1.
Seville
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Seville is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the river Guadalquivir, the inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos or hispalenses, after the Roman name of the city, Hispalis. Its Old Town, with an area of 4 square kilometres, the Seville harbour, located about 80 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. Seville is also the hottest major metropolitan area in the geographical Western Europe, Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis. It later became known as Ishbiliya after the Muslim conquest in 712, in 1519, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Spal is the oldest known name for Seville and it appears to have originated during the Phoenician colonisation of the Tartessian culture in south-western Iberia and, according to Manuel Pellicer Catalán, meant lowland in the Phoenician language. During Roman rule, the name was Latinised as Hispalis, nO8DO is the official motto of Seville. It is popularly believed to be a rebus signifying the Spanish No me ha dejado, meaning It has not abandoned me, the eight in the middle represents a madeja, or skein of wool. The emblem is present on the flag and features on city property such as manhole covers. Seville is approximately 2,200 years old, the passage of the various civilisations instrumental in its growth has left the city with a distinct personality, and a large and well-preserved historical centre. The city was known from Roman times as Hispalis, important archaeological remains also exist in the nearby towns of Santiponce and Carmona. The walls surrounding the city were built during the rule of Julius Caesar. Following Roman rule, there were successive conquests of the Roman province of Hispania Baetica by the Vandals, the Suebi, Seville was taken by the Moors, Muslims from North of Africa, during the conquest of Hispalis in 712. It was the capital for the kings of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Moorish urban influences continued and are present in contemporary Seville, for instance in the custom of decorating with herbaje and small fountains the courtyards of the houses. However, most buildings of the Moorish aesthetic actually belong to the Mudéjar style of Islamic art, developed under Christian rule and inspired by the Arabic style. Original Moorish buildings are the Patio del Yeso in the Alcázar, the city walls, in 1247, the Christian King Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon began the conquest of Andalusia. The decisive action took place in May 1248 when Ramon Bonifaz sailed up the Guadalquivir, the city surrendered on 23 November 1248. The citys development continued after the Castilian conquest in 1248, Public buildings constructed including churches, many of which were built in the Mudéjar style, and the Seville Cathedral, built during the 15th century with Gothic architecture
2.
Philip III of Spain
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Philip III of Spain was King of Spain and Portugal. A member of the House of Habsburg, Philip III was born in Madrid to King Philip II of Spain and his wife and niece Anna. Philip III later married his cousin Margaret of Austria, sister of Ferdinand II, V. Wedgwood, R. Stradling and J. H. Elliott. In particular, Philips reliance on his chief minister, the Duke of Lerma, drew much criticism at the time. For many, the decline of Spain can be dated to the difficulties that set in during the early years of his reign. After Philip IIIs older brother Don Carlos died insane, Philip II had concluded that one of the causes of Carlos condition had been the influence of the factions at the Spanish court. Philip II appointed Juan de Zúñiga, then Prince Diegos governor, to continue this role for Philip and they were joined by Cristóbal de Moura, a close supporter of Philip II. In combination, Philip believed, they would provide a consistent, stable upbringing for Prince Philip, nonetheless, Philip does not appear to have been naive – his correspondence to his daughters shows a distinctive, cautious streak in his advice on dealing with court intrigue. Philip first met the Marquis of Denia – the future Duke of Lerma – then, Lerma and Philip became close friends, but Lerma was considered unsuitable by the King and Philips tutors. Lerma was dispatched to Valencia as a Viceroy in 1595, with the aim of removing Philip from his influence, the prince received a new, conservative Dominican confessor. The following year, Philip II died after an illness, leaving the empire to his son. Philip married his cousin, Margaret of Austria, in 1599, Margaret, the sister of the future Emperor Ferdinand II, would be one of three women at Philips court who would apply considerable influence over the king. Margaret continued to fight a battle with Lerma for influence up until her death in 1611. Philip had an affectionate, close relationship with Margaret, and paid her additional attention after she bore him a son in 1605 and they were successful, for example, in convincing Philip to provide financial support to Ferdinand from 1600 onwards. Philip steadily acquired other religious advisors, similarly Mariana de San Jose, a favoured nun of Queen Margarets, was also criticised for her later influence over the Kings actions. The Spanish crown at the time ruled through a system of royal councils and these councils were then supplemented by small committees, or juntas, as necessary, such as the junta of the night through which Philip II exercised personal authority towards the end of his reign. As a matter of policy, Philip had tried to avoid appointing grandees to major positions of power within his government and relied heavily on the lesser nobles, the so-called service nobility. To his contemporaries, the degree of personal oversight he exercised was excessive, Philip first started to become engaged in practical government at the age of 15, when he joined Philip IIs private committee
3.
Veracruz
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It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is Xalapa-Enríquez. This state is located in Eastern Mexico and it is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north, San Luis Potosí and Hidalgo to the west, Puebla to the southwest, Oaxaca and Chiapas to the south, and Tabasco to the southeast. On its east, Veracruz has a significant share of the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico, the state is noted for its mixed ethnic and indigenous populations. Its cuisine reflects the cultural influences that have come through the state because of the importance of the port of Veracruz. In addition to the city, the states largest cities include Veracruz, Coatzacoalcos, Córdoba, Minatitlán, Poza Rica, Boca Del Río. The full name of the state is Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Veracruz was named after the city of Veracruz, which was originally called the Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. The suffix is in honor of Ignacio de la Llave y Segura Zevallos, the state’s seal was authorized by the state legislature in 1954, adapting the one used for the port of Veracruz and created by the Spanish in the early 16th century. The state is a strip of land wedged between the Sierra Madre Oriental to the west and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. Its total area is 78,815 km2, accounting for about 3. 7% of Mexico’s total territory and it stretches about 650 km north to south, but its width varies from between 212 km to 36 km, with an average of about 100 km in width. Veracruz shares common borders with the states of Tamaulipas, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Tabasco, and Puebla, Hidalgo, Veracruz has 690 km of coastline with the Gulf of Mexico. The topography changes drastically, rising from the coastal plains to the highlands of the eastern Sierra Madre. Elevation varies from sea level to the Pico de Orizaba, Mexico’s highest peak at 5,636 m above sea level, the coast consists of low sandy strips interspersed with tidewater streams and lagoons. Most of the coastline is narrow and sandy with unstable dunes, small shifting lagoons. The mountains are of the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, major peaks include Pico de Orizaba, Cofre de Perote, Cerro de Tecomates, Cerro del Vigía Alta and Cerro de 3 Tortas. The Pico de Orizaba is covered in snow year round, the Cofre de Perote is covered in winter, major valleys include the Acultzingo, Córdoba, Maltrata, Orizaba and San Andrés. All of the rivers and streams cross the state begin in the Sierra Madre Oriental or in the Central Mesa. The largest in terms of discharge are the Pánuco, Tuxpan, Papaloapan, Coazocoalcos. The Panuco, Tuxpan, Papaloapan and Coatzacoalcos are navigable, two of Mexicos most polluted rivers, the Coatzacoalcos and the Río Blanco are located in the state
4.
Mexico City
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Mexico City, or City of Mexico, is the capital and most populous city of Mexico. As an alpha global city, Mexico City is one of the most important financial centers in the Americas and it is located in the Valley of Mexico, a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 metres. The city consists of sixteen municipalities, the 2009 estimated population for the city proper was approximately 8.84 million people, with a land area of 1,485 square kilometres. The Greater Mexico City has a domestic product of US$411 billion in 2011. The city was responsible for generating 15. 8% of Mexicos Gross Domestic Product, as a stand-alone country, in 2013, Mexico City would be the fifth-largest economy in Latin America—five times as large as Costa Ricas and about the same size as Perus. Mexico’s capital is both the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of two founded by Amerindians, the other being Quito. In 1524, the municipality of Mexico City was established, known as México Tenochtitlán, Mexico City served as the political, administrative and financial center of a major part of the Spanish colonial empire. After independence from Spain was achieved, the district was created in 1824. Ever since, the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution has controlled both of them, in recent years, the local government has passed a wave of liberal policies, such as abortion on request, a limited form of euthanasia, no-fault divorce, and same-sex marriage. On January 29,2016, it ceased to be called the Federal District and is now in transition to become the countrys 32nd federal entity, giving it a level of autonomy comparable to that of a state. Because of a clause in the Mexican Constitution, however, as the seat of the powers of the federation, it can never become a state, the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan was founded by the Mexica people in 1325. According to legend, the Mexicas principal god, Huitzilopochtli indicated the site where they were to build their home by presenting an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak. Between 1325 and 1521, Tenochtitlan grew in size and strength, eventually dominating the other city-states around Lake Texcoco, when the Spaniards arrived, the Aztec Empire had reached much of Mesoamerica, touching both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. After landing in Veracruz, Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés advanced upon Tenochtitlan with the aid of many of the native peoples. Cortés put Moctezuma under house arrest, hoping to rule through him, the Aztecs thought the Spaniards were permanently gone, and they elected a new king, Cuitláhuac, but he soon died, the next king was Cuauhtémoc. Cortés began a siege of Tenochtitlan in May 1521, for three months, the city suffered from the lack of food and water as well as the spread of smallpox brought by the Europeans. Cortés and his allies landed their forces in the south of the island, the Spaniards practically razed Tenochtitlan during the final siege of the conquest. Cortés first settled in Coyoacán, but decided to rebuild the Aztec site to erase all traces of the old order and he did not establish a territory under his own personal rule, but remained loyal to the Spanish crown
5.
Acapulco
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Acapulco de Juárez, commonly called Acapulco, is a city, municipality and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico,380 kilometres south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has been a port since the colonial period of Mexicos history. It is a port of call for shipping and cruise lines running between Panama and San Francisco, California, United States, the city of Acapulco is the largest in the state, far larger than the state capital Chilpancingo. Acapulco is also Mexicos largest beach and balneario resort city, the city is best known as one of Mexicos oldest and most well-known beach resorts, which came into prominence in the 1950s as a getaway for Hollywood stars and millionaires. Acapulco is still famous and still attracts tourists, although most are now from Mexico itself. The name Acapulco comes from Nahuatl language Aca-pōl-co, and means where the reeds were destroyed or washed away, the de Juárez was added to the official name in 1885 to honor Benito Juárez, former President of Mexico. The seal for the city shows broken reeds or cane, the island and municipality of Capul, in the Philippines, derives its name from Acapulco, Capul was the western end of the trans-Pacific sailing route from Acapulco to what was then a Spanish colony. At Acapulco Bay itself, there were two Olmec sites, one by Playa Larga and the other on a known as El Guitarrón. Olmec influence caused the small villages here to coalesce into larger entities. Later, Teotihuacan influence made its way here via Cuernavaca and Chilpancingo, then Mayan influence arrived from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and through what is now Oaxaca. This history is known through the archaeological artifacts that have found here, especially at Playa Hornos, Pie de la Cuesta. In the 11th century, new waves of migration of Nahuas and Coixas came through here and these people were the antecedents of the Aztecs. In the later 15th century, after four years of military struggle and it was annexed to a tributary province named Tepecuacuilco. However, this was only transitory, as the Aztecs could only establish a military post at the citys outskirts. The city was on territory under control of the Yopes, who continued defending it, there are two stories about how Acapulco bay was discovered by Europeans. The first states that two years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Hernán Cortés sent explorers west to find gold, the explorers had subdued this area after 1523, and Captain Saavedra Cerón was authorized by Cortés to found a settlement here. The other states that the bay was discovered on December 13,1526 by a ship named the El Tepache Santiago captained by Santiago Guevara. The first encomendero was established in 1525 at Cacahuatepec, which is part of the modern Acapulco municipality, in 1531, a number of Spaniards, most notably Juan Rodriguez de Villafuerte, left the Oaxaca coast and founded the village of Villafuerte where the city of Acapulco now stands
6.
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
7.
Valley of Mexico
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The Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with the present-day Distrito Federal and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several civilizations, including Teotihuacan, the Toltec. The ancient Aztec term Anahuac and the phrase Basin of Mexico are both used at times to refer to the Valley of Mexico, the Basin of Mexico became a well known site that epitomized the scene of early Classic Mesoamerican cultural development as well. The Valley of Mexico is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the valley contains most of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, as well as parts of the State of Mexico, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala and Puebla. The Valley of Mexico can be subdivided into four basins, but the largest and this section of the valley in particular is colloquially referred to as the Valley of Mexico. The valley has an altitude of 2,200 meters above sea level and is surrounded by mountains. It is a valley with no natural outlet for water to flow. Within this vulnerable watershed all the fishes were extinct by the end of the 20th century. Hydrologically, the valley has three features, the first feature is the lakebeds of five now-extinct lakes, which are located in the southernmost and largest of the four sub-basins. The other two features are piedmont, and the mountainsides that collect the precipitation that eventually flows to the lake area and these last two are found in all four of the sub-basins of the valley. Today, the Valley drains through a series of canals to the Tula River, and eventually the Pánuco River. Seismic activity is frequent here, and the valley is considered an earthquake prone zone, the valley has been inhabited for at least 12,000 years, attracting humans with its mild climate, abundant game and ability to support large-scale agriculture. Civilizations that have arisen in this include the Teotihuacan the Toltec Empire. When the Spaniards arrived in the Valley of Mexico, it had one of the highest population concentrations in the world with one million people. After the Conquest, the Spaniards rebuilt the largest and most dominant city here, Tenochtitlan, although violence and disease significantly lowered the population of the valley after the Conquest, by 1900 it was again over one million people. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen an explosion of population in the valley along with the growth of industry, since 1900, the population has doubled every fifteen years. Today, around 21 million people live in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area which extends throughout almost all of the valley into the states of Mexico, the growth of a major urban, industrial centre in an enclosed basin has created significant air and water quality issues for the valley. Wind patterns and thermal inversions trap contaminants in the valley, over-extraction of ground water has caused new flooding problems for the city as it sinks below the historic lake floor
8.
Mestizo
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The term was used as an ethnic/racial category in the casta system that was in use during the Spanish Empires control of their New World colonies. Mestizos are usually considered to be mixed Spaniards by the crown of Spain, the term mestizaje - taking as its root mestizo or mixed - is the Spanish word for miscegenation, the general process of mixing ancestries. To avoid confusion with the usage of the term mestizo. In colonial Venezuela, pardo was more commonly used instead of mestizo, pardo means being mixed without specifying which mixture, it was used to describe anyone born in the Americas whose ancestry was a mixture of European, Amerindian, and Black African. In colonial Brazil most of the population was mestiço in the original Iberian definition of the word. In the Philippines, which was a colony of Spain, the term came to refer to a Filipino with any foreign ancestry especially whites. In Canada, the Métis people is a community composed of those who possess combined European, in Saint Barthélemy, the term mestizo refers to people of mixed European and East Asian ancestry. The Spanish word mestizo is from Latin mixticius, meaning mixed and its usage has been documented as early as 1275, to refer to the offspring of an Egyptian and a Jew. This term was first documented in English in 1582 and it is related to the particular racial identity of historical non-white Amerindian-descended Hispanic and Latino American communities in an American context. In English-speaking Canada, Canadian Métis, as a loanword from French, refers to persons of mixed French, in the United States, Métis Americans and Mestizo Americans are two distinct racial and ethno-racial identities, as reflected in the use of French and Spanish loanwords, respectively. The latter was listed as a mestizo de sangley in birth records of the 19th century, with sangley as a reference to the Hokkiense word for business. Mestizo, mestiço, métis, mestís, Mischling, meticcio, mestiezen, mestee, in the Spanish colonial period, the Spanish developed an extremely vast complex system of racial hierarchy, which was used for social control and which also determined a persons standing in society. There were three categories of race during the initial period of colonization of the Americas by the Spanish, White Spaniard, Amerindian. During the Spanish colonial era, a myriad of terms were created to differentiate these racial mixtures, by the end of the colonial period in 1821, over one hundred sub-categories of possible variations of mixture existed, but official church and civil records were maintained with few categories. Church baptismal and marriage registers and civil records used the terms español, castizo, mestizo, mulato, and indio. As time went on, a system of hierarchy, the sistema de castas or the sociedad de castas developed where society was divided based on race, wealth. Mestizo – a person of mixed White European and Amerindian ancestry, in theory, and as depicted in eighteenth-century Mexican casta paintings, español status could also be attained by people of mixed origin who consistently had intermarried with Europeans. Such cases might include the offspring of a parent and one Peninsular or criollo parent
9.
Durango
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Durango, officially Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, compose the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico, with a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexicos second-lowest population density, after Baja California Sur. The city of Victoria de Durango is the capital, named after the first president of Mexico. Sedentary life began in Durango around 500 B. C. in response to population growth, the exceptions were the Acaxee, Humas, and Xiximes who were constantly at war but always on the look-out for final settlements in the region of the Quebradas. On the east bank of the state a longitudinal zone can be found, the Indios Laguneros traveled interchangeably between this area, they were characterized by their rebellious attitude, instability, religious customs and for being hunters and gatherers. These Natives of which so little was recorded were the first inhabitants of the region long before they were exterminated by the Spanish colonists, today, only a few remain of the Tepehuanos, Huicholes, Coras and Tarahumara tribes. By around 200–300 A. D. Durango along with the central zone of present-day Mexico was inhabited by sedentary groups that were link to the cultures located further south. The state was connected by a commercial network that linked it to areas as north as New Mexico. Spanish explorer Francisco de Ibarra, the first to colonize Durango, on July 8,1563, he founded the capital city and named it Durango for the town Durango, Biscay, Spain. Additionally many of the soldiers who came on the expedition of Captain Francisco de Ibarra, in 1552 Spanish Captain Ginés Vázquez del Mercado discovered one of the worlds richest iron-ore deposits which was named after him, present-day Cerro de Mercado. Gradually, in the decades, the Franciscans followed by the Jesuits began the evangelization of Nueva Vizcaya. The establishment of garrisons in Northern Mexico provided security to the people immersed in isolation, the new routes enjoined the military camps and thus emerged the Courier of the Provinces, a government scheme adopted by the Spanish monarchs in 1767. The new territory began to split in the colonial period, the first to emerge was the Sinaloa Province, which then included the areas known today as Sonora and Arizona. At the time that Porfirio Díaz was at the head of the Republic, Durango also experienced local dictatorships such as that of Governor Juan Manuel Flores, esteban Fernandez, who also became governor, was reelected in 1908 after his four-year term only to leave in 1911. Durango played an important role in the Mexican Revolution. On November 21,1910, Duranguense military personnel Jesús Agustín Castro and Oreste Pereyra, the splitting of the territories continued with the government of Enrique R. At the half century, the educational crusade began which bestowed upon Durango colleges of education such as Instituto Tecnológico de Durango. The latter was based on the historical Instituto Juarez, which dates back to the eighteenth century and this was a late colonization for the Spanish, due mostly to heavy resistance by the indigenous population
10.
Chapultepec
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Chapultepec, more commonly called the Bosque de Chapultepec in Mexico City, one of the largest city parks in the Western Hemisphere, measuring in total just over 686 hectares. Centered on a formation called Chapultepec Hill, one of the parks main functions is to be an ecological space in the vast megalopolis. It is considered the first and most important of Mexico Citys lungs, the park area has been inhabited and held as special since the Pre-Columbian era, when it became a retreat for Aztec rulers. In the colonial period, Chapultepec Castle would be built here and it would remain such until 1940, when it was moved to another part of the park called Los Pinos. Today, the park is divided into three sections, with the first section being the oldest and most visited and this section contains most of the parks attractions including its zoo, the Museum of Anthropology, the Rufino Tamayo Museum, and more. It receives an estimated 15 million visitors per year and this prompted the need for major rehabilitation efforts which began in 2005 and ended in 2010. Chapultepec Park is the largest city park in Latin America, measuring in total just over 686 hectares and it is classed as one of the worlds great urban parks, along with Bois de Boulogne in Paris, the Imperial Gardens in Tokyo and Central Park in New York City. The name Chapultepec means at the hill in Nahuatl and refers to a large rock formation that is the center of the current parks first section. The park is divided into three sections, the first and oldest surrounded by fence and shut at night, and the two left open. It contains nine museums, amusement parks, winding paths, commemorative sculptures, lakes, Paseo de la Reforma passes most of the park and cuts through a portion on the north side. One of the main functions is to be an ecological space in the vast megalopolis. It is considered the first and most important of Mexico Citys lungs and it is a large unpaved area that allows for aquifer recharge, ameliorates the heat-island effect, and attracts rain. It is a refuge for birds from Canada, the U. S. and other regions of Mexico, including the red-tailed falcon, the Harris falcon, wild ducks, geese. Anywhere from 38 to 60 species of birds can be found here including some native non migratory species such as the Yucatán canary and a type of heron called the water dog. The park is home to a number of Montezuma cypress, locally called ahuehuete trees, with some hundreds of years old. There are also 165 other species, mostly in the third section and it is estimated by city authorities that 100 million pesos are needed annually to maintain the ecology of the park. For Mexico City residents, the park is valued as a cultural, the area has vestiges showing human presence as far back as the Toltecs with a number ruins from the pre-Columbian through to the colonial period. One notable site is the Baths of Moctezuma, which was a systems of tanks, reservoirs, the park received an estimated 15 million visitors each year, and daily visits have exceeded 250,000
11.
Mercury (element)
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Mercury is a chemical element with symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum, Mercury occurs in deposits throughout the world mostly as cinnabar. The red pigment vermilion is obtained by grinding natural cinnabar or synthetic mercuric sulfide, likewise, mechanical pressure gauges and electronic strain gauge sensors have replaced mercury sphygmomanometers. Mercury remains in use in research applications and in amalgam for dental restoration in some locales. It is used in fluorescent lighting, electricity passed through mercury vapor in a fluorescent lamp produces short-wave ultraviolet light which then causes the phosphor in the tube to fluoresce, making visible light. Mercury poisoning can result from exposure to water-soluble forms of mercury, Mercury is a heavy, silvery-white liquid metal. Compared to other metals, it is a conductor of heat. It has a point of −38.83 °C and a boiling point of 356.73 °C. Upon freezing, the volume of mercury decreases by 3. 59%, the coefficient of volume expansion is 181.59 × 10−6 at 0 °C,181.71 × 10−6 at 20 °C and 182.50 × 10−6 at 100 °C. Solid mercury is malleable and ductile and can be cut with a knife, because this configuration strongly resists removal of an electron, mercury behaves similarly to noble gases, which form weak bonds and hence melt at low temperatures. The stability of the 6s shell is due to the presence of a filled 4f shell, an f shell poorly screens the nuclear charge that increases the attractive Coulomb interaction of the 6s shell and the nucleus. Like silver, mercury reacts with hydrogen sulfide. Mercury reacts with solid sulfur flakes, which are used in mercury spill kits to absorb mercury, Mercury dissolves many other metals such as gold and silver to form amalgams. Iron is an exception, and iron flasks have traditionally used to trade mercury. Several other first row transition metals with the exception of manganese, copper, other elements that do not readily form amalgams with mercury include platinum. Sodium amalgam is a reducing agent in organic synthesis, and is also used in high-pressure sodium lamps. Mercury readily combines with aluminium to form a mercury-aluminium amalgam when the two pure metals come into contact, since the amalgam destroys the aluminium oxide layer which protects metallic aluminium from oxidizing in-depth, even small amounts of mercury can seriously corrode aluminium. For this reason, mercury is not allowed aboard an aircraft under most circumstances because of the risk of it forming an amalgam with exposed aluminium parts in the aircraft, Mercury embrittlement is the most common type of liquid metal embrittlement
12.
Huancavelica
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Huancavelica or Wankawilka in Quechua is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the Huancavelica region and according to the 2007 census had a population of 40,004 people, the city was established on August 5,1572 by the Viceroy of Peru Francisco de Toledo. Indigenous peoples represent a percentage of the population. It has an altitude of 3,660 meters, the climate is cold. It is considered one of the poorest cities in Peru, the Huancavelica area features a rough geography with highly varied elevation, from 1,950 metres in the valleys to more than 5,000 metres on its snow-covered summits. They consist of the chain of the Andes, which includes the Chunta mountain range, formed by a series of hills. Among the rivers of the region there are the Mantaro, the Pampas, the Huarpa, the Mantaro River penetrates Huancavelica, forming Tayacajas Peninsula. Another river that shapes the relief is the Pampas River which is born in the lakes of the mountains of Huancavelica. In the pre-Incan era, Huancavelica was known as the Wankawillka region or the place where the grandsons of the Wankas live, the city itself was established on August 5,1572. The deposits of Huancavelica were disclosed in 1564, or 1566, the Spanish Crown appropriated them in 1570 and operated them until Peruvian independence in 1821. Considered the greatest jewel in the crown, they eliminated the need to ship mercury from Almadén, a miners guild, Gremio de Mineros, administered the mines from 1577 until 1782. Production stopped from 1813 through 1835, in 1915 E. E. Fernandini took over ownership. The area was the most prolific source of mercury in Spanish America, mercury was so essential that mercury consumption was the basis upon which the tax on precious metals, known as the quinto real, was levied. The extraction of the quicksilver in the socavones was extremely difficult, every day before the miners came down, a mass for the dead was celebrated. Due to the need of numerous hand-workers and the rate of mortality. The allotted concession were rectangular, about 67x33m, miners were divided in carreteros and barreteros. In 1648 the Viceroy of Peru, declared that Potosí and Huancavelica were the two pillars that support this kingdom and that of Spain. Moreover, the thought that Spain could, if necessary, dispense with the silver from Potosí
