James' World 2

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Aulanko has been a popular destination with visitors for more than a hundred years. Nowadays, there is a lot to see in Aulanko Nature Reserve, in addition to the beautiful scenery. The forest park of Aulanko, its sights, and the view from the scenic lookout tower of Aulangonvuori Hill over the national landscape attract more than 400 000 visitors every year. The area is best suitable for day trips.

The English-style park, which forms a part of the nature reserve, was constructed in 1883 – 1938, and, with its buildings and cultural history, it is a nationally valuable site. To maintain the spacious park landscape, the forest park is actively managed. The nature reserve also includes forest landscape in its natural state.

The forest park of Aulanko has had a significant impact on the Finnish park culture. Nowadays, Aulanko area belongs to the first National Urban Park in Finland (hameenlinna.fi).

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Lancaster is a city in South Central Pennsylvania, that serves as the seat of Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County and is one of the oldest inland towns in the United States. With a population at the 2010 census of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania’s cities. The Lancaster metropolitan area population is 507,766, making it the 104th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. and second-largest in the South Central Pennsylvania area.

The city’s primary industries include healthcare, tourism, public administration, manufacturing, and both professional and semi-professional services. Lancaster is best known for being the hub of Pennsylvania’s Amish Country.

Originally called Hickory Town, the city was renamed after the English city of Lancaster by native John Wright. Its symbol, the red rose, is from the House of Lancaster. Lancaster was part of the 1681 Penn’s Woods Charter of William Penn and was laid out by James Hamilton in 1734. It was incorporated as a borough in 1742 and incorporated as a city in 1818.

During the American Revolution, Lancaster was the capital of the United States for one day at the Court House (built 1739, destroyed by fire 1784 and rebuilt before relocating to current Lancaster County Courthouse in 1852; original site is now the Soldiers & Sailors Monument at Penn Square c. 1874), on September 27, 1777, after the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia, which had been captured by the British. The revolutionary government then moved still farther away to York, Pennsylvania.

Lancaster was capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812 with State Capital meeting at the Court House (built 1784 and demolished 1852 and now site of Soldiers & Sailors Monument at Penn Square), after which the capital was moved to Harrisburg. Wikipedia

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The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras are a World Heritage Site consisting of a complex of rice terraces on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. They were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995, the first-ever property to be included in the cultural landscape category of the World Heritage List. This inscription has five sites: the Batad Rice Terraces, Bangaan Rice Terraces (both in Banaue), Mayoyao Rice Terraces (in Mayoyao), Hungduan Rice Terraces (in Hungduan), and Nagacadan Rice Terraces (in Kiangan), all in Ifugao Province, Philippines. The Ifugao Rice Terraces reach a higher altitude and were built on steeper slopes than many other terraces. The Ifugao complex of stone or mud walls and the careful carving of the natural contours of hills and mountains to make terraced pond fields, coupled with the development of intricate irrigation systems, harvesting water from the forests of the mountain tops, and an elaborate farming system.

The Ifugao Rice Terraces illustrate the remarkable ability of human culture to adapt to new social and climate pressures as well as to implement and develop new ideas and technologies. Although listed by the UNESCO as a World Heritage site believed to be older than 2,000 years, recent studies from Ifugao Archaeological Project report that they were actually constructed upon Spanish contact about 400 years ago.

Maintenance of the living rice terraces reflects a primarily cooperative approach of the whole community which is based on detailed knowledge of the rich diversity of biological resources existing in the Ifugao agro-ecosystem, a finely tuned annual system respecting lunar cycles, zoning and planning, extensive soil conservation, and mastery of a complex pest control regime based on the processing of a variety of herbs, accompanied by religious rituals.

The rice terraces of the Cordilleras are one of the few monuments in the Philippines that show no evidence of having been influenced by colonial cultures. Owing to the difficult terrain, the Cordillera tribes are among the few peoples of the Philippines who have successfully resisted any foreign domination and have preserved their authentic tribal culture. The history of the terraces is intertwined with that of its people, their culture, and their traditional practices. Wikipedia

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Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 Census placed the city’s population at 112,644, making it the sixth-largest city in Michigan. The population of its metropolitan statistical area (MSA) was 541,297 at the 2020 Census, the third-largest in the state after metropolitan Detroit and Grand Rapids. It was named the new state capital of Michigan in 1847, ten years after Michigan became a state.

The Lansing metropolitan area colloquially referred to as “Mid-Michigan”, is an important center for educational, cultural, governmental, commercial, and industrial functions. Neighboring East Lansing is home to Michigan State University, a public research university with an enrollment of more than 50,000. The area features two medical schools, one veterinary school, two nursing schools, and two law schools. It is the site of the Michigan State Capitol, the state Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, a federal court, the Library of Michigan and Historical Center, and headquarters of four national insurance companies.

Lansing is the only U.S. state capital (among the 47 located in counties) that is not also a county seat. The seat of government of Ingham County is Mason, but the county maintains some offices in Lansing.

The first recorded person of European descent to travel through the area that is now Lansing was British fur trader Hugh Heward and his French-Canadian team on April 24, 1790, while canoeing the Grand River. The land that was to become Lansing was surveyed as “Township 4 North Range 2 West” in February 1827 in what was then dense forest. It was the last of the county’s townships to be surveyed, and the land was not offered for sale until October 1830. There would be no roads to this area for decades to come. Wikipedia

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El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about 3,000 feet (914 m) from base to summit along its tallest face and is a popular objective for rock climbers.

The formation was named “El Capitan” by the Mariposa Battalion when they explored the valley in 1851. El Capitán (“the captain”, “the chief”) was taken to be a loose Spanish translation of the local Native American name for the cliff, variously transcribed as “To-to-kon oo-lah” or “To-tock-ah-noo-lah” (Miwok language). It is unclear if the Native American name referred to a specific tribal chief or simply meant “the chief” or “rock chief”.^[5]

Tutokanula (another spelling) is found in the story The Two Bears as retold by Robert D. San Souci. In this legend, the translation means Measuring-Worm Rock.

The top of El Capitan can be reached by hiking out of Yosemite Valley on the trail next to Yosemite Falls, then proceeding west. For climbers, the challenge is to climb up the sheer granite face. There are many named climbing routes, all of them arduous, including Iron Hawk and Sea of Dreams.

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Las Vegas, often known simply as Vegas, is the 26th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada.

The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World and is famous for its mega casino-hotels and associated activities. It is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the world’s most visited tourist destinations. The city’s tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of “Sin City”, and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, and music videos.

Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, it was the most populated North American city founded within that century (a similar distinction was earned by Chicago in the 19th century). Population growth has accelerated since the 1960s, and between 1990 and 2000 the population nearly doubled, increasing by 85.2%. Rapid growth has continued into the 21st century, and according to the United States Census Bureau, the city had 641,903 residents in 2020, with a metropolitan population of 2,227,053.

As with most major metropolitan areas, the name of the primary city (“Las Vegas” in this case) is often used to describe areas beyond official city limits. In the case of Las Vegas, this especially applies to the areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip, which are actually located within the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester.

The area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish for “the meadows”, as it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as the desert spring waters needed by westward travelers. Nomadic Paleo-Indians traveled to Las Vegas 10,000 years ago, leaving behind petroglyphs. Anasazi and Paiute tribes followed at least 2,000 years ago.

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The Mara Triangle is the southwestern part of the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, and is managed by the not-for-profit organisation The Mara Conservancy on behalf of Trans-Mara County Council.

Divided from the rest of the Maasai Mara National Reserve by the Mara River, the Mara Triangle is less visited and less crowded, with a fairly good concentration of wildlife all year-round including the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhino) and diverse plains ‘game’ such as cheetah, hyena, jackal, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, waterbuck and many other species.

The Mara Triangle is one of the areas where herds of the Great Migration enter and exit the Maasai Mara National Reserve from the Serengenti National Park in Tanzania, making it one of the prime viewing locations for this wildlife spectacle. Crossings of the Mara River are world-renown for being particularly dramatic, featuring in many wildlife documentaries such as Wild Africa and Big Cat Diary.

The Mara Triangle is one-third of the Maasai Mara National Reserve, with an area of 510 km². It has two natural borders and one political; to the southwest is the Tanzania/Serengeti border, to the east is the Mara River, and to the northwest is the Oldoinyio Escarpment (also called Oloololo or Siria Escarpment).

The landscapes of the Mara Triangle include riverine forest, red oat grasslands, volcanic hills, and the 400-meter high Oloololo Escarpment.

The Mara Triangle is managed by the Mara Conservancy, under contract by the Trans-Mara county council, a local non-profit organization formed by the local Maasai, and contains a number of anti-poaching units.

There are two permanent lodges inside the Mara Triangle – Mara Serena and Little Governors. There are a few camps on the park’s periphery which offer game drives inside the park: Angama Mara, Bateleur Camp, Kichwa Tembo, Kilima Camp, Mara Engai Wilderness Lodge, Mara Siria, and Mpata Safari Club.

it is also possible to take your own camping gear and stay at one of the public or private campsites and a number of seasonal mobile camps are set up to coincide with the arrival of the megaherds of the Great Migration each year.

The Mara Triangle is easy to access by plane with Angama Mara Airfield, Kichwa Tembo, Mara North, Musiara, and Serena airstrips, and with daily scheduled flights connecting it with other parks and reserves in Kenya, the Kenyan coast (Mombasa, Diani, Malindi) and Nairobi (Jomo Kenyatta and Wilson airports). The Mara Triangle is also reachable by road. Wikipedia

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Lancaster is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, in the south-central part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 38,780. The city is near the Hocking River, about 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Columbus and 38 miles (61 km) southwest of Zanesville. It is the county seat of Fairfield County.

The earliest known inhabitants of the southeastern and central Ohio region were the Hopewell, Adena, and Fort Ancient Native Americans, of whom little evidence survived, beyond the burial and ceremonial mounds built throughout the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Many mounds and burial sites have also yielded archaeological artifacts. Serpent Mound and Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, though not in Fairfield County, are nearby.

Before and immediately after European settlement, the land today comprising Lancaster and Fairfield County was inhabited by the Shawnee, nations of the Iroquois, Wyandot, and other Native American tribes. It served as a natural crossroads for the inter-and intra-tribal wars fought at various times. Frontier explorer Christopher Gist reached Lancaster’s vicinity on January 19, 1751, when he visited the small Delaware town of Hockhocking nearby. Leaving the area the next day, Gist rode southwest to Maguck, another Delaware town near Circleville.

Having been ceded to the United States by Great Britain after the American Revolution in the Treaty of Paris, the lands north of the Ohio River and west of the Appalachian Mountains were incorporated into the Northwest Territory in 1787. White settlers began to encroach on Native American lands in the Northwest Territory. As the new United States government began to cast its eye westward, the stage was set for the series of campaigns that culminated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 and the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. With pioneer settlement within Ohio made legal and safe from Indian raids, developers began to speculate in land sales in earnest. Wikipedia

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Karlsruhe is the third-largest city of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart, and Mannheim. Its 308,436 inhabitants make it the 21st largest city of Germany. On the right bank of the Rhine, the city lies near the French-German border, between the Mannheim/Ludwigshafen conurbation to the north, and the Strasbourg/Kehl conurbation to the south. It is the largest city of Baden, a historic region named after Hohenbaden Castle in the city of Baden-Baden. Karlsruhe is also the largest city in the South Franconian dialect area (transitional dialects between Central and Upper German), the only other larger city in that area being Heilbronn. The city is the seat of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht), as well as of the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) and the Public Prosecutor General of the Federal Court of Justice (Generalbundesanwalt beim Bundesgerichtshof).

Karlsruhe was the capital of the Margraviate of Baden-Durlach (Durlach: 1565–1718; Karlsruhe: 1718–1771), the Margraviate of Baden (1771–1803), the Electorate of Baden (1803–1806), the Grand Duchy of Baden (1806–1918), and the Republic of Baden (1918–1945). Its most remarkable building is Karlsruhe Palace, which was built in 1715. There are nine institutions of higher education in the city, most notably the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie). Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport (Flughafen Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden) is the second-busiest airport of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart Airport, and the 17th-busiest airport of Germany.

In 2019 the UNESCO announced that Karlsruhe will join its network of “Creative Cities” as “City of Media Arts”.

Karlsruhe lies completely to the east of the Rhine, and almost completely on the Upper Rhine Plain. It contains the Turmberg in the east, and also lies on the borders of the Kraichgau leading to the Northern Black Forest. Wikipedia

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Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancestral inhabitants of the area, who migrated to the area from the Nile Basin. Their description of the area when looked at from afar: “Mara” means “spotted” in the local Maasai language, due to the many short bushy trees which dot the landscape.

Maasai Mara is one of the most famous and important wildlife conservation and wilderness areas in Africa, world-renowned for its exceptional populations of lion, African leopard, cheetah, and African bush elephant. It also hosts the Great Migration, which secured it as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa, and as one of the Ten Wonders of the World.

The Greater Mara ecosystem encompasses areas known as the Maasai Mara National Reserve, the Mara Triangle, and several Maasai Conservancies, including Koiyaki, Lemek, Ol Chorro Oirowua, Mara North, Olkinyei, Siana, Maji Moto, Naikara, Ol Derkesi, Kerinkani, Oloirien, and Kimintet.

When it was originally established in 1961 as a wildlife sanctuary the Mara covered only 520 km² (200 sq mi) of the current area, including the Mara Triangle. The area was extended to the east in 1961 to cover 1,821 km² (703 sq mi) and converted to a Game Reserve. The Narok County Council (NCC) took over management of the reserve at this time. Part of the reserve was given National Reserve status in 1974, and the remaining area of 159 km² (61 sq mi) was returned to local communities. An additional 162 km² (63 sq mi) were removed from the reserve in 1976, and the park was reduced to 1,510 km² (580 sq mi) in 1984. Wikipedia

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