Drakensberg Mountains

THE DRAKENSBERG Mountains form one of the most scenic natural areas in SOUTH AFRICA. The mountain range straddles the eastern border of LESOTHO, a LANDLOCKED nation lying within the boundaries of South Africa, located about 150 mi (250 km) northwest of Durban. The name Drakensberg means “Dragon Mountains” in Afrikaans. The range is also known to the Zulu nation as “uKhahlamba” (the “Barrier of Spears”).

The Drakensberg Mountains are the southern extension of the interior highlands of Africa, rising to

10,826 ft (3,300 m) before dropping to the coastal lowlands near Durban. The Drakensbergs serve as the headwaters of South Africa’s largest river, the Orange River, which flows west from the highlands of Lesotho to the South Africa-NAMIBIA border before emptying into the ATLANTIC OCEAN. The steep gradients and land use cause many of South Africa’s rivers to have a high rate of runoff and soil EROSION.

Seasonality is reflected in dry, sunny winters (April to October) and summer rains (November to March). Rainfall varies from 15.7 in (40 cm) to 35.4 in (90 cm) of precipitation per year, with some areas occasionally receiving up to 78.7 in (200 cm) per year. A “rainfall line” denotes grazing and irrigated crops to the west and land more suitable for farming to the east. Record snowfalls (19.7 in or 50 cm) occurred in July 1994. 

Bushmen (called “San”) have inhabited the basalt ESCARPMENT from thousands of years ago up until the late 1800s, leaving tens of thousands of rock paintings at over 500 sites. This is a major reason part of the mountain range was designated the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg World Heritage Site in 2000 by the United Nations.

The Drakensberg Mountains also hold numerous national parks, the most scenic of which is Royal Natal National Park, located at the northern end of the range. Here lies the Amphitheatre, a natural ring of thousand-meter high cliffs that includes multilevel Thukela Falls, the second-highest waterfall in the world.

In addition to cultural and scenic amenities, the Drakensberg Mountains also harbor high levels of biodiversity, much of this resulting from the steep elevation gradients. Ninety-eight of 2,153 plant species are endemic or near-endemic to the area; the almost 300 bird species include the globally endangered cape parrot and white-winged fluff-tail.

Despite efforts by Zulu kings to limit the range of trophy hunters, several wildlife species nearly became extinct from hunting here by the late 1800s. The eland, endemic gray rhebock, and clawless and spotted-neck otters are species populations exhibiting healthy recovery from this historic setback. Other traditional African wildlife that inhabit the Drakensberg Mountains include leopard, baboon, jackal, wildebeest, and zebra.

Historic battlefields dot the region, marking sites of the British-Zulu wars and British-Boer wars of the 1800s. Nearby towns and cities include Ladysmith, through which Mahatma Gandhi and Winston

Churchill passed early in their careers. Ladysmith is the home of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a musical group popularized globally by Paul Simon.

Don River

THE DON RIVER IS one of RUSSIA’s major commercial rivers, which, connected to the VOLGA through the 65-mi (105-km) Volga-Don Canal, allows river traffic to sail from Russia’s interior ports as far inland as MOSCOW to ports on the BLACK SEA and beyond to the MEDITERRANEAN. The Don River basin also includes its most important tributary, the Donets, which flows through the northeastern corner of the UKRAINE, the most industrially active region of that country, known for its coal and production of steel and heavy manufacturing machinery.

The Don rises near the city of Tula, about 125 mi (200 km) southeast of Moscow. It then flows for 1,220 mi (1,950 km), first southeast to a bend a few kilometers west of Volgograd (coming within 31 mi or 50 km of the Volga River), then southwest to its mouth on the Sea of Azov. It is at this bend where the rivers Don and Volga are joined by the Volga-Don Canal, built in 1952. The canal joins the Don in the Tsimlyanskoye Reservoir, one of Russia’s numerous vast hydroelectric projects built in the Soviet era, with a large dam between the towns of Tsimlyansk and Volgodonsk.

The Don basin’s largest cities are clustered below this point (Rostov, Bataysk, Novocherkassk) or along the industrial Donets basin in Ukraine (Kharkov, Lisichansk, Lugansk). Altogether, the Don basin drains 178,894 square mi (458,703 square km), most of it Russia’s breadbasket (83 percent is cropland). Known as the Tanaïs to ancient geographers, it was the center of Scythian culture in the centuries before and after the Christian era. It is the busiest trade river of south Russia, navigable for 800 mi (1,290 km), bringing Siberian raw materials and manufactured goods from the north to the warm-water ports of the south. Frozen during three months of the year, it is also occasionally hampered by severe spring flooding, but also large volumes of silt that make navigation in its lower reaches treacherous because of shifting sandbanks and shallows. Its entryway into the Sea of Azov, the Gulf of Taganrog, is one of the shallowest bodies of water in the world, with depths averaging a mere 3.3 ft (1 m).

Domino Theory

THE DOMINO THEORY states that if one vital country in a region falls to an expansionist negative philosophy, then other countries in the region similarly situated and similarly structured would fall victim to the same philosophy, either through force or through influence of example. In its pure form, the negative philosophy is communism but in variants it can be socialism or theocratic Islam, The theory was used as a rationale for American interventions, including most disastrously the intervention in the Vietnam War. After World War II, the geopolitical situation of an already shaky alliance between the Western capitalist democracies and the communist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics fell apart as the Soviets sought to establish a buffer zone of satellite states and the UNITED STATES asserted the rights of all nations to independence in a postcolonial world. Each side accused the other of starting the Cold War, and the world quickly polarized as each camp took an “either against us or with us” attitude and enforced it through alliances, such as the Soviet bloc Warsaw Pact and the U.S.-led NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO). Battling monoliths faced each other across the Iron Curtain in a Cold War where none was allowed to be neutral.

The West definitely feared communism, as it had since the Russian Revolution had generated Red Berlin and America’s red scare back in the aftermath of World War I. The communists had been active in the intervening years, notably in SPAIN, and there were examples where briefly democratic countries became communist as the map of Europe turned “red” after World War II. The U.S. consensus was that all communist movements were part of the communist international, puppets of the Kremlin. Communism was a monolith, not a an idea, like democracy, that might arise in a nation independently of either the United States or the Soviet Union.

Dominica

THE LAST OF THE islands of the West Indies to be colonized, chiefly because of the fierce resistance of the native Carib population, the island of Dominica now retains the only pre-Columbian population in the eastern CARIBBEAN SEA. Dominica also maintains more of its original tropical vegetation, due to the roughness of its terrain—it is 66 percent forested, compared to 36 percent on SAINT VINCENT, and only 9 percent on GRENADA. The inability to establish large plantations thus served to preserve Dominica’s natural riches, a fact that is now a blessing to the country’s economy as a chief draw for tourism, supplemented by reserves of timber for export.

As with the other islands in the Windward group of the Antilles, Dominica is volcanic in origin. Morne Diablatins is the island’s highest volcanic peak, but there is also considerable thermal activity and a large crater lake located only 7 mi (11 km) from the capital city of Roseau. The Caribs (approximately 3,000 in number) live mostly in a reservation set up for them in the northeastern part of the island. Many still farm small plots and are involved in weaving traditional baskets used all over the island and sold to tourists. Having richer and more luxuriant soil than its neighbors, Dominica grows most tropical products with ease but specializes in limes.

The island, named by Christopher Columbus on Sunday (Domingo), November 3, 1493, lies between the French departments of GUADELOUPE and MARTINIQUE and was itself a French colony until 1763. Among those many North American and Caribbean territories reassigned to the British by the Treaty of Paris, Dominica remained a British colony until independence in 1978.

Because of Carib resistance and the steepness of its volcanic slopes, Dominica was not developed as a major sugar producer like its neighbors. Small farmers continued to live much as they had done before the British takeover, and the island retains much of its French flavor, especially in its patois. Possibly as a result of this duality of loyalties, Dominica has chosen to become a republic while remaining a member of the British Commonwealth—in other words, unlike ANTIGUA or SAINT KITTS, the chief executive of Dominica is an elected president, not the hereditary British monarch. With one of the lowest per capita incomes in the Lesser Antilles, the population is increasingly young and urban, with nearly a third living in the capital of Roseau.

Djibouti

BORDERED BY ETHIOPIA, ERITREA, and SOMALIA in Africa, the country of Djibouti (the former French Somaliland and then AFARS and Issas) is the epitome of a geopolitical state. It is a state that has been created and defined by its geographic location. Similar to GIBRALTAR and Aden, Djibouti controls access and egress from a major waterway: the Suez Canal and RED SEA. From 1862, Djibouti was controlled by the French, especially the French Foreign Legion, until 1977. In 2002, the UNITED STATES established a military base here. Were it not for its geopolitical value, there would be no economy beyond herding of goats and no political unit.

Small in area, with some features such as Lake Assal below sea level (550 ft or 168 m), Djibouti is arid and occupied primarily by pastoralists and refugees from the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Its deep harbor and the fact that all traffic to and from the Suez Canal (and thus Mediterranean Europe) must pass its location has made the area important far beyond any local resources—of which there virtually are none to speak of.

The only natural resource, other than its location, is the salt deposit at Lake Assal. However, salt is more easily and cheaply obtained in many other areas. The closest local parallel to the geopolitical value of Djibouti would be Aden, which also controls access to the BAB AL MANDEB, Red Sea and Suez Canal, but Aden was controlled by the British.

Djibouti also is located on a major fault (fracture) zone known as AFAR (for Africa/Arabia), where major geologic plates are separating and rotating, making it an extremely active earthquake and volcanic area as well.

Distance

EMPLOYING THE GEOGRAPHIC sense of the term, distance can be defined as the amount of separation between two points or objects on the surface of the Earth. Geographic distance is usually expressed as a linear measurement between locations using one of several commonly accepted metrics (a metric is a standard of measurement using associated units).

Historical distance metrics were often based on the lengths of human body parts. Among these was the cubit, defined as the distance from the tip of the elbow to the end of the middle finger, and the foot (whose corporal association is obvious). These measuring instruments were extraordinarily useful in that they were always available and could not be misplaced. Unfortunately such metrics differed based on the size of person making the measurements, sometimes by several inches or more.

Although attempts at standardizing distance metrics have appeared throughout history, only a few have persisted in wide use to the present day. One of these originated with King Edward I of England when he commissioned the Iron Ulna, or master yardstick, in the early 14th century. One-third of the yard was decreed to be a foot, and one-36th was termed the inch.

This system of linear measurement has persisted as two related systems: the British Imperial System and the U.S. Customary System. In the U.S. Customary System the yard is the base unit while a rod equals 5.5 yards, a furlong equals 220 yards, and a mile equals 1,760 yards. The distances related to the depth of bodies of water are often given in fathoms, each fathom being equivalent to 2 yards. The UNITED STATES is the only major country widely employing this system for linear measurement, and efforts have been made to replace it with the more widely accepted metric system.

The metric system became standardized in the late 18th century in France when several proposals were made for defining the standard length of a meter. The successful proposal used the size of the Earth as the ultimate standard of measurement. More specifically, a meter was defined as one ten-millionth of the distance between the North Pole and the equator along a meridian traveling through Paris. Although error associated with making this measurement (due to miscalculations of the shape of the Earth) resulted in the standard meter being slightly shorter than it ought to be given its definition, this distance became the standard nevertheless.

A prototype bar of platinum-iridium was constructed as the standard meter and was kept at standard atmospheric pressure to avoid changes in its length. A subsequent definition of the meter was made based on the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum over a very small fraction of a second. With the meter established as the basis for the metric system of linear measurement other units were computed as decimal ratios of the meter. The metric system is now the most widely used system of measurement and is more accurately termed the International System of Units (SI).

Given that there are several well-accepted units for linear measure, one can use these metrics to determine geographic distances. In many cases, a geographic distance to be measured is small enough that the curvature of the earth does not alter the measurement within the precision capabilities of the measuring instruments being used.

Diffusion

DIFFUSION IS the spread of a phenomenon, such as an idea, a technological innovation, or a disease, over space and time. The origins of interest in diffusion in geography can be traced back to the work of the German geographer Frederick Ratzel (1844–1904). In the second volume of his highly influential Anthropogeographie, Ratzel described the diffusion of cultural traits. This work laid the foundation for the studies by geographers on cultural history, which came to be most influential in the work of Carl SAUER (1889–1975) and the geography department at the University of California, Berkeley, from the 1930s through the 1950s, which is referred to as the Berkeley School.

Sauer (1952) argued that issues of cultural diffusion should be one of the main concerns of geography. Sauer believed that the diffusion of ideas, such as agriculture, from “cultural hearths” (cultural centers) has been one of the main driving forces in human history. The research undertaken by the Berkeley School also influenced the study of the origin and spread of culture in the 1960s and, more recently, the study of environmentalism and the processes of cultural globalization.

Another key geographer in ideas of diffusion was the Swede Torsten Hägarstrand (1916–2004). His 1952 doctoral dissertation on innovation diffusion as a spatial process had limited impact until its publication in English in 1967. Hägarstrand observed that the diffusion process can be likened to a wave pattern that loses its strength as it moves away from its source of origin.

Hägarstrand provided a mathematical basis for simulating innovation diffusion on the basis of probability although it is rare for diffusion to be completely random. Each location is regarded as having a different set of probabilities for diffusion based on a mean information field that structures the way in which diffusion flows through a region. Four different types of diffusion are usually recognized.

In expansion diffusion (also referred to as contagious diffusion), a phenomenon, such as knowledge of an innovation or a disease, is spread by direct contact or word of mouth. This type of diffusion exhibits the frictional effects of distance by which those furthest away are less likely to receive this information than those closer to the initial source (distance decay).

A more developed model of the simple epidemic model of contagious diffusion in which all members of a population are regarded as susceptible to a disease is the General Epidemic Model. In this approach a threefold division of the population is made into susceptibles, infectives and removals (infectives who after a period of time either cease to pass a disease on to others or communicate information regarding an innovation).

The General Epidemic Model has been utilized to study a number of different types of diffusion with respect to disease and the dispersal of plants and animals and has also been refined to introduce greater complexity into studying transmission. The third type of diffusion is termed hierarchical. In this case diffusion can leap over intervening people and places. Hierarchical diffusion helps explain diffusion within large bureaucratic systems such as multinational firms. It is also a useful way to explain diffusion in the fashion industry, where innovations may originate in fashion centers such as PARIS, NEW YORK, or Melbourne, then diffuse to chain stores in larger cities and from there to retail stores in smaller towns.

The fourth type of diffusion is relocation. In relocation diffusion, information (or plants and animals) moves along with the people who know it. Once relocated, migrants will often then spread innovations via an expansion diffusion process. Indeed, the different types of diffusion are usually occurring almost simultaneously. Absolute or absorbing barriers are a feature or condition that completely prevent diffusion, for example, mountain ranges that prevent population dispersal.

However, over time barriers may become permeable because of technological advances or changes in perception, such as the Appalachians with respect to European settlement in the United States. Finally, there are reflective barriers that deflect an innovation wave back on itself, such as in the case of human settlement on a coastline.

Substantial research continues to be done on diffusion in geography with respect to innovation particularly with respect to technology and products. In this there is a strong relationship to research on time geography as well as trying to understand the social processes behind individual adoption and resistance to adoption.

Dhaka

DHAKA BECAME the capital of the newly formed sovereign state of BANGLADESH in 1971. The city has a tropical monsoon climate with heavy summer rainfall (June through September), about 80 in (203 cm) annually. Summer is hot and humid and winter is dry and mild.

It is located on a tributary of the Meghna-GANGES river system and was founded by the Hindu Sena kings in the 7th century C.E. After a Delhi-based Muslim Sultan’s conquest of Bengal, Dhaka remained a regional capital between 1203 to 1764. After the British conquest of Bengal in 1757, Dhaka became a secondary capital as Kolkata (Calcutta) became the capital of both Bengal and British India. As a result of the partition of South Asia in 1947, the present-day Bangladesh became a province of PAKISTAN (from 1947 to 1971) and Dhaka again was relegated to a provincial capital.

National capital status in 1971 turned Dhaka into a fast-growing dynamic metropolis. From a population base of 104,000 in 1901, and 239,000 in 1941, Dhaka has grown to 12.5 million in 2000, making it the primate city of the country, and 9th most populous metropolis of the world. The very congested and badly maintained old city, heart of the commercial center, has given rise to a typical traditional bazaar city center. Dhaka is one of the most homogeneous cities, as 95 percent of its population speak Bengali and 90 percent are Muslims.

Because of their number, Dhaka is designated as the City of Mosques. Its long history bears architectural imprints from Hindu, Muslim, British, and postindependence periods. A third of modern Dhaka’s population live in dire poverty and in slums, though the rich have built buildings of brick and mortar. 

Dhaka’s problems are many: A preponderance of mosquitoes, high level of noise pollution, flooding after heavy rains, jammed streets with three-wheelers, buses, motorbikes, cycle-rickshaws, and pedestrians. Dhaka prepared a metropolitan plan in 1995 based on a modern approach. This plan addressed “residential provisions of middle and upper income groups, industrial and commercial development and intra-city transportation.” The proposed flood abatement efforts include construction of huge retention ponds on the eastern and western fringes of the city. The problem of enacting the plan is a lack of funding.

Desertification

SINCE THE mid-1970s, the United Nations (UN) has considered desertification a significant environmental problem involving high economic, societal, and human costs. The UN’s Conference on Desertification, held in 1977, outlined an action plan over a 20-year period that, unfortunately, did little to change the course of desertification.

The definition of desertification itself is controversial. In 1991, the UN Environment Program defined it as “land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry subhumid areas, resulting mainly from adverse human impact.” In 1992, the UN convened the Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) to draw up formal measures that included setting up a Committee on Desertification to review reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, preserving biodiversity, and protecting international waters.

The official draft of the UNCED report expanded the definition of desertification to: “land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities.” The World Bank defines desertification as “a process of sustained decline of the biological productivity of arid and semiarid land; the end result is desert of skeletal soil that is irrecuperable [sic]. Common indicators include a reduction in the amount of diversity of plant and animal species, loss of water-retention capacity, lessened soil fertility, and increasing wind and water erosion.”

The key issue in desertification is the presence of climate variation, as experts point out that the more important dimension of the problem refers not to the expansion of existing deserts, but to the result of human activity in dry land masses, as land is exploited and inappropriately managed. Desertification is not only intrusion by sand dunes; it is gradual loss of soil fertility from excessive cultivation or grazing, destruction of trees and shrubs for firewood, and the lack of effective water resource management.

Desertification can happen through natural causes in any climate zone. The areas at risk are mainly in Africa, but also extend to Asia and the Americas, including the western portion of the continental United States. The expansion of such vast deserts as the SAHARA, GOBI, and the Arabian are not the main concern, scientists say. Rather, areas that are gradually drying out, making the practice of farming progressively unsustainable, are becoming sources of global ecological and human concern. In marginal areas, where natural resources are depleted over time and the land becomes unproductive, starvation may ensue.

1 BILLION PEOPLE AFFECTED

The UN reports that, currently, desertification affects about 8.9 billion acres (3.6 billion hectares) or 70 percent of all “dry” lands across the globe. That is nearly one-fourth of the total land area on Earth, affecting about one sixth of the world’s population. Over one billion people all over the world are affected by drought and desertification. Populations in these areas occupy about one-fourth of our planet and face major catastrophes as a result of such climate change, including deterioration of vulnerable land, and eventually chronic food insecurity and starvation.

As desertification takes hold, farmers give up trying to grow crops and move to cities in search of work. Cities are then faced with deciding how to deal with resulting overpopulation and lack of sufficient food resources. The ultimate consequences of desertification include economic loss, poverty, famine, human suffering, and widespread death. Strategies to deal with desertification address poverty, land ownership, and social structures. Because large regions generally suffer an inability to maintain adequate standards of living for their population when desertification occurs, the expanding loss of productive lands has a domino effect, bringing down entire communities.

Naturally occurring processes formed deserts over long periods of time, and over time, most deserts have grown and shrunk, irrespective of human intervention. In many cases, desert edges may become more humid than dry, making it harder to define a desert border. These areas maintain very fragile ecosystems because of different climates. Small hollows may support vegetation that insulates heat and protects the area from winds, and these vegetated areas may be cooler than their surroundings, resulting in various microclimates.

If humans are involved in using these areas for farming, for example, they may stress the ecosystem beyond its capacity, resulting in more degradation of the land. Overpopulation and resulting excessive cultivation and grazing leads to falling soil fertility and lesser crop growth. Exposed topsoil is further eroded by the elements and is conducive to surface runoff and erosion. Eventually, this vicious cycle results in destruction of crops and more infertile land.

Overgrazing is a significant factor in land destruction that causes a decline in vegetation including grasses; excessive grazing results in the replacement of perennial grass species with species of forbs (weeds) that do not hold soil as efficiently as grass does. Soil is also compacted by livestock trampling near watering holes, and dunes are overrun and destabilized after relatively short periods of grazing time. These cumulative processes cause a significant decline in the health of the very animals that depend on the land for sustenance, as well as the often permanent and irreversible result of desertification.

REDUCING DESERTIFICATION

The UN has identified various strategies to reduce further land erosion. Early warning systems and knowledge of water resource management techniques assist communities to maintain the integrity of land. Careful land and livestock management is essential to preserve fertile ground, and the use of special seeding techniques over sand dunes can manage vegetation. Narrow strip planting and reforestation of new species and varieties that can tolerate extreme weather conditions are other effective ways to regenerate crops and native flora.

Sheltering of native plants is important in maintaining ecological balance, so “social forestry,” a process in which villagers take responsibility for forests that surround their village, is a method of empowering those directly impacted by the degradation of productivity. Global awareness is essential in understanding the magnitude of desertification. Unlike other catastrophic natural disasters—such as CYCLONES, for instance—desertification happens over a long period of time; it is thus easier for communities to overlook its effects and adjust to the status quo. As such adaptation exacerbates the social effects of desertification, governments need to take the lead in preparing communities to deal with the problem.

The UN’s Convention to Combat Desertification Treaty, ratified in 1996, is intended to promote effective local programs and international partnerships to combat the problem globally. The World Bank has also cooperated in the global effort to stem the destruction of land by deploying and mobilizing its resources in concert with global needs. Education, focusing especially on local and international actions that threaten landmass, is needed to develop positive changes that can result in increased food security and amounts of land available for food production.

Desertification is not an easily solved problem for a government and its people. It is difficult for citizens to understand that they must be more responsive to land use issues. Countries that may not be directly affected should take into consideration the global seriousness of desertification and take steps to alleviate its effects and prevent its expansion. Desertification causes increased flows of refugees, which affect all countries because migration almost certainly ensues when a land region cannot sustain its native population. Countries are often forced to take on fleeing immigrants, and other countries find themselves having to commit scarce financial resources to combat—or help other nations combat—the catastrophic effects of desertification. Desertification is a global problem with devastating results for planet Earth.

Denmark

DENMARK IS A COUNTRY whose history and culture is almost entirely shaped by the sea. With a coastline of 4,535 mi (7,314 km), nearly 500 islands, and numerous fjords and inlets, nowhere in Denmark is more than 31 mi (50 km) from the sea. The Danes have traditionally played a role as a bridge between the language, culture, and politics of Central Europe and the Nordic nations of Scandinavia. Denmark is the smallest of the Nordic countries but has frequently been the dominant member, with the highest population and strongest economy.

Denmark consists of the peninsula of Jutland, connected to northern GERMANY through the province of Slesvig, plus the main island of Zealand (Sjaelland), which includes the capital of Copenhagen and nearly half the population and a number of smaller islands. Most of these islands are clustered in an archipelago to the east of Jutland, in the southwest corner of the Baltic Sea: Fyn, Lolland, Falster, and Møn. Other islands, generally long and thin, lie off the west coast. These are the northern Frisian islands, including Fanø and Rømø.

The island of Bornholm lies about 80 mi (130 km) to the east in the Baltic Sea, a relic of a time when Denmark’s kings completely controlled the Baltic. This control was due to the strategic placement of Denmark along the narrow series of straits that connect the Baltic to the North Sea: the Skagerak, the Kattegat, and the Øresund. The Øresund in particular is only about 12.4 mi (20 km) wide, and until the 17th century, Denmark controlled both shores, effectively controlling all shipping access in and out of the Baltic Sea. Today, the eastern shore of the Øresund is part of SWEDEN, and since the completion of the monumental Øresund bridge and tunnel system in 1999, it has become more a connector between the two countries.

Jutland is almost entirely flat, particularly along the western coast, where dikes are necessary in some places to keep out the sea. Some areas in the center are hilly, but the average elevation is only 98 ft (30 m). Much of this landscape shows the effects of glaciation through several ice ages: morainic hills, moors, and downs.

Several fjords indent the peninsula, notably Flensborg Fjord, which divides Denmark from Germany, the Åbenrå and Vehle fjords of the eastern coast, and the Lim Fjord, which slices nearly all the way through the tip of northern Jutland—with the creation of the ThyborønCanal, this section of Jutland became, in fact, an island.

Denmark’s largest city and major port is Copenhagen (population 1.4 million) on Zealand. Other major ports include Esbjerg, Ålborg, and Århus on Jutland. Other large cities are on the islands: Odense on Fyn (home of Hans Christian Andersen), Nykobing on Falster, and Roskilde and Frederiksberg on Zealand. Lacking significant raw materials, Denmark made use instead of its position as a seafaring nation to import, process, and re-export products, creating one of the most dynamic economies in Europe. Its commercial fleet is the third-largest in the world, and its standard of living is among the highest. Most of the country remains, nevertheless, a largely agricultural country, and some of Denmark’s chief exports are meat and dairy, in addition to the more high-tech pharmaceuticals and electronics and the world-famous Lego toys. Denmark joined the EUROPEAN UNION in 1973 but has resisted full integration into the economic union, opting out of the common currency in 2000. The Kingdom of Denmark also includes GREENLAND and the FAEROE ISLANDS, both of which have developed near total autonomy in internal matters since the 1970s.

Demographics

DEMOGRAPHY IS THE study of populations (a term used to denote the collection of persons alive at a particular point in time and who meet certain criteria). Demographics have to do with population statistics. Usually referred to as a census, most often these data are collected through a survey process and by public agencies at all levels of government or non-governmental organizations. These data include variables representing vital economic and social statistics. They generally include race, age, gender, religious affiliation, educational levels, income levels, and housing and employment information. 

They also include information about population density, which is the number of people per square mile, as well as how the total population and population subgroups are distributed throughout a selected geographical area. The information collected by agencies may include data on death and birth rates, life expectancy, and health problems, to name a few. When linked to basic demographic data, researchers can better understand links between these variables; for instance: the life expectancy of American males who are of Hispanic ethnicity and have yearly incomes below $18,000.

Most countries have a formal census process that attempts to count every member of the population and to collect information about that person and his or her household. All of this individual data is then aggregated (combined) and sorted by variables to inform us about the people in a particular area. For most of Europe, census taking dates back to the 16th century. The founding fathers of the UNITED STATES recognized the value of collecting population data and ensured that the process would be funded and protected by the U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. Census Bureau conducts a census every 10 years. In addition to taking a “head count,” each individual is asked to identify sex, age, relationship status, race, whether or not of Hispanic origin, and housing tenure and ownership status. Approximately 15 percent of the population is selected randomly to receive a longer survey from which additional demographic information is collected. These additional demographic data include marital status, place of birth, citizenship and year of entry, ancestry, place of residence five years ago, language spoken at home, veteran status, disability information, present labor force status including industry, occupation, and class, place of work and journey to work, previous year’s work status, and previous year’s income. Housing data, which are socioeconomic indicators, are also collected. Statisticians also use equations to make assumptions about the U.S. population at different levels of geography (local, state, country) and cross-reference socioeconomic data with demographic data to create population profiles. The smallest census geography is a “block.” It represents approximately 150 people and gives a very detailed picture of the people who comprise a small area while protecting each individual’s right to privacy.

Developing countries also recognize the need for population counts and surveys but are often impeded by resources, political strife, and massive shifts in population resulting from civil war, famine, etc. These countries are aided by organizations like the United Nations in collecting important demographic data to aid economic development and stability through resource management.

The process of collecting demographic data is becoming more complex as the world’s population increases and many countries, such as the United States, become more heterogeneous and mobile. As a result, understanding demographics has also become more complicated because many individuals no longer fit neatly into one particular race or ethnicity category. Further complicating the process in all countries is the fact that many census takers and demographic researchers are challenged by accuracy problems resulting from community and individual reluctance to report personal information.

Demographic data provides students, researchers, and decision makers with information that is essential to understanding our world. It allows us to identify social groups, shifts in populations through migration and immigration, relationships between people and geography (cities, states, countries, world regions, and the world as a whole), as well as relationships between people, political boundaries, and resources. Demographics have a wide scope of applications. For example, private industries might use census data and market research for product development, targeted advertisement of services and products, and selecting new markets/locations for business development. 

Demographics also play a vital role in how government dollars are allocated. Some of these decisions are linked to total population numbers, while others are linked to particular demographics such as age, race, gender, income, or a combination of these. Additionally, nonprofit organizations might use demographic data to improve service delivery by targeting geographic areas with assumed specific needs based upon the area’s demographic profile.

Demographic data not only provide information about today, they also help us establish population trends that can help predict and prepare for the future. Newer demographic changes make it difficult to measure and understand the sources for that change until more data is collected over time. An example: in 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau began collecting information about grandparents serving as caregivers; the true scope of this demographic shift will not be measurable until the same data is collected again in 2010. Likewise, some changes have been gradually occurring over a longer periods of time and substantial data have been accumulated for examination. These data and changes allow researchers to use statistical modeling to project future population trends and make recommendations for preparation and response. By doing so, decisionmakers such as politicians and organizational leaders have information to guide them in allocating resources to plan for future need and demand on resources. 

Population growth tends to be very imbalanced between rich developed countries and poorer developing and third world countries. Countries in Asia and Africa have large population numbers of people under the age of 15, whereas countries in North America and Europe have fewer young people and rapidly aging populations. These basic statistics indicate very different demographic futures as well as different demands on resources. A younger population will require more schools and job training, whereas an older population will require increased geriatric programs and services to respond to long-term health problems that result from aging. Governments and agencies can use this information to plan for these needs. Private sector businesses can also use these projections for business development.

Population change at all geographical levels will eventually affect economic consumption, social and political relationships, and environmental outcomes to name just a few of the impacts. Without demographics, many decisions about natural and monetary resources would be random, and it would be difficult to project long-term impacts to allow better use of the world’s and countries’ limited resources.

Delta

A DELTA IS AN AREA of land that has been built up at the mouth of a river, where it flows into a quiet body of water, such as a lake or an ocean. The delta is formed when the river, which is moving swiftly and carrying sediment such as mud, slows down to enter the larger body of water. At the slower speed, the water can’t carry as much sediment, so most of it is dropped onto the bottom of the ocean. It builds up layer by layer, over a long period of time, until it is above the surface of the water.

The delta builds up at the end of the river itself, since it cannot rise higher than the surface of the ocean. As more and more sediment is deposited, the delta grows in size and extends further upstream. The more mud the river carries, the faster a delta will build up. Most deltas have a roughly triangular shape. The name came from the Greek letter delta, which is shaped like a triangle. If plants grow on the delta, their roots and remains become part of the soil, enriching it. A delta is an ever-changing landform. If the original channel of the river is filled with sediment, the stream will overflow across the surface of the delta, dividing into smaller streams or channels called distributaries.

The size and shape of the delta depends on several factors. If the waves are strong where the river enters the ocean, any deposits will be washed away and a delta will not form. The weaker the waves in the ocean at that point, the more the delta will build up. Delta formation is also dependent upon the amount of material being carried by the river. If waves are not very strong, the delta will grow rapidly, with long fingers of land building up along the distributaries. This is called a bird’s-foot delta.

Throughout history, deltas have been important to civilizations. The soil of a delta is usually very fertile and is good for farming. Delta lands often flood every year, spreading another layer of silt. Many deltas have unhealthful climates and poor drainage, but still tend to support dense populations of people. All over the world, deltas have influenced the lives of people. Some of the most important deltas include the MISSISSIPPI RIVER delta, the NILE RIVER delta, and the delta of the GANGES river.

The Mississippi River delta is located at the southern edge of the UNITED STATES, where the Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico. South of New Orleans, LOUISIANA, a bird’s-foot delta has built up. The resulting valley provides habitat for many species of plants and animals important to the ecology of the area. Farms on the delta produce much of the country’s supply of soybeans, rice, sugarcane, and cotton. The Mississippi River still deposits sediment on the delta. In some places, more than 98 ft (30 m) have been deposited in the last 100 years.

The Nile delta is located at the northern end of the Nile River, where it flows into the MEDITERRANEAN SEA in EGYPT. The Nile is the longest river in the world. Most of the delta’s surface is covered with crops, contrasting sharply with the barren desert around it. Cairo, the capital of EGYPT, is an example of a delta supporting a dense population. The city has a population of more than 11 million people, which is more than 26,000 people per .386 square mi (1 square km). At its widest, the delta is about 153 mi (250 km) wide along the Mediterranean.

The Ganges-Brahmaputra delta was created by sediments deposited by these two great rivers in the area of BANGLADESH. People have built their homes on artificially raised earthen hills to protect them from the yearly floods. Like the Nile delta, this region is overpopulated. Population density far exceeds 500 people per .386 square mi (1 square km). Over 300,000 people were killed by floods there in 1991. Farming is almost the sole occupation on this delta.

Delmarva Peninsula

THE 5,940-square-mi (15,384 square km) Delmarva Peninsula is located in the mid-Atlantic area of the UNITED STATES and borders the Chesapeake Bay, the Delaware Bay and the ATLANTIC OCEAN. The historic importance of the area is that it formed an important political and social demarcation between the North and the South of the United States: the Mason Dixon Line.

The border between MARYLAND and DELAWARE formed the initial portion of the Mason-Dixon line, drawn in the mid-1700s to settle a boundary dispute between the Calvert family and the Penn family. The Mason-Dixon line later became the delineation between northern states and southern states, and therefore between slave states and free states. The name Delmarva comes from letters in the state names that share it, including all of DELaware, and portions of MARyland, and VirginiA.

Compared to the rest of the United States, the Delmarva Peninsula is strikingly flat, with most of the area approximately 30 ft (9 km) above sea level. Interestingly, this area was not always flat. Two hundred million years ago, the APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS were the edge of the ocean. The shoreline itself then was rocky, resembling a steeper version of the current coast of MAINE. The long, flat, sandy beaches that characterize today’s Delmarva coastline emerged because of continental drift. The Appalachians have been moving westward for 245 million years, and they’ve been doing it at a yearly rate that just about equals the speed at which fingernails grow. As the Appalachians were drifting westward, they also eroded. Their rocks were weathered into sand. This sand was carried by streams and rivers to the coast and deposited. Over time, these deposits, once under water, have been exposed and now form the coastal beaches.

CHANGING GEOGRAPHY

Today, coastal currents and storms are changing the geography again. This can be seen even in maps of the area between the coastal towns of Rehoboth and Cape Henlopen. These show that since 1878, the shoreline has moved almost 1,200 ft (366 m) inland. The wide sandy beaches of Delmarva are a major tourist destination and a major economic resource for the area. Maryland’s heavily developed Ocean City has a yearround population of less than 10,000, but during peak summer weekends, the population swells to more than 300,000.

With a shallow and changing coastline and a lack of natural harbors and energy resources, Delmarva did not become heavily industrialized as did some of its neighboring areas. Today, intensive truck gardening agriculture, poultry farming, and the seafood industries form the backbone of the peninsula’s economy. Its strategic location, just a few hours from Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, with overnight access to almost one-third of the nation’s population, have made it a major food supplier for the East Coast of the United States.

Delaware

DELAWARE IS ONE OF the Middle Atlantic states of the UNITED STATES. It is also the country’s second smallest state after RHODE ISLAND, covering 2,057 square mi (5,328 square km) within the DELMARVA PENINSULA. It is bordered by MARYLAND on the west and south, NEW JERSEY to the northeast across the Delaware Bay and Delaware River, and there is a short border with PENNSYLVANIA in the north. The state’s 783,600 residents (2000) share their part of the peninsula with Eastern Shore Maryland and VIRGINIA. The area is part of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, which runs for more that 2,200 mi (3,667 km) from Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico.

The countryside is relatively flat, with the land rising gently from sea level in the areas along the eastern shore to 442 ft (135 m) in the Piedmont region along the border with Pennsylvania. The southern part of the state is mostly swampland. A number of small rivers flow across the state, flowing either east to the Delaware (the Christina and Brandywine) or west across Maryland to the Chesapeake Bay (the Nanticoke). The state capitol is in Dover, although Wilmington is the largest city with 72,664 residents.

When Henry Hudson sailed into the Delaware Bay for the Dutch East India Company in 1609, he found the area of sand dunes, swamps, and gently rolling hills inhabited by Native Americans (Nanticoke and Minqua). Although both English and Dutch interests vied for the region, the Dutch established the first settlement in 1631. Within a year, however, that settlement was destroyed by a rare Native American attack. For the most part, the area’s Native Americans were friendly and open to trade and within a short time several Dutchman interested in settling the area received permission to colonize the area for Sweden. Peter Minuit, one of the more notable of the early settlers, led the expedition for the Swedes, organizing New Sweden and founding Fort Christina on the site of today’s Wilmington in 1638. Following a number of battles among the English, Dutch, and Swedes, the area was finally turned over to England in 1674, where it remained until the American Revolution. The Colony of Delaware became a state in 1776 and was the first state to ratify the new Constitution of the United States in 1787.

By the end of the 18th century industry was making inroads in Delaware. In the Piedmont region of the north with the rolling wooded hills, the Brandywine and Christina rivers provided ideal locations for gristmills to grind grain into flour. At the same time, Wilmington became a center for the manufacture of cloth, paper, and flour products, an industrial sector that flourished into the 19th century. The Du Pont family established a gunpowder mill on the Brandywine River in 1802, marking the beginning of what would become one of America’s most successful family business empires.

More recently, the finance and insurance sectors have become increasingly significant employment and income generators, although manufacturing and agriculture are still important. The manufacturing, credit card, banking, and insurance industries are heavily concentrated in the north. Broiler chickens, soybeans, corn, and dairy products comprise the heart of a still vibrant agricultural sector, utilizing lands generally below the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in the south. Potatoes and other vegetables are also grown; in addition there is a small fishing industry centered on harvests of clams, menhaden, oysters, and scup.

Because Delaware has some of the more lenient laws regulating business taxation and practice, the state is home to many of the largest corporations in the United States. This is especially true for those in the banking and financial services sectors, and these now dominate the state’s economy. The chemicals and materials monopoly that was founded by the Du Pont family in the 19th century, despite being broken up by the government in an antitrust suit in 1912 and losing another suit in the 1950s over the firm’s major interest in General Motors, continues to be one of the largest corporations in the world. In addition to chemicals and chemical products, the biomedical, apparel, processed foods, rubber and plastic products, and transportation equipment industries are important and contribute to the state’s wealth.

Deccan Plateau

LOCATED IN INDIA, in the southern part of the peninsula south of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the Deccan Plateau can be considered the cultural and historical heart of India, defining the subcontinent. The great epic poems of the Vedas tell of the coming of the Aryan-speaking peoples that dominate all of northern Indian today. However, the very peoples they supplanted did not disappear but were concentrated in the Deccan and maintained distinctive cultures and language groups.

Remnants of a predominantly indigenous Dravidian culture (pre-Aryan) exist in the Tamil kingdoms found by the ancient Greeks. Tamil literature from 300 B.C.E. records the social life and academic accomplishments of these peoples. Three great Tamil dynasties emerged and challenged one another in internecine fighting. The rise of Buddhism in north India did reach into the Deccan, but the south remained resistant to the kings and Moguls that came in history’s wake. Islam never made significant inroads into the Deccan Plateau. The coming of the Europeans from the 15th century onward gradually affected the coastal areas and even the interior Deccan gave way under the British raj (ruler). Characteristic of their distinct culture and history, many calls for independent states have arisen since the establishment of the Indian Union in 1947.

The Deccan Plateau is believed to be an ancient remnant of the Earth’s original continent, Gondwanaland, which broke up to create the continents we know today. The plateau is a great ancient shield of basalt lava that now bears the scars of its long exposure to the weathering effects of wind and water. The Vindhya Range marks the margins of the southern reaching peninsula and the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The Deccan is uplifted between 2,625 and 4,600 ft (800 and 1,400 m). The western Ghats increase in average height as they go south, reaching a maximum of 8,842 ft (2,695 m) in Kerala. The narrow coastal plain between the western Ghats and the ARABIAN SEA is marked by lagoons and backwaters. The plateau is primarily drained to the east with the headwaters of the Krishna, Bhima, and Godavari forming in the western Ghats and flowing up to 3,280 mi (1,000 km) eastward across the plateau to the BAY OF BENGAL. The eastern coastal plain is much broader and marked by the deltas of the Godavari, Mahanadi, and Kaveri rivers. The central Deccan is a series of smaller plateaus topped with rolling hills and dissected by many watercourses.

The monsoon cycle of dry and wet seasons affect the entire peninsula. The plateau has sparse but continuous dry deciduous forests across its southern third and along the eastern Ghats. To the north and in the central portions, the forest gives way to scrubland. Over 300 million people live in the greater area of the Deccan Plateau. Sustainable resources such as forests and water are under increasing pressure. Deforested areas are being replanted with extensive monoculture that will further deplete the diversity of the ecosystem. Silting of reservoirs has been a historic problem and accelerated damming of water courses bodes ill for the long-term management of the various watersheds. Mining of the Deccan rich mineral deposits has not modernized. Techniques for the full recovery of the potential ore, management of overburden removal, and control of toxic wastes are all required.

Dead Sea

THE DEAD SEA IS a 390-square-mi (1,010-squarekm) salt lake located on the borders of PALESTINE, ISRAEL, and JORDAN. It is the lowest water point in the world, and its coast, at 1,292 ft below sea level (-395 m), is the lowest dry point on Earth. The lake is divided into two unequal parts by el-Lisan or “the Tongue,” which is a wide peninsula jutting from the lake’s southeastern shore. The northern part is larger and deeper, reaching 1,300 ft (400 m) in depth. In contrast, the southern side reaches only 35 ft (11 m) and averages only 13 ft (4 m) in depth.

The Dead Sea formed when two plates of the Earth’s crust began spreading apart, creating a low region, the Rift Valley system, where the crust is stretched quite thin. The Dead Sea is located in the region where the Earth’s surface has sunk, and the lake’s bottom is still sinking, as much as 13 in (33 cm) annually, an incredibly fast rate. In contrast, on the eastern and western sides of the lake, looming mountains range from 2,500 to 4,000 ft (762 to 1219 m) in height. The Jordan River is on the lake’s north, and hills of solid salt (Jebel Usdum or Mount Sodom) rise up on its southern border. Lower than surrounding topography, the Dead Sea is fed over 6.5 million tons of fresh water by the Jordan River and smaller streams every single day. (It should be noted that large scale Israeli and Jordanian irrigation projects along the Jordan River have been causing the depth of the Dead Sea to decrease over the past 50 years; pollution is a concern.)

Because the lake has no outlets and is completely LANDLOCKED, the only way that water leaves is through evaporation; because the Dead Sea is located in a hot area with low precipitation, water evaporates to the degree that the sea level seldom fluctuates, other than because of irrigation, and what is left behind is the salt. Twenty-seven percent of the Dead Sea consists of solid substances, including sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium chloride and magnesium bromide. Potash, bromine, gypsum, salt and other products are commercially extracted from these waters, which become saltier as depth increases.

At about 130 ft (40 m), there are approximately 300 grams of salt per kilogram of water, which is about 10 times the saltiness of typical ocean water. Once the depth is greater than 300 ft (91 m), there are 332 grams of salt per kilogram, which is a state of saturation and explains the piles of salt found at the lake’s bottom. Due to this extreme saltiness, the Dead Sea supports no plant, animal, or fish life. If a fish swims from a stream into this lake, it is instantly killed and then preserved by the lake’s mineral salts. The only types of life, then, existing in the Dead Sea are microbes and highly specialized algae; on occasion, a seabird is seen resting on the lake’s surface.

Humans can swim in Dead Sea waters, but because of the extraordinarily high salt concentration and density of the water, the experience is more like floating. When a person exits the lake, the body is coated with white salts, just as the shores of the Dead Sea are covered with this substance, and the person’s skin can become irritated. The salts can irritate the eyes, and the water, if swallowed, tastes revolting because of the chloride of magnesium. Chloride of calcium gives the water its oily appearance.

The name Dead Sea is used in the Old Testament, although other biblical names are also listed for this body of water, including the Salt Sea, East Sea, Sea of the Plain, and Sodomitish Sea; the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were located at the lake’s southwestern coast. Yet another name is the Lake of Asphalt, given because of the quantities of bitumen that rise to the surface of this lake, and current inhabitants call this body of water the Sea of Lot.

This region is famous for the Dead Sea Scrolls found in 11 caves in nearby Qumran from 1947 to 1956. Literally thousands of Biblical fragments and ancient Jewish documents were found, which added greatly to the understanding of these religions. Today, the shores of the Dead Sea contain popular beaches, resorts, and spas.

Darien Gap

STRADDLING THE BORDER of the republics of PANAMA and COLOMBIA, the Darien Gap is home to one of the least exploited and most diverse ecosystems in the world. Flanked by the PACIFIC OCEAN to the north and west and the CARIBBEAN SEA to the east, the area includes two national parks, Darien National Park in Panama and Los Katios National Park in Colombia.

The area is 30 mi or 50 km wide, from the North Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, and 54 mi or 84 km in length, when measuring from the terminus city of Yarviza in Panama to Lomas Aisiadas in Colombia. The Darien Gap harbors varying landforms, from swamplands on the Colombian side to the mountainous rainforests with its tallest peak, Cerro Tacarcuna (standing at 5,535 ft or 1,845 m), on the Panamanian side. With more than 3 million acres of wilderness, the ecosystem found within is one of the most hotly contested, a political and environmental quagmire.

The Pan-American Highway, stretching approximately 16,000 miles or 26,000 km from ALASKA in the UNITED STATES to the Tierra del Fuego region of CHILE in South America, is broken only by the natural barrier of the Darien Gap. Initial plans to construct a road through the Darien Gap commenced in 1923 at the Fifth International Conference of American States.

One of the primary reasons for the road is that through its completion, trade between North and Central America and South America would be more efficient with less reliance on the Panama Canal as the primary thoroughfare. Past opponents conferred that the spread of aftosa, or commonly known as foot-andmouth disease, would possibly be spread from the cattle of Colombia to Central and North America if the road were built.

In 1991, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proclaimed this threat to be extinct. Road construction began in 1971 and lasted until 1974, when further construction was halted due to environmental concerns. During that time period, part of the area was officially put under protection through decree no. 84 for the Alto Darien Protection Forest. Since that time, the area was designated as a World Heritage Site as well as a United Nations-designated Man and Biosphere Reserve. The area is home to two major tribes and several smaller ones. The subsistence agricultural lifestyle of the Chocos (both Emberas and Vainanas) and the Kunas is threatened, as it will be a potential loss of their land and culture if the road through the Darien Gap comes to fruition.

The route has been fully surveyed and partially completed, yet the political, economic, and environmental issues surrounding its construction are the true barriers to its completion. The approximate costs for completion would be approximately $200 million. Effective lobbying by environmental and indigenous groups, costs associated with the road infrastructure, governmental bureaucracy, and the de facto control of the area by Colombian rebel groups have left the fate of the remaining 54 mi or 84 km of road in limbo.

Widely publicized accounts of civilian kidnappings, drug-smuggling anarchy, and the controlling activities of Colombian rebel groups have made this area one of the most dangerous in the world.

Danubian Gates

FOR CENTURIES, traffic along the DANUBE RIVER was hindered by a stretch of treacherous rocks and narrow gorges at the point at which the river cut through the Southern Carpathian mountain range. This stretch, about 62 mi (100 km) in length, along the border of ROMANIA and Yugoslavia (SERBIA), is known as the Danubian or Iron Gates, “Portile de Fier” in Romanian, and “Djerdap” in Serbian.

This barrier long formed a boundary between lower river commerce (to the BLACK SEA), and the river traffic of the upper Danube basin. The river flows through crystalline schists, limestones, and Sinaia strata (local Romanian stone), with both dangerous rock outcroppings in the riverbed, dangerous curves, and intense currents as the gorge reaches its narrowest points. The waters were most dangerous during low water periods (summer and autumn), and especially at night, when the height and verticality of the gorge walls allowed for extremely limited visibility.

Man added further dangers over the centuries, with nearly impregnable fortresses built by robber barons and extortionist princes. Most famous of these was the fortress Tri Kule, near Svinita, built by a Transylvanian prince to prevent Turkish infiltrations into the middle and upper Danube areas. But commerce continued. A system of mule tracks and rope attachments were long in operation to drag boats through the area, and as the region freed itself from Turkish rule, several large channel- cutting projects were attempted, most notably by Serbia in 1890–98, with the construction of a series of canals between Virciorova and Gura Vaii, the most dangerous section of the gorges, which introduced the use of trains to pull boats upstream instead of mules.

Other projects included the Sip Channel, underwater rock blasting, transverse and longitudinal embankments, beacons, signals, and so forth. But along with this challenge of commercial transport, governments of the region realized the potential for hydropower also provided by such a concentration of water in a narrow space. More than two-thirds of the Danube basin as a whole lies above the Iron Gates, with a catchment area of 219,089 square mi (567,440 square km) from the Alpine, Dinaric, and Carpathian zones, producing an average flow of 194,936 cubic ft (5,520 cubic m) per second. The Iron Gates Navigational Authority was established in 1948 by Yugoslavia and Romania to examine both issues of facilitated transport and development of hydropower potential. 

In 1956, this body set out initial plans to build a “hydro-energetical navigational system.” Work was

begun in 1964, and full operation began in 1971. This remains the largest hydropower dam and reservoir system along the entire Danube, but as western institutions have begun to have closer access to the region, some wider issues have been raised, notably concerning the system’s environmental impact, including upriver silting, downriver erosion, loss of animal habitat and worsening water quality.

Danube River

THE DANUBE RIVER IS the longest river in western Europe, surpassed in Europe as a whole only by the VOLGA in RUSSIA. Fourteen countries are drained by its watershed, covering over 312,000 square mi (800,000 square km): GERMANY, AUSTRIA (and small parts of eastern SWITZERLAND), the CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA, HUNGARY (and a small corner of southwest UKRAINE), SLOVENIA, CROATIA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO, BULGARIA, ROMANIA, and MOLDOVA.

The river travels 1,760 mi (2,850 km) from its source in Germany’s Black Forest to its large delta on the BLACK SEA, passing through some of the most beautiful and historic cities in Europe, including Vienna, Budapest, and Belgrade. The most famous stretch of the river, between Vienna and Budapest, has been immortalized numerous times in paintings, poetry, and music, notably Johann Strauss, Jr.’s “An der schönen, blauen Donau” (“On the Beautiful, Blue Danube”).

The Greeks called the Danube the “Ister,” the “Greatest of Rivers,” and for many centuries it was the border between the civilized Greco-Roman world and the Germanic barbarians to the north. Many centuries later, it formed the center, not the boundary, of the multiethnic Habsburg Empire, centered on Vienna and Budapest, which was torn apart by the peace settlements after World War I and by the Iron Curtain of the post-World War II era. There remains, however, some desire to reunite much of the region into a Danubian economic confederation, reflecting the reality that although language and culture divide Austrians, Hungarians, Serbs, Bulgarians and Romanians, the river unites them through commerce and industry.

The Danube starts in southwestern Germany, where it is called the Donau. Two small rivers, the Brege and the Brigach, come together at Donaueschingen, a town in the Black Forest. Its springs lie only a few meters from streams that flow westward into the Rhine watershed, thus ending up in the North Sea rather than the Black Sea, nearly 1,000 miles (3,000 km) apart. In fact, porous rocks in this area result in much of the water of the upper Danube actually seeping through the rocks to join the Rhine watershed, which has a lower elevation.

The river is too small for navigation as it winds through the Swabian Alps, passing castles and monasteries, and the ancient German cities of Ulm and Regensburg, once the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. At Passau, on the border with Austria, the Danube is joined by its first large tributary, the Inn. This was historically the western terminus of commercial river traffic, especially for grain coming to Central Europe from the plains of Hungary, but also for coal and iron ore from as far away as Russia.

In Upper Austria, the Danube passes some of the most famous baroque buildings in Europe, especially Melk, the Versailles of monasteries, perched on a hill above the river valley. Finally the river broadens into the famously smooth (and generally muddy brown, not blue) Danube as it passes by the capital cities of Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest before turning south to cross the broad Hungarian Plain. This plain, the breadbasket of Central Europe, was also the site of many important battles, from the defeat and forced settling of the Hungarian people by Emperor Otto I in 955, to the destruction of the native Hungarian kingdom by the Turks at Mohács in 1526, and the defeat of Turkish forces after the siege of Vienna in 1683, finally halting their progress toward Central Europe.

South of this plain, the river again enters mountainous regions, guarded by the fortress city of Belgrade. In these middle reaches, the river (called Duna in Hungarian and Dunav in Serbian) receives its largest tributaries, the Tisza, which drains the eastern Hungarian Plain, the historic region of Transylvania (northwestern Romania), and southwestern Ukraine; and the Drava and Sava, which receive most of the waters of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

IRON GATES

In Serbia, the river’s course meanders as it cuts passages through the confluence of the easternmost ALPS and the Carpathian Mountains. At its narrowest, the river passes through the Iron Gates, the site of one of Europe’s largest hydroelectric projects, the Djerdap, which provides almost half of the electricity consumed by Serbia and Romania. The other major hydroelectric project on the Danube is the Gabcikovo dam, in Slovakia. This dam, built in 1992, created a huge 11-mi (24 km) reservoir, with serious ecological consequences downstream in Hungary. Originally a partner in the project, Hungary withdrew with the fall of communism, causing severe tensions with the Slovak government. 

Other man-made projects along the river’s course include the Rhein-Main-Donau Kanal, built in 1992, which links the North Sea to the Black Sea, though it is still mostly underused. The lower course of the Danube forms the border between Bulgaria and Romania, through a broad drainage basin between the Carpathian and Balkan mountain ranges to the north and south. The river ends in a vast DELTA in Romania, the largest in Europe, with an area of 1,700 square mi (4,345 square km). Part of the delta also lies in the Ukraine. Flow at the mouth of the Danube averages 229,450 cubic ft (6,500 cubic m) per second, but has been recorded at 10 times this volume during high flooding. Some 122 million tons of sediment is discharged each year, creating one of the most extensive and fertile wetlands on Earth. Most of this is now protected by the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, 1.7 million acres (679,222 hectares) of marshes and lakes, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1991.

The Romanian city of Galati, where the last major Danubian tributary, the Prut, enters the basin from Moldova to the north, is the river’s chief port for oceangoing vessels, although it is 90 mi (145 km) from the Black Sea. Ships traverse the largest of the three main Danube channels (the Sfîntu Gheorghe) to enter the Black Sea, and thus to the Mediterranean. It is estimated that 100 million tons of cargo are transported each year on the Danube as a whole, underlying the economic importance of this waterway to much of Central and Eastern Europe.

Damascus

DAMASCUS (in Arabic, “Dimashq”) is the capital and chief city of SYRIA, with a population of 1.7 million people (2002). The ancient city is also known in Arabic as “as-Sham” meaning “the Northern,” indicating its geographical position north of the traditional Arab homelands. Damascus is situated in the Ghutah Oasis on a plateau 2,263 ft (690 m) above sea level in southwestern Syria. The city is bisected by the Barada River, which separates the old city to the south from the newer, more modern city to the north. It lies just northeast of Mount Hermon (7,164 ft or 2,184 m), the highest point in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains that form part of Syria’s eastern border with neighboring LEBANON. To the east of the city lies the DESERT. 

Damascus is only a two-hour drive from the MEDITERRANEAN coast, which is just beyond the Anti-Lebanon and Lebanon mountains to the east. Annual rainfall in the area ranges between 6 in (15 cm) and 7.87 in (20 cm), falling mainly between November and February. Although temperatures in the summer can exceed 104 degrees F (40 degrees C), the summer average is around 80.5 degrees F (27 degrees C) at the most. Winters are generally cold, averaging 41 degrees F (5 degrees C).

Damascus has been inhabited since prehistoric times and is considered by some to be the oldest continuously occupied city in the world. The first mention of Damascus is in Egyptian records, when the Pharaoh Thutmosis III conquered the city in the 15th century B.C.E. In 333 B.C.E., Damascus was conquered by one of Alexander’s lieutenants, who took it from the Persians.

From 661 to 750 C.E., Damascus was the center of Islam and capital of the Great Omayyad Empire that stretched from Spain to India. In 1260 the city fell to the Mongols under Hulagu Khan, then fell again to the Mamluks following the Mongol withdrawal. In 1516, the city was captured by the Ottoman Sultan Salim I and remained part of the Ottoman Empire for the next four centuries. At the end of World War II, the city was freed from Ottoman control by an Arab contingent under the command of the British. Damascus became the capital of an independent Syria (from FRANCE) in 1941, although it did not officially take effect until 1946.

Damascus is made up of a sizeable old city, divided into the market area, the Muslim area, the Christian area and the Jewish area. The greatest part of the city, including the rectangular ancient city, is on the south bank of the Barada River, while the newer more modern suburbs lie to the north. Damascus has more than 200 mosques, but only 70 are still in use today. Of these, the Umayyad or Grand Mosque is the most famous, located just east of the Citadel and north of the Azem Palace in the old city. Damascus is famous for its bazaars—streets lined with shops, stalls, and cafes. One such bazaar called “Street Straight” (in contrast to the typically narrow, crooked layout) is even mentioned in the Bible in connection with St. Paul’s conversion to Christianity.

Damascus has long been an important commercial center. In former times it was famous for dried fruit, wine, wool, linens, silks, and damask, a type of patterned fabric, named for the silk fabrics woven in Damascus. The city was also notable for the manufacture of damascened steel, the exceptionally hard and resilient steel used in making sword blades. Today the city is the trading center for figs, almonds, and other fruit produced in the surrounding region. Industries in Damascus include handicrafts, such as the weaving of silk cloth and the making of leather goods, filigreed gold and silver objects, and inlaid wooden, copper, and brass articles. Among the city’s other manufactures are processed textiles, metalware, refined sugar, glass, furniture, cement, leather goods, preserves, confections, and matches.

Czech Republic

THE CZECH REPUBLIC consists of the two historic regions of Bohemia and Moravia. The Czech Republic borders SLOVAKIA to the southeast, POLAND to the north and northeast, GERMANY to the north and west, and AUSTRIA to the south. The Czech Republic is a parliamentary democracy with a parliament as its legislature.

The prime minister serves as the head of government, and the president serves as head of state. Prague, Brno, Ostrava, and Plzen are major cities of the country. Bohemia is a PLATEAU surrounded by the Ore or Erzgebirge Mountains and the Sudetes Mountains on the north and drained by the Vltava. Moravia is a lowland region that is drained by the Morava River, which flows into the DANUBE. The climate in the Czech Republic varies with the region from 30 degrees F (-1 degree C ) in January to 67 degrees F (19.4 degrees C) in July. In higher elevations, the climate is colder and receives more rain.

The region comprising the Czech Republic was first settled by two Celtic groups, the Boii, from which the region Bohemia gets its name, and the Cotini. By the 5th century, Slavs from the east settled in the region and formed the kingdom of Bohemia in the 10th century. In the 15th century, Jan Hus led a movement against the Roman Catholic Church, which presaged the Protestant Reformation a century later. In 1526, the Habsburg dynasty from Austria gained control of the Bohemian throne.

The Thirty Years’ War began in Prague when the Czechs rebelled against Habsburg rule in 1618. By 1620, Czech forces were defeated by the Habsburg forces, placing Bohemia under Austrian rule for 300 years. The convulsions of World War I led Czech leaders to push for full independence. In 1918, Czechoslovakia, with a diverse population of Czechs, Slovaks, Germans, and Ruthenians, emerged as a successor state to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The First Republic of Czechoslovakia, led by Thomáš Masaryk, was organized as a Western democracy, which was one of the most stable and prosperous countries of Central Europe during the interwar period. During the 1930s, as Europe witnessed the rise of fascism, Czechoslovakia fell prey to Nazi ambitions.

In September 1938, at the Munich Conference, Britain and FRANCE gave the German-populated Sudetenland in northern Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler, who reorganized the country into the Second Republic in 1939 as a Nazi puppet state, granting autonomy to Slovakia.

Liberated by the Soviets in 1945, Czechoslovakia reemerged as an independent nation. By 1948, however, the communists, with the backing of the Soviet Union, took control of the government, creating the Third Republic. All prewar political parties were banned, and anticommunists were convicted in show trials.

The communists nationalized all industry, collectivized all agriculture, and restricted all churches in the years immediately following World War II. In 1968, President Alexander Dubcek proposed liberal reforms to the political and economic system, which included distancing Czechoslovakia from the Soviet Union. This “socialism with a human face” was put down by intervention by the Soviet Union and members of the Warsaw Pact, and Czechoslovakia was placed in a tighter orbit with Moscow. By 1989, pressures for change throughout Eastern and Central Europe led to the Velvet Revolution, which overthrew communist rule in Czechoslovakia. 

Dissident Vaclav Hável became president of Czechoslovakia and he oversaw its transition to democracy, with Vaclav Klaus as prime minister to oversee economic reform. The Velvet Revolution raised the age-old question of the relationship between the Czechs and the Slovaks, and by 1993 came the Velvet Divorce, which was the peaceful split of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and SLOVAKIA. Since then, the Czech Republic has made strides to integrate into the European economy. It has been one of the few Eastern and Central European states to make a successful transition to a free market economy, albeit with some difficulties in the rising inequality of wealth. The Czech Republic joined the NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION in 1999 and the EUROPEAN UNION in 2004.

Czechs make up the majority of the population of the Czech Republic. Sizable minorities of Slovaks and Roma (Gypsies) also reside in the Czech Republic. A significant German population existed in the Sudetenland, but many were expelled after World War II. The Czech Republic has had an industrialized economy since the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its chief exports are consumer goods, and machinery. Its chief industries are machinery, automobiles, textiles, and glass. Its imports are consumer goods and fuel.

Cyprus

CYPRUS IS AN island in the eastern MEDITERRANEAN SEA, 70 mi (113 km) south of TURKEY. For thousands of years, its civilization has been at the crossroads between Europe, Asia, and Africa. Today, Cypriots continue to play a role as a bridge between cultures, because of their island’s proximity to the MIDDLE EAST, its cultural connections to GREECE, and its political status as one of the newest member states of the EUROPEAN UNION (EU).

Cyprus is politically divided, however, between the Greek-speaking majority in the southern part of the island and the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This division has been in place since 1974 and remains unresolved despite pressure from the EU and the United Nations (UN).

The name Cyprus (Kypros in Greek) either derives from, or gives its name to one of the chief natural resources on the island: copper. This metal has been mined from the Troödos range since prehistoric times. The Troödos dominate the central and southern part of the island. The rest of Cyprus consists of the northern Kyrenia range, or Girne in Turkish, and the plain between the two ranges, the Mesaoria. There are also scattered plains along the southern coast. The Kyrenia is a narrow limestone ridge that extends far to the northeast of the mainland to form the Karpaz Peninsula.

The Mesaoria is semiarid, sheltered from rains by the northern mountains. Wheat and barley are grown there, but require IRRIGATION for agriculture. Significant rivers rise from the Troödos Mountains but are mostly dry in the summer. Severe deforestation has contributed to the island’s water problem, particularly around the city of Nicosia, which occupies the central part of the Mesaoria. Nearly 200,000 people live in this city, called Lefkosa by Turkish Cypriots, who claim the northern part of the city as their capital. 

Other cities include Limassol, Larnaca, Famagusta, Paphos, and the ruined city of Salamis. The diversity of building styles in these cities reflects the varieties of outside influences that have dominated Cypriot history since the second millennium B.C.E. Cyprus was a Roman then a Byzantine province for 1,000 years until it was taken over by Crusaders in the 12th century, notably the de Lusignan family, who set up a Catholic kingdom in opposition to the majority Orthodox population.

Venetian merchants, eager to secure their monopoly on trade in the eastern Mediterranean, purchased

the island in 1489 but lost it to the Ottoman Turks in 1570. The Turks ruled Cyprus through a restored traditional Orthodox hierarchy, reinforcing the position of the church and the Greek language in Cypriot politics and culture. In 1878, control of the island was ceded to the British, eager to safeguard their shipping lanes to the Suez Canal. Great Britain formally annexed Cyprus in 1914. Independence was granted in 1960, but the island remains a member of the British Commonwealth, and the UNITED KINGDOM retains sovereignty over two military bases on the south and southeast coasts.

As early as the 1820s, Greek Cypriots expressed a strong desire for political union, or enosis, with the rest of Greece. It is this desire that has been at the root of the tension between Greeks and Turks on Cyprus ever since. The original 1960 constitution allowed for minority representation in government, but these stipulations were dropped in 1963. In 1974, a coup backed by Greece prompted military intervention from Turkey, and the country was divided into the southern and northern sections of today, divided by the so-called Green Line, patrolled by UN troops. In 1983 the Turkish area—roughly a third of the island declared itself to be the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), but it is recognized only by Turkey.

UN-led direct talks began in January 2002, and several proposals have been brought forward. A referendum on a plan set forth by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in April 2004 was approved by Turkish Cypriots but strongly rejected by the Greek population. It had been hoped that a settlement could be reached by the time of Cyprus’s entry into the EU in May 2004. Many EU members were impressed, however, with Turkish willingness to settle their differences, which may in the long run lead to increased financial aid to the impoverished north.

The economy of Cyprus was severely disrupted by the division of 1974 but has recovered in the south, mostly through a huge increase in tourism. Tourism and other service industries today contribute 76 percent of the gross domestic product and employ 70 percent of the labor force. Millions of tourists per year come for Cyprus’s clean waters and relatively undeveloped beaches. Southern Cyprus has also become a center for international business and offshore banking, due to its proximity to the Middle East, and its educated, English-speaking population. The north has had less of a recovery and continues to rely heavily on financial support from Turkey.

Cyclones

CYCLONES ARE HAZARDOUS weather conditions distinguished by extreme blasts of wind moving in a circular pattern. Cyclones generally appear over tropical waters; however, some are able to reach land, where they inflict significant damage on buildings and communities.

Cyclones can be placed into categories such as hurricane (Western Hemisphere) and typhoon (Eastern Hemisphere). The categorization assigned to a cyclone is dependent upon where it originated. Wind speeds in cyclones can surpass 100 mi per hour (160 km per hour). Tropical cyclones with milder conditions are known as tropical storms.

Cyclones build over tropical seas. Heat gives cyclones their energy. Consequently, the ocean over which a cyclone forms must be warm. Other conditions required for a cyclone include a rapidly cooling atmosphere, a minimum of 300 mi (500 km) distance from the equator, and a slow vertical wind not exceeding 23 mi per hour (37 km per hour). This vertical wind is the product of differences between winds in the lower and upper portions of the atmosphere. The major contributor to the formation of a cyclone is a disturbance in the form of a thunderstorm or group of showers.

When all of these factors come together, conditions are right for a tropical cyclone. However, cyclones are spontaneous; a minute variation in one variable can be the difference between a hurricane and a thunderstorm. Known as the “eye,” the circular area in the center of a cyclone has an environment quite different from the area it surrounds. Calmness and a light breeze characterize the eye. Temperatures and air pressure are normally higher, and the sky is generally very clear.

Strong cyclones can cause damage ranging from crop destruction to the total devastation of buildings, depending on the severity of the cyclone. Cyclones become most dangerous as they hit land and spawn tornadoes, which are formed when tropical cyclones begin to lose their power. The major variation between tropical cyclones and tornadoes is their size. While the diameter of a tornado is measured in meters, the diameter of a tropical cyclone is measured in kilometers. One of the most destructive cyclone-spawned tornadoes in the United States caused around $100 million worth of damage to the Austin, TEXAS, area in 1980.

Besides property damage, cyclones (and the ensuing tornadoes) cause death. Objects lifted from the path of the extreme wind are flung about as high-speed projectiles. In 1964, 22 people were killed by a tornado that hit the LOS ANGELES area in CALIFORNIA. Meteorologists have come a long way in the forecasting of tropical cyclones. In their forecasts, they gather information from the global numerical weather prediction model, which is also used by many meteorological centers, to aid them in producing accurate warnings. The World Meteorological Organization has created Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers (RSMCs) that issue warnings to nations, which then issue warnings to the public.

Warnings are issued when a cyclone is likely to affect communities within 24 to 48 hours. The warnings include a forecast that predicts which communities may be affected, severity, movement, etc. depending on how severe a cyclone is, residents may be asked to take certain precautions or even evacuate the possible affected area.

CATEGORY WARNINGS

Cyclones are divided into five categories determined by wind speeds, with category 5 being the worst cyclone of all. A category 1 warning is issued when wind gusts are less than 77 mi per hour (125 km per hour). A category 2 warning is issued when wind gusts are from 77 to 105 mi per hour (125 to 169 km per hour). When winds are from 106 to 139 mi per hour (170 to 224 km per hour), a category 3 warning is issued. Category 4 is when winds reach speeds from 140 to 173 mi per hour (225 to 279 km per hour ). The most destructive of all is a category 5 cyclone with winds faster than 174 mi per hour (280 km per hour).

In order to avoid confusion when tracking the development of these storms, cyclones are regularly named. The naming of cyclones began during World War II when meteorologists in the U.S. armed forces unofficially named the cyclones giving them female names. During the early 1950s, tropical cyclones that formed in the North ATLANTIC OCEAN were named from the phonetic alphabet. In 1979 the U.S. National Weather Service used both male and female names.

When an exceptional cyclone occurs, its name is taken out of use to avoid confusion. More than one cyclone can occur at the same time, and if names are given, there is less confusion about which cyclone is being described. Cyclones can range from simple tropical storms to devastating hurricanes spinning at furious speeds. Their effects can be disastrous and long-lasting.