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Sachs divides early dances into 'Imageless dances' and 'Image dances'. By 'imageless dances' he meant dances which have no set form, but aim at getting the dancers into a state of ecstasy. In this state the dancer(s) seem changed, in a trance, and are often thought of (by their society) as being 'possessed by spirits'. These dances are done on certain occasions: marriage, war, famine, illness or death, and so on. They are found in all early ('primitive') societies.p49; 62

The 'image dances', according to Sachs, are to do with the world outside the dancer. By imitating an animal or object, the dancer believes he can capture a power and make it useful. To dance in imitation of the animal which is going to be hunted is to become one with them. To imitate the act of sex is to achieve fertility. This is the kind of thinking behind an image dance. Sachs points out that societies of this kind do not really understand the connection between cause and effect. They really believe the image dances work. The dance type which is used in image dances is mime.p49; 77 The two styles of dance may be joined. Fertility dances may involve both ecstatic states and mime. The great dancer Nijinsky used some of these ideas in his choreography for the ballet Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), a ballet about the sacrifice of a girl during a primitive celebration of Spring.

In more recent times, the first dance school we know about was opened in 1661 in Paris. Only men were accepted until 1681. After 1681, women were accepted too. Ballroom dances are forms of modern dance. Ballroom dances such as the waltz are done by couples. Until the 20th century, most ballroom dances were sequence dances. The way people moved was planned in set formation. These formations were usually lines or squares. Everyone moved at the same time, and finished at the same time. The music played for a set time, and then stopped. After the invention of the waltz, around 1800, another style of dancing developed. In the waltz, and later dances, people danced in couples, but they did so separately. They did not dance in formation, but moved round the room as they pleased (but anti-clockwise). Often, new dance styles arrive. Some dance as individuals, separately, as they please. Street dance is like that. All these types of dance have music.

At the same time, round the world there are many traditional dances. Some of them have been going for hundreds of years. We call them folkloric dances. The coming of popular music videos and DVDs led to a kind of dancer previously seen in some stage shows. A backup dancer (or background dancer) is a performer who dances with or behind the lead performers in a live musical act or in a music video. Styles There are many different styles of dance, which fall into these general types: Classic dance Professional dancing Ballet Modern dance Theatre dance Belly dancing Jazz dance Tap dance Social dancing Ballroom dancing (International style) Waltz Foxtrot Tango Quickstep Viennese waltz Cha-cha-cha Jive Paso doble Samba Rumba Other styles Salsa Rock and Roll Street dance Breakdancing Funk Hip hop Folk dance Irish Dance Morris Dance Country Dance Indian Classical Dances Bharat Natyam Kathak Mohini Attam Kathakali Kuchipudi

Professional dancers Alvin Ailey George Balanchine Vernon and Irene Castle Misty Copeland Katherine Dunham Bob Fosse Loie Fuller Gene Kelly Vaslav Nijinsky Margot Fonteyn Monsieur Pierre Antonio Ruiz Soler Matt Steffanina References Non-verbal communication

The dissolution of the monasteries was an event that happened from 1536 to 1540, when English King Henry VIII took away the land and money that the nuns and monks of the Roman Catholic church owned. Henry VIII then gave this land and money to people that supported him. This was also when Henry VIII made himself the new head of the Church of England (which is a type of Christianity). Parliament made the Act of Supremacy to give him the right to do both these things. It was part of the Protestant Reformation in England. 16th century in England Anglicanism Protestant Reformation

A deadline is a time by which some task must be completed. Very often, it means a time limit that is set in place by an authority - for example, a teacher tells students that they must turn in their homework in by a certain time. This is so the teacher is able to report fairly to his or her principal that every student had the same chance to do the work. Deadlines may also be set by a time horizon that comes from something that is not a human authority, but part of nature. For example, by sunset one must do those tasks requiring daylight. However, a human must watch the sun and decide what light is strong enough to still be daylight, so time limits will still be involved even if one observes a horizon and sets a deadline oneself. A way to remember this is that a time horizon is like the physical horizon where sunset happens and a time limit is a thing people set up to deal with this. A deadline is a thing powerful people set up to ensure less powerful people comply with their way of doing things.

time Planning Problem solving

Dutton Speedwords is a made-up language written by Reginald John Garfield Dutton. The idea of Dutton Speedwords is to make frequent words short, and very frequent words very short. Dutton Speedwords can be used as a second language for international communications. Dutton Speedwords is also a shorthand writing system – this means you can use it to write quickly. The method was made up by Reginald John Garfield Dutton (1886-1970) in 1922. It was first published in 1935. It was called International Symbolic Script. A year later, it was called Speedwords. It was changed in 1946 and 1951. It has two uses; to be a language and to be used for writing quickly. Dutton hoped that this would mean more people would learn it because they could use it for two reasons. The books that Dutton wrote about Speedwords are not printed anymore. But Speedwords is now being used by more people because they find it is good for working online. For example, it makes it faster to type an email.

Another way of writing quickly is Pitman's shorthand. This uses special symbols instead of letters. Speedwords uses Roman letters. This makes it easier to learn. It also means it can be typed using a normal keyboard. Each word means only one thing. This means you do not need to use different forms of the same word. The words used in Speedwords are the same as the words used in many other languages. The words are like short versions of the writer's own language. Other websites overview of Speedwords by Richard K Harrison 1994 Constructed languages

In some religions and mythology, the Devil is an evil spirit, demon or supernatural being that tries to create problems for people and distance them from God. In some cultures, the Devil seen as the embodiment of evil. He is characterised by his red skin, horns and tail. Some people also use the words "the Devil" or "Satan" for the most powerful devil. Etymology The word "devil" comes from the Greek word "diabolos" which means "someone who tells lies to hurt you". ("Diabolos" is translated to the English word "slanderer.") The New Testament uses "diabolos" as a title for Satan, so "the Devil" became another name for Satan in English. In the Old Testament, there is the Serpent and the Shaitan, who may be two different characters. "Shaitan" in Hebrew means "adversary", which is a word for an enemy or opponent. It is also a word used for the Devil in the Koran, who often appears as an animal and tries to get people to do the wrong thing. Appearances in religions

Christianity According to Christianity, the Devil wanted to be a deity besides God and be independent from God. Therefore, a war in heaven started and the angels battled. After the Devil lose the battle and was thrown out of heaven, he started doing bad things on the earth. He wants people to worship him instead of God. Sometimes he tries to trick people by giving them false promises. The other angels who were thrown out of heaven became evil spirits called demons. They obey the Devil and help him do evil things. The Book of Revelation says that God will punish the Devil and his demons by throwing them into a Lake of Fire that burns in Hell. This will happen in the future. Some Christians understand the Devil as the embodiment of chaos and death. They think that the Devil is the farest someone can get away from God. God, as the opposite of the Devil, stands for life and the Devil for death. The closer someone gets to the Devil the closer people come to death and will not be resurrected.

Islam In Islam, there is not only one devil, but there are several devils, who support Satan. The devils are invisible and tempt humans and djinns into sin. Humans and djinns, who follow the will of the devils, are called devils too. Other cultures and religions Not all religions believe in the Devil. For example, some forms of Buddhism do not believe in the Devil. Judaism, has Satan, but does not believe that Satan is the Devil, but only an angel.

In Wicca, the concept of the Devil and demons is also rejected, simply because, in Wiccan tradition, the creative energy is neither positive nor negative. According to Wiccans: "We are the ones who use this energy for good or evil. Therefore, the consequence of this action is our entire responsibility, not of an evil supernatural being." The corniferous god Cernunnos of Wicca was confused with the Christian Devil, for having horns (in antiquity, given the horns were phallic, they were associated with virility (fertility)), and were soon symbols of ancient European religions. He was already worshipped by pagan religions before Christianity arrived in Europe and the British Isles. Many satanists believe in the Devil or Satan only as a metaphor, not an actual being or person. In the Bahá'í Faith, the Devil as a malevolent, supernatural entity is not believed to exist. These terms do, however, appear in the Bahá'í writings, where they are instead used as metaphors for the lower nature of man.

Arts Artists draw pictures of the Devil that show him as ugly and evil. But nobody knows what he may look like in fact. Usually he is a spirit that nobody can see, but he can make himself look like a real person in order to trick people. Many modern depictions of the Devil portray him as a red human-like being with horns and a pointed tail, carrying a red pitchfork or trident. References Theology Demons

Diarrhea (DIE-uh-REE-uh), also spelled diarrhoea, happens when the body makes more watery feces than normal. Diarrhea can occur in humans as well as most other mammals. Causes Diarrhea is not a disease. But it may be a symptom of a disease. The most common causes of diarrhea are: Viruses, like Norovirus (the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis—"stomach flu"—in humans) Bacteria, like E. coli or C. diff Some medicines, especially antibiotics Food poisoning Lactose intolerance Artificial sweeteners, like sorbitol and mannitol, which are in many sugar-free food products like sugarless gum Other problems with the intestines, like Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome Child death In developing nations, diarrheal diseases are the second most common cause of death in children under age 5. Every year in the world, diarrhea kills around 760,000 children under age 5. In developing countries, diarrhea is also one of the most common causes of malnutrition in children under age 5.

When children die from diarrhea, the cause is often dehydration (losing too much water from the body). Because diarrhea is watery, it takes away a lot of the water. It also takes away electrolytes—important salts that the body needs to survive. Dehydration is extra dangerous for small children because they have less water in their bodies to begin with. This means they cannot lose as much water as adults before they start to have serious health problems.

Causes In developing countries, diarrhea is usually caused by an infection in the intestines. These infections can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites. These infections spread easily in some developing countries because of the following reasons: Unsafe drinking water. Bacteria, viruses, and parasites often get into the water, which people then have to drink. Anyone who drinks the water can then get an infection that causes diarrhea. Sanitation, with clean toilets, is often not available. This makes it easier for infections to spread. Clean water and soap for washing hands are often not available, either. If people cannot wash their hands, bacteria, viruses, or parasites can stay on their hands. These microbes can then enter the mouth or get spread to other people with handshaking. Preventing child deaths Child deaths from diarrhea can be prevented in different ways.

Re-hydration When a child is sick with diarrhea, the best way to keep them from dying is to rehydrate them (give them the water and electrolytes (salts) they are losing by having diarrhea). If the child can go to a clinic or hospital, this can be done by giving water and salts intravenously (through a needle placed into a vein). If the child cannot go to a clinic or hospital, oral rehydration solution can be used. ("Oral" means "given by mouth"; a "solution" is a mixture.) Oral rehydration solution is a mixture of the most important things the body loses when it is dehydrated. These things are clean water, salt, and sugar. Some oral rehydration solutions have extra electrolytes, like potassium, in them also.

Some oral rehydration solutions come in packets and just need to be mixed with clean water. Oral rehydration solution can also be made at home. If the water in the area is not safe, it can be boiled to make it safe. (Boiling the water will kill any bacteria, viruses, or parasites in the water.) Salt and sugar are then mixed into the water. Drinking this mixture, after the water cools, will re-hydrate the child, if he drinks enough. Adding a banana or orange juice can add potassium to the mixture. Breast milk will also re-hydrate a child with diarrhea. Preventing diarrhea There are some ways to prevent diarrhea, or the spread of diseases that cause diarrhea. However, some of these ways are expensive and difficult to do. These include: Making drinking water safe Making sanitation better Making clean water and soap available for hand washing Related pages Feces References Symptoms

Dimensions are the way we see, measure and experience our world, by using up and down, right to left, back to front, hot and cold, how heavy and how long, as well as more advanced concepts from mathematics and physics. One way to define a dimension is to look at the degrees of freedom, or the way an object can move in a specific space. There are different concepts or ways where the term dimension is used, and there are also different definitions. There is no definition that can satisfy all concepts. In a vector space (with vectors being "arrows" with directions), the dimension of , also written as , is equal to the cardinality (or number of vectors) of a basis of (a set which indicates how many unique directions actually has). It is also equal to the number of the largest group of straight line directions of that space. "Normal" objects in everyday life are specified by three dimensions, which are usually called length, width and depth. Mathematicians call this concept Euclidean space.

Dimensions can be used to measure position too. The distance to a position from a starting place can be measured in the length, width and height directions. These distances are a measure of the position. In some occasions, a fourth (4D) dimension, time, is used to show the position of an event in time and space. Other Dimensions In modern science, people use other dimensions. Dimensions like temperature and weight can be used to show the position of something in less simple spaces. Scientist study those dimension with dimensional analysis. Mathematicians also use dimensions. In mathematics, dimensions are more general. Dimensions in mathematics might not measure things in the world. The rules for doing arithmetic with dimensions in mathematics might be different than usual arithmetic rules. Dimensions and vectors Vectors are used to show distances and directions. Vectors are often used in engineering and science, and sometimes in mathematics.

A vector is a list of numbers. There is one number for each dimension. There are arithmetic rules for vectors. For example, if Jane wants to know the position of Sally, Sally can give Jane a vector to show the position. If Jane and Sally are in the world, there are three dimensions. Therefore, Sally gives Jane a list of three numbers to show her position. The three numbers in the vector Sally gives Jane might be: Sally's distance north of Jane Sally's distance east of Jane Sally's height above Jane Related pages 3D Hypercube, generalization of square and cube beyond three dimensions Minkowski spacetime, a four-dimensional manifold Space-time References Geometry Algebra

Distance is how far one thing is from another thing. It is also a measure of the space between two things. It can be measured along any path. Thus, someone who goes around in a circle has traveled a distance, even though his position has not changed. In geometry, the distance between two points A and B is sometimes written as . Pythagorean theorem is often used in the calculation of distance. Distance is a scalar, and thus is different from displacement. Displacement is a vector that measures distance with a straight line (and in only one path). Displacement is the shortest way to travel the distance. Examples One ball is 5 feet from another ball. The distance between the two balls is 5 feet. John walks at a speed of 6 kilometres per hour for one hour. John walks a distance of 6 kilometres. A circle is a curved line. Each point on the circle is the same distance from the centre of the circle. Related pages Euclidean distance Norm (mathematics) References Physical quantity Mathematics Geometry

In math, the distance between the nearest end and the farthest end of an object is its depth. For example, you can measure the depth of a box. When you find the distance between one end of the box and another end of the box, you measure the box's depth. Depth in Liquids For liquids, the distance between the top or surface of the liquid and the bottom of the liquid is the liquid's depth. For example, water is a liquid. If you fill a container with water, the distance between the top of the water and the bottom of the container is the water's depth. If the depth is big, we say the water is deep. Related pages Volume Geometry Width Height Length Physical quantity

A dictionary is a type of book which explains the meanings of words or, more precisely, lexemes. The words are arranged in alphabetical order so that they can be found quickly. The word "dictionary" comes from the Latin "dictio" ("saying"). There are several types of dictionaries: dictionaries which explain words and how they are used, dictionaries which translate words from one language to another, dictionaries of biography which tell about famous people, technical dictionaries which explain the meanings of technical words or words connected to a particular subject (sometimes called a thesaurus). Some of these come close to being an encyclopedia, but an encyclopedia gives a lot of extra information about things (knowledge) and does not explain the use of the language. An encyclopedic dictionary gives less information about the topic than a real encyclopedia does, but more than a simple dictionary. Dictionaries which explain the meaning of words

Online dictionaries TheFreeDictionary Longman English Dictionary Online Dictionaries which explain what words mean will give a clear "definition" of the word (e.g. hippopotamus : a hoofed mammal with thick skin, large mouth and short legs that lives in rivers and lakes of Africa.) A big dictionary will also give more information about the word. It will explain how it is pronounced. Usually the International Phonetic Alphabet is used for this. It will explain how the word is used. This is not a problem for a word like "hippopotamus", but a word like "put" has so many different meanings that a large dictionary may have a whole page or more to explain how it can be used. It will also explain the origin of the word (e.g. Greek "hippos" horse and "potamus" river). A dictionary may also give the form of the word in different tenses, plural form etc.

Dictionaries which translate into foreign languages There are also dictionaries which translate words into foreign languages. Often one volume (one book) will translate both ways; for example, half the book might be translating from English to Dutch and the other half from Dutch to English. When using a dictionary to find out how to say something in another language one has to be careful to choose the right word. A word like "right" has two basic meanings in English: 1) "correct", and 2) the opposite of "left". Other languages have different words for these different meanings, but they have homonyms of their own. A word like "put" has many meanings. A good dictionary will have a large list of these meanings to help people find the word they want. In many languages, for example, the word “put” will be different according to whether something is being put onto something (e.g. a table) or into something (e.g. a cupboard). Updating dictionaries

Dictionaries need to be updated frequently because of the way language changes. New words are often brought into a language (e.g. lots of computer terms) or words change their meanings (e.g. "gay" or "cool"). In this sense, the most famous English Dictionary is the Oxford English Dictionary (or OED). Words are always being added to the OED. They are never taken out even if they are obsolete (not used any more). The OED can be accessed online (with a subscription). Related pages Wiktionary Relevant literature Henning Bergenholtz/Sven Tarp (eds.): Manual of Specialised Lexicography. Benjamins 1995. Sandro Nielsen: The Bilingual LSP Dictionary. Gunter Narr 1994. Other websites Centre for Lexicography Dictionary -Citizendium

Oxford English Dictionary Oxford Learner's Dictionary Cambridge Learner's Dictionary (British English) Macmillan Dictionary Collins Cobuild English Dictionary American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language Merriam-Webster American English dictionary Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary Learn These Words First: Multi-Layer Dictionary SimpleVocab Multi-word Dictionary English to English Dictionary Terms Dictionary - English to Multi-Lang Dictionary Reference works

A definition in language explains what a word or phrase means. A definition usually answers the question what is.... Defining means giving a definition. Other words with this meaning are description and explanation. It describes what a word means and explains to the person when and where it can be used. In mathematics, a definition is an exact way of saying what a mathematical concept is. It might not be the easiest way to say what it is, but it is used because it is exact. It can be used in a mathematical proof. Words

Denmark (), officially named the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the furthest south of the Scandinavian countries, to the south of Norway and south-west of Sweden (which it is connected to by a bridge). It has a south border with Germany. It borders both the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east. Denmark is a developed country with a large welfare state; In 2006 and 2007, surveys ranked Denmark as "the happiest place in the world," based on standards of health, welfare, and education. The origin of the name Denmark () is uncertain. In Old Norse, the country was called Danmǫrk, referring to the Danish March (the marches of the Danes).

The capital city of Denmark is Copenhagen, on the island of Zealand. Denmark is a constitutional monarchy (meaning the head of state is a monarch who has few established powers) with a queen, Margrethe II. Denmark is a parliamentary state, meaning the people appoint a parliament to make decisions for them, and it has a democratic government headed by an elected Prime Minister, who currently is Mette Frederiksen since 2019.

History Denmark was first united in the 10th century, during the Viking period, by king Harald Bluetooth (), who first converted Denmark to Christianity. The Vikings are well known for invading countries. In the 11th century, the Danish Vikings controlled England (the Danelaw) for a while. In 1397 Denmark, Sweden and Norway became a single country with one queen (this country was called the Kalmar Union) Sweden became a separate country again in 1523. Denmark and Norway (called Denmark-Norway) stayed united, until 1814. Denmark-Norway controlled many islands in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland. Iceland became independent from Denmark in 1944. Denmark became a constitutional monarchy on June 5, 1849 when it adopted a constitution which took away powers from the King and gave rights to ordinary Danish people. June 5 is now a holiday in Denmark, called "Constitution Day".

Over the years Denmark lost many of the lands that it controlled in battle. Denmark's biggest war defeat was the Second Schleswig War (in 1864) when the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were conquered by the Kingdom Prussia (now a part of Germany). This was a big loss for Denmark and, consequently, it began a policy of neutrality after the loss, meaning it would no longer take part in any wars or support other countries. Denmark did not take part in the First World War. On April 9, 1940, Denmark was invaded by Nazi Germany and the Nazis stayed in Denmark throughout World War II. During the war, in 1943, Danes helped over 8,000 Jews to escape from Denmark into Sweden after the Nazis tried to arrest them.

After the liberation of Denmark, one part of the country was not. That was the island of Bornholm. The German Commandant von Kamptz who was stationed there, refused to surrender to the Soviets as the German were fleeing to Bornholm and further to Sweden. The Soviets then bombed the two biggest towns Rønne and Nexø. After the Germans were captured on May 9, 1945, the Soviet Army occupied the island until April 6, 1946. After World War Two, Denmark became a member of NATO and the European Union. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are now part of the Kingdom of Denmark and have their own governments and limited power. Geography

Geography Denmark is the smallest of the Scandinavian countries. The neighbours are Germany (to the south), Sweden (to the east), Norway (to the north) and the United Kingdom (to the west). The country is surrounded by the sea except for Jutland (Jylland), the largest part of Denmark. It is connected to Germany by land. To the south-east there is the Baltic Sea, to the west the North Sea, to the north the Skagerrak and to the north-east the Kattegat. The western part of Denmark is the peninsula of Jutland (, pronounced yoo´-land), bordering Germany. This is the only part of Denmark that is not an island. The rest of Denmark includes 76 islands people live on, and many tiny islands. The largest islands are Zealand (Sjælland), and Funen (Fyn). To the east is the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, the only place in Denmark where the bedrock can be seen.

The country is quite flat. The highest hill or mountain is Møllehøj, which is 170.86 metres (560.56 ft) tall. There are many small hills, lakes, creeks, forests and farmland. Denmark's shore line covers 7,314 km (4,545 mi). Nobody in Denmark lives more than 60 km from the coast. The longest river in Denmark is the Gudenå. Climate The weather in Denmark is quite windy and rainy. In the winter, it does not get very cold; in most years, there are only a few weeks of snow. Every ten years or so, the sea around the islands freezes over, but in most winters, it does not. The climate and topography are not good for winter sports. Most summers are not very hot. People always dress to be ready for rain or wind. There are also very sunny times, but nobody can know ahead of time when these will be. The best time of the year for outdoor activities is the months of May and June until midsummer.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Denmark was , on 10 August 1975 in Holstebro. And the lowest temperature ever recorded in Denmark was , on 8 January 1982 in Hørsted. Top 5 warmest days Top 5 coldest nights Politics Denmark has three branches of power; the judiciary (the courts), the executive (the Prime Minister and the cabinet) and the legislature (the Danish parliament). The current Prime Minister of Denmark is Mette Frederiksen, who was elected in June 2019. Denmark is a Kingdom which means it has a monarch (a king or queen). The current monarch is Queen Margrethe II. Margrethe II does not have a lot of power (she does not make any important decisions) and has a symbolic role. Denmark became a constitutional monarchy in 1849.

Elections to the parliament are held every four years, and the winner of the election is the party or coalition which gets the most votes and seats in the parliament. After the elections are done, several parties who are in agreement will group together to form a coalition government, and the leader of the largest party becomes the prime minister.

Here is a short summary of the biggest political parties in Denmark, from left to right on the political axis: Red-Green Alliance (Danish: Enhedslisten), a far-left socialist party. The Alternative (Danish: Alternativet), a green progressive party. Socialist People's Party (Danish: Socialistisk Folkeparti), a socialist party. Social Democrats (Danish: Socialdemokraterne), a left-wing party which is "social democratic" (slightly socialist). Venstre, Liberal Party of Denmark (Danish: Venstre (meaning "left")), a liberal party. Danish Social Liberal Party (Danish: Det Radikale Venstre), a radical left/borderline right-wing liberal party. Conservative People's Party (Danish: Det Konservative Folksparti), a conservative party. Liberal Alliance (Danish: Liberal Alliance), a right-wing liberal party. Danish People's Party (Danish: Dansk Folkeparti), a right-wing political party who dislike immigration (people from other countries who come to live in Denmark).

Welfare Denmark, like the other Nordic countries. is well known for being a large welfare state. The government provides many services to the public such as free health care, free education (school and college) and free housing for the poor. Danes pay high taxes to fund welfare. Kingdom of Denmark In geography, Denmark is the land in northern Europe, where the Danes live. In the political sense, the Kingdom of Denmark is the area which the Danish Monarch rules over. The Kingdom of Denmark includes Denmark and also includes the Faroe Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, and Greenland in North America. All three parts of the kingdom have different languages and culture. The Faroe Islands and Greenland are often considered to be separate countries but Denmark holds their sovereignty. Regions and municipalities Denmark is divided into five regions (Danish: regioner or region for one). The regions replaced the former counties (amter) in January 2007. The regions are in charge of hospitals and health care.

The regions are then subdivided into municipalities (). There are currently 98 municipalities, but before January 2007 there were 275. The number of municipalities was decreased when it was decided that, to become more efficient, each should have a population of at least 20,000 . People The biggest part (90.5%) of Denmark's population of just under 5.4 million is of Danish descent, according to 2009 statistics. Of the rest 8.9% who are immigrants or descendent from recent immigrants, many come from South Asia or the Middle East. There are also small groups of Inuit from Greenland and Faroese. The Danes speak the national language, Danish, which is very similar to the other Scandinavian languages. Swedish and Norwegian are so close to Danish that most Danes understand them.

As well as Danish, most Danes speak a foreign language too, such as English, which is popular as an international language, or German. In the southern part of Jutland, a German minority speaks German. On the Faroe Islands, Faroese is spoken, and people living in Greenland speak Inuit. Religion does not play a large part in the life of most Danes and church attendance is very low. However, even though many Danes are atheist, 80.4% are members of the Protestant "Church of Denmark" (, The National Church) which is the official "state church" of Denmark. The National Church is Lutheran, which means it separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th Century. Other important faiths include Judaism, Islam (the number of Muslims is increasing), other Protestant groups and Catholicism. Transport

Transport Because of the many islands, Denmark has many bridges. The main parts of the country, and most of the bigger islands, are connected by roads and railroads. One of the world's longest bridges connects the eastern and the western parts of the country, and there is a large bridge to Sweden also. There is still no bridge across the Baltic Sea to Germany, but it will most likely be built in a few years. The bridge to Sweden was expensive, took a long time to build, and required much planning by engineers. There are still many islands with no bridges to the mainland. People have to go by boat or airplane to reach these islands. Many islands will never be reached by bridges, because they are too small or too far away. If the island has too few people, bridges are often not built because it is expensive to build. Cycling is very popular in Denmark because the ground is so flat. Copenhagen is a city that is very bicycle friendly, with bicycle lanes extending over 12,000 km.

Culture The people of Denmark have always depended on the sea. In earlier days, people could not travel anywhere unless they went by boat. Many Danes were fishermen or merchants. Even today, many Danes spend much time near or at the sea. Farming has always been one of the main occupations. Because of the climate and the soil, Denmark is a good place for agriculture. Export of food to the neighbouring countries is one of the most important sources of income for the country. Danish hams and cookies are exported throughout the world.

Perhaps the most famous Dane is actually Hamlet, the title character of William Shakespeare's famous play, which was set in the real castle of Kronborg in Helsingør, north of Copenhagen. The play was based on an old Danish myth of the Viking Prince Amled of Jutland, and his quest for revenge against his father's killer. Another widely known Dane is Hans Christian Andersen, a writer mostly famous for such fairy tales as "The Little Mermaid", and "The Ugly Duckling". Also Karen Blixen, Tycho Brahe and the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard are well known worldwide. There are many famous Danish scientists, including Niels Bohr, the famous physicist who developed the first working model for the atom, and Ole Rømer, who discovered the speed of light. Hans Kirk, although less well known outside of Denmark, is the writer of the best-selling Danish novel of all time, The Fishermen.

Music Danes enjoy many different types of music, including ballets, jazz music, pop and rock. Denmark's most famous classical composer is Carl Nielsen. Famous Danish bands include Aqua, a pop band, and The Raveonettes, an indie rock band. The most famous Danish rock star is Lars Ulrich of the band Metallica. Food The cuisine of Denmark shares much with the other Nordic countries (Finland, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden) as well as northern Germany. Common meats are pork and fish. Traditional Danish food includes frikadeller (fried meatballs, often served with potatoes and various sorts of gravy). Fish is widely eaten, especially on the west coast of Jutland. Holidays Christmas () is the main feast of the year. Christmas is traditionally celebrated on the eve, December 24, and this is when the main Christmas meal is eaten and presents are unwrapped.

In midwinter, a fast is celebrated. Children are dressed up, and go from house to house begging for money. This practice has in the recent years been taken over by Halloween, and most people give candy not money. A barrel filled with candy is smashed with clubs. The person who makes the candy fall out is appointed queen of cats and the person who hits the last stick is appointed king of cats. Midsummer is celebrated with a huge bonfire in the evening of June 23. Most Danes have a three-week summer holiday in July or August. Sports The most popular sport in Denmark is football (soccer). Sailing, swimming and other water sports are very popular because of the long coastline. Another common sport is cycling, (Copenhagen has been nicknamed the "City of Cyclists" because of the popularity of bicycles for moving around), which has become popular in Denmark partly because of the flat land all over the country. Indoor sports such as badminton and handball are also popular during the long winters. Monarchy

Monarchy Monarch is a word that means king or queen. Denmark is the oldest monarchy in Europe. The current monarch is Queen Margrethe II, who has been the queen since 1972. Denmark does not currently have a King. Margrethe's husband was called a prince because he was the son-in-law, not the son, of the previous King. He died on 13. February 2018 at the age of 83. The royal couple have two children: Crown Prince Frederik who married an Australian woman named Mary, and have 4 children: Prince Christian Princess Isabella Prince Vincent & Princess Josephine (twins) Joachim married a British woman from Hong Kong but later divorced in 2005 after being married for 10 years. He has two sons: Prince Nikolai Prince Felix In 2008 Prince Joachim married for the second time. His new wife is from France and is called Marie, with whom he has a son and a daughter. Prince Henrik Princess Athena Related pages Denmark at the Olympics Denmark national football team List of rivers of Denmark References Notes

References Notes Other websites Denmark.dk – The official website of Denmark VisitDenmark.com – Official travel guide to Denmark Danish Culture European Union member states Nordic countries Current monarchies 10th-century establishments in Europe

Death is the end of a life in an organism. All biological and living activity of the living thing stop, including the mind and the senses. The usual signal for death in humans and many other animals is that the heart stops beating and cannot be restarted. This can be caused by many things. All living things have a limited lifespan, and all living things eventually die.

Living things that have died are normally described as being dead. Death of humans is often investigated for the cause, in case of crime (such as murder), accident or disease that may continue to kill other humans. About 150,000 people die every day around the world. About two thirds of these people die because of age. In addition to the physical body, some believe humans also have a soul and believe that the soul can continue without a body (afterlife), move into another body (reincarnation), or cease to exist (annihilationism). Religions have different beliefs about this issue. Many cultures have their own customs and rituals to respect the dead.

When people talk about things or events that lead to the death of a plant or animal, those things or events are usually described as being deadly, or fatal. In the case of diseases, they are described as terminal. Humans are no different from any other lifeform. Our bodies have an ability for self-repair, but that ability is limited. Finding the cause of death is a medical speciality called pathology. In medicine, death is when the heart stops beating for more than several minutes. There are special times in which people recover even though the heart has stopped for 30 minutes, such as near-drowning in very cold water. If machines are used to help the heart and lungs work, then the moment of death is more difficult to know. Society and culture Death is commonly a sad or unpleasant thing to people. It can make people think about their own death. People might miss or be sad for the person who has died. They might also be sad for the family and friends of the person who has died.

In any society, human death is surrounded by ritual - a wake or funeral is normal. In some places it was common to eat the dead in a form of ritual cannibalism. But this is no longer common, in part because disease like kuru can be passed this way. Human dead bodies are taboo in most societies and must be handled in special ways - for a combination of religious and hygiene reasons. A human dead body must always be reported in law, to be sure it is disposed of properly. In 2021 the leading cause of death in the United States was heart disease followed by cancer and then COVID-19. Dealing with dead bodies and their property

Finding the cause of any human death and stopping a similar death from happening to someone else are the main reasons people look into human morbidity or let dead bodies be cut open and looked at in an autopsy. Some religions do not allow autopsies, because they feel the body is holy. Autopsies are usually required by the state if someone dies and people do not know why. The autopsy helps find out if someone killed the person on purpose, tried to hurt them, or if they died from a sickness. To prepare for their own death, humans can write a last will and testament to be clear about who gets their property and possessions. A person will sometimes also volunteer to be an organ donor. This might mean giving the whole body to medical research. It can also save the lives of others by making organ transplants possible. Religious views of death

For a long time, many people have been afraid of death and a lot of people have wondered about what may happen to people after they die. This is one of the largest questions of philosophy and religion. Many people believe there is some form of afterlife. Ancient rulers sometimes did insist not only that their own bodies, and much property, but even their servants and relatives be destroyed at their funeral. Christianity has a special focus on death because of the state killing of Jesus Christ by the Romans. In Islam this is thought to demonstrate the injustice of human systems of dealing out death, and the ability of the best people to overcome it and even forgive it. In Christianity itself it is thought to prove that Jesus himself was really God and so could lose his body and still have the power of resurrection. In Buddhism reincarnation is believed to occur. Reincarnation is an idea taken from Hinduism.

Confucianism advises respect for parents and forms of ancestor worship to respect both dead and living ancestors. Rituals surrounding death Every ethical tradition including the medical view of the body has some ritual surrounding death. Often these excuse behaviours that might be hated if they did not have the ritual. For instance, one may say that organ transplant is like cannibalism. Very much of what happens at a human death is ritual. People who wish theirs to be dealt with a certain way, and who wish a particular treatment like cremation of their body, should decide in advance and set up the necessary payments and agreements. This makes it much easier for their family after they die, since there is no longer the ability to clearly communicate the wish. For the same reason, saying goodbye is important. Most of the stress of death seems to come for loved ones who "did not have a chance to say goodbye".

Maybe it is to relieve this stress that rituals are created, and to bring together those that knew someone so that the personal experience a person can no longer communicate for themselves, can be exchanged by others. Some ritual, such as seances, claim to allow people to speak to the dead. This is not claimed to be very reliable, both by scientists and even by those who do them very often. Preparing for death Aside from wills, goodbyes, organ donations and funerals, there is important personal experience to decide to pass on, or not, when someone knows they may soon die. Palliative care focuses on basic decisions people make when they are very close to the end of their lives, and it ensures someone is always available to talk to them. It is a replacement for heroic medical intervention that may keep them physically alive but with no quality of life. Human psychology must prepare for death if it is anything other than a quick surprise:

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote that there were several stages in dying, of which denial was the first, and acceptance was the last. Recording one's life is often something people with acceptance will do to leave a memoir or a full autobiography: Because events leave living memory, and may only be part of oral tradition, there are projects to record everything that people remember about World War I and the Shoah. The first of these was to record everything remembered about the U.S. Civil War. This discipline has changed history since we have so many more first person accounts of the times, and made social history much more standard.

Other terms for death There are other terms for death. Examples are, "to pass away", "to go to a better place", "to buy the farm" (generally used in the military), "to leave the earth", "big sleep", and "to kick the bucket". the term gone may also be a term for describing death. for example: if a person has died, they are also said to be gone, as in gone to a better place or no longer here. Unnatural causes of death Old age and illness are not the only things that can end a person's life. People make other people die. This is called killing or murder. Three famous murders are John Wilkes Booth killing Abraham Lincoln, James Earl Ray killing Martin Luther King Jr. and Lee Harvey Oswald killing the President of the United States John F. Kennedy. People can also die by accidents resulting in terminal trauma, hypothermia, starvation, suicide and dehydration. References Related pages Funeral Death (personification) Will (law) Basic English 850 words

A diesel-electric engine is a diesel generator, a diesel engine that drives an electric generator. The generator feeds electric power to an electric motor which turns a driveshaft. Its efficiency is higher than when an engine drives a shaft through gears. Most locomotives and many ships use diesel-electric drive. Many diesel-electric drives, especially small ones, store the electricity in a battery. Some designs also store braking energy in a flywheel, which can also charge a battery. However, these add even more complexity and weight to the vehicle, so are more appropriate for city driving where service stations are always available and there is much stop and go driving.

Because they do not require any change or investment in stations nor much in vehicle design, diesel-electric vehicles are believed to be the most likely replacement for today's internal combustion engine. When properly tuned, they have low emissions and they use only about one-third of the fossil fuel of most gasoline engines powering similar vehicles. Honda and Toyota are presently delivering consumer priced diesel-electric cars. By contrast, hydrogen infrastructure is thought to be decades off, and is not fully implemented even in Iceland where there is abundant free geothermal electricity. In countries like India, government is focusing on fully electric trains rather than diesel electric. That too electricity will be produced by renewable sources like Solar. Many activists feel that promoting hydrogen is a stall, a way to avoid forcing the shift to diesel-electric vehicles in the nearer term. Motors

A foreign embassy is the official office of one country in another. It is usually in the capital city of the other country. It is where the [[ambassador]relationship between the two countries. The head of the embassy is usually an ambassador, but can also be a minister, high commissioner, or other level of diplomatic personnel appointed by the sending country to represent it. Diplomacy

Europe is the western part of the continent of Eurasia, often thought of as its own continent. It is separated from Asia by the Ural Mountains in Russia and the Bosporus strait in Turkey. Europe is bordered by water on three sides. On the west is the Atlantic Ocean. To the north is the Arctic Ocean. The Mediterranean Sea separates Southeastern Europe from Africa. On the eastern border of Europe are the Ural River and Ural Mountains. There are at least 44 countries in Europe (the European identities of 5 transcontinental countries: Cyprus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey are disputed). Most of these countries are members of the European Union. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometers (3,930,000 square miles). This is 2% of the Earth's surface (6.8% of its land area). As of 2017, about 510 million people lived in Europe. Europe contains the world's second most-active volcano, which is Mount Etna that is currently the most-active volcano in the continent.

Europe is a major tourist attraction. People come from all over the world to see its many World Heritage Sites and other attractions. Origin of name Europe is named after a princess in Greek mythology called "Europa." The myth says that Zeus kidnapped Europa and took her to Crete, where she became the mother of King Minos (from whom Europe’s first civilization gets its name, the Minoans). The name "Europa" was later used to describe Greece. Then, as the rest of modern-day Europe started to have cities and empires, the entire area West of the Ural Mountains came to be called "Europa". History The history of Europe is long and has many turns. Many great countries originated from Europe. Greek mythology and the beginning of western civilization came from European nations.

Some of the major periods in European history have been: Ancient Greece (Minoan, Mycenaean, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic): c.2000 BC to 146 BC Ancient Rome (Roman kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire): 753BC-476 Middle Ages (Early, High, Late): 476 to 1492 Early Modern Era (Renaissance, Reformation, Age of Discovery, Enlightenment): 1492-1789 19th Century, 20th Century and 21st Century (French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, Industrial Revolution, Colonialism, World War 1, October Revolution, World War 2, Cold War): 1789-present. Regions and countries Andreas M. Kaplan describes modern Europe as a continent where many different cultures live closely together, "embracing maximum cultural diversity at minimal geographical distances".

There are several major regions of Europe: Eastern Europe Central Europe Western Europe Northern Europe Southern and Southeastern Europe Within these regions, there are up to 48 independent European countries (with the identities of 5 transcontinental countries being disputed). The largest is the Russian Federation, which covers 39% of Europe. The European city with the largest population is Istanbul. The country with the largest population is the Russian Federation. About 15% of Europeans live in Russia. Two European countries, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, are on islands called the British Isles. Climate Most of Europe lies in temperate climate zones. However, there are many different climates throughout Europe. For example, during the winter, it may be snowing and -30 degrees Celsius for 4–5 months in Finland. Yet it may be much warmer, with no snow at all except on high mountains, in Spain.

European organizations Council of Europe European Court of Human Rights European Union Union of European Football Associations Warsaw Pact Organization (1955-1989) European Union The European Union is a confederation of 27 European countries. These countries agree to follow common laws so that their citizens can move and trade in EU countries almost the same as they do in their own. Twenty of these countries also share the same type of money: the euro. List of widely-recognised independent European countries

Geographically in Europe and Asia EU member state Geographically in Europe and Asia EU member state EU member state EU member state EU member state EU member state, geographically in Europe and Asia EU member state EU member state EU member state EU member state Geographically in Europe and Asia EU member state EU member state Geographically in Europe and North America EU member state EU member state EU member state Geographically in Europe and Asia (not fully recognised as independent by other European countries) EU member state EU member state EU member state EU member state EU member state EU member state EU member state EU member state Geographically in Europe and Asia EU member state EU member state EU member state EU member state Geographically in Europe and Asia References Laurasia

An encyclopedia (also known in English as an encyclopædia) is a collection (usually a book or website) of information. Some are called "encyclopedic dictionaries". All encyclopedias were printed, until the late 20th century when some were on CDs and the Internet. 21st century encyclopedias are mostly online by Internet. The largest encyclopedia in the English language is English Wikipedia, which has more than 6 million articles. The second largest is the Encyclopædia Britannica, which is the largest one that is printed. Either kind of encyclopedia can inform us on many different topics. Book series were used to summarize all knowledge have been published for thousands of years. A famous early one was the Natural History by Pliny the Elder. The name "encyclopedia" is from the 16th century and meant "complete knowledge". The French Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot was the first that had major parts written by many people from all around the world.

After the printing press was invented, dictionaries with long definitions began to be called encyclopedias that were books that has articles or subjects For example, a dictionary of science, if it included essays or paragraphs, it was thought of as an encyclopedia or knowledgeable book on the subject of science. Some encyclopedias then put essays on more than one subject in alphabetical order instead of grouping them together by subject. The word, encyclopedia, was put in the title of some encyclopedias. Companies such as Britannica were started for the purpose of publishing encyclopedias for sale to individuals, and for public use in libraries. Like dictionaries (which had definitions), these publishers hired hundreds of experts to write articles and read and choose articles. Some internet encyclopedias allowed their paying customers to submit articles from other encyclopedias. Other internet encyclopedias accepted writing from non-paying users (users who did not sign in) of the encyclopedia.

Types of encyclopedias There are different types of encyclopedias. Some are general and have pages on lots of topics. The English language Encyclopædia Britannica and German Brockhaus are general encyclopedias. Some are about specific topics. For example, there are encyclopedias of medicine or philosophy. Others include the Dictionary of National Biography, the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, and Black's Law Dictionary. There are also encyclopedias that cover many topics with one perspective or one cultural bias. They include the Great Soviet Encyclopedia and Conservapedia. There are two main ways of organizing printed encyclopedias: from A to Z (the alphabetical way) or by categories. Most encyclopedias go from A to Z. Many dictionaries have similar information to encyclopedias. Examples of encyclopedic dictionaries

The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Volume I A–M, volume II NZ. 1971. Oxford University Press. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary . . . Unabridged . . . Merriam-Webster. 1961. Encyclopedia. Springfield, MA: G & C Merriam Company. Fowler's Modern English Usage. Fowler H.W; 2nd revised edition by Gower E. Oxford University Press. Examples of encyclopedias Citizendium Encyclopædia Britannica Encyclopaedia Hebraica Encyclopaedia Metallum Everipedia Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. Funk & Wagnalls, Inc. The Columbia Encyclopedia in one volume. 1940. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Wikipedia References

Earth science is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. Earth science may also be called geoscience. Geoscience is the study of the architecture of the earth. It is a broader term than geology because it includes aspects of planetary science, which is part of astronomy. The Earth sciences include the study of the atmosphere, oceans and biosphere, as well as the solid earth. Typically Earth scientists will use tools from physics, chemistry, biology, chronology and mathematics to understand the Earth, and how it evolved to its current state. If there is one fact which underlies all Earth science it is this; the Earth is an ancient planet which has been changing the whole time since its formation. The extent of the changes is much greater than people used to think. Fields of study

The following disciplines are generally recognised as being within the geosciences: Geology describes the rocky parts of the Earth's crust (or lithosphere) and its historic development. Major subdisciplines are mineralogy and petrology, geochemistry, geomorphology, paleontology, Mineralogy, petrophysics, stratigraphy, structural geology, engineering geology and sedimentology.<ref name="smith 5">Smith, Gary A. & Pun, Aurora 2006. How does the Earth work?. Pearson Prentice Hall, NJ. .</ref> Geophysics and Geodesy investigate the shape of the Earth, its reaction to forces and its magnetic and gravity fields. Geophysicists explore the Earth's core and mantle as well as the tectonic and seismic activity of the lithosphere. Soil science covers the outermost layer of the Earth's crust that is subject to soil formation processes (or pedosphere). Oceanography and hydrology (includes limnology) describe the marine and freshwater domains of the watery parts of the Earth (or hydrosphere). Includes Marine biology.

Glaciology covers the icy parts of the Earth (or cryosphere). Atmospheric sciences cover the gaseous parts of the Earth (or atmosphere) between the surface and the exosphere (about 1000 km). Major subdisciplines are meteorology, climatology, atmospheric chemistry and physics. Astronomy includes the study of distant stars and galaxies to the examination of the 4.6 billion years old Earth from an astronomical point of view. It is also closely related with the study of the solar system and its planets, a subdiscipline called planetology. A more distant relative of astronomy is physical cosmology, which aims to study the Universe as a whole. Closely related to the earth sciences are physical geography and biology.

List of Earth science topics Atmosphere Atmospheric chemistry Climatology Meteorology Paleoclimatology Biosphere Biogeography Paleontology Micropaleontology Hydrosphere Hydrology Limnology Hydrogeology Oceanography Marine biology Paleoceanography Physical oceanography Lithosphere or geosphere Geology Environmental geology Historical geology Planetary geology Sedimentology Stratigraphy Structural geology Geography Physical geography Geochemistry Geomorphology Geophysics Geodynamics (see also Tectonics) Geomagnetics Seismology Glaciology Mineralogy Crystallography Petrology Volcanology Pedosphere Soil science Systems Environmental science Geography Gaia hypothesis Others Engineering Geology Geostatistics Geodesy References

Earth is the third planet from the Sun in the Solar System. It is the only planet known to have life on it. The Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago. It is one of four rocky planets on the inner side of the Solar System. The other three are Mercury, Venus, and Mars. The large mass of the Sun keeps the Earth in orbit through the force of gravity. Earth also turns around in space, so that different parts face the Sun at different times. Earth goes around the Sun once (one year) for every 365 times it turns around (one day). Earth is the only planet in the Solar System that has a large amount of liquid water on its surface. About 74% of the surface of Earth is covered by liquid or frozen water. Because of this, people sometimes call it the blue planet.

Because of its water, Earth is home to millions of species of plants and animals which need water to survive. The things that live on Earth have changed its surface greatly. For example, early cyanobacteria changed the air and gave it oxygen. The living part of Earth's surface is called the "biosphere". Orbit and turning Earth is one of the eight planets in the Solar System. There are also thousands of small bodies which move around the Sun. The Solar System is moving through the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy, and will be for about the next 10,000 years. Earth is about away from the Sun (this distance is called an "Astronomical Unit"). It moves on its orbit at an average speed of about . Earth turns all the way around about 365 times in the time it takes for Earth to go all the way around the Sun. To make up this extra bit of a day every year, an additional day is used every four years. This is named a "leap year".

The Moon goes around Earth at an average distance of . It is locked to Earth, so that it always has the same half facing Earth; the other half is called the "dark side of the moon". It takes about 27 days for the Moon to go all the way around Earth, but because Earth is moving around the Sun at the same time, it takes about 29 days for the Moon to go from dark to bright to dark again. This is where the word "month" came from, even though most months now have 30 or 31 days. History of Earth Earth and the other planets formed about 4.6 billion years ago. Their origin was quite different from that of the Sun. The Sun was formed almost entirely of hydrogen, while the planets were formed mostly from higher elements. The smaller "rocky" planets are made almost entirely of higher elements. The Sun must have moved through areas where supernovae had previously exploded. All the planets have higher elements which are only made in supernovae. Only the so-called "gas giants" have much hydrogen and helium.

The Moon may have been formed after a collision between the early Earth and a smaller planet (sometimes called Theia). Scientists believe that parts of both planets broke off becoming (by gravity) the Moon. Earth's water came from different places. Condensing water vapour, and comets and asteroids hitting Earth, made the oceans. Within a billion years (that is at about 3.6 billion years ago) the first life evolved, in the Archaean era. Some bacteria developed photosynthesis, which let them make food from the Sun's light and water. This released a lot of oxygen, which was first taken up by iron in solution. Eventually, free oxygen got into the atmosphere or air, making Earth's surface suitable for aerobic life (see Great Oxygenation Event). This oxygen also formed the ozone layer which protects life from ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. Complex life on the surface of the land did not exist before the ozone layer.

Earth's land and climate has been very different in the past. About 3 to 3.5 billion years ago almost all land was in one place. This is called a supercontinent. The earliest known supercontinent was called Vaalbara. Much later, there was a time (the Cryogenian) when Earth was almost entirely covered by thick ice sheets (glaciers). This is discussed as the Snowball Earth theory. What it is made of Earth is rocky. It is the largest of the rocky planets moving around the Sun by mass and by size. It is much smaller than the gas giants such as Jupiter. Chemical make-up Overall, Earth is made of iron (32.1%), oxygen (30.1%), silicon (15.1%), magnesium (13.9%), sulfur (2.9%), nickel (1.8%), calcium (1.5%), and aluminium (1.4%). The 1.2% left over is made of many different kinds of other chemicals. Some rare metals (not just gold and platinum) are very valuable. Rare Earth metals are used in all types of electronic phones and computers.

The structure of Earth changes from the inside to the outside. The center of Earth (Earth's core) is mostly iron (88.8%), nickel (5.8%), sulfur (4.5%), and less than 1% other elements. The Earth's crust is largely oxygen (47%). Oxygen is normally a gas but it can join with other chemicals to make compounds like water and rocks. 99.22% of rocks have oxygen in them. The most common oxygen-having rocks are silica (made with silicon), alumina (made with aluminium), rust (made with iron), lime (made with calcium), magnesia (made with magnesium), potash (made with potassium), and sodium oxide, and there are others as well. Density The Earth is the densest of all the planets. It has a lot of heavy metals in it.

Shape Earth's shape is a spheroid: not quite a sphere because it is slightly squashed on the top and bottom. The shape is called an oblate spheroid. As Earth spins around itself, centrifugal force forces the equator out a little and pulls the poles in a little. The equator, around the middle of Earth's surface, is about long. The reason the Earth is roughly a sphere (and so are all planets and stars) is gravity. Meteorites, on the other hand may be any shape because, in their case, the force of gravity is too weak to change their shape.

The highest mountain above sea level—the well-known Mount Everest (which is above sea level)—is not actually the one that is the farthest away from the center of the Earth. Instead, the sleeping volcano Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador is; it is only above sea level but it is almost at the equator. Because of this, Mount Chimborazo is from the center of the Earth, while Mount Everest is closer to it. Similarly, the lowest point below sea level that we are conscious of is the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. It is about below sea level, but, again, there are probably places at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean that are nearer to the center of the Earth. Earth’s core The deepest hole ever dug is only about . We know something about the inside of the Earth, though, because we can learn things from earthquakes and the times when volcanoes erupt. We are able to see how quickly the shock waves move through Earth in different places.

The inside of Earth is very different from the outside. Almost all of Earth's liquid water is in the seas or close to the surface. The surface also has a lot of oxygen, which comes from plants. Small and simple kinds of life can live far under the surface, but animals and plants only live on the surface or in the seas. The rocks on the surface of Earth (Earth's crust) are well known. They are thicker where there is land, between thick. Under the seas they are sometimes only thick. There are three groups of rocks that make up most of the Earth's crust. Some rock is made when the hot liquid rock comes from inside the earth (igneous rocks); another type of rock is made when sediment is laid down, usually under the sea (sedimentary rocks); and a third kind of rock is made when the other two are changed by very high temperature or pressure (metamorphic rocks). A very few rocks also fall out of the sky (meteorites).

Below the crust is hot and almost-liquid rock which is always moving around (the Earth's mantle). Then, there is a thin liquid layer of heated rock (the outer core). This is very hot: . The middle of the inside of the Earth would be liquid as well but all the pressure of the rock above it makes it a solid. This solid middle part (the inner core) is almost all iron. It is what makes the Earth magnetic. Pieces of the crust form plates The Earth's crust is solid but made of parts which move very slowly. The thin skin of hard rock on the outside of the Earth rests on hot liquid material below it in the deeper mantle. This liquid material moves because it gets heat from the hot center of the Earth. The slow movement of the plates is what causes earthquakes, volcanoes and large groups of mountains on the Earth.

There are three ways plates can come together. Two plates can move towards each other ("convergent" plate edges). This can form islands, volcanoes, and high mountain ranges (such as the Andes and Himalayas). Two plates can move away from each other ("divergent" plate edges). This gives the warm liquid rock inside the earth a place to come out. This makes special mountain ranges below the sea or large low lands like Africa's Great Rift Valley. Plates are able to move beside each other as well ("transform" plate edges, such as the San Andreas Fault). This makes their edges crush against each other and makes many shocks as they move.

Surface The outside of the Earth is not even. There are high places called mountains, and high flat places called plateaus. There are low places called valleys and canyons. For the most part, moving air and water from the sky and seas eats away at rocks in high places and breaks them into small pieces. The air and water then move these pieces to lower places. Because of this, the Earth would have been very flat a long time before now. The fundamental cause of the differences in the Earth's surface is plate tectonics. The shape of the entire planet itself is not a ball. Because of its spin, Earth has a slight bulge at the Equator.

All places on Earth are made of, or are on top of, rocks. The outside of the Earth is usually not uncovered rock. Over 70% of the Earth is covered by seas full of salty water. This salty water makes up about 97% of all Earth's water. The drinkable fresh water is mostly in the form of ice. There is only a small amount (less than 3%) of fresh water in rivers and under the ground for people to drink. The air above the Earth stops the water from going away into outer space. Also, much of the land on Earth is covered with plants, or with what is left from earlier living things. Places with very little rain are dry wastes called deserts. Deserts usually have few living things, but life is able to grow very quickly when these wastes have rainfall. Places with large amounts of rain may be rain forests. Lately, people have changed the environment of the Earth a great deal. As population has increased, so has farming. Farming is done on what were once natural forests and grassland. Air

Air All around the Earth is the of air (the atmosphere). The mass of the Earth holds the gasses in the air down and does not let them go into outer space. The air is mostly made of nitrogen (about 78%) and oxygen (about 21%) and there are a few other gasses as well. Most living things need the air (or, more precisely, the oxygen) to breathe and live. They use the gasses – especially oxygen and carbon dioxide – to make and use sugar and to give themselves power.

The air animals and plants use to live is only the first level of the air around the Earth (the troposphere). The day to day changes in this level of air are called weather; the larger differences between distant places and from year to year are called the climate. Rain and storms come about because this part of the air gets colder as it goes up. Cold air becomes thicker and falls, and warm air becomes thinner and goes up. The turning Earth moves the air as well and air moves north and south because the middle of the Earth generally gets more power from the Sun and is warmer than the north and south points. Air over warm water evaporates but, because cold air is not able to take in as much water, it starts to make clouds and rain as it gets colder. The way water moves around in a circle like this is called the water cycle.

Above this first level, there are four other levels. The air gets colder as it goes up in the first level; in the second level (the stratosphere), the air gets warmer as it goes up. This level has a special kind of oxygen called ozone. The ozone in this air keeps living things safe from damaging rays from the Sun. The power from these rays is what makes this level warmer and warmer. The middle level (the mesosphere) gets colder and colder with height; the fourth level (the thermosphere) gets warmer and warmer; and the last level (the exosphere) is almost outer space and has very little air at all. It reaches about half the way to the Moon. The three outer levels have a lot of electric power moving through them; this is called the ionosphere and is important for radio and other electric waves in the air. It is also where the Northern Lights are.

Even though air seems very light, the weight of all of the air above the outside of the Earth (air pressure) is important. Generally, from sea level to the top of the outer level of the air, a space of air one cm2 across has a mass of about 1.03 kg and a space of air one sq in across has a weight of about 14.7 lb. Because of the air, small meteorites generally burn up long before they get to the earth.

The air also keeps the Earth warm, specially the half turned away from the Sun. Some gasses – especially methane and carbon dioxide – work like a blanket to keep things warm. In the past, the Earth has been much warmer and much colder than it is now. Since people have grown used to the heat we have now, though, we do not want the Earth to be too much warmer or colder. Most of the ways people create electric power use burning kinds of carbon – especially coal, oil, and natural gas. Burning these creates new carbon dioxide and can cause more warming. A discussion is going on now about what people should do about the Earth's latest warming, which has gone on for about 150 years. So far, this warming has been acceptable: plants have grown better. The weather has been better than when it was colder. Bad things may happen if the warming goes on.

People About eight billion people live on Earth. They live in about 200 different lands called countries. Some, for example, Russia, are large with many large cities. Others, for example, Vatican City, are small. The seven countries with the most people are China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Brazil and Nigeria. About 90% of people live in the northern hemisphere of the world, which has most of the land. Human beings originally came from Africa. Now, 70% of all people do not live in Africa but in Europe and Asia.

People change the Earth in many ways. They have been able to grow plants for food and clothes for about ten thousand years. When there was enough food, they were able to build towns and cities. Near these places, men and women were able to change rivers, bring water to farms, and stop floods (rising water) from coming over their land. People found useful animals and bred them so they were easier to keep. Future There is wide agreement that the future of Earth is tied to the future of the Sun. As time passes, the Sun will get hotter, and that will eventually make the Earth uninhabitable. Gallery Related pages Formation and evolution of the Solar System Age of the Earth Geology List of planets Solar System Structure of the Earth References Other websites ("WP discussion") Basic English 850 words Earth Geology Astronomical objects Planets Terrestrial planets

Et cetera means "and the rest" in Latin. It is often used in English to continue a list that is longer than what can be normally written. People most often write "et cetera" as etc.. Very rarely, it is also written "&c" because the ampersand, or the "&", is the same as "et", having been formed by 'e' and 't' being joined into a single letter. It is also the symbol for "and". Some people write it as "ect", but that is wrong since it incorrectly abbreviates "et cetera". Examples "Jane has a lot of pets. She has cats, dogs, cows, horses, kangaroos, rabbits, etc." "Robert ordered a large amount of groceries in order to stock for later. He ordered carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, eggs, etc." "Rocco ordered a lot of chips. He ordered cheese puffs, potato chips, Pringles, etc." Latin phrases

An experiment is a test of an idea or a method. It is often used by scientists and engineers. An experiment is used to see how well the idea matches the real world. Experiments have been used for many years to help people understand the world around them. Experiments are part of scientific method. Many experiments are controlled experiments or even blind experiments. Many are done in a laboratory. But thought experiments are done in mind.