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February 26th, 2020

2/26/2020

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Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon) is a shallow salt lake in the southwest of the altiplano of Bolivia, within Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve and close to the border with Chile.

The lake contains borax islands, whose white color contrasts with the reddish color of its waters, which is caused by red sediments and pigmentation of some algae.

Flamingos are drawn to the lake thanks to its abundant supply of plankton. Three of the world’s six species of flamingo can be found here: the Chilean, Andean and the James’ Flamingo. That last one is incredibly rare – the species is only found in the high Andean plateaus and was thought to be extinct until a small population was rediscovered in 1956. Curiously, the flamingos are naturally white; they look pink because the red algae stains their feathers.
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Flag Fact Friday: Bosnia and Herzegovina

2/21/2020

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The flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian: zastava Bosne i Hercegovine) contains a wide medium blue vertical band on the fly side with a yellow right triangle abutting the band and the top of the flag. The remainder of the flag is medium blue with seven full five-pointed white stars and two half stars top and bottom along the hypotenuse of the triangle.

The three points of the triangle stand for the three main ethnic groups (or "constituent peoples") of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs. The triangle represents the approximate shape of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The stars, representing Europe, are meant to be infinite in number and thus they continue from top to bottom. The flag features colors often associated with neutrality and peace – white, blue, and yellow. They are also colors traditionally associated with Bosnian culture and history. The blue background is invocative of the flag of Europe.
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Where In The World Wednesday: Denali National Park

2/19/2020

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Denali National Park and Preserve is an American national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve encompass 6,045,153 acres (9,446 sq mi; 24,464 km2) which is larger than the state of New Hampshire. On December 2, 1980, 2,146,580-acre (3,354 sq mi; 8,687 km2) Denali Wilderness was established within the park. Denali's landscape is a mix of forest at the lowest elevations, including deciduous taiga, with tundra at middle elevations, and glaciers, snow, and bare rock at the highest elevations. The longest glacier is the Kahiltna Glacier. Wintertime activities include dog sledding, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling.
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Denali is home to a variety of North American birds and mammals, including an estimated 300-350 grizzly bears on the north side of the Alaska Range (70 bears per 1000 square miles) and an estimated 2,700 black bears (334 per 1,000 square miles). As of 2014, park biologists were monitoring about 51 wolves in 13 packs (7.4 wolves per 1,000 square miles), while surveys estimated 2,230 caribou in 2013, and 1,477 moose in 2011. Dall sheep are often seen on mountainsides. Smaller animals such as coyotes, hoary marmots, shrews, Arctic ground squirrels, beavers, pikas, and snowshoe hares are seen in abundance. Red foxes, martens, lynxes, wolverines also inhabit the park, but are more rarely seen due to their elusive natures.

Many migratory bird species reside in the park during late spring and summer. There are waxwings, Arctic warblers, pine grosbeaks, and wheatears, as well as ptarmigan and the majestic tundra swan. Raptors include a variety of hawks, a variety of owls, and gyrfalcons, as well as the abundant but striking golden eagles.
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Flag Fact Friday: Sri Lanka

2/14/2020

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The flag of Sri Lanka, also called the Lion Flag or Sinha Flag, consists of a gold lion holding a kastane sword in its right fore-paw in a maroon background with four gold bo leaves, one in each corner. This is bordered by gold, and to its left are two vertical stripes of equal size in green and orange, with the orange stripe closest to the lion. The lion and the maroon background represent the Sinhalese, while the saffron border and four Bo leaves represent Buddhism and the four Buddhist concepts of Mettā, Karuṇā, Muditā and Upekshā respectively. The stripes represent the two main minorities: the orange representing the Sri Lankan Tamils and the green representing Sri Lankan Muslims. ​
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Where In The World Wednesday: Boracay, Philippines

2/12/2020

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Boracay is a small island in the Philippines, 7 km long and 1 km wide, located in the Western Visayas approximately 315 kilometers (196 miles) south of Manila and 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) off the northwest tip of Panay Island. Boracay has a population of 32,267 as of February 2016.

The island comprises the barangays of Manoc-Manoc, Balabag, and Yapak in the municipality of Malay, in Aklan Province. The island is administered by the Boracay Inter-agency Task Force. Apart from its white-sand beaches, Boracay is also famous for being one of the world's top destinations for relaxation. As of 2013, it was emerging among the top destinations for tranquility and nightlife.

Boracay was awarded as the 2012 Best Island in the World by the international travel magazine Travel + Leisure. In 2014, the resort island was at the top of the "Best Islands in the World" list published by the international magazine Condé Nast Traveler. In 2016, Boracay headed the magazine's list of "Top 10 destinations to watch".

In April 2018, the Philippine Government decreed a 6-month closure of the island for tourists to undertake major renovation works, especially of the sewage system, which had become obsolete and insufficient. It re-opened in October 2018, with a set of new rules meant to address a variety of issues.


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Flag Fact Friday: Comoros

2/7/2020

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The first official flag of Comoros was designed and adopted for local use in 1963 by Suzanne Gauthier, before Comoros gained its independence. It had a white crescent at upper hoist facing the fly, four stars in a diagonal, and used a 5:7 proportion with a green background. ⠀
With the adoption of a new constitution in 1992, the flag changed again such that the crescent and stars were rotated to face upward rather than down and to the right. ⠀
The adoption of yet another constitution changed the flag again in 1996, rotating the flag to face the fly and adding a white inscription to the lower hoist and another to the upper fly. ⠀
The design consists of a white crescent with four white five-pointed stars inside of a green triangle. The flag has four stripes, representing four islands of the nation: Yellow is for Mohéli, White is for Mayotte (claimed by Comoros but administered by France), Red is for Anjouan, and Blue is for Grande Comore. The four stars on the flag also symbolize the four islands of the Comoros. The star and crescent symbol stands for their main religion, Islam.
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Where In The World Wednesday: Antarctica

2/5/2020

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​Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent. It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14,200,000 square kilometers (5,500,000 square miles), it is the fifth-largest continent and nearly twice the size of Australia. At 0.00008 people per square kilometer, it is by far the least densely populated continent. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 km (1.2 mi; 6,200 ft) in thickness,[5] which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents.[6] Most of Antarctica is a polar desert, with annual precipitation of 200 mm (7.9 in) along the coast and far less inland; there has been no rain there for almost 2 million years, yet 80% of the world freshwater reserves are stored there. The temperature in Antarctica has reached −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) (or even −94.7 °C (−135.8 °F) as measured from space[8]), though the average for the third quarter (the coldest part of the year) is −63 °C (−81 °F). Anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at research stations scattered across the continent. Organisms native to Antarctica include many types of algae, bacteria, fungi, plants, protista, and certain animals, such as mites, nematodes, penguins, seals, and tardigrades. Vegetation, where it occurs, is tundra.
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Flag Fact Friday: Isle of Man

1/31/2020

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The flag of the Isle of Man or flag of Mann (Manx: brattagh Vannin) is a triskelion, composed of three armoured legs with golden spurs, upon a red background. It has been the official flag of Mann since 1 December 1932[2] and is based on the Manx coat of arms, which dates back to the 13th century. The three legs are known in Manx as ny tree cassyn ("the three legs"). The triskelion is an ancient symbol, used by the Mycenaeans and the Lycians. It is not known for certain why the symbol was originally adopted on the Isle of Man. Before its adoption in 1932, the official flag of the Isle of Man was the Union Jack.

There is also a civil ensign for the Isle of Man. This flag was first authorised on 27 August 1971. Another Manx flag is the flag of Tynwald, the legislature of the Isle of Man, which has flown outside the Legislative Buildings since 1971.

Local residents of the Isle of Man explain that the legs on the flag turn anti-clockwise so that they don't kneel to the British!
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Where In The World Wednesday: The Namib Desert, Namibia

1/29/2020

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The Namib is a coastal desert in southern Africa. The name Namib is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "vast place". According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 mi) along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Namibia, and South Africa, extending southward from the Carunjamba River in Angola, through Namibia and to the Olifants River in Western Cape, South Africa.[1][2][3] The Namib's northernmost portion, which extends 450 kilometers (280 mi) from the Angola-Namibia border, is known as Moçâmedes Desert, while its southern portion approaches the neighboring Kalahari Desert. From the Atlantic coast eastward, the Namib gradually ascends in elevation, reaching up to 200 kilometers (120 mi) inland to the foot of the Great Escarpment.

The Namib is almost completely uninhabited by humans except for several small settlements and indigenous pastoral groups, including the Ovahimba and Obatjimba Herero in the north, and the Topnaar Nama in the central region. Owing to its antiquity, the Namib may be home to more endemic species than any other desert in the world.[5] Most of the desert wildlife is arthropods and other small animals that live on little water, although larger animals inhabit the northern regions. Near the coast, the cold ocean water is rich in fishery resources and supports populations of brown fur seals and shorebirds, which serve as prey for the Skeleton Coast's lions.
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Flag Fact Friday: Gibraltar

1/24/2020

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The flag of Gibraltar is an elongated banner of arms based on the coat of arms of Gibraltar, granted by Royal Warrant from Queen Isabella I of Castile on 10 July 1502.

The flag was regularized in 1982 and is formed by two horizontal bands of white (top, double width) and red with a three-towered red castle in the center of the white band;[3] hanging from the castle gate is a gold key centered in the red band. The flag differs from that of other British overseas territories, in that it is not a British ensign nor does it feature the Union Jack in any form. The castle does not resemble any in Gibraltar but is supposed to represent the fortress of Gibraltar. The key is said to symbolize the fortress' significance as Gibraltar was seen to be the key to Spain by the Moors and Spanish and later as the key to the Mediterranean by the British.
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