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CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA NEW EDITION



CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA

LONDON, NEW YORK, MELBOURNE, MUNICH, AND DELHI First edition 1991 Senior Editor Ann Kramer Senior Art Editor Miranda Kennedy Editors Christiane Gunzi, Susan McKeever, Richard Platt, Clifford Rosney Art Editors Muffy Dodson, Debra Lee, Christian Sévigny, Val Wright Picture Research Anne Lyons Additional Research Anna Kunst, Deborah Murrell Picture Manager Kate Fox Production Manager Teresa Solomon Editorial Director Sue Unstead Seventh edition 2010 Editor Ashwin Khurana Senior Art Editor Sheila Collins Project Editor Jenny Finch Managing Editor Linda Esposito Managing Art Editor Diane Thistlethwaite Publishing Manager Andrew Macintyre Category Publisher Laura Buller Picture Researchers Myriam Megharbi, Karen VanRoss DK Picture Library Martin Copeland Senior Cartographic Editor Simon Mumford Production Controller Angela Graef Production Editor Marc Staples Jacket Designer Natalie Godwin Jacket Editor Mariza O’Keeffe, Joanna Pocock Jacket Manager Sophia Tampakopoulos US Editor Nancy Ellwood First American edition 1991: revised 1993, 1998, 2000, 2006 This edition published in the United States in 2010 by DK Publishing 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 10 11 12 13 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 176414 - 05/10 Copyright © 1991, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2010 by Dorling Kindersley Limited London. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited. First published in the United States under the title The Random Hosue Children’s Encyclopedia by Random House in 1991. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN: 978-0-75665-759-8 Hi-res workflow proofed by Colourscan, Singapore Printed and bound by Hung Hing, China Discover more at www.dk.com

CONTENTS HOW TO USE Black Death 76 D French Revolution 224 THE WEBSITE 7 Black holes 77 Frogs and other Brain and nerves 78 Dams 151 amphibians 225 A Dance 152 Brazil 79-81 Darwin, Charles 153 Fruits and seeds 226-227 Abolitionist movement 8 Bridges 82 Declaration of Independence Aboriginal Australians 9 Bronze Age 83 Gas 228 Buddhism 84 154 Genetics 229-230 Africa 10-13 Butterflies and moths Deep-sea wildlife 155-156 Africa, history of 14-15 Geology 231 African Americans 16 85-86 Democracy 157 Germany 232-235 Byzantine Empire 87 Depression of the 1930s Glaciers and ice caps 236 Aircraft 17-18 Glass and ceramics 237 Alexander the Great 19 C 158 Government and politics Desert wildlife 159-160 Alphabets 20 Caesar, Julius 88 238-240 American Revolution 21-22 Cameras 89 Digestion 161 Grassland wildlife 241-242 Dinosaurs 162-163 Animals 23-24 Camouflage, animal 90 Gravity 243 Animal senses 25-26 Canada 91-93 Disease 164 Greece 244 Dogs, wolves, and foxes Greece, Ancient 245-246 Antarctica 27-28 Canada, history of 94 Ants and termites 29 Caribbean 95-96 165-166 HtI Archaeology 30-31 Cars 97-98 Drugs 167 Architecture 32-33 Castles 99-100 Habsburgs 247 Cats 101-102 E Health and fitness 248-249 Arctic 34-35 Argentina 36-37 Caucasus Republics 103 Ears 168 Heart and blood 250 Caves 104 Earth 169-170 Heat 251-252 Armor 38 Celts 105 Earthquakes 171 Asia 39-42 East Africa 172-174 Helicopters 253 Asia, history of 43-44 Central Africa Ecology and food webs Hibernation 254 Assyrians 45 106-107 Astronauts and 175-176 Hinduism 255 space travel 46 Central America 108-109 Edison, Thomas 177 Hispanic Americans 256 Astronomy 47-48 Central Asia 110-111 Egypt, Ancient 178-179 Atlantic Ocean 49-50 Charlemagne 112 Einstein, Albert 180 Hockey 257 Atmosphere 51 Chemistry 113 Electricity 181-182 Holidays 258 Atoms and molecules 52 China 114-117 Holocaust 259 Australia 53-56 Christianity 118-119 Electronics 183 Horses, zebras, and asses Australia, history of 57-58 Churchill, Sir Winston Elephants 184 Austria 59 120 Elizabeth I 185 260-261 Aztecs 60 Cities 121 Human body 262-263 Civil rights 122 Energy 186 B Civil War 123-124 Engines 187-188 Human rights 264 Climates 125 English Civil War 189 Babylonians 61 Europe 190-193 Immigration 265-266 Baltic States and Belarus 62 Clocks and watches 126 European Union 194 Incas 267 Coal 127 Europe, history of 195-196 Barbarians 63 Evolution 197-198 India and subcontinent Barton, Clara 64 Cold War 128-129 Explorers 199-200 268-271 Colombia 130 Baseball 65 Eyes 201 Indian Ocean 272-273 Basketball 66 Colonial America 131 Industrial Revolution Color 132 FtG Bats 67 274-275 Bears and pandas 68 Columbus, Christopher Farm animals 202-203 Indus Valley civilization 276 133 Farming 204 Bees and wasps 69 Information technology Beetles 70 Comets and meteors 134 Farming, history of 205 277-278 Communism 135 Fish 206-207 Benin Kingdom 71 Insects 279-280 Big Bang 72 Composers 136-137 Fishing industry 208 Internet 281 Biology 73 Computers 138-139 Flies and mosquitoes 209 Inuits 282 Birds 74-75 Iran 283 Congress 140 Flight, animal 210-211 Conquistadors 141 Flowers and herbs 212-213 Conservation and endangered species Football 214 Force and motion 215 142-143 Forest wildlife 216-217 Constitution 144 Continents 145 Fossils 218 Cook, James 146 France 219-222 Corals, anemones, and Franklin, Benjamin 223 jellyfish 147 Crabs and other crustaceans 148 Crocodiles and alligators 149 Crusades 150

Ireland 284-285 Muhammad 361 Prehistoric life 422-423 T Iron Age 286 Muscles and movement 362 Prehistoric peoples 424 Technology 513-514 Iron and steel 287 Mushrooms, toadstools, Presidency 425 Teeth 515 Islam 288 and other fungi 363 Israel 289 Music 364-365 R Telephones 516 Musical instruments Telescopes 517 Italy 290-292 366-367 Radio 426 Television 518-519 Radioactivity 427 Theater 520-521 JtKtL Myths and legends 368 Rain and snow 428 Reformation 429 Time 522 Japan 293-295 NtO Religions 430-431 Tornadoes and hurricanes Jefferson, Thomas 296 Renaissance 432-433 Napoleon Bonaparte 369 Reproduction 434-435 523 Jesus Christ 297 National parks 370 Reptiles 436-437 Trade and industry Joan of Arc 298 Native Americans 371-372 Rivers 438 524-525 Judaism 299 Navigation 373 Robots 439 Trains 526-527 Rockets and missiles 440 Transportation, history of Kennedy, John F. 300 Nests and burrows 374 Rocks and minerals 441-442 King, Jr., Martin Luther 301 New Zealand 375-376 Roman Empire 443-444 528-529 New Zealand, history of 377 Roosevelt, Franklin Trees 530-531 Knights and heraldry Delano 445 Tubman, Harriet 532 302-303 Normans 378 Russian Federation 446-449 Turkey 533-534 North Africa 379-380 Russian Revolution 450 Korea 304 North America 381-384 UtVtW Korean War 305 Nuclear energy 385 S Ukraine 535 Labor movement 306 Numbers 386 Satellites 451 United Kingdom 536-539 Lake and river wildlife Scandinavia 452-454 United Kingdom, history of Oceans and seas 307-308 387-388 Science 455 540-541 Lakes 309 Science, history of 456-457 United Nations 542 Languages 310 Ocean wildlife 389-390 Seashore wildlife 458-459 United States of America Law 311-312 Octopuses and squid 391 Shakespeare, William 460 Leonardo da Vinci 313 543-546 Lewis and Clark 314 Oil 392 Sharks and rays 461 United States, history of Light 315-316 Olympic Games 393 Shells and shellfish 462 Lincoln, Abraham 317 Ottoman Empire 394 Ships and boats 463-464 547-548 Lions, tigers, and other Universe 549 big cats 318-319 Oxygen 395 Skeletons 465-466 Literature 320-321 Slavery 467-468 Victorians 550-551 Lizards 322-323 P Vietnam War 552 Low Countries 324-325 Snails and slugs 469 Lungs and breathing 326 Pacific Ocean 396-397 Snakes 470 Vikings 553 Painters 398-399 Soccer 471 Volcanoes 554 M Painting 400-401 Soil 472 Sound 473 Washington, George Machines 327-328 Persians, Ancient 402 555 Magnetism 329 Phoenicians 403 South Africa 474-475 South America 476-479 Water 556-557 Mammals 330-331 Photography 404-405 South America, history of Weather 558-559 Mandela, Nelson 332 Physics 406 Weights and measures Pilgrims 407 480-481 Mao Zedong 333 Pirates 408 Southeast Asia 482-485 560 Marsh and Southeast Europe, Central West Africa 561-564 Planets 409-410 Western expansion 565 swamp wildlife 334 Plants 411-412 486-487 Whales and dolphins 566-567 Mathematics 335 Southeast Europe, Plastics 413 Mediterranean 488-489 Wheels 568 Maya 336 Polar wildlife 414-415 Southern Africa 490-491 Wind 569 Medicine 337 Political parties 416 Soviet Union, history of Women’s rights 570-571 Medicine, history of 338-339 Wonders of the ancient Medieval Europe 340-341 Pollution 417-418 492-493 world 572 Ports and waterways 419 Space flight 494-495 World War I 573-574 Metals 342 World War II 575-576 Mexico 343-344 Portugal 420-421 Spain 496-499 Worms 577 Microscopes 345 Spiders and scorpions Writers and poets Microscopic life 346 Middle East 347-349 500 578-579 Migration, animal 350 Sports 501-502 Stars 503-504 XtZ Money 351 Statue of Liberty Mongol Empire 352 X-rays 580 505 Zoos 581 Monkeys and Stone Age 506 apes 353-354 INDEX 582–593 Moon 355 Storms 507 Gazetteer 594-596 Mosses, liverworts, Submarines 508 and ferns 356 Sumerians 509 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Mountains 357 597–600 Mountain wildlife 358 Sun 510 Movies 359-360 Supreme Court 511 Switzerland 512

ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT TO ZOOS HOW TO USE THE WEBSITE 1. Enter the website address www.children.dkonline.com 2. Find the keyword at the top of the page above the entry heading. 3. Enter the keyword. 4. Click on the chosen link. 5. Go back to the book for your next chosen subject. 6. Enter a new keyword. HAPPY SURFING! 7

www.children.dkonline.com >> abolition ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT WOMEN JOIN THE FIGHT THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE promised equality for all, Among several important female campaigners, Sojourner Truth leading many Americans to question the inequalities of slavery. A movement (above) played an active role in to abolish slavery and the slave trade took root throughout the Northern the abolitionist movement. Born states in the late 1780s. Its supporters were known as abolitionists. Although into slavery in 1797, she was freed there had been protests against slavery since colonial times, in 1827. She traveled the nation mostly by religious groups, the slave population continued with her moving message about to grow, and tensions between the free states of the the rights of slaves and women. North and the slave states of the South escalated. Through newspapers, speeches, and public meetings, abolitionists spread the word about the horrors of slavery, despite strong opposition by Southern slaveholders and their supporters. Others helped support the Underground Railroad, a network of houses and people who illegally helped escaping slaves reach safety in the nonslave states. Their crusade spread to England, where abolitionists worked to end the international slave trade. UNCLE TOM’S CABIN No other abolitionist writing had the political impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe. After a trip to a Kentucky plantation, a horrified Stowe FREDERICK DOUGLASS decided to write about the evils of slavery. Her novel was Born a slave in Maryland, Frederick simple and melodramatic, but its vivid descriptions of Douglass escaped to New York when suffering and cruelty turned many people against slavery. he was 21 years old. He became one Sales were astonishing – 300,000 copies were sold within of the greatest antislavery speakers of a year. In the South, Stowe was brutally criticized, but her book proved an effective attack on slavery. his time, highlighting the terrible treatment of slaves. His newspaper, North Star, advocated equality not only for slaves but also for women. FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM Those who opposed slavery joined together to fight for JOHN BROWN its abolition. Abolitionists traveled throughout the North, Some abolitionists felt slavery could only be spreading their message through rallies, debates, and ended by force. In October 1859 abolitionist speeches. One of the most powerful groups was the John Brown and a small band of followers American Antislavery Society, founded in 1833. Its mounted an unsuccessful raid on a government founder, William Lloyd Garrison, published a newspaper weapons store at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The called The Liberator to campaign for an end to slavery. local militia killed most of his men, and Brown was captured, tried for treason, and hanged. An abolitionist rally Find out more Civil rights Civil war Declaration of independence Tubman, harriet 8

www.children.dkonline.com >> Aboriginal Australians ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS THE FIRST INHABITANTS of Australia were nomadic (wandering) people who reached the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years ago. When Europeans settled in Australia at the end of the 18th century, they called these native inhabitants “Aboriginals,” meaning people who had lived there since the earliest times. Today there are about 455,000 Aboriginals in Australia. Most live in cities, but a few thousand still try to follow a traditional way of life. They travel through the bush, hunting with spears and boomerangs (throwing sticks) and searching for food such as plants, grubs, and insects. They have few ART possessions and make everything they need from natural materials. This way Aboriginal art is mostly of life does not change or harm the fragile environment of the Australian about outback (the interior). The well-being of the land, and its plants and Dreamtime animals, are vital and sacred to the Aboriginal people. and is made as part of the ceremonies celebrating Private ceremonies and secret Dreamtime. Paintings of the people, rituals are an important spirits, and animals of Dreamtime cover sacred cliffs and rocks in tribal part of Aboriginal life. territories. The pictures are made in Through dancing, singing, and red and yellow ocher and white clay, chanting, young and some are thousands of years old. Aboriginal people learn about Dancers, singers, and musicians paint The didjeridoo, a wooden wind their bodies with elaborate patterns. instrument, is used to play basic DREAMTIME rhythms in Aboriginal music. Aboriginal Australians believe that they have animal, plant, and human ancestors who created the world and everything in it. This process of creation is called Dreamtime. There are many songs and myths about Dreamtime, which generations of Aboriginal people have passed down to their children. URBAN LIFE LAND CLAIMS The majority of Aboriginal Australians live in cities and towns. Some When British settlers arrived in have benefited from government education and aid programs and Australia, they seized sacred sites have careers as teachers, doctors, and lawyers. Many, though, are poor and other land that belonged to and isolated from white society. They have lost touch with traditional Aboriginal people. With the help Aboriginal tribal ways, and because they do not fit neatly into white of Aboriginal lawyers, Aboriginal Australian society, they cannot always share its benefits. However, Australians campaigned to get there are now campaigns among urban Aboriginal people to the land back. In 1976 the revive interest in the tribal culture of their ancestors. Australian government agreed that Aboriginal people have The curved returning BOOMERANGS rights to their tribal territories, boomerang is used and some land was returned. only for sport. As well as the curved Find out more returning boomerang, Aboriginal Australia Australians use a straight, non-returning boomerang as a weapon for fighting and Australia, history of for hunting mammals such as kangaroos. Dance Musical instruments Myths and legends 9

www.children.dkonline.com >> Africa AFRICA FEW REGIONS OF THE WORLD are as varied as Africa. On this vast continent there are 53 independent nations and many times this number of peoples and ancient cultures. There are mountains, valleys, plains, and swamps on a scale not seen elsewhere. The northern coast is rich and fertile; below it lies the dry Sahara Desert. South of the Sahara, lush rain forest grows. Most of southern and eastern Africa is savanna, a form of dry plain dotted with trees and bushes. The nations of Africa are generally poor, Africa is roughly triangular in shape. The Atlantic Ocean lies to though some, such as Nigeria, have rich natural resources. Many governments are unstable, and the west and the Indian Ocean to the east. In the northwest SCHOOLS rebellions and civil wars are common. There are only a few miles of sea separate Schools in African towns and cities are much like few large cities; most are near the coast. The rest the African continent schools anywhere in the world. Sometimes, however, of the continent is open countryside from Europe. pupils must walk many miles from their homes where people follow traditional lifestyles. to the schoolhouse. The Ashanti peoples of The tall Masai of The Tuareg West Africa are Kenya herd peoples who mainly farmers. cattle on the inhabit the Sahara open plains. are pastoralists. PEOPLE Few pygmies are taller than 4 ft In the African countryside many people live in tribal villages. Some, (1.25 m). They live such as the Kikuyu of East Africa, are in the dense Congo descended from tribes that have lived in the same place for many centuries. rain forest. Others are recent immigrants from other parts of Africa or from other continents. The Bushmen Borders between countries take little account of these varied cultures. People roam the deserts of of one culture may live in two different countries, and in one nation may be southern Africa and found more than a dozen different gather wild food tribal groupings. from the harsh environment. The towers of mosques dominate Cairo’s skyline. CAIRO KILIMANJARO Cairo is the capital city of Egypt and the largest city in Africa, with The tallest and most beautiful a population of nearly 17 million. It sits on the Nile River near the head mountain in Africa is of the river’s delta. The older part of the city contains narrow, winding Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania. streets. The new city has wider streets and many modern office buildings Its highest peak, which rises and flats. The people of Cairo are mostly Egyptian, although some come 19,340 ft (5,895 m), is an from all over North Africa, as well as from Europe and the Middle East. extinct volcano. Although the mountain is only a few miles from the equator, the top is always covered in snow. A footpath leads to the top, which can be reached in three days from the nearest road. Many people live on the lower slopes, where they farm tropical fruits. 10

AFRICA SAHARA DESERT The Sahara is the largest desert in the world and covers nearly one-third of Africa. In recent years the desert has spread, destroying farmland and causing famine. In some areas irrigation has stopped the spread of the desert, but long-term irrigation can make the soil salty and infertile. Temperatures have been known to exceed 120˚F (50˚C) in this inhospitable environment. In West Africa MUSIC AND CULTURE MEDICINE AND HEALING drumming is a Africa has a rich and varied highly developed culture. North Africa shares When seeking a cure for sickness, some art. People once the Islamic traditions of the Africans consult Western-style doctors. used drum Middle East, producing Others consult a traditional healer beats to pass (above). Healers are respected on messages. beautiful mosques and palaces. members of a community, with vast West African music has a strong knowledge of local herbs and plants and rhythm, and there are many the ways in which they can be used as interesting dances from this medicines. To identify the source of an region. The area is also home illness, the healer might contact good or to a flourishing woodcarving evil spirits by going into a trance. Treatment may include animal sacrifice. industry. Eastern and southern Africa have become famous for beautiful beadwork and colorful festive costumes. WAR AND FAMINE Civil wars and famines are common in Africa. Many are caused by political disagreements, and some are the result of tribal conflicts. In Chad a civil war lasting many years was fought between the desert Tuaregs, backed by Libya, and the farmers of the wetter areas. In Rwanda and Burundi fighting between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes led to thousands of deaths. Other misery is caused by famine. Traditionally, most people grew enough food each year to last until the next harvest. However, African countries increasingly produce export crops and rely on imported food. If food distribution breaks down or RURAL LIFE drought ruins crops, thousands of people may starve. Although African cities have been growing fast, most Africans still live in the countryside. Road building in Nigeria They grow their own food and only rarely have a surplus to sell or exchange for other goods. Most tribes have farmed the same land for generations, living in villages with all of their relatives. Sometimes the young men go to live in cities for a few years to earn money in mines or factories. Then they return to the village to marry and settle down. The types of crops grown vary widely. Yams, cassava, and bananas are produced in the lush tropical regions; farmers in drier areas concentrate on cattle and grain. DEVELOPMENT Find out more Poor infrastructure, including unreliable roads, Africa, history of railroads, and electricity Central africa supplies, holds back the East africa economic growth of many South africa African nations. Most West africa countries rely on loans from Western governments and international banks to pay for their development programs. 11

AFRICA POLITICAL AFRICA CONGO LESOTHO SÃO TOMÉ Independent African states, with Area: 132,040 sq miles Area: 11,718 sq miles AND PRÍNCIPE few exceptions, are territorially (342,000 sq km) (30,350 sq km) Area: 386 sq miles identical to the colonies they Population: 4,013,000 Population: 2,131,000 (1,001 sq km) replaced. Until the 1960s, most of Capital: Brazzaville Capital: Maseru Population: 213,000 Africa was controlled by European Capital: São Tomé countries as part of their overseas DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC LIBERIA empires. By the late 1980s, nearly OF THE CONGO Area: 43,000 sq miles SENEGAL every country had gained its Area: 905,563 sq miles (111,370 sq km) Area: 75,950 sq miles independence. In many cases, (2,345,410 sq km) Population: 3,442,000 (196,720 sq km) hasty attempts were made to set Population: 68,693,000 Capital: Monrovia Population: 13,712,000 up European-style governments. Capital: Kinshasa Capital: Dakar Leaders often became dictators, LIBYA or the army seized power. However, DJIBOUTI Area: 679,358 sq miles SEYCHELLES in recent years, there has been a Area: 8,958 sq miles (1,759,540 sq km) Area: 176 sq miles shift toward multiparty democracy. (23,200 sq km) Population: 6,310,000 (455 sq km) Population: 516,000 Capital: Tripoli Population: 87,000 ALGERIA Capital: Djibouti Capital: Victoria Area: 919,590 sq miles MADAGASCAR (2,381,740 sq km) EGYPT Area: 226,660 sq miles SIERRA LEONE Population: 34,178,000 Area: 386,660 sq miles (587,040 sq km) Area: 27,699 sq miles Capital: Algiers (1,001,450 sq km) Population: 20,654,000 (71,740 sq km) Population: 83,083,000 Capital: Antananarivo Population: 6,440,000 ANGOLA Capital: Cairo Capital: Freetown Area: 481,551 sq miles MALAWI (1,246,700 sq km) EQUATORIAL GUINEA Area: 45,745 sq miles SOMALIA Population: 12,799,000 Area: 10,830 sq miles (118,480 sq km) Area: 246,200 sq miles Capital: Luanda (28,050 sq km) Population: 14,269,000 (637,660 sq km) Population: 633,000 Capital: Lilongwe Population: 9,832,000 BENIN Capital: Malabo Capital: Mogadishu Area: 43,480 sq miles MALI (112,620 sq km) ERITREA Area: 478,837 sq miles SOUTH AFRICA Population: 8,791,000 Area: 45,406 sq miles (1,240,190 sq km) Area: 471,443 sq miles Capital: Porto-Novo (117,600 sq km) Population: 12,667,000 (1,221,040 sq km) Population: 5,647,000 Capital: Bamako Population: 49,052,000 BOTSWANA Capital: Asmara Capital: Pretoria/Tshwane Area: 231,804 sq miles MAURITANIA 600,370 sq km ETHIOPIA Area: 397,955 sq miles SUDAN Population: 1,991,000 Area: 426,373 sq miles (1,030,700 sq km) Area: 967,493 sq miles Capital: Gaborone (1,104,300 sq km) Population: 3,129,000 (2,505,815 sq km) Population: 85,237,000 Capital: Nouakchott Population: 41,088,000 BURKINA FASO Capital: Addis Ababa Capital: Khartoum Area: 105,870 sq miles MAURITIUS (274,200 sq km) GABON Area: 7172 sq miles SWAZILAND Population: 15,746,000 Area: 103,347 sq miles (2,040 sq km) Area: 6,703 sq miles Capital: Ouagadougou (267,670 sq km) Population: 1,284,000 (17,360 sq km) Population: 1,515,000 Capital: Port Louis Population: 1,124,000 BURUNDI Capital: Libreville Capital: Mbabane Area: 10,750 sq miles MOROCCO (27,830 sq km) GAMBIA Area: 172,414 sq miles TANZANIA Population: 8,988,000 Area: 4,363 sq miles (446,550 sq km) Area: 364,900 sq miles Capital: Bujumbura (11,300 sq km) Population: 34,859,000 (945,090 sq km) Population: 1,783,000 Capital: Rabat Population: 41,049,000 CAMEROON Capital: Banjul Capital: Dodoma Area: 183,570 sq miles MOZAMBIQUE (475,440 sq km) GHANA Area: 309,493 sq miles TOGO Population: 18,879,000 Area: 92,456 sq miles (801,590 sq km) Area: 21,927 sq miles Capital: Yaoundé (239,460 sq km) Population: 21,669,278 (56,790 sq km) Population: 23,832,000 Capital: Maputo Population: 6,020,000 CAPE VERDE Capital: Accra Capital: Lomé Area: 1,557 sq miles NAMIBIA (4,033 sq km) GUINEA Area: 318,260 sq miles TUNISIA Population: 429,000 Area: 94,926 sq miles (824,290 sq km) Area: 63,170 sq miles Capital: Praia (245,860 sq km) Population: 2,109,000 (163,610 sq km) Population: 10,058,000 Capital: Windhoek Population: 10,486,000 CENTRAL AFRICAN Capital: Conakry Capital: Tunis REPUBLIC NIGER Area: 240,535 sq miles GUINEA-BISSAU Area: 489,188 sq miles UGANDA (622,984 sq km) Area: 13,940 sq miles (1,267,000 sq km) Area: 91,136 sq miles Population: 4,511,000 (36,120 sq km) Population: 15,306,000 (236,040 sq km) Capital: Bangui Population: 1,534,000 Capital: Niamey Population: 32,370,000 Capital: Bissau Capital: Kampala CHAD NIGERIA Area: 495,752 sq miles IVORY COAST Area: 356,668 sq miles ZAMBIA (1,284,000 sq km) Area: 124,503 sq miles (923,770 sq km) Area: 290,586 sq miles Population: 10,329,000 (322,463 sq km) Population: 149,229,000 (752,614 sq km) Capital: N’Djamena Population: 20,617,000 Capital: Abuja Population: 11,863,000 Capital: Yamoussoukro Capital: Lusaka COMOROS Area: 838 sq miles KENYA RWANDA ZIMBABWE (2,170 sq km) Area: 224,962 sq miles Area: 10,170 sq miles Area: 150,800 sq miles Population: 752,000 (582,650 sq km) (26,340 sq km) (390,580 sq km) Capital: Moroni Population: 39,003,000 Population: 10,473,000 Population: 11,393,000 Capital: Nairobi Capital: Kigali Capital: Harare 12

AFRICA MINING Volcano Mountain Ancient Capital Large Small Africans have been mining and monument city city/ city/ processing minerals, including iron town town ore, copper, and gold, for more than two thousand years. Gold mined in the forest STATISTICS country of western Africa was carried across the Area: 11,608,310 sq Sahara by African traders and exported to miles (30,065,385 sq km) Europe and Asia. During the colonial period Population: mining was intensified. Today, South Africa, 946,968,000 Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Democratic Republic of Number of the Congo possess heavily industrialized mining independent countries: areas. These areas have yielded minerals such as 53 gold, diamond, copper, and uranium. Large-scale drilling equipment (above) is Highest point: used in the gold mining industry. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) Dogon dancers (right) MASKS AND DANCE 19,340 ft (5,895 m) from Mali perform Masked dance is performed in many Longest river: Nile, a funeral dance. 4,160 miles (6,695 km) communities in West and Central Africa Largest lake: Lake N and plays an important part in social events. Once inside the costume, the person takes Victoria: 26,828 sq on the character represented by the mask. miles (69,484 sq km) W E Often parts of the body are exaggerated with Main occupation: padding or pieces of wood (left). The dance Agriculture steps, songs, and sounds complete the costume and energetically represent both the spirit world S and the world of humans. URO E edit P E M ALGIERS e r HORN OF AFRICA Because of its shape, the CAPE VERDE Madeira r easternmost point of the African The independent republic of n s TUNIS a continent is called the Horn of the Cape Verde islands lies (to Portugal) RABAT n t a i n e a n Se a 385 miles (620 km) off u TUNISIA Africa. It is one of the the coast of Senegal, MORO C CO as M o TRIPOLI Nile poorest regions on Earth, with in the Atlantic Ocean. Atl Delta The islands have a Canary Islands few natural resources. population of 429,000, Recent droughts and civil (to Spain) wars have killed LAÂYOUNE ALGERIA LIBYA Giza CAIRO A Western Sahara Thebes I but almost twice this (Occupied by Morocco) gar Libyan Desert S Sea Tropic of Cancer thousands of ti A ed people and number of Cape Tropic of Cancer Ahag EGYPT made many Verdeans live a R ah a Tibes r more homeless. abroad. S CAPE MAURITANIA MALI Nile NOUAKCHOTT A S a h e lAlTiSSaPsiehÃãrlNpaíseonOon DcjvupdTio poTsusPtl melcOaoRnatfféÍioMono,SNrrintctmãÉhhCooeIoaPfTPlRfa2oVrEAter1mhgEIp3AeeéRu,Sr0beaD0IiGqlsnEiG0cEuldAa.RBaUwnMtRIdoIiFSSt,NBrARhE.SEIEANLEAAMUTEEO-OOGDWBNANABARNKLGINLCOESAIOJSUVRUBANILAUIEANKREREBIYqAAYuAAMaMtACIOoEKVrUOOQOSASOURSUYTAKRRTSSKNOOAOAIigNOCRePOCArRIRTUAAIAOLNLGOMACGNPMDEOIIMUNOÉAPRiA&MUINgETLNeTGEOrASOYOIENÃ-BNMUGOAOBORAÉICVABEGAOUZGMZRLJAAAEIEBBVIRRIROALYEOALNVOOEILULCNLCahNEkaEDNedKCNÉDINTJRAHSREMCHDBBPAEAAAoaULNESCNnDABsAAoGMingLFUgnIRoIoCUBIURCbSRJaAUWUEnNMgAPBiDNUKDRAAAAMKNPWHABUKLAUhVIAGRGiRLcTAAtUaOoLNkrNUIeiDaMDKAIEETLTDENNauJ5KRkAHIr8BkeiYAIIAla9ROTiSmDInD5AOMURmaDOaJBTAEInIIIRBSAjPaAOArBSoIUAOATBAIMGMEuHOqlAoufGrfaornAtifocDoraAfISdHenU FABU BETNOIGNO ite Nile Blu e Nile GHANA CONGO MADAGASC ALIA INDIAN OCEAN T L Cabinda C O N G O Lake DODOMA Zanzibar A (to Angola) Tanganyika TANZANIA TIC LUANDA N GAME PARKS AND COMOROS CONSERVATION MAYOTTE The animal life of Africa is ANGOLA Lake Nyasa MORONI rich and varied. However in (to France) the last century, numerous MALAWI animal and plant species LILONGWE Comoro Mamoudzou have been lost forever. As ZAMBIA AR the land has been turned Za LUSAKA BIQU Islands into farms and industrial MOZAM sites, many animals have wm bezi HARARE E been driven from their Victoria habitats. Their numbers have OCEAN NAMIBIA Falls ZIMBABWE ANTANANARIVO also been severely reduced by hunters. To protect animals WINDHOEK BOTSWANA from extermination, several African governments have GABORONE TSHWANE/ Tropic of Capricorn set aside large game reserves PRETORIA where hunting is prohibited. Kalahari MAPUTO D e s e r t MBABANE SWAZILAND BLOEMFONTEIN MASERU S O U T H LESOTHO AFRICA SCALE BAR km 0 400 800 800 miles CAPE TOWN 0 400 Cape of Good Hope 13

www.children.dkonline.com >> history of Africa HISTORY OF AFRICA FOR MUCH OF ITS HISTORY, Africa has been hidden from outsiders’ eyes. Bantu speakers originated here The Sahara Desert cuts off communication from north to south for all but the and spread to striped area. hardiest traveler. The peoples of Africa have therefore developed largely by themselves. By about 2600 bce, rich and powerful empires such as Ancient Africa Egypt had arisen. The empires have disappeared, but they left behind BANTUS buildings and other clues to their existence. Other African peoples left Most of the records of their history in songs that have been passed down from parent to peoples of southern Africa child through countless generations. Europeans remained ignorant of this are related to rich history until, during the 1400s, they explored the west coast. Soon they the Bantus, who originated in the were shipping thousands of Africans to Europe and the Americas as slaves, western part of the a “trade” that destroyed many traditional societies. During the late 1800s, continent between 3000 and 2000 bce. They had Europeans penetrated the interior of Africa and, within 20 years, had reached southern Africa by 400 ce. carved up the continent between them. Almost all of Africa remained under European control until the 1950s, when the colonies began to gain their independence. Today the peoples of Africa are free Ivory of foreign control. traders GREAT ZIMBABWE The stone city of Great Zimbabwe was a major religious, political, and trading center in southern Africa between the 11th and 14th centuries. It grew rich on the proceeds of herding cattle and mining gold, copper, and iron. The peoples of Great Zimbabwe exported their produce to the coastal port of Sofala in what is now Mozambique and then up the coast of Africa to Arabia. Men armed with Thatched Cattle herder spears and buildings shields guarded City’s walls were made from the city’s walls. huge granite slabs. Great enclosure at Great Zimbabwe BENIN SOAPSTONE BIRDS Soapstone carvings The West African kingdom of Benin of local birds on reached the height of its power columns stood in an between the 14th and 17th centuries. enclosure outside Its people traded ivory, pepper, palm Great Zimbabwe. One oil, and slaves with the Portuguese. of these birds has been They also excelled in casting realistic figures in bronze. On the left the national symbol is a Benin bronze mask. of Zimbabwe since the 14 country gained its independence in 1980.

AFRICA, HISTORY OF SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA Until the 1880s, European conquest in Africa was restricted to the coastal regions and the main river valleys. But European powers wanted overseas colonies (settlements). Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, European nations competed for land in Africa. By 1900, almost all of Africa was in European hands. The only independent states left were the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia in the east, and the free slave state of Liberia in the west. The cartoon (left) shows Germany as a bird “swooping” on to Africa. ZULU WARS Some African peoples managed to resist the Europeans for a time. After 1838, the Zulus of southern Africa fought first the Boers (Dutch settlers) and then the British. In 1879, however, Britain finally defeated the Zulus. In 1887, Zululand became a British colony. Above is a picture of the British trying to break through Zulu lines. INDEPENDENCE ORGANIZATION AFRICA The coming of independence to much of Africa after 1956 did OF AFRICAN UNITY 700-1200 not always bring peace or prosperity to the new nations. Many Despite the many political Kingdom of were weakened by famines and droughts or torn apart by civil differences that exist between Ghana in West Africa wars. Few have managed to maintain civilian governments the individual African states, they grows rich on cross- without periods of military dictatorships. In 1964 Malawi all share problems of poverty, Saharan trade with (formerly Nyasaland) became Africa’s 35th independent state. poor health, and lack of schools. the Arabs. Above is the celebration scene. In 1963 the Organization of c. 800-1800 Kanem-Bornu African Unity (OAU) was kingdom. APARTHEID founded to coordinate policies to 1200s Trading cities flourish In 1948 the National Party solve these problems. It was on east coast. came to power in South Africa. replaced in 2002 by the African 1235-1500 Kingdom of Mali. Years of segregation, known Union (AU). Above are two 1300-1600 Kingdom of Benin. as apartheid, followed. This members of the OAU medical 1300s Great Zimbabwe policy gave white people power unit treating civil war victims. flourishes. but denied black people many 1350-1591 Kingdom of Songhai. rights, including the vote. In NELSON MANDELA 1500-1800s Europeans take 1990 the African National In 1994 Nelson Mandela (left), Africans as slaves to America. Congress (ANC), a banned black a leader of the ANC, became 1838-79 Zulus fight against nationalist movement led by the president of South Africa. Boers and British. Nelson Mandela, was legalized, 1880s Europeans take and the apartheid laws began to 15 almost total control of Africa. be dismantled. In 1994, the first- 1957-75 Most of Africa ever free elections were held. independent. 1990 Namibia independent. Find out more Africa Benin kingdom Egypt, ancient Prehistoric peoples Slavery

www.children.dkonline.com >> African Americans AFRICAN AMERICANS CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT THE HISTORY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN PEOPLE has been dominated During the 1950s and 1960s, many African Americans joined together by the struggle for freedom and equality. From the 1600s to the Civil War, to fight for equality and justice. most African Americans worked as slaves, contributing to America’s vast These civil rights activists used mainly peaceful means, such agricultural wealth but entitled to none of the benefits or freedoms. Once as marches (above), slavery was abolished, African Americans made some progress toward equal to end racist laws. treatment under the law, but widespread segregation hindered their fight. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s defeated racist laws, although racism itself has proved harder to erase. Despite this, there has been a resurgence of interest in African-American culture, and African Americans have continued to flourish in politics, education, and the arts. THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN PEOPLE About 40 million African Americans live in the United States. They are the second- largest minority group in the nation, representing 13.5 percent of the population. About half of all African Americans live in the Southern states. In many major cities, such as Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, and Newark, African Americans are the majority. Barack Obama’s SLAVERY victory in the The ancestors of most African Americans were 2008 election from the slave-trading states of Benin, Asante, and Dohomey in western Africa. These empires demonstrated the possibilities established a slave trade with Europeans from open to African the early 1500s. The first slaves arrived in Americans in the American colonies in the 1660s. Over the 21st century. the next 150 years, 400,000 Africans were eventually transported as slaves. Slave chains DISCRIMINATION BREAKING BARRIERS The Civil War ended slavery, Many African Americans have broken barriers but most newly freed slaves in politics, sports, and the arts. In 1993, Toni had no homes, and few Morrison became the first African American could read and write. The to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, while in government built housing 2009, Barack Obama became the first African- American president of the United States. and established 4,000 schools (above). However, many HARLEM RENAISSANCE In the 1920s an explosion of literature, art, states passed laws to limit the civil rights of African and music, centered in New York City’s Harlem, celebrated African-American Americans and segregate (separate) them from whites. culture. Jazz greats Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington led the movement, often Find out more playing in Harlem’s Cotton Club (right). Abolitionist movement Africa, history of Civil rights Slavery 16

www.children.dkonline.com >> aircraft AIRCRAFT LESS THAN 100 YEARS AGO, even the fastest ship took more JET AIRLINER Like all jet airliners, the Boeing 747-400 than a week to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Today most jet airliners flies high above the clouds to avoid bad weather. Its airtight cabin is pressurized – (large passenger planes) can make this 3,000-mile (4,800-km) journey supplied with air at a suitable pressure. This protects passengers and crew from in less than seven hours. Aircraft are the fastest way to travel because the drop in air pressure and lack of oxygen at high altitudes. they can soar straight over obstacles such as mountains and oceans. Powerful jet engines enable the fastest combat aircraft to reach speeds in excess of 1,500 mph (2,400 km/h) – more than twice as fast as sound. Even ordinary jet airliners fly at more than 530 mph (850 km/h). Modern aircraft are packed with advanced technology to help them fly safely and economically at great speed. Sophisticated electronic control and navigation systems keep the airplane on course. Computer-designed wings help cut fuel costs. And airframes (aircraft bodies) are made of metal alloys and plastic composites The undercarriage (landing wheels) folds up inside the airplane during FLIGHT DECK flight to reduce drag (air resistance). The captain and crew control the aircraft from the flight deck. In the The Boeing 747-400 airliner can carry past, the flight deck of an airplane was 412 people and fly nonstop for more a mass of dials and switches. New jet than 8,470 miles (13,600 km). Seats are airliners are packed with electronics, and arranged on two decks. computer screens have replaced the dials. The aircraft’s radar shows the crew the Other new features include computer- weather conditions up to 200 miles (320 km) controlled autopilot systems that enable the ahead so that they can avoid storms. plane to take off and land when bad weather obscures the pilot’s vision. AIRPLANES FLYING AN AIRPLANE Airplanes are powered aircraft that have wings. The word aircraft describes all Every airplane has three main controls: the throttle to control speed; rudder pedals for turning the plane’s nose flying machines, including helicopters, to the left or right (yawing); and a control column that gliders, hang gliders, and tilts the aircraft to either side (rolling), or up and down airplanes. Most large (pitching). The pilot usually operates all three to guide airliners and combat the plane through the air. airplanes have jet engines enabling them to fly fast and To roll, the pilot moves the control Aileron OBSERVATION PLANES high. But jets are expensive and column to the left or right, which Specially designed aircraft give use a lot of fuel, so many smaller raises the ailerons on one wing a clear view of everything from and lowers them on the other. traffic jams to diseased crops. planes are driven by propeller, just like the first airplanes. Elevator SEAPLANES To pitch up or down, the pilot Aircraft are ideal for getting in and pushes or pulls on the control out of remote places. Seaplanes column, raising or lowering the elevators on the tail wing. have floats instead of landing wheels to land and take off on water. To yaw left or right, the Rudder JET AIRCRAFT pilot’s feet swivel the Each year billions of people make long rudder bar, turning the journeys in jet airliners and smaller upright rudder on the tail business jets. These aircraft are powered of the airplane. by a type of jet engine called a turbofan. Turbofans are powerful and relatively quiet. Like a bicycle going around a CONCORDE curve, an aircraft has to bank into This airliner, in service a turn. To do this, the pilot uses from 1976 to 2003, was supersonic, the control column and the rudder which means that it flew faster than sound. It pedals together so that the aircraft cruised at more than twice the speed of sound, rolls and yaws at the same time. crossing the Atlantic Ocean in less than four hours. 17

AIRCRAFT Space for The fuselage, or aircraft Every part of the airframe Pilot uses the passengers’ hand body, is made of special is rigorously tested to rudder, ailerons, luggage is available lightweight aluminum ensure that it can and elevators to in compartments alloys and plastic withstand the stresses of above the seats. composites. flying fast and high. control the airplane. Baggage is carried The tail fin and wings of a jet in an unpressurized aircraft are swept back to reduce Elevators on the hold beneath the air resistance in flight. tail plane swivel passengers. Interior surfaces If necessary, seats can be to control the made of fire- removed or rearranged to up-and-down resistant give more space. materials tilt of the aircraft. Air rushing over and under the CONTROL SURFACES aircraft wings produces an Nearly all airplanes have a rudder and hinged surfaces on the wings and tail fins that upward force swivel to steer the airplane. In older aircraft called lift. the pilot operates the flaps mechanically via cables. In modern planes the control surfaces WINGS Jet airliners have often work electronically, with the aid of a Airplanes can fly because air streaming special landing flaps. These computer. This system is called fly-by-wire. past lifts their wings. A wing, or airfoil, swivel down to give extra lift as is always curved upward, so that air the airplane flies slowly just A new system, called fly-by-light, uses rushing over the top is forced to speed before landing. While fiber-optic cables instead of wires. up and stretch out, making pressure the airplane flies drop. Beneath the wing, air travels at cruising Hinged surfaces that tilt the more slowly and pressure builds up. So, speed, the airplane from one side to the in effect, the wing is sucked from above pilot retracts and pushed from below. (draws in) the other are called ailerons. landing flaps to reduce drag. Angled winglets provide extra lift, which helps lower fuel costs. FAMOUS AVIATORS Four powerful turbofan The early days of flying inspired many brave feats. In 1919, for instance, British jet engines push the fliers John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown made the first nonstop flight HISTORY OF FLIGHT plane through the air. across the Atlantic in a plane with an open cockpit. Eight years later, in 1927, During the late 1840s, the English inventor Sir George American aviator Charles Lindbergh made the crossing Cayley built a glider that could carry a person when it entirely alone, a feat repeated was towed into the air. Soon many would-be aviators by American Amelia Earhart were trying to take off in flying machines in 1932. In 1930 English powered first by steam engines and aviator Amy Johnson later by gasoline engines. But it was (right) flew solo from not until early in the 20th century England to Australia. that the American Wright brothers Find out more made the first successful powered flight. OTTO LILIENTHAL In the 1890s German engineer Otto Lilienthal took to the air in a kind of hang glider. This was the first flight in which the pilot controlled the aircraft. WRIGHT BROTHERS Orville and Wilbur Wright’s Flyer made the world’s first controlled, powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. Although the flight lasted only 12 seconds, the age of the aircraft had begun. SOUND BARRIER Engines Many people once believed that airplanes Helicopters could never fly faster than the speed of sound. But Iron and steel on October 14, 1947, American pilot Chuck Yeager proved them wrong when he broke the sound barrier Machines in the rocket-powered Bell X-1. Physics Technology Transportation, history of 18

www.children.dkonline.com >> Alexander the Great ALEXANDER THE GREAT BY 323 bce ONE MAN HAD CONQUERED most of the known world and set up an empire that extended from Greece to India. The name of the general was Alexander, today known as Alexander the Great. He was the son of King Philip II, ruler of Macedonia, a small but powerful Greek kingdom. In 336 bce Philip was murdered and Alexander became king, although he was only 20 years old. Alexander was an ambitious and brilliant general. In 334 he invaded the great Persian Empire ruled by Darius III. After a series ALEXANDER of remarkable victories, Alexander then went on to conquer a vast empire As a young man Alexander running from Egypt in the west to India in the east. When Alexander died, (356-323 bce) was brave and aged only 33, he had led his armies at least intelligent. He was taught by the 12,000 miles (19,000 km) and had encouraged Greek philosopher Aristotle, from the spread of Greek culture whom he developed a lifelong interest throughout the known in philosophy. world. After he died, his empire was divided. But he is still PHALANX considered one of the The army that Alexander led into Persia (Iran) consisted mostly of infantry, or foot soldiers armed greatest generals with long spears. The infantry fought in a formation who ever lived. called a phalanx. The men were packed closely together with their spears pointing toward the enemy. MACEDONIA Independent tGranicus BACTRIA state of Sparta Issus t t Guagamela t Susa PERSIA INDIA t Persepolis Alexander the Mediterranean Great’s empire, Sea t Alexandria 334-323 BCE EGYPT BUCEPHALUS Dependent state Nile ARABIA of Cyrenaica River Alexander rode into Alexander’s route battle on a beautiful horse called Bucephalus. According to legend, Independent region Dependent region Bucephalus was completely wild and responded only to Alexander. Alexander’s empire When Bucephalus died, Alexander built a monument and town, called Bucephala, in honor of him. The city still exists in India today. ALEXANDRIA BATTLES Alexander fought many battles. In 332 bce Alexander founded the city of Usually he had fewer men than Alexandria (named after himself) on the his enemy, but he won because his Mediterranean coast. It soon became a men were well trained and great port and a center of Greek culture equipped. At the Battle of Issus in and learning, attracting poets and scientists 333 bce Alexander, with 36,000 from all over the world. Today Alexandria is men, defeated Darius and his the second-largest city in Egypt. 110,000 troops. Two years later, with a force of 45,000 men, Alexander again overwhelmed Darius and his 100,000 soldiers at the Battle of Guagamela. After Alexander’s death, Ptolemy Soter, commander of Egypt, Find out more created a huge library at Alexandria. It was said to have contained Europe, history of more than 500,000 books; today only ruins remain. Greece, ancient 19

www.children.dkonline.com >> alphabets ALPHABETS WHEN PEOPLE FIRST BEGAN TO WRITE, they did not use an alphabet. Instead, they drew small pictures to represent the objects they were writing about. This is called picture writing, and it was very slow because there was a different picture for every word. An alphabet does not contain pictures. Instead, it is a collection of letters or symbols that represent sounds. Each sound is just part of one word. Joining the letters Ancient together forms a whole word. The human voice can make about 35 different Romans used sounds in speech. So alphabets need at most 35 letters to write any word, certain letters and most alphabets manage with fewer. The Phoenicians, who for numbers. For lived about 3,000 years ago in the Middle Eastern country example, C is 100. now called Syria, developed the first modern alphabet. The ancient Greeks adapted the Phoenician alphabet, and later the Romans improved it. The Roman alphabet is now used widely throughout the world. In every alphabet, letters have a special order that does not CAPITAL AND SMALL LETTERS change. Dictionaries, phone The first Roman alphabet had only capital letters. Small letters started to books, and many other appear after the 8th century. In English, capital letters are used at the beginning books are arranged in of a sentence, and for the first letter of a name. Capital letters are also used when alphabetical order words are abbreviated, or shortened, to their first letters, such as UN for so that it is easy United Nations. SYMBOLS AND ACCENTS In traditional to find a word In addition to letters, writers use punctuation printing, raised or a name. marks such as a period to show where a sentence lead letters are ends. Some languages, such as French, also use used to print the accents – marks that show how to pronounce the words on paper. word. The sloping acute accent over the e in café makes it sound like the a in day. The Romans did not have the letter ROMAN ALPHABET W. For J they used I, and for U they The alphabet used in English and other European used V. languages is based on the Roman alphabet, which had 23 letters. This alphabet is also used in some Southeast Asian languages, such as Vietnamese and Indonesian. Cyrillic (Russian) Greek ROSETTA STONE Hindi (India) CUNEIFORM The ancient Egyptians used More than 5,000 years ago in a system of picture writing called MODERN ALPHABETS Mesopotamia (now part of Iraq, hieroglyphics. The meaning of this The Roman alphabet is only one Syria, Turkey, and Iran), a form of writing was forgotten 1,600 years of the world’s alphabets. Many other writing called cuneiform developed. ago, so nobody was able to read languages use different symbols to It started off as picture writing, but Egyptian documents until 1799 represent similar sounds, and the later letters began to represent when some French soldiers made words may be written and read quite sounds. The Mesopotamians did a remarkable discovery. Near differently from the Roman alphabet. not have paper; instead they Alexandria, Egypt, they found Japanese readers start on the right side of wrote on damp clay using a stone with an inscription on it. the page and read to the left, or start at the wedge-shaped pens. The words were carved in top and read down the page. Cuneiform means hieroglyphics and in Greek. Using “wedge-shaped.” their knowledge of Greek, scholars CHINESE PICTOGRAMS were able to discover what the In traditional Chinese writing, symbols Find out more hieroglyphics meant. called pictograms are used to represent ideas. Babylonians There is a different character for every word. Bronze age Egypt, ancient Bird Horse Tree Sun Languages Phoenicians Writers and poets 20

www.children.dkonline.com >> American Revolution AMERICAN REVOLUTION PAUL REVERE’S RIDE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was born amidst the upheaval of the On the night of April 18, 1775, Boston silversmith Paul Revere American Revolution. From the first shots fired in 1775 to the final surrender took his famous ride through in 1781, the war was a fierce and brutal struggle between the undisputed nearby Concord, Massachusetts, superpower of the day, Great Britain, and the people of Britain’s 13 North to warn the people that the American colonies. The colonists, who were not represented in the British British were coming. parliament, resented the taxes imposed on them and established their own Continental Congress to negotiate with Britain. Skirmishes led to war, with famous battles in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. As in the Civil War, the conflict divided communities, as many colonists chose to remain loyal to the crown rather than defy the mother country. The American Revolution inspired people all over the world and led them to fight for their own political freedom. BATTLE OF LEXINGTON BOSTON TEA PARTY The British army set out from The British government refused to withdraw its tax on tea, Boston on April 19, 1775, on a a constant reminder to colonists that they were subject secret mission to capture arms to British taxation. On the night of December 16, 1773, and gunpowder stored at Concord. But patriot minutemen, some patriots dressed as Mohawk warriors boarded tea ships already warned about the British in Boston Harbor and threw the tea overboard as a protest. advance by Paul Revere, met the redcoats at Lexington. A shot rang out – poet Ralph Waldo Emerson later described it as the “shot heard round the world” – and the fighting that followed was the first battle of the American Revolution. This cartoon depicts the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. STAMP ACT LAFAYETTE AND THE FRENCH To raise money to pay for From the early days of the war, stationing troops in the France gave the colonists money and colonies, the British arms. Benjamin Franklin helped parliament passed the persuade the French to increase Stamp Act in 1765. A aid, and in 1778 the colonists signed stamp, or seal, had to a treaty of alliance with the French appear on newspapers, bills government. The Marquis de of sale, wills – even dice and Lafayette, the 21-year-old son of playing cards. Merchants had a French aristocrat, served as a to stamp all goods before general alongside George selling them. This tax Washington and fought bravely enraged the colonists. for the rebels. 21

AMERICAN REVOLUTION Mary Hays TURTLE Just over 7 ft (2 m) long and made of wood, the American Turtle (right) launched the world’s first submarine attack on September 7, 1776. Its designer, David Bushnell, hoped his invention could steal up alongside a British warship and attach a cask of gunpowder to its hull, slipping away before a timer made the cask explode. However, the Turtle’s attack on HMS Eagle MOLLY PITCHERS in New York Harbor failed. Many women served on the battlefield, carrying pitchers of water to cool the cannons. They were known as “Molly Pitchers.” One, Mary Hays, took Thayendanega LOYALISTS her dead husband’s place behind the cannon. was a Mohawk leader loyal to As many as one-third of the people living in the the British. colonies wanted to remain British subjects. Some had relatives in England whom they did not want A patriot rings to endanger; others were afraid of the British the Liberty soldiers. Many of these loyalists joined the British Bell, symbol army. The army also recruited Native Americans, of American independence. who did not like the colonists for taking their land, and slaves, who were given their freedom in return for serving in the army. SURRENDER AT YORKTOWN PATRIOTS Great Britain fought a massive campaign on In the early days of the Revolution, land and sea to crush most patriots simply sought a voice in the British parliament. But others the colonial army. saw the opportunity for a united, self- Early battles were governing nation. Patriots boycotted British goods, including tea, and fought in the rallied to the stirring speeches of rebels northern colonies, such as Patrick Henry and Sam Adams. but after France entered the war, the British army moved its attention to the south. It captured key southern ports, but the patriots rallied. With the French navy blocking escape by sea, the British army was trapped. In October 1781, a large British force surrendered to George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia. AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1767 Britain imposes high 1775 Battle of Lexington Commander-in-chief Major General Lord taxes on the 13 colonies marks start of Revolution George Washington Cornwallis, the 1773 Boston Tea Party 1775 British win the Battle British commander protests against taxation of Bunker Hill, MA, the bloodiest conflict of the 1778 France signs Find out more 1774-75 Continental entire war alliance with the colonies Congress meets to protest Colonial america against taxation and prepare 1776 Declaration of 1781 General Cornwallis Constitution the 13 colonies for war Independence surrenders at Yorktown, VA, in the last major Declaration of independence 1777 Colonists win key battle of the war Franklin, benjamin battle at Saratoga, NY 1783 Britain recognizes United states, history 0f American independence Washington, george in the Peace of Paris 22

www.children.dkonline.com >> animals ANIMALS THE ANIMAL KINGDOM is one of the largest FROG Like all animals, the common green frog is aware of its groups of living things; scientists believe that surroundings and able to move, feed, and there are up to 30 million species. Animals reproduce. Frogs belong to the class of animals called range from tiny, simple creatures that look amphibians. All amphibians spend like blobs of jelly to gigantic blue whales. part of their The huge animal kingdom is divided lives in or into many groups. A lion, for near water. example, belongs to the order Carnivora because it eats meat. It also belongs to the class of placental mammals. All mammals are vertebrates (animals with backbones) and belong to a group called chordates. An animal is a living creature that feeds, moves, and breeds. During its life cycle, an animal is born, grows, matures, reproduces, and eventually dies. It ingests (takes in) food to build and develop its body. Food provides the animal with INTERNAL SKELETONS the energy to move around. Some animals do not move at all; the adult sponge, for example, spends its life anchored to a The animal world can be divided into rock. All kinds of animals from dinosaurs to dodos have become vertebrate animals and invertebrate extinct; many others, including elephants and tigers, may soon animals. Vertebrates have an internal disappear, if their habitats are destroyed and if they continue skeleton with a vertebral column or backbone. In most cases, this is made of to be killed recklessly for their hides and bones. bone. Some sea-dwelling vertebrates, Brain, control Lungs, part of the such as sharks, have a backbone made of center of the body, respiratory system and part of the Kidneys, part tough, rubbery gristle called cartilage. nervous system Eye, one of the main senses, of the excretory Skull, made Orbit and part of the nervous system system of separate bones (hole) for joined together solidly eyeball TALLEST Cloaca, exit from the digestive The giraffe is the and excretory systems tallest animal alive Front limb today. A large male bones can measure 17 ft (5 m) to the top of its horns. Back limb bones Mouth, entrance to the digestive and respiratory systems Stomach, Heart, part of the part of the Sex organs, Foot bones, circulatory system digestive part of the part of the system reproductive system musculoskeletal system Vertebrae, bones that form the spine INTERNAL ORGANS OF A VERTEBRATE BONES OF THE SKELETON Inside an animal such as the frog above are many different The skeletons of vertebrate parts called organs. Organs are all shapes and sizes. Each animals are similar in design, but one has a job to do. Several organs are grouped together each differs in certain details to form a body system, such as the digestive system, the circulatory system, and the reproductive system. The through adaptation to the way the animal lives. A frog, for example, has long, strong back nervous system and the hormonal system control and legs for leaping. All vertebrates coordinate all the internal systems. have a skull that contains the brain and the main sense organs. SMALLEST Most vertebrates also have two The smallest organisms are single-celled creatures called protozoa – so pairs of limbs. Some bones, such tiny, they can hardly be seen by the human eye. The tiniest as the skull bones, are fixed mammals are the bumblebee bat and Savi’s pygmy shrew. This firmly together; others are linked pygmy shrew measures only 2.3 in (6 cm) including its tail. by flexible joints, as in the limbs. 23

ANIMALS VERTEBRATES Fish include A human EXTERNAL SKELETONS sharks, rays, being is Fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and salmon. one of Many invertebrate animals, such as and mammals comprise vertebrate the larger insects and spiders, have an outer animals. Birds and mammals are mammals. skeleton. It forms an exoskeleton – warm-blooded. Their bodies a tough outer casing around the generate heat so they can stay active Amphibians body. The exoskeleton has flexible in cold conditions. Fish, reptiles, and include joints, and muscles pull on it from amphibians are cold-blooded, and the inside, so that the animal can can regulate their body newts, frogs, move. It also supports and protects temperature by sunbathing and toads. the internal organs. The exoskeleton or seeking shade. is hard, so it must be shed, or cast off, as the animal grows larger. This Reptiles include Birds include process is known as ecdysis. tortoises, pelicans, eagles, crocodiles, and gulls. The prawn is a crustacean, a relative snakes, and of shrimps, crabs, and lobsters. lizards. INTERNAL ORGANS OF Mammals include mice, Brain, control center Antenna AN INVERTEBRATE cats, and koalas. of body and part of (large feeler) A complicated invertebrate, such as nervous system a prawn (right), does have internal Abdominal Antennule organs, but they are generally more muscles, part of Heart, part of (small feeler) simple than those of a vertebrate. musculoskeletal system circulatory system Prawns are crustaceans and have Pincer on first jointed legs like insects and spiders. walking leg When a prawn sheds its skeleton, even the delicate coverings of its feelers and eyes are cast off. Uropod (tail fan) Pleopods Image- One of five (swimmerets) forming eye pairs of jointed walking legs Intestine, part of Bladder, part of digestive system excretory system Crustaceans include crabs, Cnidarians include Bryozoans include sea Echinoderms include INVERTEBRATES lobsters, and barnacles. jellyfish, corals, and mats and moss animals. starfish, sea urchins, Some invertebrates, such sea anemones. and sea cucumbers. as snails, have fleshy bodies Insects protected by shells. Others, Arachnids include Sponges such as jellyfish, have soft, include beetles, unprotected bodies. Insects spiders, flies, and are the largest single group scorpions, of invertebrates. There are and mites. fleas. more than one million Mollusks include snails, Nematode Flatworms include kinds  of insects. The shellfish, and octopuses. worms include tapeworms and flukes. roundworms smallest invertebrates are and hookworms. visible only under a Annelid worms Centipedes Millipedes microscope. The largest is include earthworms the colossal squid, with a and leeches. total length of 65 ft (20 m). Find out more Birds Frogs and other amphibians Insects Mammals Reptiles 24

www.children.dkonline.com >> animal senses ANIMAL SENSES ALL ANIMALS ARE AWARE of their surroundings. Touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing are the five senses that animals and humans use to detect what is happening around them. Some animals, however, have a very different array of senses than humans. A dog’s nose is so sensitive to odors that it “sees” the world as a pattern of scents and smells, in the same way that we see light and color with our eyes. Many creatures, particularly fish, can determine where they are by picking up the tiny HUNTING amounts of bioelectricity produced by other living SENSES things around them. A fish also detects vibrations A shark can smell in the water using a row of sense organs down blood in the water hundreds of yards away. each side of its body, called the lateral line. As this shark closes in for the attack, it makes use An animal’s senses, like its body shape, of its sharp eyesight and electricity-sensing organs. are a result of evolution and suit the Lips detect sharp pieces of shell A clear lens at the front The otter’s scenting organs animal’s needs. Eyes would be of little in food and then spit them out. of the eye focuses rays can detect many scents in use to a creature such as the cave of light into the back of the air. These special organs fish, which lives in endless darkness. the eye to produce a lie inside the nose in the sharp image. roof of the nasal cavity. Instead, these creatures rely on other senses such as smell and touch. Some senses are extremely specialized. Sensitive forepaws Long, feathery antennae manipulate food. enable a male emperor The otter also uses moth to “smell” the a stone to crack open shellfish. odor of a female moth 3 miles (5 km) away. The skin and hair roots The otter hears bear sensors that detect by sensing vibrations vibrations, light touch, when they strike its heavy pressure, and eardrums. To help the heat and cold. otter balance, tiny fluid-filled canals Claws and soles of feet inside the ear work are sensitive to touch. Whiskers are sensitive like miniature levels to touch. They also to register gravity. BLOODHOUND respond to vibrations, so they are useful in Bloodhounds have been murky water. specially bred as tracker dogs. Their sense of smell may OTTER be as much as one million times sharper than a human’s While the sea otter floats on its back in the water, eating a shellfish, sense of smell. Bloodhounds its sense organs continuously send information about its surroundings can even detect the microscopic to its brain. The organs include the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, whiskers, pieces of skin that are shed fur, skin, and balance sensors. Stretch receptors in the joints and from a person’s body. muscles also convey information about the otter’s body position. The smell of a poisoned shellfish or the ripples from a shark’s fin instantly alert the otter to possible danger. The Bloodhound’s sense Dog follows a of smell is so sharp scent with its that it can even pick nose very up scent that is close to several days old. the ground. 25

ANIMAL SENSES HEAT SENSORS INSECT SENSES Pit vipers are very sensitive to warmth. They can detect the The position of an infrared heat rays given off by warm-blooded prey such as animal’s sense organs mice. The rays enter tiny pits on either side of the pit viper’s depends on its way of nostrils and reach the heat-sensitive nerve endings inside. life. Flies, for example, By moving its head from side to side, the viper can have hairs on their feet, which act as sensors and determine the distance and direction of its prey; test their food when they it strikes accurately, even in total darkness. land on it. A creature’s activities also give clues to TASTING THE AIR the kinds of senses it All snakes taste uses. A grasshopper, for smells in the instance, makes a chirping air by sticking sound when it is calling for a mate or telling a rival to out their tongue. Odors keep its distance. For this in the air stick to fluid on the flicking tongue reason, grasshoppers also and are drawn into the mouth. In this way a snake can follow prey, seek out a mate, need to hear well, or steer clear of danger. as indeed they can. Good eyesight to watch for predators. Snakes can feel the vibrations made by moving animals. ANTENNAE Long feelers, or antennae, wave continuously, picking up air currents. MAGNETIC SENSE The cricket’s Strong legs KNEE-EARS Some animals are thought to have “ears” are allow a cricket Bush crickets, such as built-in magnetic compasses that mainly tuned in the one shown above, they use when traveling long to the narrow to leap away distances. Monarch range of sounds from danger. have ears on their butterflies migrate made by other knees, while across the length of crickets. North America, grasshoppers have ears having hatched only at the base of their a few weeks earlier. Their bodies contain abdomen. Thin sheets a naturally magnetic of skin on the cricket’s substance called magnetite. Some legs vibrate when its scientists believe that they mate chirps. may follow the lines of Earth’s magnetic field. RADAR EARS ELECTRIC SENSE A fennec fox’s huge ears Animal bodies produce concentrate sound waves tiny bursts of electricity, deep into each ear. Each especially in the muscles. ear swivels around The platypus’s leathery independently to find bill is very sensitive to the direction of a sound. touch and electric The fennec fox can hear currents in the water. a desert beetle kicking over The animal finds crayfish sand grains many yards in the mud by detecting away. The huge ears also the electrical bursts from give off heat from the many their flicking tails. blood vessels inside them, helping the fox stay cool. Scenting organ in A reward at Find out more the nose is about the end of 30 times larger the trail Animals than a human’s Birds scenting organ. Dogs, wolves, and foxes Fish Mammals Sharks and rays Snakes 26

www.children.dkonline.com >> Antarctica ANTARCTICA STRETCHING ACROSS AN AREA larger than the United States, the continent of Antarctica sits beneath a huge sheet of ice up to 1.2 miles (2 km) thick. Antarctica is centered on the South Pole and is surrounded by the ice-covered Southern Ocean. Powerful winds create a storm belt around the continent, bringing fog and severe blizzards. It is the coldest and windiest place on Earth. Even during the short summers, the temperature barely climbs above freezing, and the sea Radio transmitters ice only partly melts. In winter, temperatures can allow scientists Situated at the southernmost point plummet to -112˚F (-80˚C). Few animals and plants to track the of the world, Antarctica covers an can survive on land, but the surrounding seas teem movements of area of about 5.5 million sq miles (14 million sq km). The nearest penguins. land masses are South America, and New Zealand. The highest with fish and mammals. Due to its harsh climate, point is Vinson Massif, which rises to 16,067 ft (4,897 m). there are no permanent residents of Antarctica. The ANTARCTIC TEMPERATURES only people on the continent are tourists, and scientists and staff working in research stations. These few people have brought waste and pollution to the region. Other environmental concerns include overfishing, the depletion of the ozone layer above the region, and the effects of global warming, which has led to the melting of ice in some coastal areas. 28°F (2°C) Seawater SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH freezes. On the Antarctic coast There are 40 permanent, and as summer temperatures many as 100 temporary, research are only a degree or stations in Antarctica devoted to so warmer than this. scientific projects for 15 different nations. Teams of scientists study the wildlife and monitor the ice for changes in the Earth’s atmosphere. Antarctic-based research has resulted in a number of scientific breakthroughs, including the discovery of a hole in the ozone layer above the continent. -13°F (-25°C) Steel TOURISM Platinum crystallizes and Cruise liners have been bringing tourists to the Antarctic region becomes brittle. since the 1950s. In 1983 Chileans began to fly to King George Island, where an 80-bed hotel has been built for vacationers. Antarctica receives several thousand tourists each year. Visitors come to see the dramatic landscape and unique wildlife, such as King penguins. -40°F (-40°C) Synthetic Iron rubber becomes brittle, and exposed flesh Gold freezes rapidly. MINERAL WEALTH -128.2°F (-89°C) Antarctica has deposits of minerals, Lowest temperature such as gold, copper, uranium, and ever recorded, at nickel. However, extracting them may damage the fragile polar environment. Vostok Research Station, Antarctica, Find out more 1983. Continents Glaciers and ice caps Inuits Polar wildlife Rain and snow 27

ANTARCTICA Volcano Mountain Ancient Capital Large Small Research WHALE PROTECTION monument city city/ city/ station Large-scale whale hunting in Antarctic seas town town began in the 20th century. The whale population STATISTICS soon fell, and in 1948 the International Whaling Commission was set up to monitor the Area: 5,405,430 sq miles diminishing numbers. Following an international (14,000,000 sq km) agreement in 1994, a whale sanctuary was created Population: No to protect whale feeding grounds from overfishing. permanent residents Capital: None FOREIGN TERRITORIES Languages: English, Spanish, French, Various nations, including Australia, Norwegian, Chinese, France, New Zealand, Norway, Polish, Russian, Argentina, Chile, and the UK German, Japanese claimed territory in Antarctica when Religions: Not applicable it was first discovered in the 19th Currency: None century. However, these claims have Main occupation: been suspended under the 1959 Scientific research Antarctic Treaty, which came into Main exports: None force in 1961. Under the treaty, Main imports: None the continent can be used only for peaceful purposes. Stations may be set up for scientific research, but military bases are forbidden. FROZEN SEAS ANTARCTIC ICE During the cold winter months, Icebergs barricade more than 90 percent of the Antarctic the seas surrounding Antarctica coastline. The continent contains more than 80 percent of LAMBERT GLACIER freeze, almost doubling the size the world’s fresh water in the form of ice. The Lambert Glacier is the world’s largest series of glaciers. It is 80 km (50 miles) of the continent. SOUTHERN OCEAN wide at the coast and reaches more than 300 km (186 miles) inland. ea SOU South Orkney Islands Drake Passage Scotia S South Shetland Islands Queen Maud THERN Land King George a r Land Enderby Island Antar Land c t i W eddell Coats Land c Penin Sea Kemp Palme Land s u Berkner l Island Lambert Cape Darnley Alexander Ronne Glacier Mackenzie Bay OCEAN Island Ice Shelf Prydz Bay East A N T A R C T I C A Princess Bellingshausen Elizabeth Sea Vinson MassifT r a South Amundsen-Scott Land Davis 4897m (US) Sea PETER I ISLAND Pole Vostok Shackleton Ellsworth West n santarc (Russian Federation) Ice Shelf A n t a r c t i c a(to Norway) Land Cape TRANSANTARCTIC t ic South Poinsett MOUNTAINS The Transantarctic Antarctica Geomagnetic Mountains run across Mo Pole the continent, splitting it into Greater and Lesser Antarctica. Mar ie Byrd Land untains s Amundsen Mount Sidley Ross Ice e 4181m Shelf k d Sea Roosevelt Victoria Land il Island n WMount Erebus a L ROSS ICE SHELF S O paLcikmiicte Ross 3794m Oates George V Ice shelves are permanent Land Land floating ice sheets that are U of summer Sea N attached to land and (December) WE are constantly fed by THERN Cape Adare glaciers.The Ross Ice Shelf S is 183–914 m (600–3,000 ft) thick and about 966 km OCEAN SCALE BAR 0 500 1000 (600 miles) long. Limit of winter pack ice (June) km 0 500 1000 miles 28

www.children.dkonline.com >> ants and termites ANTS AND TERMITES IMAGINE HOW MANY millions of ants and termites live on this planet. There are at least 9,500 different Cooling kinds of ants and 2,750 kinds of termites. chimney These tiny creatures are among the most lets air in fascinating animals on Earth. Both ants and and out termites are social insects, living in large of the groups called colonies, where each individual termite mound. has a specific job to do. The queen (the main female) mates with a male and then spends her life laying eggs. The hordes of workers do such jobs as gathering food and rearing the young. Soldiers and guards protect the nest and ANT HEAD the foraging workers. Ants eat a variety The Asian tree-living ant of food, including caterpillars, leaves, ANT HILL has simple jaws for feeding and fungi. Termites feed mostly on Most of the passages of an ant on soft insects. Other ants plant matter, and they are among and termites have strong nature’s most valuable recyclers. hill are underground. Eggs, jaws for chewing wood larvae (grubs), and pupae and hard plant stems. are kept in separate parts TERMITE MOUND Termite of the nest. Large-jawed mound sentries guard the Many termites make small nests in dead trees or entrances. A large underground. A few kinds of termites build a mound ant nest may contain 100,000 ants. that contains a termite city – a home for many millions Courtier of termites. In hot areas the mounds have tunnels and workers ventilation holes and may be more than 20 ft Termite mound (6 m) high. The mounds are often has many tunnels. occupied for more than 50 years, Front leg and the thick walls help keep out Queen termite anteaters and other predators. Jaws The queen and king termites live in a royal chamber Antenna can bend Soldier deep inside the mound. like an elbow joint. termite Eye Middle leg Thorax Fungus grows on the termites’ Head dung (waste matter) Queen lays Claw Rear inside the termite Nursery 20,000 or leg mound. These for termite more eggs areas are called larvae daily in the King termite fungus gardens. royal chamber. Termites feed WORKER ANT on the fungus. Ant squirts All worker ants are female. Their long, Workers regurgitate Young female formic acid (spit out) food for termite from rear of claw-tipped legs allow them to run fast and queen, king, and body in self- soldier termites. TERMITES defense. Abdomen climb well. Workers collect food, regurgitate Courtier workers The queen and male termites Worker ant feed and clean it to feed the other ants, look after eggs and queen and king. have wings. They take flight and mate, and then the queen larvae, and clean the nest. They do not have returns to the nest. The queen ARMY ANTS wings, unlike the queen and male ants. A few ants, such as these army LEAF-CUTTING ANTS does not leave the nest again ants of South America, do Ants can lift objects that weigh and is cared for by the courtier not make permanent more than they do. Leaf-cutting nests and are always ants bite off pieces of leaves and workers. The main male, on the move. As the or king, is larger than colony marches carry them back to a huge through the forests, underground nest. Here they the workers and they forage for insects, remains with and sometimes even chew the leaves and mix the queen. eat large animals alive. them with saliva to make a kind of compost. Find out more Fungus – the leaf-cutting Animals ant’s only food – grows Ecology and food webs on this compost. Insects Spiders and scorpions 29

www.children.dkonline.com >> archaeology ARCHAEOLOGY FOR AN ARCHAEOLOGIST, brushing away the soil that hides a broken pot is like brushing away time. Every tiny fragment helps create a more complete picture of the past. Archaeology is the study of the remains of past human societies, but it is not the same as history. Historians use written records as their starting point, while archaeologists use objects. They excavate, or dig, in the ground or underwater for bones, pots, and anything else created by our ancestors. They also look for seeds, field boundaries, and other signs of how long-dead people made use of the landscape. But archaeology is not just concerned with dead people and buried objects. It also helps us understand what may happen to our own society in the future. Archaeology has shown that human actions A grid pattern divides the site into squares so and changes in the climate that archaeologists can quickly record the or environment can exact location of each find. HEINRICH SCHLIEMANN destroy whole In photographs of the site, In 1870 the pioneer German communities. the stripes painted on archaeologist Heinrich poles make it easy Schliemann (1822-90) By sketching objects, to judge the size archaeologists can of objects. discovered the site of Troy in Turkey. He also set out basic sometimes record more detail than a camera can. rules for excavation, such as careful recordkeeping. He did not always follow his own rules. His impatient hunt for treasure sometimes destroyed ANALYSIS the objects he was seeking. The position Small trowels allow and location of archaeologists to the objects uncovered remove soil carefully. in a dig can provide important information. EXCAVATION For this reason, archaeologists measure, examine, record, Archaeologists gather and analyze everything they much of their information find and preserve it if about the past by carrying possible. Scientific methods out excavations, or digs. such as radioactive dating They decide where to dig enable archaeologists to Archaeologists by looking at aerial photographs, find out the exact age of sieve the soil old pictures, maps, documents, or objects made thousands they remove marks on the ground. Then they carefully of years ago. to check for remove layers of soil, often using trowels and other objects they may small tools. The archaeologists keep digging until they have overlooked. reach undisturbed soil with no trace of human occupation. A soft brush removes 19th-century 17th-century Brick-lined well, dry soil without drain floor c. 1800 damaging the object. 16th-century chalk floor BRONZE-AGE TOOLS 14th-century Archaeologists often find tools from ancient chalk-lined cesspit times. The axe and arrowhead shown above date from the Bronze Age and are estimated Roman tiled to have been used by humans between 3,000 floor and 8,000 years ago. STRATIFICATION Archaeologists on a dig determine the relative age of each object they find from where it is buried, using the principle of stratification. This principle says that older objects are usually buried deeper in the ground than newer objects. 30

ARCHAEOLOGY TOLLUND MAN AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY In 1950 archaeologists in Photography of the ground from airplanes began in Denmark made a dramatic the 1920s. It made archaeology easier because the high discovery. They found the viewpoint reveals traces of buildings, roads, and fields remarkably well preserved that are invisible from the ground. body of a man in a peat bog called Tollund Mose. The man had been hanged and buried about 2,000 years ago. Most dead bodies soon rot underground, but the peat had tanned Tollund man so that his flesh was hard like a leather shoe. Many details remained, and scientists could even tell that his last meal had been a kind of porridge. Richard Leakey measures and THE LEAKEYS records every detail of the human remains that he digs up. The Leakey family has made major discoveries about the origins of human beings. Louis and his wife, Mary, began to work in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania (Africa) in the 1930s. There they showed that ancestors of human beings existed 1,750,000 years ago. Since the 1960s, their son Richard has continued their research. We can now trace our ancestors back over more than six million years. Modern humans evolved around 200,000 years ago. Among the objects found Archaeologists in the tomb of Tutankhamun excavating was a pectoral, or brooch, in the the wreck of the shape of a Slava Rossi found scarab beetle. Russian icons (religious paintings). TUTANKHAMUN SHIPWRECKS The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun The development of lightweight diving equipment over the was one of the most last 50 years has enabled archaeologists to excavate sites sensational events in the history of archaeology. underwater. They use many of the same methods that are Tutankhamun was a boy- used on land. Most underwater archaeologists look for king who ruled in Egypt shipwrecks, but they sometimes discover landscapes, 3,500 years ago. In 1922 buildings, and even towns of ancient civilizations. the British archaeologist Howard Carter (1873-1939) Howard Carter Find out more (left) found the found Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus, Bronze age fabulously rich burial place in or coffin, of Egypt, ancient the Valley of the Kings. Near the Tutankhamun. boy-king’s remains lay gold treasure It was remarkably Evolution well preserved. Fossils and beautiful furniture. Geology 31 Iron age Prehistoric peoples

www.children.dkonline.com >> architecture ARCHITECTURE Built around 200 BCE, MOST OF OUR BUILDINGS have been planned by an architect. this Indian stupa, or dome, was originally a mound The word architect is Greek for “builder” or “craftworker,” and architects covering a site sacred to aim to design and construct buildings that are attractive, functional, Buddha or a relic of him. and comfortable. Architecture means designing a building; it also In 447 BCE, the Greek refers to the building style. Styles of architecture have changed over architects Ictinus and Callicrates designed the centuries and differ from culture to culture, so architecture the Parthenon, a can tell us a lot about people. The Ancient Greeks, for temple to the example, produced simple, balanced buildings that goddess Athena, showed their disciplined approach to life. Architects in Athens, Greece. are artists who create buildings. But With its graceful unlike other artists, they must sell their columns, it is a ideas before they are able to produce perfect example their buildings. of classical architecture. CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE The Ancient Greeks and Romans developed a style that we call classical architecture. Most Greek buildings consisted of columns to support the roof. The types of columns varied according to the particular classical “order” (style) that was used. Everything was simple and perfectly even. The Romans, who came after the Greeks, developed the arch, dome, and vault. Elegantly curving skyward Milan Cathedral in GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE in several tiers, pagodas Italy (right) is an With their multitudes of pointed arches, finely carved were built as shrines to example of late stonework, and intricate windows, Gothic buildings are Buddha. On the right is Gothic architecture. the opposite of simple classical ones. The Gothic style of the pagoda of Yakushi-ji architecture began in western Europe in the 12th century. Temple, in Japan. Each It was used mainly in building cathedrals and churches. element in the building’s Although most Gothic buildings were huge, their thin design originally had a walls, pointed arches, and large areas of stained-glass religious meaning. windows made them seem light and delicate. Following the client’s brief, the architect presents a drawing (below) to the client to show how the finished building will look. FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT ARCHITECTS American architect Frank Lloyd If you wanted to build a house, you would Wright (1869-1959) influenced approach an architect, giving clear and many other architects. He tried precise details of what you required to blend buildings into their natural surroundings and create (a brief). An architect must know from a feeling of space, with few walls, a client what the building is to be used so that rooms could “flow” into for, how many people will use it, and one another. At Bear Run, how much money is available. A good Pennsylvania, he built Falling architect will make sure that the new design fits in Water, a house over a waterfall. with existing buildings around it and is built from suitable material. The architect then presents drawings and plans to the client. When the plans are approved, work on the building can begin. Doric column Ionic column Corinthian column Barrel vault Groin vault Rib vault Dome 32

ARCHITECTURE EXTRAORDINARY ARCHITECTURE Some architects design weird and wonderful buildings that really stand out from the rest. In 1965 new town was built outside Paris, France, called Marne-la-Vallée. It has many extraordinary buildings, designed by various adventurous architects. The apartment complex, left, is like a monument that people can live in. Two circular buildings face each other across a central courtyard. It was designed by a Spanish architect named Manolo Nunez-Yanowsky. Jean Louis Charles Garnier was the architect Designed by the of the Paris Opera House (built 1861-75). It is British architect Neobaroque – a 19th-century revival of the Richard Rogers, Baroque style. the Lloyds office building in London, The Chrysler Building, England, has all its a New York City services, such as skyscraper, was plumbing, on the completed in 1929.  outside. This means they can be easily replaced. BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE During the 1500s in Rome, architects wanted to break the classical rules of simplicity and evenness and build more exciting, dramatic buildings. They added domes, clusters of statues, and ornate decoration and carving to their buildings. This style, known as Baroque, spread from Italy to other parts of Europe. Many churches and grand palaces were built in the Baroque style. The architect draws up detailed plans of the inside of the building to show how the space will be used. Working drawings contain exact measurements, materials, and structures, down to the tiniest detail. The builder works from working drawings CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE (above) when constructing the building. Glass, steel, and concrete are the building materials of today’s architecture. There is little decoration, because a building’s purpose is considered more important than its shape or form. The “international” style – glass and concrete suspended on a steel framework – is seen almost everywhere in the world. Find out more Cities Dams Industrial revolution Plastics Renaissance Pediment Gothic arch Romanesque arch Cornice 33

www.children.dkonline.com >> Arctic ARCTIC The Arctic Ocean centers on the THE SMALLEST OF THE WORLD’S ICEBREAKING North Pole, the northern extremity of the Earth’s axis. Three of the oceans, the Arctic centers on the North Pole. Although half of the Arctic Ocean world’s largest rivers, the Ob, Between the months of December and May, is covered by ice in the winter, Yenisey, and Lena, flow into the most of the Arctic Ocean is covered by polar cold waters of the Arctic Ocean. sea ice, up to 98 ft (30 m) thick. The ocean special ships called icebreakers can The Arctic regions consist of is surrounded by the Arctic regions, where still sail through the ice. During Alaska, Canada, Greenland, much of the ground is permanently frozen and northern Siberia. to depths of 1,500–2,000 ft (460–600 m). particularly harsh winters, ice can During the long, cold winters in the far become so dense in harbors and north, much of the land is subject to periods ports that it freezes right down to of total darkness. This is because of the low the seabed, marooning ships for angle of the Sun in relation to the ground. months at a time. Icebreakers are Beneath the rocks of the Arctic regions lie rich reserves of iron, nickel, copper, zinc, and designed to crush the ice with oil. Severe weather conditions have made it their steel hulls, opening up a lane hard to exploit these resources. But global that other ships can pass through. warming is thinning the sea ice and opening up new areas of land. Arctic countries now The Russian atomic-powered want to claim areas of the seabed. Arcticka is the world’s most powerful icebreaker. It can cut through ice that is 7 ft (2.1 m) thick at 7 mph (11 km/h). Teams of hardy husky dogs were traditionally used to pull sleds across ARCTIC SETTLERS the frozen ground. The Arctic is one of the world’s most sparsely populated regions. Today, some 120,000 Inuit (Eskimo) people live in Greenland, Alaska, and Canada. Over the past 3,000 years they have adapted to their icebound conditions, hunting with kayaks (canoes) and harpoons, and existing on a diet of caribou, seal, whale meat, and fish. They lived in houses made of frozen snow (igloos) or semi-underground stone pit-houses. Today, snowmobiles (above) have replaced sleds, and rifles are used for hunting. COAL MINING POLAR BEARS The Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, in the Arctic Ocean, has very extensive coal deposits. Between 25,000 and 40,000 polar bears roam the Arctic. Their white coats provide perfect camouflage, Its coal-mining towns are isolated and are desolate places. The sea route to and a 4-in (10-cm) layer of body fat keeps them warm. mainland Norway, some 620 miles (1,000 km) away, is frozen for four Bears gorge on seals from April to July – they can months of the year. Many Inuit have moved to towns such as these survive for eight months without food. They can swim to work in the coal mines. as far as 93 miles (150 km) in search of prey. Find out more Glaciers and ice caps Inuits Oceans and seas Ocean wildlife Polar wildlife 34

ARCTIC GIANT ICEBERGS Volcano Mountain Ancient Capital Large Small Icebergs are frozen lumps of freshwater ice monument city city/ city/ that have broken off a glacier. Most Arctic town town icebergs have broken off the coastal glaciers of Greenland, Baffin Island, and STATISTICS Ellesmere Island. Each year, about 375 ARCTIC TERN GREENLAND icebergs flow into the the North Atlantic, The arctic tern (left) Area: where they are extremely dangerous to breeds in the southern shipping. Icebergs can vary from the size Arctic and winters 836,330 sq miles of a grand piano to a 10-story building, (2,166,086 sq km) 147 ft (45 m) high. They are moved by in the Antarctic, Status: Self-governing winds and currents and melt and break the longest annual territory of Denmark up within two years of entering the ocean. migration of any bird. Claimed: 1380 Population: 57,600 NORTHERN LIGHTS Capital: Nuuk The northern lights (aurora borealis) occur JAN MAYEN when highly charged Area: particles from the Sun 146 sq miles (377 sq km) collide with particles Status: Norwegian in Earth’s atmosphere. dependency These glowing streaks Claimed: 1929 of light are brightest Population: None Capital: None at the North Pole. SVALBARD PRUDHOE BAY ARCTIC OCEAN Area: The Arctic Ocean is 23,560 sq miles Rich reserves of oil are Saint Lawrence Bering characterized by a wide (61,020 sq km) found in Alaska’s Prudhoe Island Sea continental shelf and Status: Norwegian Bay. A 795-mile deep basin around dependency (1,280-km) long Anchorage Nome Provideniya the North Pole. Claimed: 1920 Yukon Ri Population: 2,200 pipeline transports ering StraitverAB R U SPevek N Capital: Longyearbyen oil from Prudhoe Bay to the L(pAarSt K US) Chukchi East W E Halibut ice-free port Sea Siberian of Valdez. A of S S ARCTIC FISH Sea IA Large quantities of cod, haddock, M a c k enzieA Barrow Wrangel A S I ATiksi Lena and halibut are found in the Island Laptev Arctic Ocean. Arctic catches Sea are mainly processed in Greenland. C Prudhoe Bay GREENLAND Inuvik Greenland, the world’s largest island, is a self-governing EDRAI Chukchi FEDERATION territory of Denmark. The interior of Greenland is covered Great Beaufort Plain N by an enormous ice sheet, which Bear Sea rises to a height of 10,000 ft Lake Chukchi FINLAND (3,000 m). The coastline is Plateau New Siberian deeply indented with fjords. M Islands A Canada Wrangel A Victoria Basin Plain N Island ARCTIC L RTH North v Khatanga CA Geomagnetic Ridge noso Severnaya Pole Q u e e n North Zemlya Elizabeth o m o O Islands Pole Noril’sk Ellesmere Island Alert OCEAN Kara Yenisey N Nares Strait Sea Dikson Ob` Wandel Vorkuta n Island Pond Inlet Franz Josef B a f fi Baffi n Savissivik Land Bay Sea (tGorDeenemnalrka)n d FreLdaerniKkonVgIII Novaya SVALBARD Zemlya (to Norway) Davis Strait d Spitsbergen Daneborg Longyearbyen Labrador Greenland pack ice ( December) Ostrov Sea Sea Kotel'nyy Sisimiut ice (June) Lim it of winter Barents Sea NUUK pack North Cape Murmansk Gunnbjørn Fjeld summer JAN MAYEN Kola 3700m (to Norway) of Peninsula Archangel AmmassaDlieSknt rmaaiLtrimkit Norwegian Sea NORWA Y REYKJAVÍK SWEDEN SCALE BAR EUROPE 0 250 500 km ATLANTIC OCEAN miles 0 250 500 35

www.children.dkonline.com >> Argentina ARGENTINA Argentina stretches for 2,150 miles ARGENTINA CONSISTS OF THREE MAIN REGIONS. In the (3,460 km) down the southeastern coast of South America. Its border north lies the hot, humid lands of the Gran Chaco. In the center, the in the west is defined by the Andes. temperate grasslands of the Pampas provide some of the world’s best To the south it straddles the farming country. Argentina is a world leader in beef exports and a Strait of Magellan. major producer of wheat, corn, fruit, and vegetables. In the far south the barren semidesert of Patagonia is rich in reserves of coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Argentina was settled by the Spanish in 1543. New European diseases, as well as conflict between the Spanish and Native Americans, considerably reduced Argentina’s original population. In the 19th century many immigrants from southern Europe, especially Spain and Italy, came to Argentina to work on farms and cattle ranches. Although Spanish is the official language today, many other languages are spoken, ranging from Welsh to Basque, reflecting the varied origins of Argentina’s many settlers. ARGENTINIAN WINE European vines were introduced to Argentina by Spanish missionaries, and thrived in the temperate climate and fertile soils of the central regions. Argentina is the fourth-largest wine- producing country in the world – though much of the wine is for sale in Argentina only. GAUCHOS BUENOS AIRES These nomadic cowboys of the Argentine Pampas first Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, is appeared in the 18th century, when they were hired to hunt escaped horses and cattle. Their standard one of the largest cities in South equipment included a lasso, knife, and bolas (iron balls on leather straps, thrown at the legs of the escaping America. Situated on the Plate River animals). In the 19th century they were hired by ranch owners as skilled cattle herders. Today estuary, it is also a major port and Argentine cowboys keep their culture alive. They still wear the gaucho costume of a poncho (a woollen thriving industrial center. It was cape), high leather boots, and long, pleated trousers. founded by Spanish settlers in 1580, and some historic buildings survive A street performance (below) of a today. The city expanded in the 19th tango in Buenos Aires. The South century when European immigrants American version of the tango flooded to Argentina. Its museums, developed from a blend of rhythms library, opera house, and cafés all give brought to South America by African the city a European flavor. slaves, as well as rhythms from Spain. ANDES TANGO DANCERS Tango developed in the 1880s in This wall of mountains forms a natural border between the poorer districts of Buenos Argentina and its western neighbor, Chile. In 1881 the Aires. By 1915, it had become a two countries signed a treaty defining this boundary. craze in the fashionable ballrooms In western Argentina the extinct volcano, Cerra of Europe. Today, the sensuous Aconcagua, reaches a height of 22,816 ft (6,959 m). dance, accompanied by It is the highest peak in the South American Andes. melancholy song, is still popular on the streets of the city. Find out more Coal South america South america, history of 36

ARGENTINA Volcano Mountain Ancient Capital Large Small Atacama Desert BOLIVIA Chaco monument city city/ city/ town town STATISTICS Tropic of Capricorn San Salvador ran P A RAGUABermejoPilcomayo Tropic of Capricorn de Jujuy Area: 1,068,296 sq miles OCEAN (2,766,890 sq km) LE Salta G Population: 40,914,000 Capital: Buenos Aires A Cerro Ojos San Miguel Formosa Y Plate Languages: Spanish, ndesdel Salado de Tucumán Italian, Amerindian ParanáUrugu languages 6880m Santiago Religions: Roman del Estero A Catholic, Jewish, Resistencia Z Protestant IL Currency: Corrientes Posadas Argentine peso Main occupation: La Rioja Salado ay Agriculture Laguna Mar a raná R Main exports: Beef, Chiquita B wheat, fruit, wine San Juan Santa Fe P Concordia Main import: Paraná Designer clothing Mendoza Córdoba URUGUAY Godoy Cerro Aconcagua Cruz Rosario 6959m San RafaelSalado Río Cuarto Gualeguaychú IC p a s BUENOS AIRES I a m Junín La Plata River P Santa Rosa Dolores ACIF Olavarría Azul O CH C ARGENTINA Mar del PlataE es Necochea A Colorado Tres Arroyos N Neuquén Zapala Bahía San Antonio Blanca Bahía Blanca Río Negro Oeste Viedma Lago Nahuel Huapi San Carlos de Bariloche Gulf of San Matías P ATLAN Península T N d Valdés IC Esquel Rawson Chubut An a W E i Sarmiento n Perito Chico Moreno o Comodoro Rivadavia S g Gulf of San Jorge FALKLAND ISLANDS DeseaCdoaleta Olivia a t a Golfo de Penas P Puerto Discovered by the British in Deseado 1592, the Falkland Islands are a TIERRA DEL FUEGO This string of islands is separated Chico self-governing British colony, from the South American mainland by the Strait of Magellan. They are Santa Cruz Bahía FALKLAND some 300 miles divided between Argentina and El Calafate Grande ISLANDS (480 km) off the Chile. The landscape, with its Río Gallegos coast of Argentina. mountains, frozen lakes, and West (to UK) The cool, windy glaciers, is bleak and windswept. It is also barren – only stunted trees Falkland islands are only and mosses grow there. Herds of sheep graze the land. Oil has been Strait of Magellan East suitable for grazing discovered in this remote area. Falkland sheep, and meat and wool are their main Tierra Río Grande Isla de los Estados resource. In 1982 Argentina, claimed the del Fuego Falklands as their territory. SCALE BAR 400 km They surrendered after 10 0 200 400 miles weeks, but British troops still 0 200 D r a k Cape Horn a g e protect the islands. e Pass 37

www.children.dkonline.com >> armor ARMOR ANCIENT WARRIORS quickly realized that they would survive in battle if they could protect themselves against their enemies. So they made armor – special clothing that was tough enough to stop weapons from injuring the wearer. Prehistoric armor was simple. It was made of leather but was strong enough to provide protection against crude spears and swords. As weapons became sharper, armor also had to improve. A thousand years ago the Roman Empire employed many armorers who made excellent metal armor. But after the fall of Rome in the 5th century, blacksmiths began to make armor and its quality fell. In the 14th century specially trained armorers invented Arrows bounced plate armor, to withstand lances, arrows, and swords. But off the curves even the thickest armor cannot stop a bullet, so armor of the helmet. became less useful when guns were invented. Today ANIMAL ARMOR Knights often no one uses traditional armor, but people in combat Soldiers have used animals in warfare, wore mail or such as dogs for attack and horses for padding beneath still wear protective clothing made out of modern plastics and tough metals. riding into battle. Armor protected the helmet. these animals when they fought. The most elaborate animal armor was the elephant armor of 17th-century India. The breastplate was flared HELMETS so that enemy sword strokes bounced off. A single heavy blow to the head can The vambrace was kill a person, so helmets, or armored a cylindrical piece to protect the upper arm. hats, were among the first pieces of The cowter protected armor to be made. They are still widely the elbow but allowed it to move freely. used today. Different shapes gave The gauntlet was protection against different types Bronze Age helmets protected made up of many of weapon. against swords more than small pieces so that the hand could 3,000 years ago. move freely. Pikemen of the 16th century The cuisse protected 12th-century helm Modern helmets give only the front of the leg. protection against shrapnel (metal fragments from bombs). Poleyns had to bend easily when the knight rode a horse. BULLETPROOF VEST Modern police and security forces Greaves were among the sometimes wear bulletproof vests to protect earliest pieces of body armor themselves from attack by criminals and to be made of sheet metal. terrorists. The vests are made of many layers of tough materials such as nylon SUIT OF ARMOR and are capable of stopping a bullet. Late 15th-century armor provided CHAIN MAIL Find out more a knight with a protective metal shell. Chain mail was easier The armor was very strong and cleverly and cheaper for a Alexander the great jointed so that the knight could move blacksmith to make Knights and heraldry easily. However, the metal suit weighed than a complicated up to 70 lb (30 kg), so that running, suit of plate armor. Medieval europe for example, was virtually impossible. Mail was very common Roman empire between the 6th and Vikings 13th centuries. It was made of a large number of interlocking rings of steel. It allowed the wearer to move easily, but did not give good protection against heavy swords and axes. 38

www.children.dkonline.com >> Asia ASIA THE LARGEST OF THE SEVEN CONTINENTS, Asia occupies one-third of the world’s total land area. Much of the continent is uninhabited. The inhospitable north is a cold land of tundra. Parched deserts and towering mountains take up large areas of the central region. Yet Asia is the home of well over half of the world’s population, most of whom live around the outer rim. China alone has more than 1.3 billion people, and India has more than one billion. Altogether, Asia contains 48 nations and many times this number of peoples, languages, and cultures. It has five main zones. In the north is the Russian Federation. Part of this is in Europe, but the vast eastern The Ural Mountains form the region, from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, is in Asia. The Pacific border between the continents of coast, which includes China, Korea, and Japan, is known as East Asia. To the Asia and Europe. Asia is separated south of this lie the warmer, more humid countries of Southeast Asia. India from Africa by the Red Sea. The and Pakistan are the principal countries of the Indian subcontinent in South Bering Strait, only 55 miles (88 km) Asia. One of the world’s first civilizations began here, in the Indus Valley. wide, marks the gap between Asia and North America. Australia lies Bordered by the Mediterranean and Arabian to the southeast. seas, the Middle East lies to the west where Europe, Asia, and Africa meet. MIDDLE EAST The hot, dry lands of the Middle East occupy the southwestern corner of Asia. Almost the entire Arabian Peninsula, between the Red Sea and the Persian Siberian scientists Gulf, is desert. To the north, in Iraq looking for minerals and Syria, lie the fertile valleys of the in North Asia have to Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Most of work in subzero temperatures, the people of the Middle East are and the cold Arab, and speak Arabic. can freeze their breath. The Arabs of the Middle East drank coffee long before it reached other countries. SIBERIA The northern coast of Asia is fringed by the Arctic Ocean. The sea here is frozen for most of the year. A layer of the land, called permafrost, is also always frozen. This area is part of the vast region of the Russian Federation called Siberia. Despite the cold, Russian people live and work in Siberia because the region is rich in timber, coal, oil, and natural gas. TRADE ROUTES TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS The warm, damp climate of much As long as 2,000 years ago, there was of Southeast Asia provides the trade between East Asia and Europe. perfect conditions for tropical rain Traders carried silk, spices, gems, and forests, which thrive in countries pottery. They followed overland routes such as Myanmar (Burma) and across India and Pakistan, past the Malaysia. The forests are the Karakoram Mountains (above). These habitat for a huge variety of wildlife trade routes were known as the Silk and are home to tribes of people Road; they are still used today. whose way of life has not changed for centuries. But because many of the forest trees are beautiful hardwoods, the logging industry is now cutting down the forests at an alarming rate to harvest the valuable timber. Sunlight breaks through the dense foliage of the rain forest only where rivers have cut trails through the trees. 39

ASIA PROSPERITY KOREA Some Asian countries, such as Japan The Korean peninsula juts out from northern China toward Japan. The two Korean nations were at war and Singapore, are among the between 1950 and 1953. They have lived in constant world’s most prosperous nations. mistrust of each other since the war ended but are The discovery of oil in a number now trying to mend the of other countries, such as Saudi divisions between them. Arabia in the Middle East and South Korea has a Brunei in Southeast Asia, has booming economy and is heavily made them very wealthy. supported by the United States. North Brunei’s vast oil wealth has Korea is Communist enabled the sultan (ruler) to and poorer. The build a magnificent new palace. climate favors rice It is called Istana Nurul Iman growing, with warm and is only open to the public at summers and the end of the Islamic fasting icy winters. month of Ramadan. Construction work is a common sight in South Korea, as new “Floating markets” Vanilla vines offices and factories are built are a common grow well in for the country’s expanding industries. sight on the busy the warm waterways of climate of SOUTHEAST ASIA East Asia. Indonesia, Many different people live in the warm, and women tropical southeastern corner of Asia. There harvest the are 10 independent countries in the region. pods by hand. Some of them – Myanmar (Burma), Laos, FAR EAST Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam – are East Asia is on the mainland attached to the rest of Asia. Further south lie Brunei, Malaysia, often called the and the tiny island nation of Singapore. Far East. In the 19th Indonesia stretches across the foot of the century European traders region. It is a scattered nation of more than and travelers used this name 13,500 islands. The islands of the Philippines to distinguish East Asia from the are to the east. Although some of these countries are very poor, Southeast Asia as a Middle East. The Far East includes whole has one of the most rapidly developing China, Japan, and North and South Korea. economies in the world. Hundreds of different languages are spoken in the Indian subcontinent, but Indian schools teach pupils to read and write Hindi, which is the country’s official language. The port INDIAN SUBCONTINENT Find out more The triangular landmass of South of Shanghai China Asia extends south from the India and subcontinent lies at the Himalaya Mountains to the warm waters of the Indian Japan mouth of the Ocean. This region is also Religions Russian federation Yangtze River. known as the Indian Southeast asia subcontinent. It YANGTZE RIVER includes not only India but also The Yangtze (or Chang Jiang), the world’s third- Pakistan, Nepal, longest river, flows 3,964 miles (6,380 km) through the Bangladesh, and middle of China, from its source in Tibet to the sea at Bhutan. At the very Shanghai. In 1997 the first stage was completed on the southern tip of India Three Gorges Dam, China’s largest construction lies the island nation project since the building of the Great Wall. of Sri Lanka. 40

ASIA ASIA EAST TIMOR KYRGYZSTAN SINGAPORE Asia is the world’s largest continent. Area: 5,794 sq miles It is a region of contrasts: both in (15,007 sq km) Area: 76,640 sq miles Area: 239 sq miles its landscape and its peoples. The Population: 1,132,000 break-up of the Soviet Union Capital: Dili (198,500 sq km) (697 sq km) produced five new central Asian Population: 5,432,000 Population: 4,658,000 Capital: Bishkek Capital: Singapore City republics. The countries in the south GEORGIA LAOS SRI LANKA are mainly Muslim, but are divided Area: 26,911 sq miles Area: 91,428 sq miles Area: 25,332 sq by religious differences and conflicts. (69,700 sq km) (236,800 sq km) miles (65,610 sq km) Population: 4,616,000 Population: 6,835,000 Population: 21,325,000 AFGHANISTAN Capital: Tbilisi Capital: Vientiane Capital: Colombo Area: 250,001 sq miles (647,500 sq km) INDIA Population: 33,610,000 Area: 1,269,338 sq LEBANON SYRIA Capital: Kãbul miles (3,287,590 sq km) Area: 4,015 sq miles Area: 71,500 sq miles ARMENIA Population: 1,166,079,000 (10,400 sq km) (185,180 sq km) Area: 11,506 sq Capital: New Delhi Population: 4,017,000 Population: 20,178,000 miles (29,800 sq km) Capital: Beirut Capital: Damascus INDONESIA Population: 2,967,000 Area: 735,555 sq miles MALAYSIA TAIWAN Capital: Yerevan (1,904,570 sq km) Area: 127,317 sq Area: 13,969 sq miles Population: 240,272,000 miles (329,750 sq km) (36,179 sq km) AZERBAIJAN Capital: Jakarta Population: 25,716,000 Population: 22,974,000 Area: 33,436 sq Capital: Taipei miles (86,600 sq km) IRAN Capital: Kuala Lumpur Population: 8,239,000 TAJIKISTAN Capital: Baku Area: 636,293 sq Area: 55,251 sq miles (1,648,000 sq km) MALDIVES BAHRAIN Population: 66,429,000 Area: 116 sq miles Capital: Tehran (300 sq km) miles (143,100 sq km) Area: 257 sq miles IRAQ Population: 396,000 Population: 7,349,000 (665 sq km) Area: 168,754 sq miles Capital: Male’ Capital: Dushanbe Population: 728,000 Capital: Manama (437,072 sq km) MONGOLIA THAILAND Population: 28,946,000 Area: 604,247 sq Area: 198,457 sq miles BANGLADESH Capital: Baghdad miles (1,565,000 sq km) (514,000 sq km) Area: 55,598 sq miles Population: 65,905,000 (143,998 sq km) ISRAEL Population: 3,041,000 Capital: Bangkok Population: 156,051,000 Capital: Dhaka Area: 7,992 sq miles Capital: Ulan Bator TURKEY (20,700 sq km) NEPAL Population: 7,234,000 BHUTAN Capital: Jerusalem Area: 56,827 sq miles Area: 301,384 sq miles Area: 18,147 sq miles (780,580 sq km) (47,000 sq km) JAPAN (147,181 sq km) Population: 76,806,000 Population: 691,000 Area: 145,869 sq miles Population: 28,563,000 Capital: Ankara (377,800 sq km) Capital: Kathmandu Capital: Thimphu Population: 127,079,000 OMAN TURKMENISTAN BRUNEI Capital: Tokyo Area: 82,030 sq Area: 188,455 sq Area: 2,228 sq miles JORDAN miles (212,460 sq km) miles (488,100 sq km) (5,770 sq km) Area: 35,637 sq miles Population: 3,418,000 Population: 4,885,000 Population: 389,000 (92,300 sq km) Capital: Muscat Capital: Ashgabat Capital: Bandar Seri Begawan Population: 6,343,000 PAKISTAN U. A. E. Capital: Amman BURMA (MYANMAR) Area: 307,374 sq miles Area: 32,278 sq KAZAKHSTAN Area: 261,970 sq (796,100 sq km) miles (83,600 sq km) Area: 1,049,150 sq miles (678,500 sq km) miles (2,717,300 sq km) Population: 176,243,000 Population: 4,798,000 Population: 48,138,000 Population: 15,400,000 Capital: Rangoon Capital: Astana Capital: Islamabad Capital: Abu Dhabi CAMBODIA NORTH KOREA PHILIPPINES UZBEKISTAN Area: 69,000 sq miles Area: 46,540 sq Area: 115,831 sq Area: 172,741 sq (181,040 sq km) miles (120,540 sq km) miles (300,000 sq km) miles (447,400 sq km) Population: 14,494,000 Population: 22,665,000 Population: 97,977,000 Population: 27,606,000 Capital: Phnom Penh Capital: Pyongyang Capital: Manila Capital: Tashkent CHINA SOUTH KOREA QATAR VIETNAM Area: 3,628,166 sq Area: 38,023 sq miles Area: 4,473 sq Area: 127,243 sq miles miles (9,396,960 sq km) (98,480 sq km) miles (11,586 sq km) (329,560 sq km) Population: 1,338,613,000 Population: 48,510,000 Population: 833,000 Population: 86,968,000 Capital: Beijing Capital: Seoul Capital: Doha Capital: Hanoi CYPRUS KUWAIT RUSSIAN FED. YEMEN Area: 3,572 sq miles Area: 203,849 sq miles (9,251 sq km) Area: 6,880 sq miles Area: 6,592,800 sq (527,970 sq km) Population: 797,000 Population: 23,823,000 Capital: Nicosia (17,820 sq km) miles (17,075,400 sq km) Capital: Sana Population: 2,691,000 Population: 140,041,000 Capital: Kuwait City Capital: Moscow 41

ASIA MOUNT EVEREST Volcano Mountain Ancient Capital Large Small The Himalayan mountain range runs along the monument city city/ city/ China-Nepal border southeast from the Pamir town town Mountains. It is a group of rugged peaks and valleys, sometimes described as the “roof of the world.” The highest point in the Himalayas is Mount Everest STATISTICS (right) – the world’s highest mountain. Area: 17,961,247 sq miles SCALE BAR 1000 km (46,519,416 sq km) 0 500 500 1000 miles Population: 3,152,429,000 0 Highest point: Mount URAL MOUNTAINS AN Everest (Nepal) 29,029 ft (8,850 m) The Ural Mountains East Bering Longest river: Yangtze Sea (China) 3,964 miles form a natural border C E between Asia ARCTIC O Siberian and Europe. Sea a (6,380 km) Laptev Kolym a Kolyma Range Kamchatk P Kurile Islands KURILE ISLANDS Largest lake: Caspian Sea Lena The Kurile Islands are Sea 143,205 sq miles Kara CIFI part of the Russian (371,000 sq km) Sea A Federation, but Japan claims the southernmost ns Yenisey Central r Aildan a islands in this chain as Siberian Sea of part of its own territory. e Okhotsk Ural Plateau b llo w Riv Lena Sa E Si Argun P U r a l MountaiRUSSIAN FEDERATION ngolia khalin EU R O Ob’WestOb’ Angara AmurVitim Amur Siberian Lchashen Plain SeaBlack I Lake C M e diteSreraa n Baikal N AltASTANA Sea of rtysh arya KIASmTuANNDIaSrTyaAN A I I N D I A C H I N ATropic of CanJcEeerLCRaINJSUEnYOIRSBCBPARAAEORLDIENSEUARLIMAONUASNKTNTAAARMUGRSSIDYIAuYSMARRKARAUAlNYEAfKUMDAAMArRAUMYNoEWPHQEARfQAIABeEYRAANDSMArnAaECNIdAiITEnbAVeITBUAMnZsiNAAAauESAGRTNRGnlIaBuAhHGU.BleS(BAfDDtAE.oToAOAZOcAOHBKoY.EIDMHEtIAUReRrCRLmA.aRABTAGIAaBflSeUGENnIGI.IAuHNA)MTDAlAfRNUBHUoAArfRASNTSOaCKBAmeIMbTUaAaiEKnFZaGPBnEHAKASAAAKeZNrBSaaIyTIUlrSASADNLTTSAKEMHANWBDNKoHaUEuDlNkNSTnLEhaSHaTraIALtGmSsKkATHKJEhoLeaINYdAvIABdKaARBTeaMvIKIrSaErHGSiHeNrAHsBihKsTMYnBtKANuaiAZAA8nENEmSNDTNl8KPuGTa5DnArLAai0oPUMLmANmflolaHDTGuteanaiEAeBbBntaBrSnageayuieeHdathnsanamsaiymTgaDBMHaposMaHHunoSfIltaMuAUrlOanwKBPNTM(etBAMHUeAaAenNAykUiYaoNRNnnnPmgVsGGMGYaIrIKE)AOoTONTAbTKHLWYiIAAeUINILLLeAEIrAAACnNONBnASBEVeDYMraIAHJnXBTIMgANiOtOzoNJGeiRDPaAOnYInIgOAHDyaNaanoGiCgnSYaSohAnuNeYiSanMKeGStOlheaOlANaoKUNwROPOCTITETSL(EHRARHSEhEAAAITaEOJaeWIIiaPHALsansUAEptLtLINaIauSPnzePoaPHn)IhTNJirlAoSEipeMpPiSaTcpAiOoniNnfdKCeaYanOnacoerspian SeaonshuW E Tigris Ryukyu Islands A S Euphrates OCE I ndus N Red Sea I E T NMeAkoMng Equator AFRIC Irrawaddy N Islands PHNOM PENH D (to India) Andaman Gulf of BANDAR SERI SEOUL SRI Nicobar Sea Thailand BEGAWAN New Guinea Modern office blocks crowd together in Islands Papua Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, but I LANKA (to India) M A L A Y S I A BRUNEI Moluccas (Irian Jaya) a few ancient buildings still survive. The A COLOMBO South Gate (below) was built at the end of N O C Equator the 14th century as part of a wall that once KUALA LUMPUR PUTRAJAYA B o r n e o Celebes ESIA surrounded the city. Today Seoul is spreading D F l o rFOe sloSreesa N far beyond its original boundaries, as rapid S u SINGAPORE EAST TIMOR industrial growth creates a need for more I DILI offices, factories, and homes. m a a Java t r N Sea E A NEAST TIMOR A JAKARTA J a v a Timor L I In 1975 Indonesia invaded the Timor Sea T R A A U S Portuguese colony of East Timor, the eastern part of the island of Timor. The following year the region was made a province of Indonesia. In a UN-monitored referendum in 1999, voters rejected Indonesian rule, and in 2002 East Timor became an independent state. JAVA Rice terraces (right) provide the staple food for Indonesia. These fields are on the island of Java, which has only seven per cent of Indonesia’s land area but is the home of some 60 per cent of the country’s people. 42

www.children.dkonline.com >> history of Asia HISTORY OF ASIA THE VAST CONTINENT OF ASIA is home to the oldest civilizations and religions in the world. Because Asia contains many virtually impassable deserts and mountain ranges, individual countries developed separately from each other. However, links between these countries sprang up as merchants traveled along the Silk Road, Indian kings invaded neighboring countries, Buddhist monks crossed the Himalayas, and Arab traders sailed across the Indian Ocean. As a result, the great Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic religions spread across the continent. For much of the last 500 years, Europe controlled large parts of Asia, but since 1945 Asian countries have EARLY CIVILIZATIONS gained their independence. Many of them are now world-class economies. Asia’s extreme land forms, such as the towering peaks HINDUISM of the Himalayas that separate Hinduism began in the ancient civilizations of India from China, meant that early Asian cultures the Indus Valley, in India, around 2500 bce. had little contact with each Over the centuries, the religion spread across other, or with the rest of the India to Sri Lanka and the islands of Southeast world. As a result, the first great Asian civilizations, Asia. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the such as the Indus Valley world still practiced today and provides a thread linking together all of India’s history. Civilization in the Indian subcontinent and the Shang Dynasty in China, developed very different and distinct cultures. ARAB TRADERS Bactrian (two-humped) Arab merchants were great travelers and camel pottery made adventurers, crossing deserts and oceans in in China. search of new markets in which to buy and sell their goods. On their journeys, they converted local people to their Islamic religion, founded by Muhammad in Arabia SILK ROAD in the early 600s. As a result, Islam spread across Asia as far as the southeastern islands. The Silk Road was an important trading route that stretched across Asia from Loyang, China’s capital, in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. It was called the Silk Road because of the Chinese silk that was traded along its length. The road was not continuous but was made up of a series of well-marked routes connecting major towns. Here, merchants bought and sold their goods, creating a link between Asia and Europe. Buddhist monks shave BUDDHIST MONKS MONGOLS their heads and wear Siddhartha Gautama, the The Mongols were fierce saffron-colored robes. founder of Buddhism, was warriors who lived as nomads born in India c. 563 bce. on the steppes, or grasslands, By his death c. 483 bce, of Central Asia. In the 1200s his teaching had spread they created an empire that throughout India. From stretched from China into about 100 ce, Buddhist eastern Europe. Their power monks took Buddhism declined in the 1300s, but in across the Himalayas to 1369 one of their leaders, China and along the Silk Tamerlane the Great, became Road into Central Asia. ruler of Central Asia. He built Today most of the world’s many fine mosques in his Buddhists live in Asia. capital, Samarkand. 43

ASIA, HISTORY OF EUROPEAN DOMINATION WORLD WAR II In 1498 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sailed to During World War II (1939-45), India around the southern tip of Africa. He was the first the Japanese invaded China and European to reach Asia by sea. Other Europeans much of Southeast Asia in order to followed, and over the next 400 years create an empire. Some welcomed Europeans dominated much of Asia, the Japanese invaders, because the first as traders and merchants, Japanese threw out the European then as conquerors and colonial masters and sometimes colonizers. Only Persia gave the people a greater degree (present-day Iran), of independence. After Japan’s Afghanistan, Thailand, defeat in 1945, Britain, France, the and Japan remained Netherlands, and the US returned to free from take control of their former colonies. European control. COMMUNIST ASIA Portuguese The Red Guard, In 1949, the Communist Party finally gained power in colonial house followers of Chinese China after years of civil war. Communists also took control in North Korea, Mongolia, North Vietnam, in Macau Communist leader Cambodia, and Laos. The Communist governments Mao Zedong hoped to improve people’s living standards but failed ASIA Chinese students to match the economic success of c. 2,500 bce Hinduism bearing a portrait Japan and other Asian is founded in India. countries. of Mao Zedong c. 563-c. 483 bce Life of (1893-1976) Chinese demonstrate Buddha. their revolutionary INDEPENDENCE fervor in 1967 500s bce The Silk Road Following World War II, the European is established. countries began to grant their Asian Find out more colonies independence. India became Asia 250 bce Buddhism independent from Britain in 1947-48, and China spreads to Sri Lanka Indonesia gained its independence from and Southeast Asia. the Netherlands in 1949. The last colony – Communism the Portuguese territory of Macau – was India and subcontinent 100 ce Monks take handed back to China in 1999. Buddhism to China and Japan into Central Asia. TIGER ECONOMIES World war ii 850-1200 Chola kings Japan and other countries began of India take Hinduism rebuilding their economies after to Sri Lanka and into World War II. They concentrated Southeast Asia. on heavy industries such as car 1279 Mongol Empire manufacturing and shipbuilding, under Kublai Khan and on hi-tech industries such as reaches greatest extent. computers and electronics. Today Japan is the world’s second-biggest 1369 Tamerlane the Great creates a new economy, while Taiwan, South Mongol Empire in the Korea, Singapore, and China have city of Samarkand. become industrial powerhouses. 1498 Vasco da Gama sails to India. 44 1600 British merchants establish the East India Company in order to trade with India. 1619 Dutch begin to control the East Indies. 1757 British take over Bengal and expand their rule in India. 1850s French begin to control Southeast Asia. 1937 Japanese troops invade China. 1941-45 World War II rages in eastern Asia and the Pacific. 1947-48 British rule in India comes to an end. 1949 Indonesia becomes independent. 1999 Portuguese hand Macau back to China.

www.children.dkonline.com >> Assyrians WARRIORS The Assyrians were ASSYRIANS famed and feared for their strength in battle ABOUT 3,000 YEARS AGO, a mighty empire rose to power in the Middle and for torturing their victims. They developed East where Iraq is today. This was the Assyrian Empire. It lasted for more the chariot and fought than 300 years and spread all over the surrounding area from the Nile with swords, shields, River to Mesopotamia. Under King Shalmaneser I (1273-44 bce) the Assyrians conquered Babylon and many other independent states and slings, and bows. eventually united the region into one empire. With an enormous army, armored horses, fast two-wheeled chariots, and huge battering rams, the Assyrians were highly skilled, successful fighters, ruthless in battle. The Assyrian Empire grew quickly with a series of warlike kings, including Ashurbanipal II and Sennacherib. Great wealth and excellent trading links enabled the Assyrians to rebuild the cities of Nimrud and Nineveh (which became the capital), and to create a new city at Khorsabad. Assyria was a rich, well-organized society, but by the 7th century bce the empire had grown too large to protect itself well. Around 612 bce, the Babylonian and Mede peoples destroyed Nineveh, and the Assyrian Empire collapsed. Men armed with spears and swords accompanied the king on lion hunts. Mediterranean Nineveh Sea Babylon Damascus Jerusalem Memphis Thebes Persian Gulf ASSYRIAN EMPIRE LION HUNT In the 7th century bce, the Assyrian Hunting and Empire reached its greatest extent. killing lions was a It stretched down to the Persian favorite pastime of Gulf in the south and the the Assyrian kings. Mediterranean coast in the west, Lions represented the and included Babylon. wild strength of nature. It was considered a noble challenge to seek them out and kill them, although captive lions were also hunted. Only the king was allowed to kill a lion. ROYAL LIFE Winged bulls have Stone reliefs tell us much a human head, wings, about the lives of the Assyrian royalty. This relief sculpture shows and fishlike scales, King Ashurbanipal II (669-621 bce) suggesting that drinking wine in his garden with they represent his queen. It looks like a quiet, a combination of all the best domestic scene; but on another qualities of animals and people. section of this sculpture there is a head hanging from a tree. It is the head of Teumann, the king of the Elamites, whose defeat the king and queen are celebrating. Assyrian slaves had WINGED BULLS to drag the massive Massive stone sculptures sculptures to the palace. (right) of winged bulls were placed on each side of important doors and gateways. Find out more Babylonians Middle east 45

The astronaut www.children.dkonline.com >> astronauts The different parts wears a special of the suit, such as undergarment ASTRONAUTS the gloves and with tubes that AND SPACE TRAVEL helmet, are locked water flows in position. through, keeping the astronaut’s body cool. Pressure Visor helmet ON APRIL 12, 1961, the world watched in wonder as Yuri Gagarin of Russia blasted off from Earth aboard a huge rocket and entered space. He was the first cosmonaut – the Russian word for astronaut, a person trained to work in space. Eight years later, Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon and became the first human being to step on to another world away from our planet. Since then, a few hundred other Cap astronauts, both men and women, have voyaged into space. Astronauts have jobs Communications headset to do during their missions. They help with the construction of the International Water inlet Space Station and perform scientific experiments under the weightless and outlet conditions of space. Today astronauts are preparing for the next major landmarks in space exploration: to go back to the Moon and then perhaps to Mars. Communications There is no air in space to carry Main tanks input socket sound waves, so astronauts provide oxygen for communicate by radio. the astronaut to breathe. Wrist clamp Reserve oxygen Oxygen inlets Extra- tanks provide and outlets vehicular emergency oxygen supply. Urine transfer glove collection Control panel Battery provides Integrated thermal Strap-on allows the power for micrometeoroid fastener astronaut to adjust spacesuit systems. garment the temperature Cosmonaut Salizhan S. Shapirov and oxygen Layers of different installing navigation and flow in the suit. plastics make the communication equipment outside suit strong yet the International Space Station. Urine-collection device flexible. worn by the astronaut is like a big diaper. Lunar overshoe SPACESUIT WEIGHTLESSNESS Space is a perilous place for a human being. There is no air to breathe, and without a spacesuit for protection, an We have weight because of the astronaut would explode. This is because the human body pull of Earth’s gravity. In space, is built to function under the constant pressure of Earth’s gravity holds the astronauts and atmosphere, which is not present in space. their spacecraft in orbit around Earth. But there is no force holding the astronauts to their spaceship, so they float around inside it. This is called weightlessness. On some spacecraft, TRAINING astronauts sleep in People have to undergo long sleeping bags attached training programs to become to the cabin walls. astronauts. They also must be very fit. These cosmonauts are practicing Food and drinks Special exercise working under weightless conditions come in special machines help the using a life-size model of a Salyut packs that do not astronauts keep fit. spacecraft inside a huge water tank. spill. There is an LIVING IN SPACE oven to heat food. Find out more Gravity While on board a spacecraft, astronauts Rockets and missiles consume the same kind of food and drink as they do on Earth. Soviet union, history of There is usually no bath or shower; astronauts wash with damp Space flight cloths instead. Regular exercise is essential, because living in weightless conditions can weaken bones and muscles. 46

www.children.dkonline.com >> astronomy ASTRONOMY THERE ARE AMAZING SIGHTS to be seen in the heavens – other worlds different from our own, great glowing clouds of gas where stars are born, and immense explosions in which stars end their lives. Astronomers are scientists who study all the objects in the universe, such as planets, moons, comets, stars, and galaxies. Astronomy is an ancient science. The early Arabs and Greeks looked up to the sky and tried to understand the moons, stars, and planets. However, most of these objects were too distant for early astronomers to see in any detail. It was only after the invention of the telescope in the 17th century that people really began to learn about the universe. Today astronomy makes use of a vast array of equipment to explore space. Astronomers use ground- based telescopes of many kinds, launch spacecraft that visit the other planets in the solar system, and send up satellites to study the universe from high above the Earth’s surface. Fine guidance High-gain antenna Sunshade protects the telescope OBSERVATORY sensors lock on to receives commands at launc, and helps prevent Astronomers study space bright stars, to from Earth and returns bright sunlight from spoiling from observatories (above) ensure that the the images. that are often at the top of telescope is steady Hubble pictures as a mountain where there is and the images are TV signals. Secondary mirror a clear view of the sky. This not blurred. is supported within photograph took several Reaction wheels the telescope hours to make. The stars point Hubble at tube. trace circles because the stars and other rotation of Earth makes targets in space. them appear to move across the sky. Space Handrail for SPACE TELESCOPE Telescope astronauts Imaging The optical telescope is Spectrograph Magnetometer senses one of the main tools of an breaks up light Hubble’s movements astronomer. Most astronomical into its constituent through Earth’s optical, infrared, and ultraviolet wavelengths. magnetic field. telescopes focus light from distant stars using a large Cosmic Light is reflected from the main curved mirror instead of lenses. Origins mirror to the secondary, and This is because it is not possible Spectrograph then to the cameras and to construct a lens big enough, (hidden from other detectors behind and even if it were, a lens would view) analyzes the main mirror. produce distorted images. ultraviolet light. Launched in 1990, the Hubble Wide Field Computers Second Solar arrays Space Telescope is an optical Near-Infrared Camera (WFC3) coordinate all high-gain provide power telescope that orbits high above Camera and is the main camera the onboard antenna by converting Earth in order to avoid the Multi-Object for visible light. systems. sunlight into blurring effect produced by Spectrometer electricity. Earth’s atmosphere. contains three Main (primary) infrared mirror, 7.8 ft (2.4 m) detectors. in diameter, collects and focuses light. RECEIVING DATA ON EARTH All signals to and from the Hubble Space Telescope pass through NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Here, engineers constantly monitor the spacecraft’s health. Hubble astronomers work at the Space Telescope Science Institute and control the telescope’s observing schedule. Astronomers from far-off countries use Hubble through remote control. An astronomer (right) receives a Hubble image of the Tarantula nebula (a group of stars). 47

ASTRONOMY EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE X-RAYS Special satellites carry Stars and other objects in the universe produce streams detectors that pick up of tiny particles and many kinds of waves such as radio x-rays. These satellites have waves. Except for light, these waves and particles are all discovered black holes, invisible, but astronomers can study them to provide which give out x-rays as information about the universe. The atmosphere they suck in gases from blocks many of the rays, so detectors are nearby stars. This is an mounted on satellites that orbit above Earth’s atmosphere. x-ray image of a supernova, which is an exploding star. INFRARED RAYS Objects in space can also send out infrared (heat) rays. Satellites and ground- based telescopes pick up these rays. They can reveal the centers of galaxies and gas clouds called GAMMA RAYS nebulae (right), where Some satellites detect gamma rays, which are stars are forming. waves of very high energy. Gamma rays come from many objects, including pulsars, which are the remains of exploded stars. This is ULTRAVIOLET RAYS a gamma ray map of our own galaxy. Stars that are much hotter than our Sun give out far more ultraviolet radiation than visible light. This ultraviolet image of a spiral galaxy was taken from a space observatory to help VISIBLE LIGHT astronomers understand when and Telescopes on the where new stars have formed. ground and on satellites detect the light rays that come from planets, comets, stars, and Radio image of a galaxies. Earth’s quasar. A quasar atmosphere distorts is a kind of light rays, making RADAR SIGNALS powerful pictures slightly Astronomers galaxy with a fuzzy. However, new produce radar very bright computer- controlled maps of planets center. telescopes are able to reduce this distortion. and moons by RADIO WAVES A supernova remnant bouncing radio Many bodies as seen through an waves off their produce their own optical telescope. surfaces. The radio waves, which are radar map of picked up by the large Venus (left) was dishes of radio telescopes. recorded by the Objects called pulsars, Pioneer Venus spacecraft quasars, and radio of the United States. galaxies were The map is color- discovered in this way. coded to represent plains and mountains on the planet’s surface. SKY WATCHERS OF THE PAST An array of sensitive light NEUTRINOS In the third century bce the Greek scientist Aristarchus detectors pick up flashes of Tiny particles called neutrinos suggested that Earth and the planets move around the light produced when neutrinos come from stars. Most neutrinos Sun. The telescope, first used to observe the heavens enter the tank. pass right through Earth, but by Italian scientist Galileo, proved this to be true and led special detectors lying deep to many other discoveries. In the 1920s the astronomer Neutrino underground can detect a few detectors consist of them. By studying neutrinos, Edwin Hubble found of large tanks of astronomers can find out about that stars exist in huge water, in which flashes the Sun and exploding stars. groups called galaxies of light occur as the and that the universe neutrinos pass through. Find out more is expanding in size. Black holes The ancient observatory at Moon Jaipur, India, contains stone structures that astronomers built Planets to measure the positions of the Satellites Sun, Moon, planets, and stars. Space flight Stars Sun Telescopes Universe 48

www.children.dkonline.com >> Atlantic Ocean ATLANTIC OCEAN SUBTROPICAL SCILLIES THE UNDERWATER LANDSCAPE of the Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is bounded The Gulf Stream is a warm ocean by the Americas in the west and current that flows up the east coast Ocean is dominated by the mid-Atlantic Ridge, the by Europe and Africa in the east. of North America and then across world’s longest mountain chain. Some of the ridge’s Along the mid-Atlantic Ridge, a to western Europe, driven by peaks rise above sea level as volcanic islands, such as long submarine mountain chain, northeasterly trade winds. These Iceland and the Azores. The deepest part of the winds carry moisture and warmth Atlantic, the Puerto Rico Trench, plunges to high volcanic peaks pierce the from the ocean to the land. In 30,185 ft (9,200 m) below sea level. The Atlantic water’s surface as islands. England’s Scilly Islands, subtropical Ocean is rich in oil and natural gas. In recent plants flourish in the winter because years, offshore oil reserves have been exploited of the impact of the current. in the Gulf of Mexico, the Niger River Delta, and the North Sea. Sand, gravel, and shell deposits are also mined by the US and UK for use in the construction industry. The Atlantic is the most productive and heavily utilized fishing ground in the world, providing millions of tons a year. The Atlantic Ocean has been crossed by shipping routes for many centuries. It is still heavily used for seaborne trade, especially the bulk transportation of raw materials, such as oil, grain, and iron, to industrial centers. ATLANTIC TOURISM SUBMARINE ACTIVITY During the Cold War, from the 1950s to The volcanic islands which have the 1980s, the Atlantic Ocean was patrolled emerged along the ocean’s by both the US and Russian navies. Since mid-Atlantic Ridge, especially the 1990s, US and Russian scientists are sharing advances in submarine technology the Canaries, Azores, and Madeira, are major tourist attractions. The fertile – developed for defense purposes – to black soil of the Canaries is ideal for the survey, map, and analyze the unexplored cultivation of bananas, tomatoes, sugar cane, and tobacco. The mild subtropical world beneath the Atlantic. climate attracts winter visitors from Europe. A trawler braves the  rough seas of the Atlantic Ocean. Its crew are fishing for lobster. ATLANTIC FISHING NAVIGATION Compasses are The Atlantic Ocean, a productive fishing ground for centuries, vital in cross-ocean contains over half the world’s total stock of fish. In the North Atlantic, navigation. The cod, haddock, mackerel, and lobster are the main catch, while the compass needle points South Atlantic catch is dominated by hake and tuna. Freezer trawlers to magnetic north, in that can catch and process a ton or more of fish in just an hour are in the Canadian Arctic. danger of overfishing the Atlantic. Countries claim exclusive rights to zones extending 200 nautical miles (370 km) from their coastlines to conserve fish stocks. ICELANDIC HEATING Plumes of steam rise Find out more Iceland was formed by from a geothermal power volcanic action along a fault station (left). Iceland has Oceans and seas the most solfataras (volcanic Ships and boats line in Earth’s crust, vents) and hot springs in the 65 million years ago. Iceland world. The intense heat deep Submarines underground creates bubbling Volcanoes still has over 100 volcanoes, hot springs and mud pools. many still active. The vast Wind natural heat reserves beneath Iceland’s icy surface are being harnessed to provide hot water and heating for much of the population. 49