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Valmara 69

Valmara 69 or V-69 is an Italian bounding anti-personnel mine manufactured by Valsella. The mine was developed from the V-59 mine, and although the mine is no longer produced in Italy, a number of copies were produced in other countries e.g. the "SPM-1" manufactured by Singapore.

The South African version was called the J-69, and was an identical copy of the Italian version. A single centre prong version was also produced. It is no longer produced by South Africa who are compliant with the Mine Ban Treaty requirements.

Description
The mine has a short tubular olive green or sand colored plastic body inside which is the steel bounding body of the mine. On top of the mine is a round fuze cap with five prongs. The mine is triggered when the fuze cap tilts, either because of pressure on one of the prongs or a pull on an attached tripwire. The tilting fuze mechanism is not affected by overpressure. When the mine is triggered, a spring-loaded firing pin fires a percussion cap inside the fuze, which ignites a propelling charge at the base of the mine. The propellant charge launches the mine up out of the ground and into the air.

When the mine reaches a height of approximately 50cm above ground, which takes less than one second, an integral tether wire (connecting it to the plastic body from which it was launched) tugs on a spring-loaded firing pin in the body of the mine, which detonates the main explosive charge. Embedded in a plastic fragmentation sleeve surrounding the main explosive charge are approximately 1,000 pre-cut steel fragments, which are projected at high velocity in all directions. The mine has a lethal radius of 25 m, but the fragments remain dangerous at a considerable distance beyond that, e.g. can inflict deeply penetrating eye wounds.

This mine has significant metal content, which makes it easy to find using a metal detector. However, like the majority of bounding mines, most of the Valmara 69 is hidden underground and may be difficult to see, particularly in heavy undergrowth. Additionally, the Valmara 69 may be laid along with minimum metal mines such as the VS-50, VS MK2, TS-50, SB-33 and SB-81, which complicates the clearance process.

Valsella also manufactured a completely separate electronic anti-handling device known as the VS-AR. This was a tilt-operated device, specifically designed to be fitted to any of the following Valsella products: the VS-50 (standard version, not the VS-50AR) and Valmara 69 anti-personnel mines, as well as the VS-1.6 and VS-1.2 anti-tank mines. The VS-AR4 has a series of fuze adaptors which allow it to be screwed into the bottom of any of those mines. It has a 10-minute mechanical arming delay (started by removing a pin) followed by a 30-minute electronic arming delay. The power source are two 1.5 V batteries and the operational life is longer than a year.

The Valmara 69 is found in Angola, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Kuwait, Mozambique, Sudan, and the Western Sahara

title: Valmara 69


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No Retreat, No Surrender

No Retreat, No Surrender is a 1985 martial arts film directed by Corey Yuen in his American film directorial debut. It is the first title in the No Retreat, No Surrender franchise, whose plot lines and characters are mostly unrelated. It stars Kurt McKinney, with a supporting cast of Jean-Claude Van Damme, J.W. Fails, Kathie Sileno, and Kim Tai-chung. The film was released in Italy on October 20, 1985, and in the United States on May 2, 1986. McKinney performs as Jason Stillwell, an American teenager who learns martial arts from the spirit of Bruce Lee. Stillwell uses these lessons to defend his martial arts dojo against Soviet martial artist Ivan Kraschinsky (Van Damme).

The film was written by Keith W. Strandberg, after being contracted by Ng See-yuen, the owner of Seasonal Film Corporation, to put together a script for them, despite not having done so before. Van Damme was cast in the film and caused problems on the set for continually physically contacting other actors and stuntmen during fight scenes, even after director Yuen told him not to. Upon release, the film received negative reviews, focusing on the story, which many critics found too similar to The Karate Kid, The Last Dragon, and Rocky IV.

Plot
Jason Stillwell is a young karate student and Bruce Lee fanatic who trains in his father Tom's dojo in Sherman Oaks, California. One night after a training session, the dojo is visited by members of an organized crime syndicate looking to take over all the dojos in the country. After refusing to join the organization, Tom's leg is broken by a Soviet martial artist named Ivan "the Russian" Krachinsky, one of the boss' hired thugs. A furious Jason tries to take revenge but is easily subdued by the Soviet. Tom discourages any further effort, telling his son that fighting is not the answer.

The Stillwell family relocates to Seattle, where Jason meets R.J. Madison, and they become good friends. Jason reunites with his old girlfriend Kelly Riley, who lives in the neighborhood with her brother, Ian "Whirlwind" Riley, the newly crowned U.S. National Karate Champion. Despite this, Jason has a hard time adjusting, as he and R.J. are constantly beaten and harassed by local bullies, led by an obese boy named Scott and arrogant martial artist Dean "Shooting Star" Ramsay. After getting beaten up and humiliated by Scott and Dean at Kelly's birthday party, Jason visits the grave of Bruce Lee and asks him for help.

Later that night, Jason and Tom have a heated argument over Jason's fighting. When Jason calls his father a coward for running away from the syndicate, Tom destroys some of Jason's Bruce Lee memorabilia in the garage. Distraught, Jason consults with R.J., who helps him move all of his training gear into an empty house nearby. Exhausted from the move, Jason falls asleep at the house but is suddenly awakened by the soul of Bruce Lee, who begins to train him. Under Lee's tutelage, Jason goes from a below-average fighter to a superior martial artist, at one point able to fend off several thugs who ambush his father in a parking lot. In doing so, Jason convinces him that there are times when fighting is necessary.

Later on, Jason, Tom, and R.J. attend an annual kickboxing tournament between the Seattle Sidekicks and the Manhattan Maulers. Before the contest can get under way, the crime syndicate interrupts and makes a wager that none of the Seattle fighters can defeat Ivan. While Dean and Frank are easily bested by the Soviet, Ivan's last opponent, Ian, makes an impressive showing, forcing Ivan to resort to dirty tactics to defeat him. With Ian helplessly entangled in the ring ropes, Scott attempts to bite Ivan in the leg, but the Soviet dispatches him with a headbutt. Kelly tries to stop Ivan by hitting him with a stool, but the Soviet easily disarms her and grabs her by the hair. Angered by this, Jason charges to the ring and attacks Ivan, to the crowd's delight. Utilizing his advanced training, Jason is finally able to conquer his nemesis and earns the respect of his peers and family, who celebrate with him as the frustrated crime syndicate leaves Seattle.

Cast

 * Kurt McKinney as Jason Stillwell
 * Jean-Claude Van Damme as Ivan "the Russian" Kraschinsky
 * J.W. Fails as R.J. Madison
 * Kathie Sileno as Kelly Riley
 * Kim Tai-chung as the ghost of Bruce Lee
 * Kent Lipham as Scott
 * Ron Pohnel as Ian "Whirlwind" Riley, the Seattle Sidekicks
 * Dale Jacoby as Dean "Shooting Star" Ramsay, the Seattle Sidekicks
 * Peter "Sugarfoot" Cunningham as Frank Peters, the Seattle Sidekicks
 * Joe Verroca as New York mobster
 * John Andes as New York mob boss
 * Farid Panali as Fajad "the Headhunter" Azmand, the Manhattan Maulers
 * Mark Zacharatos as Michael Rocco, the Manhattan Maulers
 * Ty Martinez as John Alvarado, the Manhattan Maulers
 * Timothy D. Baker as Tom Stillwell
 * Gloria Marziano as Mrs. Stillwell
 * Paul Oswell as Trevor

Development and writing
After living in Taiwan for a year in the early 1980s, screenwriter Keith W. Strandberg became interested in working in martial arts films as an actor. He moved back to the United States and became a tour director in China, from where he continued to visit Hong Kong to make contact with producers and screenwriters. After being turned down by several studios, including Shaw Brothers, Strandberg read about Seasonal Film Corporation and got in contact with the studio head, Ng See-yuen. Ng expressed an interest in making an American film and asked if Strandberg knew anything about screenplays; Strandberg lied that he did. A year later, Ng contacted Strandberg in America, stating that he wanted to write a script for them. Strandberg wrote a draft of what would become No Retreat, No Surrender. While production began on the film, Strandberg was on set and spent hours every night changing the script to improve its quality while filming.

Casting
Jean-Claude Van Damme was cast as the Soviet villain, Ivan Kraschinsky. On set, he performed a roundhouse kick on Pete Cunningham, rendering him unconscious. Actor and martial artist Timothy Baker stated that during action scenes on the set, the production manager and director Corey Yuen instructed Van Damme to not make contact with the other actors and stuntmen. Despite repeated warnings, Van Damme continued to do so, performing kicks on Baker during filming. Other actors and martial artists claimed that Van Damme had not been reckless with his physical contact, including Ron Pohnel, who said, "His control wasn't such as mine, but I had no complaints". Van Damme originally had a two-picture deal with Strandberg but broke his contract.

Home media
While there was never a DVD release in the United States, a Blu-ray edition of the film was published by Kino Lorber Classics in Region A, on February 21, 2017, which contained both the American theatrical release and a longer international cut.

Box office
No Retreat, No Surrender was released on May 2, 1986. It was the eleventh-highest grossing film on its opening week at the American box office, earning $739,723; it grossed a total of $4,662,137 in the United States and Canada.

The film sold 1.3 million tickets in the United States and 395,013 in France.

Critical response
Walter Goodman of The New York Times gave the film a negative review, writing that the story appeared to have been "slapped-together". Time Out compared it to The Last Dragon, Karate Kid, and Rocky IV, noting that it "borrows heavily" from those films and "makes them look like masterpieces". Martial arts magazine Black Belt gave the film a rating of one-and-a-half out of five, noting that Jean-Claude Van Damme does not have much screen time and that the film was derivative of The Karate Kid. Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times called it "hilariously bad" and an "amateurish clunker" with poor action scenes.

In 1993, Black Belt placed the film at seventh on their list of top-ten choreographed martial arts films. The magazine specifically praised Van Damme's jump kicks, while noting that McKinney's look "suspiciously quick", mentioning that, "unlike the Hong Kong movie industry, American filmmakers have yet to master the technique of speeding up the film without "jumpy/fidgety" side effects". In 2017, Ed Travis of Cinapse said the film "manages to never the less entertain and delight with a combination of pure earnestness and legitimately cool fight work". Austin Trunick of Under the Radar said Van Damme's scenes "are prime Van Damme, at least, with some fantastic fight choreography and a full showcase of splits, high-kicks, and bug-eyed snarling".

The film was riffed live at a number of venues on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live: The Great Cheesy Movie Tour, by Joel Hodgson, in 2019. It was also riffed by RiffTrax on October 15, 2015.

Franchise sequels

 * No Retreat, No Surrender 2 (1987)
 * No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers (1990)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: No Retreat, No Surrender


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Illinois Route 31

Illinois Route 31 (IL 31) is a 58.41 mi north–south state highway in northeastern Illinois, United States. It travels from U.S. Route 34 (US 34) in Oswego north to US 12, near the Wisconsin state line, just south of Richmond.

Route description
IL 31 follows the Fox River along the western bank. It parallels IL 25, which travels along the eastern bank of the Fox River. It travels concurrent with IL 120 in McHenry.

IL 31 is called Richmond Road north of IL 120 and Front Street south of IL 120 in McHenry, Main Street in Algonquin, Western Avenue in Carpentersville, Eighth Street in West Dundee, State Street in Elgin, La Fox Street in South Elgin, Second Street in St. Charles, First Street in Geneva, Batavia Avenue in Batavia, Lincolnway Street in North Aurora, Lake Street (Southbound) and River Street (Northbound) in Aurora, and Lake Street in Montgomery. It is also, along with IL 25, signed as part of the Fox River Valley area. IL 31 between Aurora and Geneva was considered part of the Lincoln Highway transcontinental route.

The Western Algonquin Bypass was completed in 2014 and redirects traffic around downtown Algonquin.

History
SBI Route 31 traveled from Quincy to Canton along various routes. This was dropped in 1935 and was replaced with US 24. In 1937, it was reapplied along other routes on its modern routing. There have been no changes to the routing since.

U.S. Route 430
U.S. Route 430 (US 430) was commissioned from 1926 to 1935 in the U.S. state of Illinois, and traveled from Aurora to Crystal Lake. It traveled concurrently with US 30 from Aurora to Geneva at present-day IL 38. In 1934, US 430 was removed north of West Dundee after US 14 was formed. In 1935, US 430 was decommissioned after US 330 was extended north from Geneva to West Dundee. The northern extension was later removed in 1937 in favor of IL 31 and the western extension of US 330 to Dixon.

McHenry
The intersection of IL 31 and IL 120 is now the most congested intersection in McHenry County.

IDOT is currently in Phase 1 of a planned widening of IL 31 from IL 176 in Crystal Lake to IL 120 in McHenry.

A bypass of McHenry continues to appear in documents planning for a Metra station at Prairie Grove, that include an interchange with the existing IL 31 alignment and the proposed west McHenry bypass alignment to the north of Gracy Road.

The west McHenry bypass was originally planned to travel over undeveloped farm lands from north of IL 31 and Gracy Road to IL 120 and Ringwood Road. The corridor was planned to be protected from development in the mid-1990s, but because of a lack of funding, the corridor was never protected from development and has since been developed.

Algonquin
The Western Algonquin Bypass is not the only limited-access bypass on the table as of 2015. A southern Algonquin bypass is being constructed as the Longmeadow Parkway, that will have a grade separation with Route 31.

title: Illinois Route 31


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Antillean Creole

Antillean Creole (also known as Lesser Antillean Creole) is a French-based creole that is primarily spoken in the Lesser Antilles. Its grammar and vocabulary include elements of French, Carib, English, and African languages.

Geographical situation
There are two main geographical and linguistic groups in the Antilles or Caribbean Islands: the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles. Intercomprehension between these two groups is possible, but despite a large proportion of shared vocabulary and largely similar grammatical functioning, it is limited by varying key vocabulary and different words for basic grammar. Nevertheless, it's easy to begin to understand each other completely, as long as one of the two has a basic knowledge of the other's language.

Antillean Creole is spoken natively, to varying degrees, in Haïti, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Îles des Saintes, Martinique, Saint-Barthélemy (St. Barts), Dominica, French Guiana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela (mainly in Macuro, Güiria and El Callao Municipality). It is also spoken in various Creole-speaking immigrant communities in the United States Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, and the Collectivity of Saint Martin. Antillean Creole has approximately thirteen million speakers and is a means of communication for migrant populations traveling between neighboring English- and French-speaking territories. Since French is a Romance language, French Antillean Creole is considered to be one of Latin America’s languages by some linguists.

In a number of countries (including Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, Trinidad, Brazil (Lanc-Patuá) and Venezuela) the language is referred to as patois. It has historically been spoken in nearly all of the Lesser Antilles, but its number of speakers has declined in Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada. Conversely, it is widely used on the islands of Dominica and Saint Lucia; though they are officially English-speaking, there are efforts to preserve the use of Antillean Creole, as there are in Trinidad and Tobago and its neighbour, Venezuela. In recent decades, Creole has gone from being seen as a sign of lower socio-economic status, banned in school playgrounds, to a mark of national pride.

Since the 1970s, there has been a literary revival of Creole in the French-speaking islands of the Lesser Antilles, with writers such as Raphaël Confiant and Monchoachi employing the language. Édouard Glissant has written theoretically and poetically about its significance and its history.

History
Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc was a French trader and adventurer in the Caribbean who established the first permanent French colony, Saint-Pierre, on the island of Martinique in 1635. Belain sailed to the Caribbean in 1625, hoping to establish a French settlement on the island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts). In 1626, he returned to France, where he won the support of Cardinal Richelieu to establish French colonies in the region. Richelieu became a shareholder in the Compagnie de Saint-Christophe, created to accomplish that with d'Esnambuc at its head. The company was not particularly successful, and Richelieu had it reorganised as the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique. In 1635, d'Esnambuc sailed to Martinique with 100 French settlers to clear land for sugarcane plantations.

After six months on Martinique, d'Esnambuc returned to St. Christopher, where he soon died prematurely in 1636, leaving the company and Martinique in the hands of his nephew, Jacques Dyel du Parquet, who inherited d'Esnambuc's authority over the French settlements in the Caribbean. Dyel du Parquet became governor of the island. He remained in Martinique and did not concern himself with the other islands.

The French permanently settled on Martinique and Guadeloupe after being driven off Saint Kitts and Nevis (Saint-Christophe) by the British. Fort Royal (now Fort-de-France) on Martinique was a major port for French battle ships in the region from which the French were able to explore the region. In 1638, Dyel du Parquet decided to have Fort Saint Louis built to protect the city against enemy attacks. From Fort Royal, Martinique, Du Parquet proceeded south in search for new territories, established the first settlement in Saint Lucia in 1643 and headed an expedition that established a French settlement in Grenada in 1649.

Despite the long history of British rule, Grenada's French heritage is still evident by the number of French loanwords in Grenadian Creole and the French-style buildings, cuisine and placenames (Petit Martinique, Martinique Channel, etc.)

In 1642, the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique received a 20-year extension of its charter. The king would name the governor general of the company, and the company would name the governors of the various islands. However, by the late 1640s, Cardinal Mazarin had little interest in colonial affairs, and the company languished. In 1651, it dissolved itself, selling its exploitation rights to various parties. The Du Paquet family bought Martinique, Grenada and Saint Lucia for 60,000 livres. The sieur d'Houël bought Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, La Desirade and the Saintes. The Knights of Malta bought Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin and then sold them in 1665 to the Compagnie des Indes occidentales, formed one year earlier.

Dominica is a former French and British colony in the Eastern Caribbean, about halfway between the French islands of Guadeloupe (to the north) and Martinique (to the south). Christopher Columbus named the island after the day of the week on which he spotted it, a Sunday (dies Dominica), on 3 November 1493. In the 100 years after Columbus's landing, Dominica remained isolated. At the time, it was inhabited by the Island Caribs, or Kalinago people. Over time, more settled there after they had been driven from surrounding islands, as European powers entered the region.

In 1690, French woodcutters from Martinique and Guadeloupe begin to set up timber camps to supply the French islands with wood and gradually become permanent settlers. France had a colony for several years and imported slaves from West Africa, Martinique and Guadeloupe to work on its plantations. The Antillean Creole language developed.

France formally ceded possession of Dominica to Great Britain in 1763. The latter established a small colony on the island in 1805. As a result, Dominica uses English as an official language, but Antillean Creole is still spoken as a secondary language because of Dominica's location between the French-speaking departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique.

In Trinidad, the Spanish possessed the island but contributed little towards advancements, with El Dorado being their focus. Trinidad was perfect for its geographical location. Because Trinidad was considered underpopulated, Roume de St. Laurent, a Frenchman living in Grenada, was able to obtain a Cédula de Población from King Charles III of Spain on 4 November 1783.

Trinidad's population jumped to over 15,000 by the end of 1789, from just under 1,400 in 1777. In 1797, Trinidad became a British crown colony, despite its French-speaking population.

Origin of creole
Antillean Creole began as the pidgin "baragouin" in 1635. It was spoken by French settlers, the Africans they enslaved, and Aboriginal peoples that resided on the islands. It originated in the Guadeloupe and Martinique areas of the Lesser Antilles. It was not until 1700, when there was an increase in African influences, that this pidgin transitioned into the creole that it is today. The formation of this creole was influenced by many different dialects and languages. These include dialects of French, other European languages, Carib (both Karina and Arawakan), and African languages.

Due to the influences from its origins, this creole has some distinctive linguistic features. Features of French included in Lesser Antillean Creole include infinitive forms of verbs, the use of only the masculine noun forms, oblique pronouns, and its subject to verb word order. Features from African languages include their verbal marking system as well as providing a West-African substrate. Other features of this creole also include doubling to emphasize a sentence, the word "point" to inflect the negative, and the non-distinguished adverbs and adjectives.

The language emerged in a context of plantation slavery in the French Antilles. Due to differing native tongues, it was difficult for French settlers to communicate with the enslaved Africans and vice versa, as well as for slaves of different ethnic origins to communicate between each other. As a result, they were forced to develop a new form of communication by relying on what they heard from their colonial enslavers and other slaves. According to Jesuit missionary Pierre Pelleprat, French settlers would change their way of speaking to a simpler form to be more accommodating to the enslaved people. For example, to say "I have not eaten" settlers would say "moi point manger" even though the proper French translation is "Je n'ai pas mangé". This simpler form of French, along with linguistic influences from other languages, eventually evolved into Antillean Creole.

Consonants

 * This sound occurs on islands where the official language is English in certain loanwords e.g radio.
 * The uvular r only occurs on islands wherein French is an official language. Otherwise, where the uvular r would occur where other dialects use . Furthermore, this sound is usually pronounced as a velar fricative and is much softer than the European French $⟨r⟩$.

Orthography
There is some variation in orthography between the islands. In St. Lucia, Dominica and Martinique 'dj' and 'tj' are used whereas in Guadeloupe 'gy' and 'ky' are used. These represent differences in pronunciations. Several words may be pronounced in various ways depending on the region:

 * 'heart'
 * kè
 * kyè
 * tjè

The letter 'r' in St. Lucia and Dominica represents the English whereas in Guadeloupe and Martinique it represents the more French-like sound.

Grammar

 * 1) Mon is used in Dominica and in Grenada #man is used in Martinique. An is used in Guadeloupe, but less so in the latter.
 * m, ng, and n are contracted forms of mwen which occur before certain verb particles: Mwen pa → m'a, mwen ka → ng'a or n'a mwen kay → ng'ay or n'ay
 * 1) w and y occur after a vowel: Nonm-lan wè i → Nonm-lan wè'y, Koumonon ou? → Koumonon'w?
 * 2) li occurs after consonants: Ou konnèt i? → Ou konnèt li?

Personal pronouns in Antillean Creole are invariable so they do not inflect for case as in European languages such as French or English. This means that mwen, for example, can mean I, me or my; yo can mean they, them, their etc.

Possessive adjectives are placed after the noun; kay mwen 'my house', manman'w 'your mother'

'ou' and 'li' are used after nouns ending in a consonant and 'w' and 'y' after nouns ending in a vowel. All other possessive adjectives are invariable.

Kaz ou - Your house,     Kouto'w - Your knife

Madanm li - His wife,   Sésé'y - Her sister

Indefinite article
The indefinite article is placed before the noun and can be pronounced as on, an, yon, yan. The word yonn means "one".

On chapo,     Yon wavèt

An moun,      Yan tòti

Definite article
This exemples doesn't work for Guadeloupe Creole where article are always "la", and for haitian creole whose article are more similar but have "nan" in addition.

In Creole, there are five definite articles (la, lan, a, an, nan) which are placed after the nouns they modify, in contrast to French. The final syllable of the preceding word determines which is used with which nouns.

If the last sound is an oral consonant and is preceded by an oral vowel, it becomes la: If the last sound is an oral consonant and is preceded by a nasal vowel, it becomes lan: If the last sound is an oral vowel and is preceded by an oral consonant, it becomes a: If a word ends in a nasal vowel, it becomes an: If the last sound is a nasal consonant, it becomes nan, but this form is rare and is usually replaced by lan: Note that in Guadeloupean Creole there is no agreement of sounds between the noun and definite article and la is used for all nouns

Demonstrative article

Like the definite article this is placed after the noun. It varies widely by region.

Verbs in Creole are invariable and unlike French or English have no inflection to distinguish tenses. A series of particles placed before the verb indicate tense and aspect. There is no Subjunctive mood.

Vocabulary
The vocabulary of Antillean Creole is based mostly on French, with many contributions from West African languages, Spanish, English and Amerindian languages.

Dominican Creole French
Dominican Creole French is the generally-spoken language in Dominica. Its mutual intelligibility rate with other varieties of Antillean Creole is almost 100%. Its syntactic, grammatical and lexical features are virtually identical to that of Martinican Creole, but like its Saint Lucian counterpart, it has more English loanwords than the Martinican variety. People who speak Haitian Creole can also understand Dominican Creole French. Even though there are a number of distinctive features, they are mutually intelligible.

Like the other Caribbean Creoles, Dominican French Creole combines a syntax of African and Carib origin with a vocabulary primarily derived from French.

Saint Lucian Creole French
Saint Lucian Creole French is commonly spoken in Saint Lucia. Its syntactic, grammatical and lexical features are virtually identical to that of Martinican Creole.

Like the other Caribbean creoles, Saint Lucian French Creole combines a syntax of African and Carib origin with a vocabulary primarily derived from French. The language can be considered to be mutually intelligible with French creoles of the Lesser Antilles and is related to Haitian Creole, which has nonetheless a number of distinctive features.

It is still widely spoken in Saint Lucia. In the mid-19th century, migrants took the language with them to Panama, where it is now moribund.

Grenadian Creole French
Historically, French, or French Creole, was the language of the large majority of the inhabitants, enslaved Africans and estate owners. Though the new British administrators spoke English, French was still predominant.

Grenadian Creole French is a variety of Antillean Creole French. In Grenada and among Grenadians, it is referred to as Patois or French Patois. It was once the lingua franca in Grenada and was commonly heard as recently as 1930 when children in some rural areas could speak it. In the 21st century, it can be heard only among elderly speakers in a few small pockets of the country. They are becoming fewer and fewer because unlike St. Lucia and Dominica, which lie close to the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, Grenada does not have Kwéyòl-speaking neighbours to keep the language alive.

Additionally, the language is not taught in schools.

Trinidadian French Creole
Trinidadian French Creole is a French Creole (Patois) of Trinidad spoken by descendants of the French Creole migrants from the French Antilles.

The Cedula of Population of 1783 laid the foundation and growth of the population of Trinidad. French planters and the Africans they enslaved, free coloureds and mulattos, from the French Antilles of Martinique, Grenada, Guadeloupe and Dominica, migrated to Trinidad during the French Revolution. The immigrants establishing local communities of Blanchisseuse, Champs Fleurs, Paramin, Cascade, Carenage, Laventille, etc. Trinidad's population, which numbered less than 1,400 in 1777, soared to over 15,000 by the end of 1789.

In 1797, Trinidad became a British crown colony, with a French-speaking and Patois-speaking population. Today, Trinidadian French Creole can be found spoken in regional pockets among the elders, particularly in the villages of Paramin and Lopinot.

Example vocabulary

 * Hello – Bonjou (from "bonjour").
 * Hello – Sa i di-a (more casual).
 * Please – Souplé (shortened version of "Si ou plé / Si'w plé").
 * Thank you – Mèsi (from "merci").
 * Thank you very much – Mèsi an pil, Mèsi an lo , or Mèsi an chay'.
 * Excuse me – Eskizé mwen (from "excusez-moi").
 * Rain is falling – Lapli ka tonbé, or Lapli ka bat' (stronger) , Lapli ap tonbé (Haitian).
 * Today is a nice day – Jòdi-a bèl
 * How are you ? – Ka'w fè? (Guadeloupe), Sa'w fè? (Martinique) , Sa kap fèt? (Haitian) - often shortened to "Sakafèt'?".
 * Brother, Sister - Frè, Sè
 * Going to the beach – Ay (o)bòdlanmè-a
 * My place - Akaz (an) mwen (Guadeloupe), Lakay mwen (Martinique)
 * I don't care - Mpa kyè (Haitian), Man san fouté (FWI)
 * Girlfriend (or female relative) - Manzèl
 * Boyfriend (or male relative) - Boug
 * (To) engage in a fight - Goumé épi moun

Sample texts
Below are samples of St. Lucian Creole French taken from a folktale. Pwenmyé ki pasé sé Konpè Kochon. I di, "Konpè Lapen, sa ou ka fè la?"

Konpè Kochon di, "Mé, Konpè, ou kouyon, wi! Ou vlé di mwen sa kay fè yanm?"

An English translation from the same source: First to pass was Konpè Kochon (Mister Pig). He said, "Konpè Lapen (Mister Rabbit), what are you doing there?" Konpè Lapen told him, "I am digging a few holes to plant yams to feed my children." Konpè Kochon said, "But, Konpè, you're too foolish! You mean to tell me you can grow yams there?"

title: Antillean Creole


text:
Jaycar

Jaycar, formerly Jaycar Electronics, is an Australia-based retailer dealing in electronic components and related products for electronics enthusiasts. The company owns around 110 stores across Australia and New Zealand, and also sells its products online in the UK and US. It was founded in 1981 by Gary Johnston, who remained managing director until his death in 2021.

The company also has a wholesale arm, Electus Distribution.

History
Jaycar was founded when Gary Johnston, a former Dick Smith Electronics employee, purchased John Carr & Co. Pty Ltd. He became managing director of the company.

In 2005, Jaycar received negative attention from its imported Taiwanese "Choke-A-Chicken" toy that squawked and flapped its wings when strangled around its neck, described by the RSPCA Queensland as "grossly irresponsible".

In October 2012, remarks made by Johnston on Sydney radio station 2GB, seen as providing justification for sexist behaviour by unidentified staff at the Canterbury-Bankstown NRL club (Bulldogs), of which Jaycar was a major sponsor at the time, caused controversy. There were calls to boycott Jaycar stores.

In October 2016, Freetronics owner Jonathan Oxer accused Jaycar of copying his business' Open Source Arduino Experimenters kit in two videos posted to his YouTube channel.

In September 2018 Johnston ended Jaycar's sponsorship of the Bulldogs, following questionable behaviour from players during Mad Monday celebrations.

Johnston died on 10 March 2021, after being diagnosed with mesothelioma two weeks earlier.

Description
, Jaycar has over 110 stores across Australian and New Zealand, and more than 170 authorised stockists and agents that carry Jaycar products. The group also owns a number of Road Tech Marine stores.

Electus Distribution is Jaycar's wholesale arm, which operates as a separate company and provides products to independent and other retailers as well as and original equipment manufacturers in Australia and New Zealand.

Community involvement
Jaycar became a major sponsor of NRL club Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 2009, but questionable behaviour from players led Johnston to end the partnership in September 2018. Jaycar sponsors Warby Motorsport and a number of local sports teams. Jaycar has sponsored the Western Suburbs Magpies rugby league team, based in western Sydney, since 2019. Johnston had been a "lifelong supporter".

The company has supported or hosted maker culture events, and supports several charities, including:
 * Starlight Children's Foundation
 * Charlie Teo Foundation
 * Operation Restore Hope
 * FSHD Global Research Foundation
 * Steve Waugh Foundation
 * Exodus Foundation
 * Save our Sons

title: Jaycar


text:
Xuyun

Xuyun or Hsu Yun (5 September 1840? – 13 October 1959) was a renowned Chinese Chan Buddhist master and an influential Buddhist teacher of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Early life
Xuyun was purportedly born on 5 September 1840 in Fujian, Qing China. His original name was Xiao Guyan. He was the son of Xiao Yutang and his mother was surnamed Yan. His mother died during childbirth. Xuyun's grandmother insisted that her grandson take a wife. In order to continue both his and his uncle's lineage, Xuyun was arranged to marry one woman from the Tian family and one from the Tan family.

His first exposure to Buddhism was during the funeral of his grandmother. Soon afterward he began reading Buddhist sutras and later made a pilgrimage to Mount Heng, one of the most important Buddhist sites in China.

When he was fourteen years old, Xuyun announced that he wished to renounce the material world in favour of monastic life. His father did not approve of Buddhism and had him instructed in Taoism instead. Xuyun was dissatisfied with Taoism, which he felt could not reach the deeper truths of existence. The storerooms of his house were full of very old books. Going through them, he found a volume called the "Story of Incense Mountain" (cf. Guanyin), which described the life of Guanyin. After reading the book, he was deeply influenced and was inspired to leave home and practice Buddhism as a monk.

When Xuyun was seventeen, he attempted to flee to Mount Heng to become a monk without his family's permission. On a winding mountain path, he encountered envoys sent by his uncle who successfully intercepted Xuyun and escorted him back home. When he arrived home, the family feared that he would escape again, so he was sent with his first cousin, Fu Guo, to Quanzhou. His father formally received two brides from the Tian and Tan families for Xuyun, and his marriage was completed. Although they lived together, Xuyun did not have sexual contact with his wives. Moreover, he extensively explained the dharma to them so that they too would practice Buddhism.

Fu Guo also had previously explored Buddhism and had the same aspirations as Xuyun, so they "amicably traveled the Path together." When Xuyun was nineteen years old, he began the journey to Gu Shan (Drum Mountain) in Fuzhou, accompanied by Fu Guo. Before leaving, he wrote the "Song of the SkinBag" which he left behind for his two wives.

At Gu Shan monastery, Xuyun had his head shaved and received ordination as a monk. When his father sent agents to find him, Xuyun concealed himself in a grotto behind the monastery, where he lived in solitude for three years. At the age of twenty-five, Xuyun learned that his father had died, and his stepmother and two wives had entered the monastic life.

Middle Age and Enlightenment
During his years as a hermit, Xuyun made some of his most profound discoveries. He visited the old master Yong-jing, who encouraged him to abandon his extreme asceticism in favor of temperance. He instructed the young monk in the sutras and told him to be mindful of the Hua Tou. In his thirty-sixth year, with the encouragement of Yong-jing, Xuyun went on a seven-year pilgrimage to Mount Putuo off the coast of Ningbo, a place regarded by Buddhists as the bodhimaṇḍa of Avalokiteśvara. He went on to visit the Temple of King Ashoka and various Chan holy places. By age forty-three, Xuyun had left home life for more than twenty years, but had not yet completed his practice in the Path. He had not repaid his parents' kindness, and so he vowed to again make a pilgrimage to Nan Hai. From Fa Hua Temple all the way to Qingliang Peak at Mount Wutai of the northwest, the bodhimaṇḍa of Manjushri, he made one full prostration every three steps. He prayed for the rebirth of his parents in the Pure Land. Along the way, Xuyun is said to have met a beggar called Wen Ji, who twice saved his life. After talking with the monks at Mount Wutai, Xuyun came to believe that the beggar had been an incarnation of Manjushri.

Having achieved singleness of mind, Xuyun traveled west and south, making his way through Tibet. He visited many monasteries and holy places, including Sichuan's Mount Emei, the bodhimaṇḍa of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, the Potala Palace, the seat of the Dalai Lama, and Tashilhunpo Monastery, the seat of the Panchen Lama. He traveled through India and Ceylon, and then across the sea to Burma. During this time of wandering, he felt his mind clearing and his health growing stronger. Xuyun composed a large number of poems during this period.

After returning to China at age fifty-three, Xuyun joined with other Venerable Masters Pu Zhao, Yue Xia, and Yin Lian (Lotus Seal) to study together. They climbed Mount Jiuhua (bodhimaṇḍa of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva) and repaired the huts on Cui Feng Summit, where Dharma Master Pu Zhao expounded the Mahavaipulyabuddha Avatamsaka (Flower Adornment) Sutra.

When Xuyun was fifty-six, the Abbot Yue Lang of Gaomin Temple in Yangzhou was going to convene a twelve-week session of continuous dhyana meditation. Preparing to leave, the group asked Xuyun to go first. After reaching Di Gang, he had to cross the water, but the ferry left without him as he had no money. As he walked along the river's edge, he suddenly lost his footing and fell into the rushing water, where he bobbed helplessly for a day and night before being caught in a fisherman's net. He was carried to a nearby temple, where he was revived and treated for his injuries. Feeling ill, he nevertheless returned to Yangzhou. When asked by Yue Lang whether he would participate in the upcoming weeks of meditation, he politely declined, without revealing his illness. The temple had rules that those who were invited had to attend or else face punishment. In the end, Yue Lang had Xuyun beaten with a keisaku. He willingly accepted this punishment, although it worsened his condition.

For the next several days, Xuyun sat in continuous meditation. In his autobiography, he wrote: "[in] the purity of my singleness of mind, I forgot all about my body. Twenty days later, my illness vanished completely. From that moment, with all my thoughts entirely wiped out, my practice took effect throughout the day and night. My steps were as swift as if I was flying in the air. One evening, after meditation, I opened my eyes and suddenly saw I was in brightness similar to broad daylight in which I could see everything inside and outside the monastery..." But he knew that this occurrence was only a mental state, and that it was not at all rare. He did not become attached to this achievement, but continued his single-minded investigation of the question, "who is mindful of the Buddha?" He delved into this topic without interruption.

Xuyun composed a commemorative verse for the oft-cited moment of profound insight, which was galvanized by the sound of a breaking teacup in the Chan Hall:

Later life
Xuyun worked tirelessly as a bodhisattva, teaching precepts, explaining sutras, and restoring old temples. He worked throughout Asia, creating a following across Burma, Thailand, Malaya, and Vietnam, as well as Tibet and China. He remained in China during World War II. In the winter of 1942, Xuyun held a "Protect the Nation, Quell the Disaster, Mahākaruṇā Dharma Assembly" that lasted over three months in Chongqing, the capital of China at that time. He stayed after the rise of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to support the Buddhist communities rather than retreat to the safety of Hong Kong or Taiwan.

In the spring of 1951, Xuyun and twenty-five monks were accused of hiding weapons and treasure. They were arrested and tortured in Yunmen Monastery in Shaoguan, Guangdong province. Some of the monks were tortured to death or suffered broken bones. Xuyun endured several beatings during the interrogations, resulting in fractures to his rib cage. He closed his eyes and would not talk, eat, or drink, and stayed in the samādhi for nine days. During this time, his attendants Fayun and Kuanchun waited on him. Several of his works on scriptural commentary were also destroyed. Li Jishen, who was Vice President of the PRC at the time, informed and sought help from the then Premier of the PRC, Zhou Enlai, who put an end to the monks' detention after three months. This incident later became known as the "Yunmen Incident."

In 1953, with Dharma Master Yuan Ying and others, Xuyun formed the Chinese Buddhist Association at Guangji (Extensive Aid) Monastery where he was Honorary President. The following resolutions were proposed to the government:
 * 1) In all places, further destruction of monasteries and temples, the desecration of images, and the burning of sutras shall immediately cease;
 * 2) Forcing bhikshus and bhikshunis to leave their monastic orders will not be tolerated; and
 * 3) All monastery property shall be returned forthwith, and enough arable acreage should be returned to the Sangha so as to make the monasteries self-supporting.

The petition was approved. Xuyun then represented the Association in receiving three gifts from a Buddhist delegation from Sri Lanka. He also responded to the invitation of Dharma Master Nan Tong to head another Dharma assembly at Lang Shan Monastery, where several thousand people from all over took refuge in Triple Gems. He returned to Shanghai in the third lunar month, and the next month received a telegram from Beijing requesting his presence in the capital. After arriving, he stayed at Guangji Monastery. Representatives of various Buddhist groups also were present, and the Chinese Buddhist Association was officially inaugurated. After a plenary meeting in which important policies were decided, some monks suggested to him some changes to precepts and rules. Xuyun then scolded them and wrote an essay about the manifestation of the Dharma Ending Age.

Death
Xuyun became ill in the summer of 1959 and died on 13 October of the same year.

Significance
In 1953, the Chinese Buddhist Association was established at a meeting with 121 delegates in Beijing. The meeting also elected a chairman, four honorary chairmen, seven vice-chairmen, a secretary general, three deputy secretaries-general, eighteen members of a standing committee, and ninety-three directors. The four elected honorary chairmen were the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama, the Grand Lama of Inner Mongolia, and Xuyun himself.

Publications

 * Empty Cloud: The Autobiography of the Chinese Zen Master Xu Yun

title: Xuyun


text:
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title: User:Anthony/Images


text:
Dike Kokaral

Dike Kokaral is a 12 km long dam across a narrow stretch of the former Aral Sea, splitting off the North Aral Sea (also called "The Small Sea") from the area that once contained the much larger South Aral Sea ("The Large Sea"). The dike is conserving the dwindling waters of the Syr Darya river and maintaining (and attempting to revive) the damaged ecology of the North Aral Sea, at the expense of sealing the fate of the larger South Aral. Work was completed in August 2005, with help from the World Bank. Dike Kokaral is named after the Kokaral peninsula (an island until the 1960s), which would connect it to the other shore of the Aral Sea and separate the northern from the southern seas.

History

As the waters of the contributory rivers to the Aral have been progressively redirected for irrigation, the water levels in the Aral have fallen, the shore receded, and the water quality has dropped precipitously. The dike was built twice in the past from local sand, but due to a lack of funding necessary to strengthen it once the water level in the North Aral Sea (and therefore pressure to the dike) began to rise, the dike was washed away. This happened in 1992 and 1998. However, for the short time that the dike stood, positive changes were already noticed - the climate became milder, and fauna was partly restored. When the dike was washed away, the water level fell again, as much of the water poured into the South Aral Sea. In some places, the coastline of North Aral retreated by as much as a few hundred meters.

North Aral's sea level
After the completion of Dike Kokaral, the water level of the North Aral has risen, and its salinity has decreased. By 2006, some recovery of the sea level was recorded, sooner than expected. "The dam has caused the small Aral's sea level to rise swiftly to 38m (125ft), from a low of less than 30m (98ft), with 42m (138ft) considered the level of viability." Economically significant stocks of fish have returned, and observers who had written off the North Aral Sea as an environmental catastrophe were surprised by reports that in 2006 its returning waters already were partly reviving the fishing industry and producing a catch for export as far as Ukraine. The restoration reportedly gave rise to long-absent rain clouds and possible microclimate changes, bringing tentative hope to an agricultural sector swallowed by a regional dustbowl, and some expansion of the shrunken sea. The sea, which had receded almost 100 km south of the port-city of Aralsk, was a mere 12 km away by 2015.

title: Dike Kokaral


text:
Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a protected area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Ngorongoro District, 180 km west of Arusha City in Arusha Region, within the Crater Highlands geological area of northeastern Tanzania. The area is named after Ngorongoro Crater, a large volcanic caldera within the area. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority administers the conservation area, an arm of the Tanzanian government, and its boundaries follow the boundary of the Ngorongoro District in Arusha Region. The western portion of the park abuts the Serengeti National Park, and the area comprising the two parks and Kenya's Maasai Mara game reserve is home to Great Migration, a massive annual migration of millions of wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, and other animals. The conservation area also contains Olduvai Gorge, one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world.

The 2009 Ngorongoro Wildlife Conservation Act placed new restrictions on human settlement and subsistence farming in the Crater, displacing Maasai pastoralists, most of whom had been relocated to Ngorongoro from their ancestral lands to the north when the British colonial government established Serengeti National Park in 1959.

History and geography
The name of the crater has an onomatopoeic origin; it was named by the Maasai pastoralists after the sound produced by the cowbell (ngoro ngoro). Based on fossil evidence found at the Olduvai Gorge, various hominid species have occupied the area for 3 million years.

Hunter-gatherers were replaced by pastoralists a few thousand years ago. The Mbulu came to the area about 2,000 years ago and were joined by the Datooga around the year 1700. Both groups were driven from the area by the Maasai in the 1800s.

No Europeans are known to have set foot in the Ngorongoro Crater until 1892 when it was visited by Oscar Baumann. Two German brothers (Adolph and Friedrich Siedentopf) farmed in the crater until the outbreak of World War I, after leasing the land from the administration of German East Africa. The brothers regularly organized shooting parties to entertain their German friends. They also attempted to drive the wildebeest herds out of the crater.

In 1921, the first game preservation ordinance was passed, which restricted hunting to permit holders throughout Tanzania. In 1928, hunting was prohibited on all land within the crater rim, except the former Siedentopf farms. The National Park Ordinance of 1948 (implemented in 1951) created the Serengeti National Park (SNP). This, however, caused problems with the Maasai and other tribes, resulting in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Ordinance (1959) that separated the conservation area from the national park. Maasai pastoralists living in Serengeti National Park were systematically relocated to Ngorongoro, increasing the population of Maasai and livestock living in the Crater. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority was established by the Game Park Laws (miscellaneous amendments) Act, 1976, and owns the majority of Ngorongoro Conservation Area land, including the Crater. The area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, originally inscribed for its natural significance. It then received Mixed Heritage Status in 2010. Its cultural recognition stemming from "an exceptionally long sequence of crucial evidence related to human evolution and human-environment dynamics…including physical evidence of the most important benchmarks in human evolutionary development". This recognition, however, has not included the Maasai community, hence the longstanding conflict surrounding the use and management of the park. The Wildlife Conservation Act of 2009 further restricted human use of Ngorongoro Crater and created a legal framework to politically disenfranchise and forcibly displace traditional pastoralists. The restriction on land use generates tension between the local Maasai communities and conservation authorities. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is seeking solutions to ease conflict and improve collaborative efforts toward conservation with the locals.

The conservation area land is multi-use and unique because it is the only conservation area in Tanzania that protects wildlife while allowing human habitation. Land use is controlled to prevent negative effects on the wildlife population. For example, cultivation is prohibited at all but subsistence levels.

The area is part of the Serengeti ecosystem and, to the northwest, adjoins the SNP and is contiguous with the southern Serengeti plains. These plains also extend to the north into the unprotected Loliondo division and are kept open to wildlife through transhumance pastoralism practiced by the Maasai. The south and west of the area are volcanic highlands, including the famous Ngorongoro Crater and the lesser-known Empakaai Crater. The southern and eastern boundaries are approximately defined by the rim of the East African Rift wall, which also prevents animal migration in these directions.

Geology
The Pliocene Ngorongoro volcanic group consists of eight extinct shield volcanoes within the Eyasi half-graben, the eastern boundary marked by the Gregory Rift Western Escarpment. The Lake Eyasi escarpment bounds the half-graben on the southwest. Within the complex, five volcanoes are dome-shaped cones, while three have calderas. Ngorongoro Volcano (2.5–1.9 Ma) is primarily basaltic trachyandesite. The caldera is fed by the Munge and Oljoro Nyuki Rivers, while the Ngoitokitok hot springs feed into the Goringop swamp. Lake Magadi is a shallow (1.7 m) alkaline lake. Other volcanoes within the complex include Olmoti (2.01–1.79 Ma), Empakaai, Loolmalasin, Sadiman (3.7 Ma), Lemagrut, and Oldeani. The northwest portion of the conservation area consists of the Serengeti Plains, the Salei Plains, the Oldupai Gorge, and the Gol Mountains inselbergs. These inselbergs are part of the Mozambique Belt quartzite and mica schist about (800–500 Ma) in age.

Ngorongoro Crater
The main feature of the Ngorongoro Conservation Authority is the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera. The crater, which formed when a large volcano erupted and collapsed on itself two to three million years ago, is 610 m deep and its floor covers 260 km2. Estimates of the height of the original volcano range from 4500 to 5800 m high. The crater floor is 1800 m above sea level. The crater was voted by Seven Natural Wonders as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa in Arusha, Tanzania, in February 2013. The Ngorongoro volcano was active from about 2.45 to 2 million years ago.

Volcanic eruptions like that of Ngorongoro, which resulted in the formation of Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, were very common. Similar collapses occurred in the case of Olmoti and Empakaai, but they were much smaller in magnitude and impact.

Out of the two recent volcanoes to the northeast of the Empakaai caldera, Kerimasi and Ol Doinyo Lengai, Doinyo Lengai is still active and had major eruptions in 2007 and 2008. Smaller ash eruptions and lava flows continue to slowly fill the current crater. Its name in Maasai means 'Mountain of God'.

The Munge Stream drains Olmoti Crater to the north and is the main water source draining into the seasonal salt lake in the center of the crater. This lake is known by two names: Makat as the Maasai called it, meaning salt; and Magadi. The Lerai Stream drains the humid forests to the south of the Crater and feeds the Lerai Forest on the crater floor – when there is enough rain, the Lerai drains into Lake Magadi as well. Extraction of water by lodges and Ngorongoro Conservation Area headquarters reduces the amount of water entering Lerai by around 25%.

The other major water source in the crater is the Ngoitokitok Spring, near the eastern crater wall. There is a picnic site here open to tourists and a huge swamp fed by the spring, and the area is inhabited by hippopotamuses, elephants, lions, and many others. Many other small springs can be found around the crater's floor, and these are important water supplies for the animals and local Maasai, especially during times of drought. Maasai were previously permitted to graze their cattle within the crater, but as of 2015 were restricted from doing so.

Oldupai or Olduvai Gorge
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area also protects Oldupai or Olduvai Gorges, situated in the plains area. It is considered to be the seat of humanity after the discovery of the earliest known specimens of the human genus, Homo habilis  as well as early hominidae, such as Paranthropus boisei.

The Olduvai Gorge is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley, which stretches along eastern Africa. Olduvai is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in northeastern Tanzania and is about 50 km long. It lies in the rain shadow of the Ngorongoro highlands and is the driest part of the region. The gorge is named after 'Oldupaai', the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant, Sansevieria ehrenbergii.

It is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world and research there has been instrumental in furthering understanding of early human evolution. Excavation work there was pioneered by Mary and Louis Leakey in the 1950s and is continued today by their family. Some believe that millions of years ago, the site was that of a large lake, the shores of which were covered with successive deposits of volcanic ash. Around 500,000 years ago seismic activity diverted a nearby stream which began to cut down into the sediments, revealing seven main layers in the walls of the gorge.

Wildlife
Approximately 25,000 large animals, mostly ungulates, live in the crater. Large mammals in the crater include the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli), the local population of which declined from about 108 in 1964–66 to between 11–14 in 1995, the African buffalo or Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer), and the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius). There also are many other ungulates: the blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) (7,000 estimated in 1994), Grant's zebra (Equus quagga boehmi) (4,000), the eland (Taurotragus oryx), and Grant's (Nanger granti) and Thomson's gazelles (Eudorcas thomsonii) (3,000). Waterbucks (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) occur mainly near Lerai Forest.

Absent are Giraffe, impala (Aepyceros melampus), topi (Damaliscus lunatus), oribi (Ourebia oribi), and crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus).

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus raineyi), East African wild dog (Lycaon pictus lupinus), and African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) are rarely seen. Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) have been the subject of a long-term research study in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area since 1996.

Although thought of as "a natural enclosure" for a very wide variety of wildlife, 20 percent or more of the wildebeest and half the zebra populations vacate the crater in the wet season, while Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) stay; their highest numbers are during the rainy season.

Since 1986, the crater's wildebeest population has fallen from 14,677 to 7,250 (2003–2005). The numbers of eland and Thomson's gazelle also have declined while the buffalo population has increased greatly, probably due to the long prevention of fire which favors high-fibrous grasses over shorter, less fibrous types.

Serval (Leptailurus serval) occurs widely in the crater.

Lake Magadi, a large lake in the southwest of the crater, is often inhabited by thousands of mainly lesser flamingoes.

The crater has one endemic species of mammal: Mduma's shrew (Crocidura mdumai), which is restricted to montane forests on the edge of the crater. This shrew is considered endangered due to deforestation from smallholder farming.

Lions
The crater has one of the densest known population of lions, numbering 62 in 2001.

A side effect of the crater being a natural enclosure is that the lion population is significantly inbred. This is due to the very small amount of new bloodlines that enter the local gene pool, as very few migrating male lions enter the crater from the outside. Those who do enter the crater are often prevented from contributing to the gene pool by the crater's male lions, who expel any outside competitors.

Long-term data imply that lions in the crater were struck by four deadly disease outbreaks between 1962 and 2002. Drought in 1961 and rains throughout the 1962 dry season caused a massive build-up of blood-sucking stable flies (Stomoxys calcitrans) by May 1962. They drained blood and caused painful skin sores that became infected, causing lion numbers to crash from 75–100 to 12. The population recovered to around 100 by 1975 and remained stable until 1983 when a persistent decline began. Numbers have generally remained below 60 animals since 1993, reaching a low of 29 in 1998. In 2001, 34 percent of the lion population died between January and April from a combination of tick-borne disease and canine distemper.

The lion population is also influenced to some extent by the takeover of prides by incoming males, which typically kill small cubs. The biggest influence, however, appears to be disease, particularly canine distemper.

Outside Ngorongoro Crater
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area has a healthy resident population of most species of wildlife, and Masai people. The Ndutu Lake area to the west of the conservation area has particularly strong cheetah and lion populations. Common in the area are hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), and jackals. The population of African wild dog may have declined recently. Servals occur widely on the plains to the west of the Ngorongoro Crater.

The annual ungulate migration passes through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with 1.7 million wildebeest, 260,000 zebra, and 470,000 gazelles moving into the area in December and moving out in June. This movement changes seasonally with the rains, but the migration traverses almost the entire plains in search of food.

Threats to the Conservation Area
High demands for natural resources and modernity from an increasing resident human population, as well as the need to promote and manage tourism, are the most pressing current concerns. The estimated 93,000 pastoralists who live within NCA today are nearly five times the number that were there when the property was listed (1979). Emerging dwellings and settlements have apparent ramifications. Despite the fact that small-scale agriculture is currently illegal, communities are increasingly requesting the resumption of subsistence crop farming to attain food self-sufficiency, escalating tensions between residents and conservation organizations. Furthermore, approximately 300,000 domestic animals live with wildlife on NCA property. The area's resident pastoralist community has gradually increased from approximately 8,700 in 1966 to 20,000 at the date of World Heritage status (1979) to 93,136 in 2017. By 2027, the population is predicted to reach 161,000 people. The repercussions of this population growth include increased infrastructure, grazing areas, human-wildlife confrontations, and land use conflicts.

The scenic values of the place are being conserved. However, it is clear that houses and other infrastructure associated with the growing pastoralist population may have a negative impact on the values. Traditional building materials and techniques (based on locally available natural materials) are gradually giving way to the use of imported materials (e.g., cement and corrugated iron) and the unsustainable usage of heavy poles from local forests. Although the NCAA has devised a set of "building codes" to guide such developments, the outcomes of code implementation are unknown. Lodge and tented camp developments are frequently well-located, disguised, and appropriately constructed, whereas pastoralist habitation is uncontrolled. Moving vehicle dust plumes have a minor impact on scenic qualities in the near term. Uncontrolled dwelling unit construction on the property would damage the site's integrity. The construction of structures must be regularly supervised and regulated.

Human-animal conflict occurs whenever livestock is lost to predatory animals and/or depredated by wildlife inside or near a conservation area. The Maasai have a long tradition of coexisting with wildlife and have developed a high tolerance for it. Poverty, food insecurity, increasing human population in the landscape, and limiting resources, on the other hand, are bringing cow and animal interactions closer together, as well as intensifying competition and conflict.

Historically, the traditional Maasai culture has posed challenges for individuals seeking to assume complex managerial roles within their communities. Until recently, there was resistance among the Maasai towards embracing education as a necessity. It's only more recently that attitudes have shifted, with the realization that to influence the ongoing changes affecting their community, they must engage with external influences rather than remain isolated. For example, one senior traditional leader remarked that he sincerely regrets running away from school as a child, and he has probably certainly passed this attitude on to the younger members of his community. As a result, traditionally, the NCAA faced a significant issue in encouraging Maasai villages to use any schools they established. This alone will have dampened the NCAA's enthusiasm for school-building initiatives.

title: Ngorongoro Conservation Area