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Nahuel Huapi Lake is a lake in the lake region of northern Patagonia between the provinces of Río Negro and Neuquén, in Argentina. The tourist center of Bariloche is on the southern shore of the lake.

The June 2011 eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex, in neighboring Chile, caused parts of the lake’s surface to be blanketed in volcanic ash.

During the Last Glacial Maximum of the Llanquihue glaciation, the lake basin was wholly occupied by a glacier.

The name of the lake derives from the toponym of its major island in Mapudungun (Mapuche language): “Island of Puma”, from nahuel, “puma”, and huapí, “island”. There is, however, more to the word “Nahuel” – it can also signify “a man who by sorcery has been transformed to a puma”.

Nahuel Huapi lake, located within the Nahuel Huapi National Park, has a surface of 530 km² (200 sq mi), rests 2,510 feet (770 m) above the sea level, and has a maximum measured depth (as of 2007) of 1,522 feet (464 m).

The lake depression consists of several glacial valleys carved out along faults and Miocene valleys that were later dammed by moraines.

Its seven branches are named Blest (36 km²), Huemul (21.5 km²), de la Tristeza (18.5 km²), Campanario (7.9 km²), Machete, del Rincón and Última Esperanza. It is connected to other smaller lakes such as Gutiérrez, Moreno, Espejo, and Correntoso. The deep-blue waters hold a number of islands, most notably Isla Victoria with an area of 31 km², and Isla Huemul on the south end of the lake.

A curious fact about the lake is that, despite being nowhere near any ocean and being at high altitude, it is also home for kelp gull and the blue-eyed cormorant (Phalacrocorax atriceps), otherwise strictly marine birds.

The lake’s crystal clear waters are very susceptible to climate changes and have an average surface temperature of 45 °F (7 °C); this makes it both beautiful and treacherous. Hypothermia is one of the risks bathers must undertake. Kayaking is a popular sport on this and adjacent lakes. The lake is also the starting point of the Limay River.

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An image from Nahuel Huapi Lake

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Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is a country in the Horn of Africa. The country is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, and Kenya to the southwest. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa’s mainland. Its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains, and highlands. Hot conditions prevail year-round, with periodic monsoon winds and irregular rainfall. Somalia has an estimated population of around 17.1 million, of which over 2 million live in the capital and largest city Mogadishu, and has been described as Africa’s most culturally homogeneous country. Around 85% of its residents are ethnic Somalis, who have historically inhabited the country’s north. Ethnic minorities are largely concentrated in the south. The official languages of Somalia are Somali and Arabic. Most people in the country are Muslims, the majority of them Sunni.

In antiquity, Somalia was an important commercial center. It is among the most probable locations of the fabled ancient Land of Punt. During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including the Ajuran Sultanate, the Adal Sultanate, and the Sultanate of the Geledi.

In the late 19th century, Somali Sultanates like the Isaaq Sultanate and the Majeerteen Sultanate were colonized by Italy, Britain, and Ethiopia. European colonists merged the tribal territories into two colonies, which were Italian Somaliland and the British Somaliland Protectorate. Meanwhile, in the interior, the Dervishes led by Mohammed Abdullah Hassan engaged in a two-decade confrontation against Abyssinia, Italian Somaliland, and British Somaliland and were finally defeated in the 1920 Somaliland Campaign. Italy acquired full control of the northeastern, central, and southern parts of the area after successfully waging the Campaign of the Sultanates against the ruling Majeerteen Sultanate and Sultanate of Hobyo. In 1960, the two territories united to form the independent Somali Republic under a civilian government.

The Supreme Revolutionary Council seized power in 1969 and established the Somali Democratic Republic, brutally attempting to squash the Somaliland War of Independence in the north of the country. The SRC subsequently collapsed 22 years later, in 1991, with the onset of the Somali Civil War and Somaliland soon declared independence. Somaliland still controls the northwestern portion of Somalia representing just over 27% of its territory. Since this period most regions returned to customary and religious law. In the early 2000s, a number of interim federal administrations were created. The Transitional National Government (TNG) was established in 2000, followed by the formation of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004, which reestablished the Somali Armed Forces.

In 2006, with a US-backed Ethiopian intervention, the TFG assumed control of most of the nation’s southern conflict zones from the newly formed Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The ICU subsequently splintered into more radical groups, such as Al-Shabaab, which battled the TFG and its AMISOM allies for control of the region.

By mid-2012, the insurgents had lost most of the territory they had seized, and a search for more permanent democratic institutions began. Despite this, insurgents still control much of central and southern Somalia, and wield influence in government-controlled areas, with the town of Jilib acting as the insurgents’ de-facto capital. A new provisional constitution was passed in August 2012, reforming Somalia as a federation. The same month, the Federal Government of Somalia was formed and a period of reconstruction began in Mogadishu. Somalia has maintained an informal economy mainly based on livestock, remittances from Somalis working abroad, and telecommunications. It is a member of the United Nations, the Arab League, African Union, Non-Aligned Movement, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Wikipedia

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An image from Somalia Capital City

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Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population.

The area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares (138.4 km²; 53.44 sq miles), including 1,075 hectares off the coast, at Zeebrugge (from Brugge aan zee, meaning ‘Bruges by the Sea’). The historic city center is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is oval in shape and about 430 hectares in size. The city’s total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008), of whom around 20,000 live in the city center. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 616 km² (238 sq mi) and has a total of 255,844 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008.

Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam and St Petersburg, it is sometimes referred to as the Venice of the North. Bruges has significant economic importance, thanks to its port, and was once one of the world’s chief commercial cities. Bruges is a tourism destination within Belgium and is well known as the seat of the College of Europe, a university institute for European studies.

The earliest mention of the location’s name is Bruggas, Brvggas, or Brvccia in AD 840–875. Afterward, it appears as Bruciam and Bruociam (892); as Brutgis uico (late 9th century); as in portu Bruggensi (c. 1010); as Bruggis (1012); as Bricge in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (1037); as Brugensis (1046); as Brycge in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (1049–1052); as Brugias (1072); as Bruges (1080–1085); as Bruggas (c. 1084); as Brugis (1089); and as Brugge (1116).

The name probably derives from the Old Dutch for ‘bridge’: brugga. Also compare Middle Dutch brucge, brugge (or brugghe, brigghe, bregghe, brogghe), and modern Dutch bruggehoofd (‘bridgehead’) and brug (‘bridge’). The form brugghe would be a southern Dutch variant. The Dutch word and the English bridge both derive from Proto-Germanic *brugjō-. Wikipedia

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An image from Bruges, Belgium

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