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New South Wales (abbreviated as NSW) is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. Its coast borders the Coral and Tasman Seas to the east. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state. New South Wales’ state capital is Sydney, which is also Australia’s most populous city. In June 2020, the population of New South Wales was over 8.1 million, making it Australia’s most populous state. Just under two-thirds of the state’s population, 5.3 million, live in the Greater Sydney area. The demonym for inhabitants of New South Wales is New South Welshmen.

The Colony of New South Wales was founded as a British penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825. The colony then also included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemen’s Land, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the colony’s area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became New Zealand and the various states and territories of Australia. However, the Swan River Colony was never administered as part of New South Wales. Wikipedia

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Phoenix is the capital and most populous city in Arizona, with 1,680,992 people (as of 2019). It is also the fifth-most populous city in the United States, the largest state capital by population, and the only state capital with a population of more than one million residents.

Phoenix is the anchor of the Phoenix metropolitan area, informally known as the Valley of the Sun and formally centered in the Salt River Valley. The metropolitan area, which includes part of neighboring Pinal County, is the 11th largest by population in the United States, with approximately 4.73 million people as of 2017. Phoenix is the seat of Maricopa County and the largest city in the state at 517.9 square miles (1,341 km²), more than twice the size of Tucson and one of the largest cities in the United States. Wikipedia

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Jordan Pond is an oligotrophic tarn in Acadia National Park near the town of Bar Harbor, Maine. The pond covers 187 acres (76 ha) to a maximum depth of 150 feet (46 m) with a shoreline of 3.6 miles (5.8 km).

The pond was formed by the Wisconsin Ice Sheet during the last glacial period. Penobscot Mountain (1194 ft) rises to the west, while Pemetic Mountain (1247 ft) rises to the east. Two Roche moutonnées known as The Bubbles (North and South) rise above the northeastern shoreline. The southern end is constrained by glacial debris and an artificial dam.

The pond has clear water, with visibility normally 44 feet (13.4 m) and occasionally recorded up to 61 feet (18.6 m), the deepest recordings in Maine. The pond exhibits high levels of dissolved oxygen, and low levels of plant nutrients and plant life.

Some types of boating are permitted, but people and pets are prohibited from entering the water as it is the water supply for the village of Seal Harbor. Wikipedia

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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 11,079,000 residents as of 2021, in an area of more than 105 square kilometers (41 square miles). Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of Europe’s major centers of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, gastronomy, science, and arts. The City of Paris is the center and seat of government of the Île-de-France, or Paris Region, which has an estimated population of 12,174,880, or about 18 percent of the population of France as of 2017. The Paris Region had a GDP of €709 billion ($808 billion) in 2017. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit Worldwide Cost of Living Survey in 2018, Paris was the second most expensive city in the world, after Singapore, and ahead of Zürich, Hong Kong, Oslo, and Geneva. Another source ranked Paris as the most expensive, on a par with Singapore and Hong Kong, in 2018.

Paris is a major railway, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports: Paris–Charles de Gaulle (the second busiest airport in Europe) and Paris–Orly. Opened in 1900, the city’s subway system, the Paris Métro, serves 5.23 million passengers daily; it is the second busiest metro system in Europe after the Moscow Metro. Gare du Nord is the 24th busiest railway station in the world, but the first located outside Japan, with 262 million passengers in 2015. Paris is especially known for its museums and architectural landmarks: the Louvre was the most visited art museum in the world in 2019, with 9.6 million visitors. The number of visitors plunged by 72 percent to 2.7 million visitors in 2020, due to the COVID virus and the drop in the number of foreign visitors, but it remained the most-visited art museum in 2020. The Musée d’Orsay, Musée Marmottan Monet, and Musée de l’Orangerie are noted for their collections of French Impressionist art. The Pompidou Centre Musée National d’Art Moderne has the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe. The Musée Rodin and Musée Picasso exhibit the works of two noted Parisians. The historical district along the Seine in the city center is classified as a UNESCO Heritage Site, and popular landmarks there included the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris on the Île de la Cité, now closed for renovation after the 15 April 2019 fire. Other popular tourist sites include the Gothic royal chapel of Sainte-Chapelle, also on the Île de la Cité; the Eiffel Tower, constructed for the Paris Universal Exposition of 1889; the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, built for the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900; the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Élysées, and the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur on the hill of Montmartre. Wikipedia

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Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor. The park preserves about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, and portions of 16 smaller outlying islands. The park preserves the natural beauty of the rocky headlands, including the highest mountains along the Atlantic coast. The park boasts a glaciated coastal and island landscape, an abundance of habitats, a high level of biodiversity, clean air and water, and a rich cultural heritage.

The park contains the tallest mountain on the Atlantic Coast of the United States (Cadillac Mountain), exposed granite domes, glacial erratics, U-shaped valleys, and cobble beaches. Its mountains, lakes, streams, wetlands, forests, meadows, and coastlines contribute to a diversity of plants and animals. Weaved into this landscape is a historic carriage road system financed by John D. Rockefeller Jr.. In total, it encompasses 49,075 acres (76.7 sq mi; 198.6 km²) as of 2017.

Acadia has a rich human history, dating back more than 10,000 years ago with the Wabanaki people. The 17th century brought fur traders and other European explorers, while the 19th century saw an influx of summer visitors, then wealthy families. Many conservation-minded citizens, among them George B. Dorr (the “Father of Acadia National Park”), worked to establish this first national park east of the Mississippi River and the only one in the Northeastern United States. Acadia was initially designated Sieur de Monts National Monument by proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, then renamed and redesignated Lafayette National Park in 1919. The park was renamed Acadia National Park in 1929. Wikipedia

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Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, US. A major West Coast port city, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third-largest city overall in the San Francisco Bay Area, the eighth-most populated city in California, and the 45th most populated city in the United States. With a population of 433,031 as of 2019, it serves as a trade center for the San Francisco Bay Area; its Port of Oakland is the busiest port in the San Francisco Bay, the entirety of Northern California, and the fifth busiest in the United States of America. An act to incorporate the city was passed on May 4, 1852, and incorporation was later approved on March 25, 1854, which officially made Oakland a city. Oakland is a charter city.

Oakland’s territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub. Its land served as a rich resource when its hillside oak and redwood timber were logged to build San Francisco. Oakland’s fertile flatland soils helped it become a prolific agricultural region. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the western terminal of the Transcontinental Railroad. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Francisco citizens moved to Oakland, enlarging the city’s population, increasing its housing stock, and improving its infrastructure. It continued to grow in the 20th century with its busy port, shipyards, and a thriving automobile manufacturing industry.

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Salzburg literally “Salt Fortress”; Bavarian: Soizbuag) is the capital city of the State of Salzburg and the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872

The town is located on the site of the former Roman settlement of Iuvavum. Salzburg was founded as an episcopal see in 696 and became a seat of the archbishop in 798. Its main sources of income were salt extraction and trade and, at times, gold mining. The fortress of Hohensalzburg, one of the largest medieval fortresses in Europe, dates from the 11th century. In the 17th century, Salzburg became a center of the Counter-Reformation, where monasteries and numerous Baroque churches were built. Wikipedia

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Omaha is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 10 miles (15 km) north of the mouth of the Platte River (also known as the Nebraska River). The nation’s 40th-largest city, Omaha’s 2019 estimated population was 478,192, compared to its 2010 census population of 408,958. It is the second-largest city in the Great Plains states (behind Oklahoma City), the second-largest city along the Missouri River (behind Kansas City, Missouri), and the seventh-largest city in the Midwest.

Omaha is the anchor of the eight-county, bi-state Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. The Omaha Metropolitan Area is the 59th largest in the United States, with an estimated population of 944,316 (2018). The Omaha-Council Bluffs-Fremont, NE-IA Combined Statistical Area (CSA) encompasses the Omaha-Council Bluffs MSA as well as the separate Fremont, NE Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of the entirety of Dodge County, Nebraska. The total population of the CSA was 970,023 based on 2017 estimates. Approximately 1.3 million people reside within the Greater Omaha area, within a 50 mi (80 km) radius of Downtown Omaha. Wikipedia

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Adansonia is a genus made up of eight species of medium to large deciduous trees known as baobabs. Previously classified within the family Bombacaceae, they are now placed in the Malvaceae. They are native to Madagascar, mainland Africa, and Australia. Trees have also been introduced to other regions such as Asia. The generic name honors Michel Adanson, the French naturalist and explorer who described Adansonia digitata. The baobab is also known as the “upside-down tree”, a name that originates from several myths. They are among the most long-lived vascular plants and have large flowers that are reproductive for a maximum of 15 hours. The flowers open around dusk; opening so quickly that movement can be detected by the naked eye and are faded by the next morning. The fruits are large, oval to round and berry-like, and hold kidney-shaped seeds in a dry, pulpy matrix.

In the early 21st century, baobabs in southern Africa began to die off rapidly from a cause yet to be determined. Scientists believe it is unlikely that disease or pests were able to kill many trees so rapidly, and some speculated that the die-off was a result of dehydration from global warming. Wikipedia

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Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It stands on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of southern Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) and the National Capital Region (NCR). As of 2016, Ottawa had a city population of 934,243 and a metropolitan population of 1,476,008 making it the fourth-largest city and the fifth-largest CMA in Canada. In June 2019, the City of Ottawa estimated it had surpassed a population of one million.

Founded in 1826 as Bytown, and incorporated as Ottawa in 1855, the city has evolved into the political center of Canada. Its original boundaries were expanded through numerous annexations and were ultimately replaced by a new city incorporation and amalgamation in 2001 which significantly increased its land area. The city name Ottawa was chosen in reference to the Ottawa River, the name of which is derived from the Algonquin Odawa, meaning “to trade”.  Wikipedia

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