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A Dwarf is a creature from Germanic mythologies, fairy tales, fantasy fiction, and role-playing games. It usually has magical talents, often involving metallurgy. The original concept of Dwarves is very difficult to determine. Sources have gradually given Dwarves more comical and superstitious roles[1]. Dwarves were certainly humanoid, but sources differ over their lifestyles, and their similarity to Elves. They may have had a strong associations with death[2][3]: paled skin; dark hair; connections with the earth; their role in mythology. They followed animistic traditions, showing similarities to such concepts of the dead. They were similar to others from the 'Vættir' family, such as Elves.[2]

Rackham. Grouping Mythological creature Fairy Country Northern Europe

Education in the Afghanistan was significantly improved under the rule of King Zahir Shah (from 1933 to 1973),[1] making primary schools available to about half the population who were younger than 12 years of age, and expanding the secondary school system and the national university at Kabul.

n 1996 the Taliban regime banned education for females, and the madrassa (mosque school) became the main source of primary and secondary education.[1] After the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, the interim government received substantial international aid to restore the education system.[1] In 2003 some 7,000 schools were operating in 20 of the 34 provinces, with 27,000 teachers teaching 4.2 million children (including 1.2 million girls).[1] Of that number, about 3.9 million were in primary schools.[1] When Kabul University reopened in 2002, some 24,000 students, male and female, enrolled.[1] Five other universities were being rehabilitated in the early 2000s.[1] Since the end of the dogmatic Taliban era in 2001, public school curricula have included religious subjects, but detailed instruction is left to religious teachers.[1] In 2003 an estimated 57 percent of men and 86 percent of women were illiterate, and the lack of skilled and educated workers was a major economic disadvantage.[1]

Despite those improvements, large percent of the population remained illiterate.[1] Beginning with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, successive wars virtually destroyed the education system.[1] Most teachers fled the country during the wars.[1] By the middle of the 1990s, only about 650 schools were functioning.[1]

Biomes are the major regional groupings of plants and animals discernible at a global scale. Their distribution patterns are strongly correlated with regional climate patterns and identified according to the climax vegetation type. However, a biome is composed not only of the climax vegetation, but also of associated successional communities, persistent subclimax communities, fauna, and soils.

The global distribution pattern: Where each biome is found and how each varies geographically. A given biome may be composed of different taxa on different continents. Continent-specific associations of species within a given biome are known as formations and often are known by different local names. For example,the temperate grassland biome is variously called prairie, steppe, pampa, or veld, depending on where it occurs (North America, Eurasia, South America, and southern Africa, respectively). The general characteristics of the regional climate and the limitations or requirements imposed upon life by specific temperature and/or precipitation patterns. Aspects of the physical environment that may exert a stronger influence than climate in determining common plant growthforms and/or subclimax vegetation. Usually these factors are conditions of the substrate (e.g., waterlogged; excessively droughty, nutrient-poor) or of disturbance (e.g., periodic flooding or burning). The soil order(s) that characterize the biome and those processes involved in soil development. The dominant, characteristic, and unique growthforms; vertical stratification; leaf shape, size, and habit; and special adaptations of the vegetation. Examples of the last are peculiar life histories or reproductive strategies, dispersal mechanisms, root structure, and so forth. The types of animals (especially vertebrates) characteristic of the biome and their typical morphological, physiological, and/or behavioral adaptations to the environment.

The global distribution pattern: Where each biome is found and how each varies geographically. A given biome may be composed of different taxa on different continents. Continent-specific associations of species within a given biome are known as formations and often are known by different local names. For example,the temperate grassland biome is variously called prairie, steppe, pampa, or veld, depending on where it occurs (North America, Eurasia, South America, and southern Africa, respectively). The general characteristics of the regional climate and the limitations or requirements imposed upon life by specific temperature and/or precipitation patterns. Aspects of the physical environment that may exert a stronger influence than climate in determining common plant growthforms and/or subclimax vegetation. Usually these factors are conditions of the substrate (e.g., waterlogged; excessively droughty, nutrient-poor) or of disturbance (e.g., periodic flooding or burning). The soil order(s) that characterize the biome and those processes involved in soil development. The dominant, characteristic, and unique growthforms; vertical stratification; leaf shape, size, and habit; and special adaptations of the vegetation. Examples of the last are peculiar life histories or reproductive strategies, dispersal mechanisms, root structure, and so forth. The types of animals (especially vertebrates) characteristic of the biome and their typical morphological, physiological, and/or behavioral adaptations to the environment.

Jaguar Jaguars (Panthera onca) are the largest felid species in the New World and the only member of the genus Panthera, the roaring cats, that occurs in the Americas. They are the third largest cat species, being outsized only by lions (P. leo) and tigers (P. trigris). Although not the largest felid, jaguars have the strongest jaw in relation to head size of any of the cats, a fact that should be remembered whenever planning to capture and immobilize these animals. The body weight of jaguars is 90 - 120 kg for males and 60 - 90 kg for females, with a large variation in body size. Jaguars live in a wide variety of tropical habitats, ranging from montane forest and wet savannah to tropical rain forest and deciduous tropical forest. The largest documented jaguars occur in wet savannahs while jaguars that live in more forested regions tend to be smaller in size

Physical appearance: Jaguars are the largest cat in the western hemisphere. In comparison with the leopard, the jaguar is generally larger and much stockier, with a broad heavy head, much shorter legs and tail (a good visual description might be a leopard on steroids). The background of the jaguar's coat is a tawny-yellow, like many of the Asiatic leopards, and lightened to whitish on the throat and belly. The jaguar is marked with small isolated spots on the head and neck with dark open ring structures, rosettes,on the sides and flank that generally contain one to four dark spots inside the rings. Interestingly, the rosettes of the leopard and the jaguar are almost identical with the exception of the jaguar having spots "inside" the rosettes where the leopard has none. Along the middle of the jaguar's back, a row of black spots may merge into a solid line. According to one Indian myth, the jaguar acquired its spotted coat by daubing mud on its body with its paws.

Cold, snowy, windy. When you hear those words they make you think of mountains. The Alpine biome is like winter is to people in New England; snow, high winds, ice, all the typical winter things. In Latin the word for 'high mountain' is 'alpes'. That is where today's word alpine comes from. Alpine biomes are found in the mountain regions all around the world. They are usually at an altitude of about 10,000 feet or more. The Alpine biome lies just below the snow line of a mountain. As you go up a mountain, you will travel through many biomes. In the North American Rocky Mountains you begin in a desert biome. As you climb you go through a deciduous forest biome, grassland biome, steppe biome, and taiga biome before you reach the cold Alpine biome. In the summer average temperatures range from 10 to 15° C . In the winter the temperatures are below freezing. The winter season can last from October to May. The summer season may last from June to September. The temperatures in the Alpine biome can also change from warm to freezing in one day. Because the severe climate of the Alpine biome, plants and animals have developed adaptations to those conditions. There are only about 200 species of Alpine plants. At high altitudes there is very little CO2, which plants need to carry on photosynthesis. Because of the cold and wind, most plants are small perennial groundcover plants which grow and reproduce slowly. They protect themselves from the cold and wind by hugging the ground. Taller plants or trees would soon get blown over and freeze. When plants die they don't decompose very quickly because of the cold. This makes for poor soil conditions. Most Alpine plants can grow in sandy and rocky soil. Plants have also adapted to the dry conditions of the Alpine biome. Plant books and catalogs warn you about over watering Alpine plants. Alpine animals have to deal with two types of problems: the cold and too much high UV wavelengths. This is because there is less atmosphere to filter UV rays from the sun. There are only warm blooded animals in the Alpine biome, although there are insects. Alpine animals adapt to the cold by hibernating, migrating to lower, warmer areas, or insulating their bodies with layers of fat. Animals will also tend to have shorter legs, tails, and ears, in order to reduce heat loss. Alpine animals also have larger lungs, more blood cells and hemoglobin because of the increase of pressure and lack of oxygen at higher altitudes. This is also true for people who have lived on mountains for a long time, like the Indians of the Andes Mountains in South America and the Sherpas of the Himalayas in Asia. bibliography: "Himalayas", http://encarta.msn.com/find/, (June 2000). "General Ecology, EEOB 404", http://www.tulane.edu/~eeob/Courses/Ecology_Materials/arctic_alpine_99f.html, (June 2000).

The billions of leaves of the canopy, acting as miniature solar panels, provide the source of power for the forest by converting sunlight to energy through photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert atmospheric carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and simple sugars. Since the rate of photosynthesis of canopy trees is so high, these plants have a higher yield of fruits, seeds, flowers, and leaves which attract and support a wide diversity of animal life. Besides attracting a broad array of wildlife, the canopy plays an important role in regulating regional and global climate because it is the principal site of the interchange of heat, water vapor, and atmospheric gases. In addition to collecting solar energy and regulating the climate, the canopy shields the understory from harsh and intense sunlight, drying winds, and heavy rainfall, and retains the moisture of the forest below. Thus the forest interior is a far less volatile environment than the upper parts of the canopy ceiling. The interior region is protected from the extremes of the canopy: temperature fluctuations, damaging solar radiation, and strong winds. Light levels are diffuse and subdued, the humidity is higher and more constant, and there is very little direct sunlight in the lower canopy.

The overstory is characterized by scattered emergent trees that tower above the rest of the canopy, the tops of some species exceeding 210 feet (65 m). Below the overstory trees, the canopy stretches for vast distances, seemingly unbroken when observed from an airplane. However, despite overlapping tree branches, canopy trees rarely interlock or even touch. Instead they are separated from one another by a few feet. Why the branches of these trees do not touch is still a mystery, but it is thought that it might serve as protection from infestations from tree-eating caterpillars and tree diseases like leaf blight. To survive, canopy dwellers must have the ability to negotiate these gaps by climbing, leaping, gliding, or flying.

The Invasion of Goa also known as the Liberation of Goa[1] or Portuguese-Indian War, codenamed Operation Vijay by the Government of India, was the Indian armed forces action that ended Portuguese rule in its Indian enclaves in 1961. The armed action, involving air, sea and land strikes for over 36 hours, ended 451 years of Portuguese colonial rule in Goa. 14 Indians and 31 Portuguese were killed in the fighting. The brief war drew a mixture of worldwide praise and condemnation. In India, the action was seen as a liberation while Portugal viewed it as aggression.

The immediate causes of rainforest destruction are clear. The main causes of total clearance are agriculture and in drier areas, fuelwood collection. The main cause of forest degradation is logging. Mining, industrial development and large dams also have a serious impact. Tourism is becoming a larger threat to the forests.

The creation of national parks has undoubtedly helped to protect rainforests. Yet, as national parks are open to the public, tourism is damaging some of these areas. Often, national parks are advertised to tourists before adequate management plans have been developed and implemented. Inadequate funding is allocated for preservation of forests by government departments. Governments see tourism as an easy way to make money, and therefore tourism is encouraged whilst strict management strategies are given far less government support. Ecotourism, or environmentally friendly tourism, should educate the tourists to be environmentally aware. It should also be of low impact to its environment. Unfortunately, many companies and resorts who advertise themselves as eco-tourist establishments are in fact exploiting the environment for profit. In Cape Tribulation, Australia, for example, the rainforest is being threatened by excessive tourism. Clearing for roads and pollution of waterways are two of the major problems in this area. The Wet Tropics Management Authority which oversees the surrounding World Heritage Area is promoting tourism to the area before any management plans have been formulated, before any effective waste management strategy has been devised and before any ecofriendly power alternatives have been fully explored.

The Champions of the Animal KingdomPeople are good at a lot of things, but if animals could enter the Olympics as one team they would probably win almost all the medals! Animals can outrun, outswim, and outjump all humans. Young cheetahs learn to hunt by watching their mother. Later, they start taking part in the hunt. Cheetahs are the fastest land animal and can reach speeds of 113kph in short bursts. ©G.Ellis/GLOBIO.org Fastest Mammal on Land Cheetahs can run up to 113 kph. Fastest Mammal in Water Dall porpoises can swim up to 56 kph. Fastest Flying Bird Peregrine falcons can dive toward the ground at more than 320 kph. Fastest Flightless Bird North African ostriches are the fastest birds on land. They can run at speeds up to 72 kph. They are also the biggest bird. They can weigh 155 kg. Fastest Fish Sailfish can swim up to 109 kph. Loudest Animal The blue whale’s low-frequency pulses are as loud as 188 decibels. This is louder than a jet engine. A blue whale’s call can be detected more than 805 km away. On land, the loudest animals are howler monkeys. Their howls can be heard 4.8 km away.

Arctic terns migrate to and from the Antarctic - about 35,405 km round trip - each year. Among mammals, gray whales and northern elephant seals are the migration champions. They travel up to 20,900 km round trip each year. Deadliest Animal Female Anopheles mosquitoes, which carry and transmit malaria, play a role in the deaths of more than a million people each year. Most Venomous Animal A single sea wasp (a kind of jellyfish with 60 tentacles, each 4 m long) has enough venom to kill 60 adult humans. Strongest Animal The rhinoceros beetle can lift 850 times its own weight

Because there are so many creatures living in the rainforest, there is a great deal of competition for food, sunlight and space. Some animals became very specialised. This means that they adapted to eating a specific plant or animal that few others eat. For example, parrots and toucans eat nuts, and developed big strong beaks to crack open the tough shells. Leafcutter ants climb tall trees and cut small pieces of leaves which they carry back to their nest.The leaf pieces are about 50 times their weight.The ants bury the leaf pieces, and the combination of the leaves and the ants' saliva encourages the growth of a fungus, which is the only food these ants eat. Sometimes there are relationships between animals and plants that benefit both. Some trees depend on animals to spread the seeds of their fruit to distant parts of the forest. Birds and mammals eat the fruits, and travel some distance before the seeds pass through their digestive systems in another part of the forest. One problem with specialisation is that if one species becomes extinct, the other is in danger too unless it can adapt in time. The dodo, a flightless bird of Mauritius, became extinct in 1681. Today there are just 13 calvaria trees left on the island, each over 300 years old, and nearly at the end of their life. Scientists realised that the seeds had to pass through a dodo's digestive system before they could germinate. It seemed that the tree species would also become extinct, but scientists tried domestic turkeys and have successfully managed to germinate some seeds.Many rainforest animals use camouflage to 'disappear' in the rainforest. Stick insects are perfect examples of this. There are some butterflies whose wings look like leaves. Camouflage is of course useful for predators too, so that they can catch prey that hasn't seen them. The Boa Constrictor is an example of a camouflaged predator. The South American three-toed sloth uses camouflage and amazing slowness to escape predators. Green algae grows in the sloth's fur, which helps camouflage it in the forest canopy. Sloths are among the slowest moving animals of all (inside too, as it takes about a month to digest food). They hang from branches in the canopy, and are so still that predators such as jaguars don't see them. Some animals are poisonous, and use bright colors to warn predators to leave them alone. There are several species of brightly colored poison arrow frogs. Native Central and South American tribes used to wipe the ends of their arrows onto the frog's skin to make their arrows deadly

What is a Rainforest?

Rainforests are extremely important in the ecology of the Earth. The plants of the rainforest generate much of the Earth's oxygen. These plants are also very important to people in other ways; many are used in new drugs that fight disease and illness.

ropical rainforests are found in a belt around the equator of the Earth. There are tropical rainforests across South America, Central America, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia (and nearby islands).

Highly adaptable, tigers range from the Siberian taiga, to open grasslands, to tropical mangrove swamps. They are territorial and generally solitary animals, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey demands. This, coupled with the fact that they are endemic to some of the more densely populated places on earth, has caused significant conflicts with humans. Of the nine subspecies of modern tiger, three are extinct and the remaining six are classified as endangered, some critically so. The primary direct causes are habitat destruction and fragmentation, and hunting. Their historical range, which once reached from Mesopotamia and the Caucasus through most of South and East Asia, has been radically reduced. While all surviving species are under formal protection, poaching, habitat destruction and inbreeding depression continue to be threats.

Tigers are perhaps the most recognisable of all the cats (with the possible exception of the lion). They typically have rusty-reddish to brown-rusty coats, a whitish medial and ventral area, a white "fringe" that surrounds the face, and stripes that vary from brown or gray to pure black.

Main article: Golden tabby A rare golden tabby/strawberry tiger at the Buffalo Zoo. In addition, another recessive gene may create a very unusual "golden tabby" colour variation, sometimes known as "strawberry." Golden tabby tigers have light gold fur, pale legs and faint orange stripes. Their fur tends to be much thicker than normal.[50] There are extremely few golden tabby tigers in captivity, around 30 in all. Like white tigers, strawberry tigers are invariably at least part Bengal. Some golden tabby tigers, called heterozygous tigers, carry the white tiger gene, and when two such tigers are mated, can produce some stripeless white offspring. Both white and golden tabby tigers tend to be larger than average Bengal tigers.

BushmenThe Bushmen are the indigenous people of southern Africa. They have experienced a genocide which has been almost completely ignored; having once occupied the whole of southern Africa, just 100,000 remain today. Most have lost their land to white or Bantu colonists. Dongria KondhVedanta, a British mining company, is intent on open-cast mining for aluminium ore on Niyamgiri mountain, which the Dongria Kondh worship as a living god. Mining the mountain will destroy the forests on which they depend. GuaraniFor the Guarani, land is the origin of all life. But violent invasions by ranchers have devastated their territory and nearly all of their land has been stolen. Guarani children starve and their leaders have been assassinated.

BushmenThe Bushmen are the indigenous people of southern Africa. They have experienced a genocide which has been almost completely ignored; having once occupied the whole of southern Africa, just 100,000 remain today. Most have lost their land to white or Bantu colonists. Dongria KondhVedanta, a British mining company, is intent on open-cast mining for aluminium ore on Niyamgiri mountain, which the Dongria Kondh worship as a living god. Mining the mountain will destroy the forests on which they depend. GuaraniFor the Guarani, land is the origin of all life. But violent invasions by ranchers have devastated their territory and nearly all of their land has been stolen. Guarani children starve and their leaders have been assassinated.

BushmenThe Bushmen are the indigenous people of southern Africa. They have experienced a genocide which has been almost completely ignored; having once occupied the whole of southern Africa, just 100,000 remain today. Most have lost their land to white or Bantu colonists. Dongria KondhVedanta, a British mining company, is intent on open-cast mining for aluminium ore on Niyamgiri mountain, which the Dongria Kondh worship as a living god. Mining the mountain will destroy the forests on which they depend. GuaraniFor the Guarani, land is the origin of all life. But violent invasions by ranchers have devastated their territory and nearly all of their land has been stolen. Guarani children starve and their leaders have been assassinated.   Explore the world's tribes The Americas Akuntsu BrazilArhuaco ColombiaAwá BrazilAyoreo ParaguayBrazilian Indians BrazilEnawene Nawe BrazilEnxet ParaguayGuarani BrazilIndians of Raposa–Serra do Sol BrazilInnu CanadaNukak ColombiaUncontacted Indians PeruWichí ArgentinaYanomami Brazil Africa Bushmen BotswanaMaasai KenyaMursi, Bodi & Konso EthiopiaNuba SudanOgiek KenyaPygmies Central Africa Asia & Australasia Aborigines AustraliaBatak PhilippinesDongria Kondh IndiaJarawa IndiaJummas BangladeshKhanty RussiaPalawan PhilippinesPapuan Tribes IndonesiaPenan MalaysiaSiberian Tribes RussiaWanniyala-Aetto Sri Lanka  

div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited { color:#06c; } A leopard can, after all, change its spots: a new species of big cat has been identified for the first time in almost two centuries. The big cats prowling the jungles of Borneo and Sumatra had long been assumed to be the same clouded leopards that are found in mainland Asia. Genetic analysis and comparisons of fur patterns have now shown the two animals to be as distinct as the lion and the tiger, the WWF announced yesterday. Among the findings that convinced scientists was the realisation that the Bornean cat has changed the number and prominence of its spots.

The cats have now been reclassified as the Bornean clouded leopard, with the name Neofelis diardi, to distinguish them from other clouded leopards, Neofelis nebulosa. The two species, both endangered, are shown by genetic analysis to have separated 1.4 million years ago, after the animals used a land bridge, now covered by water, from mainland Asia to reach Borneo and Sumatra.

War, in international law, armed conflict between two or more governments or states. When such conflicts assume global proportions, they are known as world wars. War between different parts or factions of the same nation is called civil war.

War, in international law, armed conflict between two or more governments or states. When such conflicts assume global proportions, they are known as world wars. War between different parts or factions of the same nation is called civil war.

War, in international law, armed conflict between two or more governments or states. When such conflicts assume global proportions, they are known as world wars. War between different parts or factions of the same nation is called civil war.

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A Food Pyramid in the Hot Desert Biome      Here we see a food pyramid that shows how the Kilocalories pass up the food chain.      The first trophic level is occupied by the primary producers, which are the plants.  Plants make food through photosynthesis. The limiting factor for these plants is the shortage of water, so they produce fewer than 200 Kilocalories of food for the animals for each square meter each year.     The primary consumers, who eat the plants, occupy the second trophic level. These animals have very little to eat, and are small. Many are insects, or reptiles, who are cold blooded and who use less energy to maintain their bodies than mammals and birds do. As food for predators, they provide about 20 Kilocalories per square meter per year for predators.      The predators are the secondary consumers. They occupy the third trophic level. Again we see cold-blooded animals, such as snakes, insect-eating lizards, and tarantualas. Only about 2 Kilocalories per square meter per year are stored in their bodies. In the harsher desert environments, they are the top predators.     In areas where deserts get more rain, more plant material is produced and a few tertiary consumers may be able to survive. They form a fourth trophic level.      This diagram shows the energy available at each trophic level in the hot desert biome. These numbers tell about the numbers of Kilocalories per square meter per year.  Cold Desert Energy Pyramid  Introduction to Desert Biomes  Return to Introduction to Biomes © Elizabeth Anne Viau, 1999. This material may be used freely for instructional purposes but not sold for a price beyond the cost of reproduction. Please inform the author if you use it at eviau@earthlink.net

The dragon is sometimes used in the West as a national emblem of China. However, this usage within both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan as the symbol of nation is not common. Instead, it is generally used as the symbol of culture.The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck. Historically, the dragon was the symbol of the Emperor of China. In the Zhou Dynasty, the 5-clawed dragon was assigned to the Son of Heaven, the 4-clawed dragon to the Zhuhou (seigneur), and the 3-clawed dragon to the Daifu. In the Qing Dynasty, the 5-clawed dragon was assigned to represent the Emperor while the 4-clawed and 3-clawed dragons were assigned to the commoners. The dragon in the Qing Dynasty appeared on national flags.[1]