Portal:World

The World Portal

The Blue Marble, a photograph of the planet Earth made on 7 December 1972 by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft.

P:W

In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique while others talk of a "plurality of worlds". Some treat the world as one simple object while others analyze the world as a complex made up of many parts. In scientific cosmology the world or universe is commonly defined as "[t]he totality of all space and time; all that is, has been, and will be". Theories of modality, on the other hand, talk of possible worlds as complete and consistent ways how things could have been. Phenomenology, starting from the horizon of co-given objects present in the periphery of every experience, defines the world as the biggest horizon or the "horizon of all horizons". In philosophy of mind, the world is commonly contrasted with the mind as that which is represented by the mind. Theology conceptualizes the world in relation to God, for example, as God's creation, as identical to God or as the two being interdependent. In religions, there is often a tendency to downgrade the material or sensory world in favor of a spiritual world to be sought through religious practice. A comprehensive representation of the world and our place in it, as is commonly found in religions, is known as a worldview. Cosmogony is the field that studies the origin or creation of the world while eschatology refers to the science or doctrine of the last things or of the end of the world.

In various contexts, the term "world" takes a more restricted meaning associated, for example, with the Earth and all life on it, with humanity as a whole or with an international or intercontinental scope. In this sense, world history refers to the history of humanity as a whole or world politics is the discipline of political science studying issues that transcend nations and continents. Other examples include terms such as "world religion", "world language", "world government", "world war", "world population", "world economy" or "world championship". (Full article...)

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Selected articles - show another

Image 1
A megacity is a very large city, typically with a population of more than 10 million people. Precise definitions vary: the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its 2018 "World Urbanization Prospects" report counted urban agglomerations having over 10 million inhabitants. A University of Bonn report held that they are "usually defined as metropolitan areas with a total population of 10 million or more people". Others list cities satisfying criteria of either 5 or 8 million and also having a population density of 2,000 per square kilometre. The terms conurbation, metropolis, and metroplex are also applied to the latter.

The total number of megacities in the world varies between different sources: The world had 33 according to the UN (in 2018), 37 according to CityPopulation.de (in 2020), and 35 according to Demographia (in 2020). About half these urban agglomerations are in China and India. The other four countries with more than one megacity are Brazil, Japan, Pakistan, and the United States. African megacities are present in Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and the DRC; European megacities are present in Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and Turkey (also in Asia); megacities can be found in Latin America in the countries of Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina. Some sources identify Tokyo's Greater Tokyo Area as the largest megacity in the world, while some others give the title to Guangzhou's Pearl River Delta. (Full article...)
Image 2

Member states of the United Nations (UN), as defined by the UN. All members of the UN are sovereign states, though not all sovereign states are necessarily members.

A sovereign state, also known as sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one centralized government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined territory, one government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood that a sovereign state is independent. According to the declarative theory of statehood, a sovereign state can exist without being recognised by other sovereign states. Unrecognised states will often find it difficult to exercise full treaty-making powers or engage in diplomatic relations with other sovereign states. (Full article...)
Image 3

Yggdrasil, a modern attempt to reconstruct the Norse world tree which connects the heavens, the earth and the underworld.

The underworld, also known as the netherworld, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.

The concept of an underworld is found in almost every civilization and "may be as old as humanity itself". Common features of underworld myths are accounts of living people making journeys to the underworld, often for some heroic purpose. Other myths reinforce traditions that entrance of souls to the underworld requires a proper observation of ceremony, such as the ancient Greek story of the recently dead Patroclus haunting Achilles until his body could be properly buried for this purpose. Persons having social status were dressed and equipped in order to better navigate the underworld. (Full article...)
Image 4

The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 750 mi (1,210 km) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia.

The Alpine arch generally extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. (Full article...)
Image 5

The supercontinent Pangaea in the early Mesozoic (at 200 Ma)

Pangaea or Pangea (/pænˈdʒiː.ə/) was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from earlier continental units during the Carboniferous approximately 335 million years ago, and began to break apart about 200 million years ago, at the end of the Triassic and beginning of the Jurassic. In contrast to the present Earth and its distribution of continental mass, Pangaea was centred on the Equator and surrounded by the superocean Panthalassa and the Paleo-Tethys and subsequent Tethys Oceans. Pangaea is the most recent supercontinent to have existed and the first to be reconstructed by geologists. (Full article...)
Image 6

Painting of a turn-of-century trading fair, Hessisches Volksfest (Hessian Folk Festival), 1887, Louis Toussaint (1826–1887), Öl auf Leinwand.

Cultural globalization refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings and values around the world in such a way as to extend and intensify social relations. This process is marked by the common consumption of cultures that have been diffused by the Internet, popular culture media, and international travel. This has added to processes of commodity exchange and colonization which have a longer history of carrying cultural meaning around the globe. The circulation of cultures enables individuals to partake in extended social relations that cross national and regional borders The creation and expansion of such social relations is not merely observed on a material level. Cultural globalization involves the formation of shared norms and knowledge with which people associate their individual and collective cultural identities. It brings increasing interconnectedness among different populations and cultures. (Full article...)
Image 7
Global mass surveillance can be defined as the mass surveillance of entire populations across national borders.

Its existence was not widely acknowledged by governments and the mainstream media until the global surveillance disclosures by Edward Snowden triggered a debate about the right to privacy in the Digital Age. (Full article...)

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General images - load new batch

The following are images from various world-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Yggdrasil, a modern attempt to reconstruct the Norse world tree which connects the heavens, the world, and the underworld. (from World)
Image 2Moai, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) (from Human history)
Image 3A banded iron formation from the 3.15 Ga Moodies Group, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Red layers represent the times when oxygen was available; gray layers were formed in anoxic circumstances. (from History of Earth)
Image 4Last Moon landing: Apollo 17 (1972) (from Human history)
Image 5Cave painting, Lascaux, France, c. 15,000 BCE (from Human history)
Image 6Geologic map of North America, color-coded by age. From most recent to oldest, age is indicated by yellow, green, blue, and red. The reds and pinks indicate rock from the Archean.
Image 7St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. (from Human history)
Image 8Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man (c. 1490), Renaissance Italy (from Human history)
Image 9Top of Earth's blue-tinted atmosphere, with the Moon at the background (from Earth)
Image 10World population, 10,000 BCE – 2,000 CE (vertical population scale is logarithmic) (from Human history)
Image 11The Pantheon in Rome, Italy, originally a Roman temple, now a Catholic church (from Human history)
Image 12Dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates throughout most of the Mesozoic (from History of Earth)
Image 13A brass "Benin Bronze" from Nigeria (from Human history)
Image 14Earth's major plates, which are:
(from Earth)
Image 15University of Timbuktu, Mali (from Human history)
Image 16Watt's steam engine powered the Industrial Revolution. (from Human history)
Image 17The Blue Marble, a photograph of the planet Earth made on 7 December 1972 by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft. (from World)
Image 18Ming dynasty section, Great Wall of China (from Human history)
Image 19Crusader Krak des Chevaliers, Syria (from Human history)
Image 20A reconstruction of Pannotia (550 Ma). (from History of Earth)
Image 21Full moon as seen from Earth's Northern Hemisphere (from Earth)
Image 22Tiktaalik, a fish with limb-like fins and a predecessor of tetrapods. Reconstruction from fossils about 375 million years old. (from History of Earth)
Image 23Planetary disk of a star, the inner ring has a radius equal to Earth and the Sun (from Earth)
Image 24Empires of the world in 1898 (from Human history)
Image 25Water is transported to various parts of the hydrosphere via the water cycle (from Earth)
Image 26Trilobites first appeared during the Cambrian period and were among the most widespread and diverse groups of Paleozoic organisms. (from History of Earth)
Image 27Civilians (here, Mỹ Lai, Vietnam, 1968) suffered greatly in 20th-century wars. (from Human history)
Image 28Gutenberg Bible, ca. 1450, produced using movable type (from Human history)
Image 29Pillar erected by India's Maurya Emperor Ashoka (from Human history)
Image 30Chennakesava Temple, Belur, India (from Human history)
Image 31Persepolis, Achaemenid Empire, 6th century BCE (from Human history)
Image 32Maya observatory, Chichen Itza, Mexico (from Human history)
Image 33Notre-Dame de Paris in Paris, France: is among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of Christendom. (from Human history)
Image 34Battle during 1281 Mongol invasion of Japan (from Human history)
Image 35Taj Mahal, Mughal Empire, India (from Human history)
Image 36Pangaea was a supercontinent that existed from about 300 to 180 Ma. The outlines of the modern continents and other landmasses are indicated on this map. (from History of Earth)
Image 37Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia, founded 670 CE (from Human history)
Image 38Monumental Cuneiform inscription, Sumer, Mesopotamia, 26th century BCE (from Human history)
Image 39Obelisk of Axum, Ethiopia (from Human history)
Image 40Earthrise, taken in 1968 by William Anders, an astronaut on board Apollo 8 (from Earth)
Image 41Earth's axial tilt (or obliquity) and its relation to the rotation axis and plane of orbit (from Earth)
Image 42Chloroplasts in the cells of a moss (from History of Earth)
Image 43Fungi are one of the kingdoms of life on Earth. (from Earth)
Image 44Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia, early 12th century (from Human history)
Image 45The first airplane, the Wright Flyer, flew, 1903. (from Human history)
Image 46Atomic bombings: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, 1945 (from Human history)
Image 47Graph showing range of estimated partial pressure of atmospheric oxygen through geologic time (from History of Earth)
Image 48Carboniferous rocks that were folded, uplifted and eroded during the orogeny that completed the formation of the Pangaea supercontinent, before deposition of the overlying Triassic strata, in the Algarve Basin, which marked the start of its break-up (from Earth)
Image 49Earth's rotation imaged by Deep Space Climate Observatory, showing axis tilt (from Earth)
Image 50The Buddha (from Human history)
Image 51Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey (from Human history)
Image 52Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt (from Human history)
Image 53An artist's rendering of a protoplanetary disk (from History of Earth)
Image 54Artist's conception of Hadean Eon Earth, when it was much hotter and inhospitable to all forms of life. (from History of Earth)
Image 551570 world map, showing Europeans' discoveries (from Human history)
Image 56A 580 million year old fossil of Spriggina floundensi, an animal from the Ediacaran period. Such life forms could have been ancestors to the many new forms that originated in the Cambrian Explosion. (from History of Earth)
Image 57Machu Picchu, Inca Empire, Peru (from Human history)
Image 58Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci epitomizes the advances in art and science seen during the Renaissance. (from History of Earth)
Image 59Schematic of Earth's magnetosphere, with the solar wind flows from left to right (from Earth)
Image 60A reconstruction of human history based on fossil data. (from History of Earth)
Image 61The replicator in virtually all known life is deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA is far more complex than the original replicator and its replication systems are highly elaborate. (from History of Earth)
Image 62Cross-section through a liposome (from History of Earth)
Image 63World War I trench warfare (from Human history)
Image 64Satellite picture of Upsala Glacier, showing mountains, icebergs, lakes, and clouds (from Earth)
Image 65Lithified stromatolites on the shores of Lake Thetis, Western Australia. Archean stromatolites are the first direct fossil traces of life on Earth. (from History of Earth)
Image 66Earth topological map, the area is redder if it is raised higher in real-life (from Earth)
Image 67Artist's impression of the enormous collision that probably formed the Moon (from History of Earth)
Image 68China urbanized rapidly in the 21st century (Shanghai pictured). (from Human history)
Image 69Earth's history with time-spans of the eons to scale (from History of Earth)
Image 70Astronaut Bruce McCandless II outside of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984 (from History of Earth)
Image 71Artist's conception of Devonian flora (from History of Earth)

Megacities of the world - show another

Clockwise from top:
Mazar-e-Quaid, Hawke's Bay Beach, Frere Hall, Karachi Port Trust Building, Mohatta Palace, Port of Karachi

Karachi (/kəˈrɑːtʃi/; Urdu: کراچی; Sindhi: ڪراچي; ALA-LC: Karācī, IPA: [kəˈraːtʃi] (listen), Balochi: کراچی) is the largest city in Pakistan and the twelfth-largest city in the world. It is the capital of the Pakistani province of Sindh. Ranked as a beta-global city, it is Pakistan's premier industrial and financial centre, with an estimated GDP of $164 billion (PPP) . Karachi is Pakistan's most cosmopolitan city, linguistically, ethnically, and religiously diverse, as well as one of Pakistan's most secular and socially liberal cities. With its location on the Arabian Sea, Karachi serves as a transport hub, and is home to Pakistan's two largest seaports, the Port of Karachi and Port Bin Qasim, as well as Pakistan's busiest airport, the Jinnah International Airport.

Though the region surrounding and in Karachi has been inhabited for millennia, the city was formally founded as the fortified village of Kolachi in 1729. The settlement drastically increased in importance with the arrival of the British East India Company in the mid-19th century. The British administrations embarked on major projects to transform the city into a major seaport, and connected it with their extensive railway network throughout the Indian subcontinent. At the time of the Partition of British India in 1947, the city was the largest in Sindh with an estimated population of 400,000 people. Following the independence of Pakistan, the city experienced a dramatic shift in population and demography with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees from India, coupled with a substantial exodus of its Hindu residents, declining from 51.1 per cent to 1.7 per cent of the total population. The city experienced rapid economic growth following Pakistan's independence, attracting migrants from throughout the country and other regions in South Asia by extension. According to the 2017 national census, Karachi's total population was 16,051,521, with 14.9 million of that figure residing in the urban areas of the city proper. Karachi is one of the world's fastest-growing cities, and has significant communities representing almost every ethnic group in Pakistan. Karachi is home to more than two million Bangladeshi immigrants, a million Afghan refugees, and up to 400,000 Rohingyas from Myanmar. (Full article...)

List of megacities
Bangalore Bangkok Beijing Bogotá Buenos Aires Cairo Chengdu Chennai Chongqing Delhi Dhaka Guangzhou Hangzhou Ho Chi Minh City Hyderabad Istanbul Istanbul Jakarta Keihanshin Kinshasa Kolkata Lagos Lahore Lima London Los Angeles Manila Mexico City Moscow Mumbai Nagoya New York City Paris Rhine-Ruhr Rio de Janeiro São Paulo Seoul Shanghai Shenzhen Tehran Tianjin Tokyo Xiamen

Did you know - load new batch

... that Servaas Theron, a World War II fighter pilot, landed next to a stranded aircraft and siphoned fuel from his plane so that they could both fly away?
... that in the lead-up to the Second World War, the British government stockpiled more than 100,000 tons of whale oil?
... that the Boeing 247 DZ203 flew for United Airlines and the RCAF before the RAF used it to perform the world's first completely automated approach and blind landing?
... that a brass rod with a length of 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) was inserted into the ground as a permanent art installation in Kassel, Germany?
... that Teikō Shiotani photographed View with Weather Forecast (shown) from his upstairs window, exaggerating the curvature of the horizon by bending the photographic paper under the enlarger?
... that Damiano Michieletto, known for directing Rossini's operas, recently staged Schreker's Der ferne Klang at the Oper Frankfurt, where the world premiere had been performed in 1912?
... that Hans Herbert Jöris conducted the world premiere of Giselher Klebe's one-act opera Das Rendezvous, composed for the 125th anniversary of the Staatsoper Hannover?
... that Belgian waffles were introduced to the United States at the 1964 New York World's Fair?

Countries of the world - show another

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,689 km² (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 376 per square kilometre (970/sq mi). The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.

Belgium is a sovereign state and a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. Its institutional organization is complex and is structured on both regional and linguistic grounds. It is divided into three highly autonomous regions: the Flemish Region (Flanders) in the north, the Walloon Region (Wallonia) in the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region. Brussels is the smallest and most densely populated region, as well as the richest region in terms of GDP per capita. (Full article...)

List of countries

See also: List of sovereign states

Wonders of the World - show another

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (from left to right, top to bottom): Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Temple of Artemis, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria

The Seven Wonders of the World or the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (simply known as Seven Wonders) is a list of remarkable constructions of classical antiquity given by various authors in guidebooks or poems popular among ancient Hellenic tourists. Although the list, in its current form, did not stabilise until the Renaissance, the first such lists of seven wonders date from the 2nd–1st century BC. The original list inspired innumerable versions through the ages, often listing seven entries. Of the original Seven Wonders, only one—the Great Pyramid of Giza, oldest of the ancient wonders—remains relatively intact. The Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus were all destroyed. The location and ultimate fate of the Hanging Gardens are unknown, and there is speculation that they may not have existed at all. (Full article...)

List of articles
Wonders of the World New7Wonders of the World Seven Wonders of Canada Seven Wonders of Colombia Seven Wonders of Poland Seven Wonders of Portugal Seven Wonders of Romania Seven Wonders of Russia Seven Wonders of Ukraine Seven Wonders of Wales Seven Wonders of the Industrial World Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World 12 Treasures of Spain Eighth Wonder of the World

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Protected areas of the world - load new batch

Image 1
The protected areas of Finland include national parks, nature reserves and other areas, with a purpose of conserving areas of all of Finland's ecosystems and biotopes.

Protected areas include:
- National parks of Finland (Kansallispuisto/Nationalpark) - 8,170 km²
- Strict nature reserves of Finland (Luonnonpuisto/Naturreservat) - 1,530 km²
- Mire reserves of Finland (Soidensuojelualue/Myrskyddsområde) - 4,490 km²
- Protected herb-rich forest areas (Lehtojensuojelualue/Lundskyddsområde) - 13 km²
- Protected old-growth forest areas (Vanhat metsät/Gamla skogar) - 100 km²
- Grey seal protection areas (Hylkeidensuojelualue/Sälskyddsområde) - 190 km²
- Other protected areas on state-owned land - 468 km²
(Full article...)
Image 2
Protected areas of West Bengal cover 4% of the state area. Forests make up 14% of the geographical area of West Bengal, which is lower than the national average of 33%. West Bengal has a wide variety of fauna, including Bengal tigers, Indian leopards, sloth and Himalayan black bears, chital and sambar (deer), Indian boars, pygmy hogs, Indian elephants, Indian peafowl, great Indian hornbills, Eurasian spoonbills, brahminy ducks, king and Indian cobras, white-lipped pit viper, Indian and reticulated pythons, mugger crocodiles, saltwater crocodiles, gharials, and many more. A huge montane forest, Dooars, is situated in the Northern West Bengal districts of Alipur Duar, Darjeeling, and Kalimpong.Part of the world's largest mangrove forest, Sundarbans, is located in southern West Bengal.
There are 6 national parks and 15 wildlife sanctuaries in West Bengal. (Full article...)
Image 3
Protected areas of Sri Lanka are administrated by Department of Forest Conservation and Department of Wildlife Conservation of Sri Lanka.There are 501 protected areas in Sri Lanka. The protected areas that fall under supervision of the Department of Forest Conservation include forests defined in National Heritage Wilderness Area Act in 1988, forest reservations, and forests managed for sustainability. Sinharaja Forest Reserve is an example for a National Heritage forest (it is also a World Heritage Site). There are 32 forests categorized as conservation forests including Knuckles Mountain Range. Strict nature reserves, national parks, nature reserves, forest corridors, and sanctuaries recognized under the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance are managed by Department of Wildlife Conservation. Total of all protected areas is 1,767,000 ha. Protected areas in Sri Lanka account for 26.5 percent of the total area. This is a higher percentage of protected areas than in all of Asia and much of the World. (Full article...)
Image 4
Protected areas of Libya include any geographical area protected for a specific use.

Most protected areas are intended for the conservation of flora and fauna. Libya's national parks and nature reserves are maintained by the "Technical Committee of Wildlife and National Parks" which was created in 1990, as part of the General Secretariat of Agricultural Reclamation and Land Reform. (Full article...)
Image 5
A National Biodiversity Conservation Area (NBCA) is an environmentally protected area in Laos. There are all together 21 different NBCAs in Laos, protecting 29,775 square kilometers. Another 10 NBCAs have been proposed, many of them being treated by authorities as though they were already officially protected. (Full article...)
Image 6

The mountain of Stob Binnein lies in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.

Many parts of Scotland are protected in accordance with a number of national and international designations because of their environmental, historical or cultural value. Protected areas can be divided according to the type of resource which each seeks to protect. NatureScot has various roles in the delivery of many environmental designations in Scotland, i.e. those aimed at protecting flora and fauna, scenic qualities and geological features. Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designations that protect sites of historic and cultural importance. Some international designations, such as World Heritage Sites, can cover both categories of site.

The various designations overlap considerably with many protected areas being covered by multiple designations with different boundaries. (Full article...)
Image 7
The Protected areas of Tamil Nadu State in South India cover an area of 3,305 km² (1,276 sq mi), constituting 2.54% of the geographic area and 15% of the 22,643 km² (8,743 sq mi) recorded forest area. It ranks 14th among all the States and Union Territories of India in terms of total protected area.

Creation and administration of Protected areas in South India originated with the Maharajas of the Southern Princely States' private hunting grounds. The Mudumalai National Park, established in 1940, was the first modern Wildlife Sanctuary in South India. Most protected areas throughout its 30 Districts are under the stewardship of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (India) and the Tamil Nadu Forest Department. (Full article...)
Image 8
Queensland is the second largest state in Australia. It contains around 500 separate protected areas. In 2020, it was estimated a total of 14.2 million hectares or 8.25% of Queensland's landmass was protected. (Full article...)
Image 9
Forests in the state of Himachal Pradesh (northern India) currently cover an area of nearly 37,939 square kilometres (14,648 sq mi), which is about 68.16% of the total land area of the state. The forests were once considered to be the main source of income of the state and most of the original forests were clear felled. The emphasis has shifted, however, from exploitation to conservation. The state government aims to increase forest cover to 50% of the total land area. There have been various projects, including the establishment of protected areas such as National Parks, designed to preserve and expand the forests. (Full article...)
Image 10

West Matukituki Valley and the Matukituki River seen from Cascade Saddle in Mount Aspiring National Park.

Protected areas of New Zealand receive protection to preserve their environmental, historical or cultural value. The method and aims of protection vary according to the importance of the resource and whether it has public or private status.

Nearly 30 percent of the land mass of New Zealand is in public ownership and has some degree of protection; these areas include conservation parks, mainland islands, island reserves, marine reserves, and national parks. (Full article...)
Image 11
Bihar is a state in East India. It is bounded by Uttar Pradesh to the west, Nepal to the north, West Bengal to the east and Jharkhand to the south. About 7% of the state is protected forest area. (Full article...)
Image 12

The protected areas of Bhutan are its national parks, nature preserves, and wildlife sanctuaries. Most of these protected areas were first set aside in the 1960s, originally covering most of the northern and southern regions of Bhutan. Today, protected areas cover more than 42% of the kingdom, mostly in the northern regions. Protected areas also line most of Bhutan's international borders with China and India. (Full article...)
Image 13
This is a list of the nationally-designated protected areas of China. There are many forms of protected areas in China. Based on their relative importance, each type of protected area can be further graded into two to three levels (national, provincial and prefectural/county level). Nevertheless, the highest rank for "pocket nature preserve" (social and mass-based), "no-hunting area", "no-fishing area", "no-logging area", "wild medicinal material resources conservation area", "crop germplasm resources conservation area", "forest tree germplasm resources conservation area" or "source water protection area" is practically restricted to provincial level. The local government at county level is also responsible for the delimitation and declaration of "basic farmland protection area" and "basic grassland". Qinling National Botanical Garden, said to be the world's largest (639 km², of which 575.31 km² being set aside for in-situ conservation purposes), was opened (Phase 1) to the public on September 27, 2017.

Take note that many protected areas in China have multiple official designations, and the statutory boundaries of these multi-designated PAs may be identical or may vary one from the other. For instance, the boundaries of Huangshan NSHA coincide with those of the Huangshan NGP, whereas Fujian province's Wuyi Mountains NNR, NSHA and NFP are adjacent to each other. In Heilongjiang, 27,642.14 hectares out of 115,340.27 hectares of Huzhong NFP are intersected with the experiment zone of Huzhong NNR. (Full article...)
Image 14
This is a list of protected areas in Thailand: (Full article...)
Image 15
Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas managed by the Australian government, as well as protected areas within each of the six states of Australia and two self-governing territories, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, which are managed by the eight state and territory governments.

Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas in the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, the Christmas Island Territory, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Territory, the Norfolk Island Territory and the Australian Antarctic Territory are managed by Director of National Parks, an agency within the Department of the Environment and Energy, with the exception of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which is managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, a separate body within the department. (Full article...)

List of protected areas

Selected world maps

Image 11516 map of the world by Martin Waldseemüller
Image 2United Nations Human Development Index map by country (2016)
Image 3The Goode homolosine projection is a pseudocylindrical, equal-area, composite map projection used for world maps.
Image 4The world map by Gerardus Mercator (1569), the first map in the well-known Mercator projection
Image 5Mollweide projection of the world
Image 6Only a few of the largest large igneous provinces appear (coloured dark purple) on this geological map, which depicts crustal geologic provinces as seen in seismic refraction data
Image 7Time zones of the world
Image 8A plate tectonics map with volcano locations indicated with red circles
Image 9Index map from the International Map of the World (1:1,000,000 scale)

See also: Clickable world map • List of map projections

World records

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Outline of Earth

v t e World's largest cities
City proper	Capitals Americas (North Latin Central South) Asia (Arab world ASEAN Arabia East, South and Southeast Asia) Europe (European Union Nordic)
Metropolitan area	Americas (North South West Indies) Europe (European Union Nordic) Asia Africa Middle East
Urban area/agglomeration	Asia Africa Europe European Union Nordic North America Oceania Transborder
Historical	World Europe
Related articles	Arcology Ecumenopolis Global city Megacity Megalopolis Conurbation Satellite city population Primate city Secondary city

v t e Lists of World Heritage Sites
Locations	Africa Americas North America Central America Caribbean South America Asia Eastern Northern and Central Southeast Southern Western Europe Eastern Northern Southern Western Oceania
Related	World Heritage in Danger Former sites By country By year of inscription

v t e Carnival around the world
Asia	Indonesia Solo Jember Jakarta
Europe	Austria Belgium Aalst Binche Croatia Denmark England France Nice Paris Belarus, Russia, Ukraine Germany Cologne Mainz Greece Hungary Italy Venice Viareggio Ivrea Lithuania Malta Netherlands Portugal Madeira Ovar Spain Cádiz Las Palmas Santa Cruz Switzerland Basel Turkey
North America	Canada Ottawa Quebec City Toronto México United States Mobile New Orleans New York City
Caribbean	Antigua Bahamas Barbados Cayman Islands Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Haiti Nevis Puerto Rico (Ponce) Trinidad and Tobago
South America	Argentina Buenos Aires Murga Bolivia Oruro Brazil Bahia Rio Colombia Barranquilla Negros y Blancos French Guiana Cayenne Guyana Uruguay
Oceania	Australia

v t e World Sailing
World championships in sailing Sailing at the Summer Olympics Sailing at the Summer Paralympics Sailing at the Youth Olympic Games
Confederations	ASF ASCON EUROSAF OSAF SASC
World Championships	Sailing World Championships Youth Sailing World Championships ISAF Offshore Team Racing World Championship ISAF Open Match Racing World Championship Para World Sailing Championships ISAF Team Racing World Championship Women's Match Racing World Championship eSailing World Championship
World Cup	Sailing World Cup
Special events	America's Cup Extreme Sailing Series PWA World Tour Star Sailors League Vendée Globe Volvo Ocean Race World Match Racing Tour
Presidents	Sir Ralph Gore (1946–1955) Sir Peter Scott (1955–1969) Beppe Croce (1969–1986) Peter Tallberg (1986–1994) Paul Henderson (1994–2004) Göran Petersson (2004–2012) Carlo Croce (2012–2016) Kim Andersen (2016–2020) Quanhai Li (2020-present)
Awards	World Sailor of the Year ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame Beppe Croce Trophy

Portal:World

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v t e Olympic Games
Ceremonies people who opened the Olympics keepers of the Olympic flag Charter Participating nations Summer Olympics Winter Olympics Host cities bids venues IOC NOCs country codes Medal medal tables medal table leaders by year medalists ties diploma Scandals and controversies colonialism doping Sports Symbols torch relays Pierre de Coubertin medal Women Deaths WWI WWII Olympic video games
Summer Games	1896 Athens 1900 Paris 1904 St. Louis 1908 London 1912 Stockholm 1916^† 1920 Antwerp 1924 Paris 1928 Amsterdam 1932 Los Angeles 1936 Berlin 1940^‡ 1944^‡ 1948 London 1952 Helsinki 1956 Melbourne 1960 Rome 1964 Tokyo 1968 Mexico City 1972 Munich 1976 Montreal 1980 Moscow 1984 Los Angeles 1988 Seoul 1992 Barcelona 1996 Atlanta 2000 Sydney 2004 Athens 2008 Beijing 2012 London 2016 Rio de Janeiro 2020 Tokyo^§ 2024 Paris 2028 Los Angeles 2032 Brisbane 2036
Winter Games	1924 Chamonix 1928 St. Moritz 1932 Lake Placid 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1940^‡ 1944^‡ 1948 St. Moritz 1952 Oslo 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 1960 Squaw Valley 1964 Innsbruck 1968 Grenoble 1972 Sapporo 1976 Innsbruck 1980 Lake Placid 1984 Sarajevo 1988 Calgary 1992 Albertville 1994 Lillehammer 1998 Nagano 2002 Salt Lake City 2006 Turin 2010 Vancouver 2014 Sochi 2018 Pyeongchang 2022 Beijing 2026 Milan Cortina 2030
^†Cancelled due to World War I ^‡Cancelled due to World War II ^§Postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic Ancient Olympic Games Intercalated Games 1906 Paralympic Games Youth Olympic Games Olympic Games portal

Portal:World

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