großvater rocks, (no. 76), by the Hamburger Wappen (no. 74) and on the south side of the ridge at Teufelsmauer Weddersleben (no. 188).
The formations feature in the film "Frantz" by François Ozon.
(Wikipedia)
Teufelsmauer - Kammweg zwischen Blankenburg und Timmenrode
Die Teufelsmauer im Landkreis Harz in Sachsen-Anhalt ist eine aus harten Sandsteinen der oberen Kreide bestehende Felsformation im nördlichen Harzvorland, die auf etwa 20 km Länge von Ballenstedt über Rieder und Weddersleben bis nach Blankenburg (Harz) verläuft. Zahlreiche herausragende Einzelfelsen tragen Eigennamen. Die Teufelsmauer bei Weddersleben wird auch Adlersklippen genannt.
Viele Sagen und Mythen haben sich gebildet, um die Besonderheit dieses Ortes erklärbar zu machen. Er wurde daher bereits 1833 sowie 1852 durch den Landrat unter Schutz gestellt, um den Abbau des begehrten Bausandsteins zu unterbinden. Die Teufelsmauer bei Weddersleben ist seit 1935 als Naturschutzgebiet Teufelsmauer und Bode nordöstlich Thale ausgewiesen und zählt damit zu den ältesten Naturschutzgebieten Deutschlands.
Der Harznordrand mit der Teufelsmauer wurde 2006 in die Liste der 77 ausgezeichneten Nationalen Geotope aufgenommen.
Die Felsrippe der Teufelsmauer tritt im Naturpark Harz/Sachsen-Anhalt zwischen Ballenstedt im Südosten und Blankenburg (Harz) im Nordwesten auf 20 km Länge an drei Stellen zu Tage. Sie beginnt mit den Gegensteinen nordwestlich von Ballenstedt. Ihre Fortsetzung findet sich in der Teufelsmauer nördlich Neinstedts und südlich Wedderslebens, wo sich auf zwei Kilometer Länge von Südosten nach Nordwesten der Königstein, die Mittelsteine und die Papensteine aneinanderreihen; zwischen Neinstedt und Weddersleben fließt die Bode als weithin größter Fluss der Gegend durch die Felsformation. Nach Nordwesten hin, vorbei an Warnstedt, setzt sich der felsige Höhenzug zwischen Timmenrode und Blankenburg mit dem Hamburger Wappen, der Gewittergrotte, dem Froschfelsen und dem Heidelberg (331,5 m ü. NHN), Großvaterfelsen (317,1 m ü. NHN) und Großmutterfelsen fort.
Die Felsklippen der Teufelsmauer werden von harten Sandsteinen verschiedener Epochen der oberen Kreidezeit gebildet. Den überwiegend tonig-kalkigen Schichten der oberen Kreide sind festere Sandsteine (Involutus- und Heidelberg-Sandstein) sowie Kalksteine eingeschaltet. Durch Silifizierung infolge eindringender Kieselsäure kam es außerdem zu einer extremen Verhärtung der Sandsteine, die aber auf wenige Meter der damals horizontal lagernden Schichten beschränkt ist.
Die Gesteinsschichten wurden wie alle Schichten am Harznordrand durch die bis zur Kreidezeit andauernde Heraushebung des Harzes steil gestellt oder überkippt, so dass die Schichtoberflächen heute nach unten weisen. Eine Schichtlücke zwischen Lias und der unteren Kreide und die bis zum Muschelkalk übergreifende, diskordante Lagerung der oberen Kreide belegen Aktivitäten zu verschiedenen Zeiten, die vor allem an der Harznordrandverwerfung stattfanden.
Durch die anschließende Abtragung der weicheren Gesteinspartien wurden die harten Gesteinsschichten zu markanten Schichtrippen, die mit bis zu 20 m hohen Felsen ihre Umgebung überragen. Einige Teile wurden durch die Wirkung der Flüsse bzw. durch eiszeitliche Gletscher zerstört. Deshalb weist die Teufelsmauer heute verschiedene Lücken auf.
Die einzelnen Segmente der Teufelsmauer sind nicht alle gleich alt. Die Gegensteine bei Ballenstedt sind aus einer verkieselten Sandsteinschicht der Emscherepoche (Involutus-Sandstein) herausgewittert. Die steilstehenden Schichtrippen bei Blankenburg bestehen aus quarzitischen und steilgestellten Heidelberg-Sandsteinen des Santon, ebenso wie die herausragende Schichtrippe der Teufelsmauer bei Weddersleben. Sie erreicht mit dem Mittelstein (185,2 m ü. NHN) und dem Königsstein (184,5 m ü. NHN) ihre größten Höhen und liegt damit etwa 50 m über der Bode.
Aus dem Sand der Sandsteine sind nährstoffarme Rohböden vom Typ der Sand-Syroseme und Regosole entstanden.
Die Felsbänder der Teufelsmauer sind jeweils durch Wanderwege erschlossen. Sie gehören zu den Attraktionen der Städte Thale und Blankenburg. Den Kammweg vom Hamburger Wappen bis zum Großvaterfelsen ließ 1853 der Blankenburger Bürgermeister Carl Löbbecke anlegen, zu dessen Andenken am Löbbecke-Felsen eine gusseiserne Gedenktafel errichtet wurde; dieser Wegabschnitt trägt auch den Beinamen Löbbeckestieg. Der Abschnitt Timmenrode–Blankenburg des Europäischen Fernwanderwegs E11 verläuft entlang der Felsformation.
Zum Schutz geschützter Pflanzenarten sind im Naturschutzgebiet Teufelsmauer Maßnahmen zur Besucherlenkung notwendig geworden. Die Felsbereiche sind von den Wanderwegen aus zu erleben, die vielerorts mit Barrieren gesichert sind.
An einer Stelle der Teufelsmauer zwischen Neinstedt und Weddersleben gibt es mit Nr. 188 (⊙) eine Stempelstelle im System der Harzer Wandernadel; weitere Stempelstellen entlang der Mauer befinden sich bei Timmenrode am Hamburger Wappen (Nr. 74 und bei Blankenburg unterhalb des Großvaterfelsen am Gasthaus Großvater (Nr. 76; ⊙).
An allen Felserhebungen der Teufelsmauer entlang führt zwischen Ballenstedt und Blankenburg der Teufelsmauerstieg, der im August 2009 als 35 km langer Wanderweg eingeweiht wurde.
Mehrere der Felsen der Teufelsmauer bei Blankenburg sind zum Klettern freigegeben.
(Wikipedia)
Der Kammweg, auch Löbbeckestieg genannt, ist ein Weg entlang des Kamms der Teufelsmauer im nördlichen Harzvorland im Landkreis Harz in Sachsen-Anhalt.
Der Weg verläuft vom Großvaterfelsen bei Blankenburg auf der Teufelsmauer über etwa drei Kilometer nach Osten zum Hamburger Wappen bei Timmenrode. Er führt vorbei an markanten Felsformationen wie dem Löbbecke-Felsen, dem Brockenblick und dem Teufelssessel sowie der alten Heidelbergwarte. Andere Klippen sind der Turnerfelsen, die Hohe Sonne, der Fahnenfelsen, der Schweinekopf, der Teufelskessel, die Zwergenhöhle und der Ludwigsfelsen.
Der Kammweg wurde im Jahr 1853 auf Veranlassung des Blankenburger Bürgermeisters Carl Löbbecke angelegt und bietet aufgrund seiner Lage eine Vielzahl von Aussichtspunkten in das Umland. Der schmale Weg ist zum Teil in den Fels gehauen und mit Geländern gesichert. Er ist bedingt durch seinen Verlauf nicht barrierefrei.
(Wikipedia)
To prevent the crocus overexposed by the Sun, I held my hand for the Sun to create some shadow. However I kept my hand too close to the flower so my hand was also pictured. After some cropping a small corner .... with my hand, the imperfection in this picture.
Thanks for taking time to fave, comment and look at my work. I really appreciate.
Seen at the Dock Memorial in Caledonia State Park, Pennsylvania.
www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/CaledoniaStatePark/P...
++++ FROM WIKIPEDIA ++++
U Bein Bridge (Burmese: ဦးပိန် တံတား) is a crossing that spans the Taungthaman Lake near Amarapura in Myanmar. The 1.2-kilometre (0.75 mi) bridge was built around 1850 and is believed to be the oldest and (once) longest teakwood bridge in the world.[1][2][3] Construction began when the capital of Ava Kingdom moved to Amarapura,[4] and the bridge is named after the mayor who had it built.[5] It is used as an important passageway for the local people and has also become a tourist attraction and therefore a significant source of income for souvenir sellers.[1][5][6][7] It is particularly busy during July and August when the lake is at its highest.[8]
The bridge was built from wood reclaimed from the former royal palace in Inwa. It features 1,086 pillars that stretch out of the water, some of which have been replaced with concrete. Though the bridge largely remains intact, there are fears that an increasing number of the pillars are becoming dangerously decayed. Some have become entirely detached from their bases and only remain in place because of the lateral bars holding them together. Damage to these supports have been caused by flooding as well as a fish breeding program introduced into the lake which has caused the water to become stagnant. The Ministry of Culture’s Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library plans to carry out repairs when plans for the work are finalised.[1]
From 1 April 2009, eight police force personnel have been deployed to guard the bridge. Their presence is aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour and preventing criminal activities, with the first arrest coming in September 2013 when two men were reported for harassing tourists.[8]
Contents
1 Construction
2 Design and Structure
3 Gallery
4 References
Construction
The construction was started in 1849 and finished in 1851. Myanmar construction engineers used traditional methods of scaling and measuring to build the bridge. According to historic books about U Bein Bridge, Myanmar engineers made scale by counting the footsteps.
Design and Structure
The bridge was built in curved shape in the middle to resist the assault of wind and water. The main teak posts were hammered into the lake bed seven feet deep. The other ends of the posts were shaped conically to make sure that rain water would fall down easily. The joints of the bridge are intertwined.
Originally, there were 984 teak posts supporting the bridge and two approach brick bridges. Later the two approach brick bridges were replaced by wooden approach bridge. There are four wooden pavilions at the same interval along the bridge. By adding posts of two approach bridges and four pavilions, the number of posts amounts to 1089.
There are nine passageways in the bridge, where the floors can be lifted to let boats and barges pass. There 482 spans and the length of the bridge is 1,209 metres.
Myanmar (Burmese pronunciation: [mjəmà]),[nb 1][8] officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia. Myanmar is bordered by India and Bangladesh to its west, Thailand and Laos to its east and China to its north and northeast. To its south, about one third of Myanmar's total perimeter of 5,876 km (3,651 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km (1,200 mi) along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The country's 2014 census counted the population to be 51 million people.[9] As of 2017, the population is about 54 million.[10] Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometers (261,228 square miles) in size. Its capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city and former capital is Yangon (Rangoon).[1] Myanmar has been a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 1997.
Early civilisations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma and the Mon kingdoms in Lower Burma.[11] In the 9th century, the Bamar people entered the upper Irrawaddy valley and, following the establishment of the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, the Burmese language, culture and Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the country. The Pagan Kingdom fell due to the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a brief period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia.[12] The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur and Assam as well. The British took over the administration of Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the country became a British colony. Myanmar was granted independence in 1948, as a democratic nation. Following a coup d'état in 1962, it became a military dictatorship.
For most of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife and its myriad ethnic groups have been involved in one of the world's longest-running ongoing civil wars. During this time, the United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country.[13] In 2011, the military junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election, and a nominally civilian government was installed. This, along with the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners, has improved the country's human rights record and foreign relations, and has led to the easing of trade and other economic sanctions.[14] There is, however, continuing criticism of the government's treatment of ethnic minorities, its response to the ethnic insurgency, and religious clashes.[15] In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a majority in both houses. However, the Burmese military remains a powerful force in politics.
Myanmar is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013, its GDP (nominal) stood at US$56.7 billion and its GDP (PPP) at US$221.5 billion.[6] The income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military government.[16] As of 2016, Myanmar ranks 145 out of 188 countries in human development, according to the Human Development Index.[7]
Etymology
Main article: Names of Myanmar
In 1989, the military government officially changed the English translations of many names dating back to Burma's colonial period or earlier, including that of the country itself: "Burma" became "Myanmar". The renaming remains a contested issue.[17] Many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use "Burma" because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country.[18]
In April 2016, soon after taking office, Aung San Suu Kyi clarified that foreigners are free to use either name, "because there is nothing in the constitution of our country that says that you must use any term in particular".[19]
The country's official full name is the "Republic of the Union of Myanmar" (ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်, Pyidaunzu Thanmăda Myăma Nainngandaw, pronounced [pjìdàʊɴzṵ θàɴməda̰ mjəmà nàɪɴŋàɴdɔ̀]). Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form "Union of Burma" instead.[20]
In English, the country is popularly known as either "Burma" or "Myanmar" /ˈmjɑːnˌmɑːr/ (About this sound listen).[8] Both these names are derived from the name of the majority Burmese Bamar ethnic group. Myanmar is considered to be the literary form of the name of the group, while Burma is derived from "Bamar", the colloquial form of the group's name.[17] Depending on the register used, the pronunciation would be Bama (pronounced [bəmà]) or Myamah (pronounced [mjəmà]).[17] The name Burma has been in use in English since the 18th century.
Burma continues to be used in English by the governments of many countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom.[21][22] Official United States policy retains Burma as the country's name, although the State Department's website lists the country as "Burma (Myanmar)" and Barack Obama has referred to the country by both names.[23] The Czech Republic officially uses Myanmar, although its Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentions both Myanmar and Burma on its website.[24] The United Nations uses Myanmar, as do the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Australia,[25] Russia, Germany,[26] China, India, Bangladesh, Norway,[27] Japan[21] and Switzerland.[28]
Most English-speaking international news media refer to the country by the name Myanmar, including the BBC,[29] CNN,[30] Al Jazeera,[31] Reuters,[32] RT (Russia Today) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)/Radio Australia.[33]
Myanmar is known with a name deriving from Burma as opposed to Myanmar in Spanish, Italian, Romanian, and Greek – Birmania being the local version of Burma in the Spanish language, for example. Myanmar used to be known as "Birmânia" in Portuguese, and as "Birmanie" in French.[34] As in the past, French-language media today consistently use Birmanie.,[35][36]
History
Main article: History of Myanmar
Prehistory
Main articles: Prehistory of Myanmar and Migration period of ancient Burma
Pyu city-states c. 8th century; Pagan is shown for comparison only and is not contemporary.
Archaeological evidence shows that Homo erectus lived in the region now known as Myanmar as early as 750,000 years ago, with no more erectus finds after 75,000 years ago.[37] The first evidence of Homo sapiens is dated to about 11,000 BC, in a Stone Age culture called the Anyathian with discoveries of stone tools in central Myanmar. Evidence of neolithic age domestication of plants and animals and the use of polished stone tools dating to sometime between 10,000 and 6,000 BC has been discovered in the form of cave paintings in Padah-Lin Caves.[38]
The Bronze Age arrived circa 1500 BC when people in the region were turning copper into bronze, growing rice and domesticating poultry and pigs; they were among the first people in the world to do so.[39] Human remains and artefacts from this era were discovered in Monywa District in the Sagaing Division.[40] The Iron Age began around 500 BC with the emergence of iron-working settlements in an area south of present-day Mandalay.[41] Evidence also shows the presence of rice-growing settlements of large villages and small towns that traded with their surroundings as far as China between 500 BC and 200 AD.[42] Iron Age Burmese cultures also had influences from outside sources such as India and Thailand, as seen in their funerary practices concerning child burials. This indicates some form of communication between groups in Myanmar and other places, possibly through trade.[43]
Early city-states
Main articles: Pyu city-states and Mon kingdoms
Around the second century BC the first-known city-states emerged in central Myanmar. The city-states were founded as part of the southward migration by the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states, the earliest inhabitants of Myanmar of whom records are extant, from present-day Yunnan.[44] The Pyu culture was heavily influenced by trade with India, importing Buddhism as well as other cultural, architectural and political concepts, which would have an enduring influence on later Burmese culture and political organisation.[45]
By the 9th century, several city-states had sprouted across the land: the Pyu in the central dry zone, Mon along the southern coastline and Arakanese along the western littoral. The balance was upset when the Pyu came under repeated attacks from Nanzhao between the 750s and the 830s. In the mid-to-late 9th century the Bamar people founded a small settlement at Bagan. It was one of several competing city-states until the late 10th century when it grew in authority and grandeur.[46]
Imperial Burma
Main articles: Pagan Kingdom, Taungoo Dynasty, and Konbaung Dynasty
See also: Ava Kingdom, Hanthawaddy Kingdom, Kingdom of Mrauk U, and Shan States
Pagodas and kyaungs in present-day Bagan, the capital of the Pagan Kingdom.
Pagan gradually grew to absorb its surrounding states until the 1050s–1060s when Anawrahta founded the Pagan Kingdom, the first ever unification of the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Pagan Empire and the Khmer Empire were two main powers in mainland Southeast Asia.[47] The Burmese language and culture gradually became dominant in the upper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing the Pyu, Mon and Pali norms by the late 12th century.[48]
Theravada Buddhism slowly began to spread to the village level, although Tantric, Mahayana, Hinduism, and folk religion remained heavily entrenched. Pagan's rulers and wealthy built over 10,000 Buddhist temples in the Pagan capital zone alone. Repeated Mongol invasions (1277–1301) toppled the four-century-old kingdom in 1287.[48]
Temples at Mrauk U.
Pagan's collapse was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation that lasted well into the 16th century. Like the Burmans four centuries earlier, Shan migrants who arrived with the Mongol invasions stayed behind. Several competing Shan States came to dominate the entire northwestern to eastern arc surrounding the Irrawaddy valley. The valley too was beset with petty states until the late 14th century when two sizeable powers, Ava Kingdom and Hanthawaddy Kingdom, emerged. In the west, a politically fragmented Arakan was under competing influences of its stronger neighbours until the Kingdom of Mrauk U unified the Arakan coastline for the first time in 1437.
Early on, Ava fought wars of unification (1385–1424) but could never quite reassemble the lost empire. Having held off Ava, Hanthawaddy entered its golden age, and Arakan went on to become a power in its own right for the next 350 years. In contrast, constant warfare left Ava greatly weakened, and it slowly disintegrated from 1481 onward. In 1527, the Confederation of Shan States conquered Ava itself, and ruled Upper Myanmar until 1555.
Like the Pagan Empire, Ava, Hanthawaddy and the Shan states were all multi-ethnic polities. Despite the wars, cultural synchronisation continued. This period is considered a golden age for Burmese culture. Burmese literature "grew more confident, popular, and stylistically diverse", and the second generation of Burmese law codes as well as the earliest pan-Burma chronicles emerged.[49] Hanthawaddy monarchs introduced religious reforms that later spread to the rest of the country.[50] Many splendid temples of Mrauk U were built during this period.
Taungoo and colonialism
Bayinnaung's Empire in 1580.
Political unification returned in the mid-16th century, due to the efforts of Taungoo, a former vassal state of Ava. Taungoo's young, ambitious king Tabinshwehti defeated the more powerful Hanthawaddy in the Toungoo–Hanthawaddy War (1534–41). His successor Bayinnaung went on to conquer a vast swath of mainland Southeast Asia including the Shan states, Lan Na, Manipur, Mong Mao, the Ayutthaya Kingdom, Lan Xang and southern Arakan. However, the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia unravelled soon after Bayinnaung's death in 1581, completely collapsing by 1599. Ayutthaya seized Tenasserim and Lan Na, and Portuguese mercenaries established Portuguese rule at Thanlyin (Syriam).
The dynasty regrouped and defeated the Portuguese in 1613 and Siam in 1614. It restored a smaller, more manageable kingdom, encompassing Lower Myanmar, Upper Myanmar, Shan states, Lan Na and upper Tenasserim. The Restored Toungoo kings created a legal and political framework whose basic features would continue well into the 19th century. The crown completely replaced the hereditary chieftainships with appointed governorships in the entire Irrawaddy valley, and greatly reduced the hereditary rights of Shan chiefs. Its trade and secular administrative reforms built a prosperous economy for more than 80 years. From the 1720s onward, the kingdom was beset with repeated Meithei raids into Upper Myanmar and a nagging rebellion in Lan Na. In 1740, the Mon of Lower Myanmar founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom. Hanthawaddy forces sacked Ava in 1752, ending the 266-year-old Toungoo Dynasty.
A British 1825 lithograph of Shwedagon Pagoda shows British occupation during the First Anglo-Burmese War.
After the fall of Ava, the Konbaung–Hanthawaddy War involved one resistance group under Alaungpaya defeating the Restored Hanthawaddy, and by 1759, he had reunited all of Myanmar and Manipur, and driven out the French and the British, who had provided arms to Hanthawaddy. By 1770, Alaungpaya's heirs had subdued much of Laos (1765) and fought and won the Burmese–Siamese War (1765–67) against Ayutthaya and the Sino-Burmese War (1765–69) against Qing China (1765–1769).[51]
With Burma preoccupied by the Chinese threat, Ayutthaya recovered its territories by 1770, and went on to capture Lan Na by 1776. Burma and Siam went to war until 1855, but all resulted in a stalemate, exchanging Tenasserim (to Burma) and Lan Na (to Ayutthaya). Faced with a powerful China and a resurgent Ayutthaya in the east, King Bodawpaya turned west, acquiring Arakan (1785), Manipur (1814) and Assam (1817). It was the second-largest empire in Burmese history but also one with a long ill-defined border with British India.[52]
The breadth of this empire was short lived. Burma lost Arakan, Manipur, Assam and Tenasserim to the British in the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826). In 1852, the British easily seized Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War. King Mindon Min tried to modernise the kingdom, and in 1875 narrowly avoided annexation by ceding the Karenni States. The British, alarmed by the consolidation of French Indochina, annexed the remainder of the country in the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885.
Konbaung kings extended Restored Toungoo's administrative reforms, and achieved unprecedented levels of internal control and external expansion. For the first time in history, the Burmese language and culture came to predominate the entire Irrawaddy valley. The evolution and growth of Burmese literature and theatre continued, aided by an extremely high adult male literacy rate for the era (half of all males and 5% of females).[53] Nonetheless, the extent and pace of reforms were uneven and ultimately proved insufficient to stem the advance of British colonialism.
British Burma (1824–1948)
Main articles: British rule in Burma and Burma Campaign
Burma in British India
The landing of British forces in Mandalay after the last of the Anglo-Burmese Wars, which resulted in the abdication of the last Burmese monarch, King Thibaw Min.
British troops firing a mortar on the Mawchi road, July 1944.
The eighteenth century saw Burmese rulers, whose country had not previously been of particular interest to European traders, seek to maintain their traditional influence in the western areas of Assam, Manipur and Arakan. Pressing them, however, was the British East India Company, which was expanding its interests eastwards over the same territory. Over the next sixty years, diplomacy, raids, treaties and compromises continued until, after three Anglo-Burmese Wars (1824–1885), Britain proclaimed control over most of Burma.[54] British rule brought social, economic, cultural and administrative changes.
With the fall of Mandalay, all of Burma came under British rule, being annexed on 1 January 1886. Throughout the colonial era, many Indians arrived as soldiers, civil servants, construction workers and traders and, along with the Anglo-Burmese community, dominated commercial and civil life in Burma. Rangoon became the capital of British Burma and an important port between Calcutta and Singapore.
Burmese resentment was strong and was vented in violent riots that paralysed Yangon (Rangoon) on occasion all the way until the 1930s.[55] Some of the discontent was caused by a disrespect for Burmese culture and traditions such as the British refusal to remove shoes when they entered pagodas. Buddhist monks became the vanguards of the independence movement. U Wisara, an activist monk, died in prison after a 166-day hunger strike to protest against a rule that forbade him to wear his Buddhist robes while imprisoned.[56]
Separation of British Burma from British India
On 1 April 1937, Burma became a separately administered colony of Great Britain and Ba Maw the first Prime Minister and Premier of Burma. Ba Maw was an outspoken advocate for Burmese self-rule and he opposed the participation of Great Britain, and by extension Burma, in World War II. He resigned from the Legislative Assembly and was arrested for sedition. In 1940, before Japan formally entered the Second World War, Aung San formed the Burma Independence Army in Japan.
A major battleground, Burma was devastated during World War II. By March 1942, within months after they entered the war, Japanese troops had advanced on Rangoon and the British administration had collapsed. A Burmese Executive Administration headed by Ba Maw was established by the Japanese in August 1942. Wingate's British Chindits were formed into long-range penetration groups trained to operate deep behind Japanese lines.[57] A similar American unit, Merrill's Marauders, followed the Chindits into the Burmese jungle in 1943.[58] Beginning in late 1944, allied troops launched a series of offensives that led to the end of Japanese rule in July 1945. The battles were intense with much of Burma laid waste by the fighting. Overall, the Japanese lost some 150,000 men in Burma. Only 1,700 prisoners were taken.[59]
Although many Burmese fought initially for the Japanese as part of the Burma Independence Army, many Burmese, mostly from the ethnic minorities, served in the British Burma Army.[60] The Burma National Army and the Arakan National Army fought with the Japanese from 1942 to 1944 but switched allegiance to the Allied side in 1945. Under Japanese occupation, 170,000 to 250,000 civilians died.[61]
Following World War II, Aung San negotiated the Panglong Agreement with ethnic leaders that guaranteed the independence of Myanmar as a unified state. Aung Zan Wai, Pe Khin, Bo Hmu Aung, Sir Maung Gyi, Dr. Sein Mya Maung, Myoma U Than Kywe were among the negotiators of the historical Panglong Conference negotiated with Bamar leader General Aung San and other ethnic leaders in 1947. In 1947, Aung San became Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of Myanmar, a transitional government. But in July 1947, political rivals[62] assassinated Aung San and several cabinet members.[63]
Independence (1948–1962)
Main article: Post-independence Burma, 1948–62
British governor Hubert Elvin Rance and Sao Shwe Thaik at the flag raising ceremony on 4 January 1948 (Independence Day of Burma).
On 4 January 1948, the nation became an independent republic, named the Union of Burma, with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President and U Nu as its first Prime Minister. Unlike most other former British colonies and overseas territories, Burma did not become a member of the Commonwealth. A bicameral parliament was formed, consisting of a Chamber of Deputies and a Chamber of Nationalities,[64] and multi-party elections were held in 1951–1952, 1956 and 1960.
The geographical area Burma encompasses today can be traced to the Panglong Agreement, which combined Burma Proper, which consisted of Lower Burma and Upper Burma, and the Frontier Areas, which had been administered separately by the British.[65]
In 1961, U Thant, then the Union of Burma's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former Secretary to the Prime Minister, was elected Secretary-General of the United Nations, a position he held for ten years.[66] Among the Burmese to work at the UN when he was Secretary-General was a young Aung San Suu Kyi (daughter of Aung San), who went on to become winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.
When the non-Burman ethnic groups pushed for autonomy or federalism, alongside having a weak civilian government at the centre, the military leadership staged a coup d’état in 1962. Though incorporated in the 1947 Constitution, successive military governments construed the use of the term ‘federalism’ as being anti-national, anti-unity and pro-disintegration.[67]
Military rule (1962–2011)
On 2 March 1962, the military led by General Ne Win took control of Burma through a coup d'état, and the government has been under direct or indirect control by the military since then. Between 1962 and 1974, Myanmar was ruled by a revolutionary council headed by the general. Almost all aspects of society (business, media, production) were nationalised or brought under government control under the Burmese Way to Socialism,[68] which combined Soviet-style nationalisation and central planning.
A new constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma was adopted in 1974. Until 1988, the country was ruled as a one-party system, with the General and other military officers resigning and ruling through the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP).[69] During this period, Myanmar became one of the world's most impoverished countries.[70]
Protesters gathering in central Rangoon, 1988.
There were sporadic protests against military rule during the Ne Win years and these were almost always violently suppressed. On 7 July 1962, the government broke up demonstrations at Rangoon University, killing 15 students.[68] In 1974, the military violently suppressed anti-government protests at the funeral of U Thant. Student protests in 1975, 1976, and 1977 were quickly suppressed by overwhelming force.[69]
In 1988, unrest over economic mismanagement and political oppression by the government led to widespread pro-democracy demonstrations throughout the country known as the 8888 Uprising. Security forces killed thousands of demonstrators, and General Saw Maung staged a coup d'état and formed the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In 1989, SLORC declared martial law after widespread protests. The military government finalised plans for People's Assembly elections on 31 May 1989.[71] SLORC changed the country's official English name from the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma" to the "Union of Myanmar" in 1989.
In May 1990, the government held free elections for the first time in almost 30 years and the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, won 392 out of a total 492 seats (i.e., 80% of the seats). However, the military junta refused to cede power[72] and continued to rule the nation as SLORC until 1997, and then as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) until its dissolution in March 2011.
Protesters in Yangon during the 2007 Saffron Revolution with a banner that reads non-violence: national movement in Burmese. In the background is Shwedagon Pagoda.
On 23 June 1997, Myanmar was admitted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). On 27 March 2006, the military junta, which had moved the national capital from Yangon to a site near Pyinmana in November 2005, officially named the new capital Naypyidaw, meaning "city of the kings".[73]
Cyclone Nargis in southern Myanmar, May 2008.
In August 2007, an increase in the price of diesel and petrol led to the Saffron Revolution led by Buddhist monks that were dealt with harshly by the government.[74] The government cracked down on them on 26 September 2007. The crackdown was harsh, with reports of barricades at the Shwedagon Pagoda and monks killed. There were also rumours of disagreement within the Burmese armed forces, but none was confirmed. The military crackdown against unarmed protesters was widely condemned as part of the international reactions to the Saffron Revolution and led to an increase in economic sanctions against the Burmese Government.
In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis caused extensive damage in the densely populated, rice-farming delta of the Irrawaddy Division.[75] It was the worst natural disaster in Burmese history with reports of an estimated 200,000 people dead or missing, damage totalled to 10 billion US dollars, and as many as 1 million left homeless.[76] In the critical days following this disaster, Myanmar's isolationist government was accused of hindering United Nations recovery efforts.[77] Humanitarian aid was requested but concerns about foreign military or intelligence presence in the country delayed the entry of United States military planes delivering medicine, food, and other supplies.[78]
In early August 2009, a conflict known as the Kokang incident broke out in Shan State in northern Myanmar. For several weeks, junta troops fought against ethnic minorities including the Han Chinese,[79] Wa, and Kachin.[80][81] During 8–12 August, the first days of the conflict, as many as 10,000 Burmese civilians fled to Yunnan province in neighbouring China.[80][81][82]
Civil wars
Main articles: Internal conflict in Myanmar, Kachin Conflict, Karen conflict, and 2015 Kokang offensive
Civil wars have been a constant feature of Myanmar's socio-political landscape since the attainment of independence in 1948. These wars are predominantly struggles for ethnic and sub-national autonomy, with the areas surrounding the ethnically Bamar central districts of the country serving as the primary geographical setting of conflict. Foreign journalists and visitors require a special travel permit to visit the areas in which Myanmar's civil wars continue.[83]
In October 2012, the ongoing conflicts in Myanmar included the Kachin conflict,[84] between the Pro-Christian Kachin Independence Army and the government;[85] a civil war between the Rohingya Muslims, and the government and non-government groups in Rakhine State;[86] and a conflict between the Shan,[87] Lahu, and Karen[88][89] minority groups, and the government in the eastern half of the country. In addition, al-Qaeda signalled an intention to become involved in Myanmar. In a video released on 3 September 2014, mainly addressed to India, the militant group's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said al-Qaeda had not forgotten the Muslims of Myanmar and that the group was doing "what they can to rescue you".[90] In response, the military raised its level of alertness, while the Burmese Muslim Association issued a statement saying Muslims would not tolerate any threat to their motherland.[91]
Armed conflict between ethnic Chinese rebels and the Myanmar Armed Forces have resulted in the Kokang offensive in February 2015. The conflict had forced 40,000 to 50,000 civilians to flee their homes and seek shelter on the Chinese side of the border.[92] During the incident, the government of China was accused of giving military assistance to the ethnic Chinese rebels. Burmese officials have been historically "manipulated" and pressured by the Chinese government throughout Burmese modern history to create closer and binding ties with China, creating a Chinese satellite state in Southeast Asia.[93] However, uncertainties exist as clashes between Burmese troops and local insurgent groups continue.
Democratic reforms
Main article: 2011–12 Burmese political reforms
The goal of the Burmese constitutional referendum of 2008, held on 10 May 2008, is the creation of a "discipline-flourishing democracy". As part of the referendum process, the name of the country was changed from the "Union of Myanmar" to the "Republic of the Union of Myanmar", and general elections were held under the new constitution in 2010. Observer accounts of the 2010 election describe the event as mostly peaceful; however, allegations of polling station irregularities were raised, and the United Nations (UN) and a number of Western countries condemned the elections as fraudulent.[94]
U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Aung San Suu Kyi and her staff at her home in Yangon, 2012
The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party declared victory in the 2010 elections, stating that it had been favoured by 80 percent of the votes; however, the claim was disputed by numerous pro-democracy opposition groups who asserted that the military regime had engaged in rampant fraud.[95][96] One report documented 77 percent as the official turnout rate of the election.[95] The military junta was dissolved on 30 March 2011.
Opinions differ whether the transition to liberal democracy is underway. According to some reports, the military's presence continues as the label "disciplined democracy" suggests. This label asserts that the Burmese military is allowing certain civil liberties while clandestinely institutionalising itself further into Burmese politics. Such an assertion assumes that reforms only occurred when the military was able to safeguard its own interests through the transition—here, "transition" does not refer to a transition to a liberal democracy, but transition to a quasi-military rule.[97]
Since the 2010 election, the government has embarked on a series of reforms to direct the country towards liberal democracy, a mixed economy, and reconciliation, although doubts persist about the motives that underpin such reforms. The series of reforms includes the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission, the granting of general amnesties for more than 200 political prisoners, new labour laws that permit labour unions and strikes, a relaxation of press censorship, and the regulation of currency practices.[98]
The impact of the post-election reforms has been observed in numerous areas, including ASEAN's approval of Myanmar's bid for the position of ASEAN chair in 2014;[99] the visit by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December 2011 for the encouragement of further progress, which was the first visit by a Secretary of State in more than fifty years,[100] during which Clinton met with the Burmese president and former military commander Thein Sein, as well as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi;[101] and the participation of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party in the 2012 by-elections, facilitated by the government's abolition of the laws that previously barred the NLD.[102] As of July 2013, about 100[103][104] political prisoners remain imprisoned, while conflict between the Burmese Army and local insurgent groups continues.
Map of Myanmar and its divisions, including Shan State, Kachin State, Rakhine State and Karen State.
In 1 April 2012 by-elections, the NLD won 43 of the 45 available seats; previously an illegal organisation, the NLD had not won a single seat under new constitution. The 2012 by-elections were also the first time that international representatives were allowed to monitor the voting process in Myanmar.[105]
2015 general elections
Main article: Myanmar general election, 2015
General elections were held on 8 November 2015. These were the first openly contested elections held in Myanmar since 1990. The results gave the National League for Democracy an absolute majority of seats in both chambers of the national parliament, enough to ensure that its candidate would become president, while NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from the presidency.[106]
The new parliament convened on 1 February 2016[107] and, on 15 March 2016, Htin Kyaw was elected as the first non-military president since the military coup of 1962.[108] On 6 April 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi assumed the newly created role of State Counsellor, a role akin to a Prime Minister.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Myanmar
A map of Myanmar
Myanmar map of Köppen climate classification.
Myanmar has a total area of 678,500 square kilometres (262,000 sq mi). It lies between latitudes 9° and 29°N, and longitudes 92° and 102°E. As of February 2011, Myanmar consisted of 14 states and regions, 67 districts, 330 townships, 64 sub-townships, 377 towns, 2,914 Wards, 14,220 village tracts and 68,290 villages.
Myanmar is bordered in the northwest by the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh and the Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh states of India. Its north and northeast border is with the Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan province for a Sino-Myanmar border total of 2,185 km (1,358 mi). It is bounded by Laos and Thailand to the southeast. Myanmar has 1,930 km (1,200 mi) of contiguous coastline along the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea to the southwest and the south, which forms one quarter of its total perimeter.[20]
In the north, the Hengduan Mountains form the border with China. Hkakabo Razi, located in Kachin State, at an elevation of 5,881 metres (19,295 ft), is the highest point in Myanmar.[109] Many mountain ranges, such as the Rakhine Yoma, the Bago Yoma, the Shan Hills and the Tenasserim Hills exist within Myanmar, all of which run north-to-south from the Himalayas.[110]
The mountain chains divide Myanmar's three river systems, which are the Irrawaddy, Salween (Thanlwin), and the Sittaung rivers.[111] The Irrawaddy River, Myanmar's longest river, nearly 2,170 kilometres (1,348 mi) long, flows into the Gulf of Martaban. Fertile plains exist in the valleys between the mountain chains.[110] The majority of Myanmar's population lives in the Irrawaddy valley, which is situated between the Rakhine Yoma and the Shan Plateau.
Administrative divisions
Main article: Administrative divisions of Myanmar
A clickable map of Burma/Myanmar exhibiting its first-level administrative divisions.
About this image
Myanmar is divided into seven states (ပြည်နယ်) and seven regions (တိုင်းဒေသကြီး), formerly called divisions.[112] Regions are predominantly Bamar (that is, mainly inhabited by the dominant ethnic group). States, in essence, are regions that are home to particular ethnic minorities. The administrative divisions are further subdivided into districts, which are further subdivided into townships, wards, and villages.
Climate
Main article: Climate of Myanmar
The limestone landscape of Mon State.
Much of the country lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator. It lies in the monsoon region of Asia, with its coastal regions receiving over 5,000 mm (196.9 in) of rain annually. Annual rainfall in the delta region is approximately 2,500 mm (98.4 in), while average annual rainfall in the Dry Zone in central Myanmar is less than 1,000 mm (39.4 in). The Northern regions of Myanmar are the coolest, with average temperatures of 21 °C (70 °F). Coastal and delta regions have an average maximum temperature of 32 °C (89.6 °F).[111]
Environment
Further information: Deforestation in Myanmar
Myanmar continues to perform badly in the global Environmental Performance Index (EPI) with an overall ranking of 153 out of 180 countries in 2016; among the worst in the South Asian region, only ahead of Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The EPI was established in 2001 by the World Economic Forum as a global gauge to measure how well individual countries perform in implementing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The environmental areas where Myanmar performs worst (ie. highest ranking) are air quality (174), health impacts of environmental issues (143) and biodiversity and habitat (142). Myanmar performs best (ie. lowest ranking) in environmental impacts of fisheries (21), but with declining fish stocks. Despite several issues, Myanmar also ranks 64 and scores very good (ie. a high percentage of 93.73%) in environmental effects of the agricultural industry because of an excellent management of the nitrogen cycle.[114][115]
Wildlife
Myanmar's slow economic growth has contributed to the preservation of much of its environment and ecosystems. Forests, including dense tropical growth and valuable teak in lower Myanmar, cover over 49% of the country, including areas of acacia, bamboo, ironwood and Magnolia champaca. Coconut and betel palm and rubber have been introduced. In the highlands of the north, oak, pine and various rhododendrons cover much of the land.[116]
Heavy logging since the new 1995 forestry law went into effect has seriously reduced forest acreage and wildlife habitat.[117] The lands along the coast support all varieties of tropical fruits and once had large areas of mangroves although much of the protective mangroves have disappeared. In much of central Myanmar (the Dry Zone), vegetation is sparse and stunted.
Typical jungle animals, particularly tigers, occur sparsely in Myanmar. In upper Myanmar, there are rhinoceros, wild water buffalo, clouded leopard, wild boars, deer, antelope, and elephants, which are also tamed or bred in captivity for use as work animals, particularly in the lumber industry. Smaller mammals are also numerous, ranging from gibbons and monkeys to flying foxes. The abundance of birds is notable with over 800 species, including parrots, myna, peafowl, red junglefowl, weaverbirds, crows, herons, and barn owl. Among reptile species there are crocodiles, geckos, cobras, Burmese pythons, and turtles. Hundreds of species of freshwater fish are wide-ranging, plentiful and are very important food sources.[118] For a list of protected areas, see List of protected areas of Myanmar.
Government and politics
Main article: Politics of Myanmar
Assembly of the Union (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw)
The constitution of Myanmar, its third since independence, was drafted by its military rulers and published in September 2008. The country is governed as a parliamentary system with a bicameral legislature (with an executive President accountable to the legislature), with 25% of the legislators appointed by the military and the rest elected in general elections.
Ispirato da un affresco di Paolo Uccello nella Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore a Firenze, rappresenta il condottiero inglese Giovanni Acuto, qui con armatura tedesca.
Canon Eos R8 + Canon EF-S 18/135mm IS
I diritti delle mie immagini sono riservati.
E' vietato qualsiasi uso, senza il mio preventivo consenso:
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