Kerala

Kerala (English: /ˈkɛrələ/ KERR-ə-lə; Malayalam: [ke:ɾɐɭɐm] (listen)) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. 　It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Canara, and Thiruvithamkoor. 　Spread over 38,863 km2 (15,005 sq mi), Kerala is the 21st largest Indian state by area. 　It is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. 　With 33 million inhabitants as per the 2011 census, Kerala is the 13th-largest Indian state by population. 　It is divided into 14 districts with the capital being Thiruvananthapuram. 　Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. 　The Chera dynasty was the first prominent kingdom based in Kerala. 　The Ay kingdom in the deep south and the Ezhimala kingdom in the north formed the other kingdoms in the early years of the Common Era (CE). 　The region had been a prominent spice exporter since 3000 BCE. 　The region's prominence in trade was noted in the works of Pliny as well as the Periplus around 100 CE. 　In the 15th century, the spice trade attracted Portuguese traders to Kerala, and paved the way for European colonisation of India. 　At the time of Indian independence movement in the early 20th century, there were two major princely states in Kerala: Thiruvithamkoor and Cochin. 　They united to form the state of Thiru-Kochi in 1949. 　The Malabar region, in the northern part of Kerala, had been a part of the Madras province of British India, which later became a part of the Madras State post-independence. 　After the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, the modern-day state of Kerala was formed by merging the Malabar district of Madras State (excluding Gudalur taluk of Nilgiris district, Lakshadweep Islands, Topslip, the Attappadi Forest east of Anakatti), the taluk of Kasaragod (now Kasaragod District) in South Canara, and the erstwhile state of Thiru-Kochi (excluding four southern taluks of Kanyakumari district, and Shenkottai taluks). 　Kerala has the lowest positive population growth rate in India, 3.44%; the highest Human Development Index (HDI), 0.784 in 2018 (0.712 in 2015); the highest literacy rate, 96.2% in the 2018 literacy survey conducted by the National Statistical Office, India; the highest life expectancy, 77.3 years; and the highest sex ratio, 1,084 women per 1,000 men. 　Kerala is the second-least impoverished state in India according to the Annual Report of Reserve Bank of India published in 2013. 　Kerala is the second-most urbanised major state in the country with 47.7% urban population according to the 2011 Census of India. 　The state topped in the country to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals according to the annual report of NITI Aayog published in 2019. 　The state has the highest media exposure in India with newspapers publishing in nine languages, mainly Malayalam and sometimes English. 　Hinduism is practised by more than half of the population, followed by Islam and Christianity. 　The economy of Kerala is the 8th-largest in India with ₹8.55 trillion (US$110 billion) in gross state domestic product (GSDP) and a per capita net state domestic product of ₹222,000 (US$2,800). 　The tertiary sector contributes around 65% to state's GSVA, while the primary sector contributes only 8%. 　The state has witnessed significant emigration, especially to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf during the Gulf Boom of the 1970s and early 1980s, and its economy depends significantly on remittances from a large Malayali expatriate community. 　The production of pepper and natural rubber contributes significantly to the total national output. 　In the agricultural sector, coconut, tea, coffee, cashew and spices are important. 　The state is situated between Arabian Sea to the west and Western Ghats mountain ranges to the east. 　The state's coastline extends for 595 kilometres (370 mi), and around 1.1 million people in the state are dependent on the fishery industry which contributes 3% to the state's income. 　Named as one of the ten paradises of the world by National Geographic Traveler, Kerala is one of the prominent tourist destinations of India, with coconut-lined sandy beaches, backwaters, hill stations, Ayurvedic tourism and tropical greenery as its major attractions.

Airline

An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and/or freight. 　Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which they both offer and operate the same flight. 　Generally, airline companies are recognized with an air operating certificate or license issued by a governmental aviation body. 　Airlines may be scheduled or charter operators. 　The first airline was the German airship company DELAG, founded on November 16, 1909. 　The four oldest non-airship airlines that still exist are the Netherlands' KLM (1919), Colombia's Avianca (1919), Australia's Qantas (1920) and the Czech Republic's Czech Airlines (1923). 　Airline ownership has seen a shift from mostly personal ownership until the 1930s to government-ownership of major airlines from the 1940s to 1980s and back to large-scale privatization following the mid-1980s. 　Since the 1980s, there has also been a trend of major airline mergers and the formation of airline alliances. 　The largest alliances are Star Alliance, SkyTeam and Oneworld, and these three collectively account for more than 60% of global commercial air traffic in 2015. 　Airline alliances coordinate their passenger service programs (such as lounges and frequent-flyer programs), offer special interline tickets and often engage in extensive codesharing (sometimes systemwide). 　As of 2019[update], the largest airline by passengers carried and fleet size was the American Airlines Group, while Delta Air Lines was the largest by revenue. 　Lufthansa Group was the largest by number of employees, FedEx Express by freight ton-kilometers, Turkish Airlines by number of countries served and UPS Airlines by number of destinations served (though United Airlines was the largest passenger airline by number of destinations served).

Profession

A profession is a field of work that has been successfully professionalized. 　It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, professionals, who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised body of learning derived from research, education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to apply this knowledge and exercise these skills in the interest of others. 　Professional occupations are founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested objective counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain. 　Medieval and early modern tradition recognized only three professions: divinity, medicine, and law, which were called the learned professions. 　A profession is not a trade and not an industry. 　Some professions change slightly in status and power, but their prestige generally remains stable over time, even if the profession begins to have more required study and formal education. 　Disciplines formalized more recently, such as architecture, now have equally long periods of study associated with them. 　Although professions may enjoy relatively high status and public prestige, not all professionals earn high salaries, and even within specific professions there exist significant differences in salary. 　In law, for example, a corporate defense lawyer working on an hourly basis may earn several times what a prosecutor or public defender earns.

Elimination (pharmacology)

In pharmacology the elimination or excretion of a drug is understood to be any one of a number of processes by which a drug is eliminated (that is, cleared and excreted) from an organism either in an unaltered form (unbound molecules) or modified as a metabolite. 　The kidney is the main excretory organ although others exist such as the liver, the skin, the lungs or glandular structures, such as the salivary glands and the lacrimal glands. 　These organs or structures use specific routes to expel a drug from the body, these are termed elimination pathways: Urine Tears Perspiration Saliva Respiration Milk Faeces Bile Drugs are excreted from the kidney by glomerular filtration and by active tubular secretion following the same steps and mechanisms as the products of intermediate metabolism. 　Therefore, drugs that are filtered by the glomerulus are also subject to the process of passive tubular reabsorption. 　Glomerular filtration will only remove those drugs or metabolites that are not bound to proteins present in blood plasma (free fraction) and many other types of drugs (such as the organic acids) are actively secreted. 　In the proximal and distal convoluted tubules non-ionised acids and weak bases are reabsorbed both actively and passively. 　Weak acids are excreted when the tubular fluid becomes too alkaline and this reduces passive reabsorption. 　The opposite occurs with weak bases. 　Poisoning treatments use this effect to increase elimination, by alkalizing the urine causing forced diuresis which promotes excretion of a weak acid, rather than it getting reabsorbed. 　As the acid is ionised, it cannot pass through the plasma membrane back into the blood stream and instead gets excreted with the urine. 　Acidifying the urine has the same effect for weakly basic drugs. 　On other occasions drugs combine with bile juices and enter the intestines. 　In the intestines the drug will join with the unabsorbed fraction of the administered dose and be eliminated with the faeces or it may undergo a new process of absorption to eventually be eliminated by the kidney. 　The other elimination pathways are less important in the elimination of drugs, except in very specific cases, such as the respiratory tract for alcohol or anaesthetic gases. 　The case of mother's milk is of special importance. 　The liver and kidneys of newly born infants are relatively undeveloped and they are highly sensitive to a drug's toxic effects. 　For this reason it is important to know if a drug is likely to be eliminated from a woman's body if she is breast feeding in order to avoid this situation.

Athlete

An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. 　Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. 　Most professional athletes have particularly well-developed physiques obtained by extensive physical training and strict exercise accompanied by a strict dietary regimen.

Casting

Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. 　The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process. 　Casting materials are usually metals or various time setting materials that cure after mixing two or more components together; examples are epoxy, concrete, plaster and clay. 　Casting is most often used for making complex shapes that would be otherwise difficult or uneconomical to make by other methods. 　Heavy equipment like machine tool beds, ships' propellers, etc. can be cast easily in the required size, rather than fabricating by joining several small pieces. 　Casting is a 7,000-year-old process. 　The oldest surviving casting is a copper frog from 3200 BC.

Triangle

A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. 　It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. 　A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted △ A B C {\displaystyle \triangle ABC} . 　In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non-collinear, determine a unique triangle and simultaneously, a unique plane (i.e. a two-dimensional Euclidean space). 　In other words, there is only one plane that contains that triangle, and every triangle is contained in some plane. 　If the entire geometry is only the Euclidean plane, there is only one plane and all triangles are contained in it; however, in higher-dimensional Euclidean spaces, this is no longer true. 　This article is about triangles in Euclidean geometry, and in particular, the Euclidean plane, except where otherwise noted.

Conviction

In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. 　The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). 　In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which is considered an acquittal. 　Sometimes, despite a defendant being found guilty, the court may order that the defendant not be convicted. 　This is known as a discharge and is used in countries such as England, Wales, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. 　The criminal justice system is not perfect and there are instances in which guilty defendants are acquitted and innocent people are convicted. 　Appeal mechanisms and post conviction relief procedures may help to address this issue to some extent. 　An error leading to the conviction of an innocent person is known as a miscarriage of justice. 　After a defendant is convicted, the court determines the appropriate sentence as a punishment. 　In addition to the sentence, a conviction can also have other consequences, known as collateral consequences of criminal charges. 　These can include impacts on employment, housing, and other areas of an individual's life. 　A minor conviction is a warning conviction that does not affect the defendant but serves as a warning.　[citation needed] A person's history of convictions is known as their antecedents or "previous" in the United Kingdom and "priors" in the United States and Australia.

Congo

Look up Congo or Kongo in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. 　The Congo may refer to the Congo River in central Africa or the Congo Basin, the sedimentary basin of the river. 　Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the river: Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, sometimes referred to as "Congo-Kinshasa" Republic of the Congo, the smaller country to the northwest, sometimes referred to as "Congo-Brazzaville" Congo or Kongo may also refer to:

Otto

Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. 　It originates as an Old High German short form (variants Audo, Odo, Udo) of Germanic names beginning in aud-, an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". 　The name is recorded from the 7th century (Odo, son of Uro, courtier of Sigebert III). 　It was the name of three 10th-century German kings, the first of whom was Otto I the Great, the first Holy Roman Emperor, founder of the Ottonian dynasty. 　The Gothic form of the prefix was auda- (as in e.g. Audaþius), the Anglo-Saxon form was ead- (as in e.g. Eadmund), and the Old Norse form was auð-. 　The given name Otis arose from an English surname, which was in turn derived from Ode, a variant form of Odo, Otto. 　Due to Otto von Bismarck, the given name Otto was strongly associated with the German Empire in the later 19th century. 　It was comparatively frequently given in the United States (presumably in German American families) during the 1880s to 1890s, remaining in the top 100 most popular masculine given names in the US throughout 1880–1898, but its popularity decreased significantly after 1900 with increasing anti-German sentiment leading up to World War I; it fell below rank 200 in 1919, below rank 500 in 1947, and below rank 1000 in 1975; it re-entered the top-1000 most popular given names in the US only in the 2010s, ranking 696th as of 2013.

Sequel

A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. 　In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same fictional universe as an earlier work, usually chronologically following the events of that work. 　In many cases, the sequel continues elements of the original story, often with the same characters and settings. 　A sequel can lead to a series, in which key elements appear repeatedly. 　Although the difference between more than one sequel and a series is somewhat arbitrary, it is clear that some media franchises have enough sequels to become a series, whether originally planned as such or not.　[citation needed] Sequels are attractive to creators and to publishers because there is less risk involved in returning to a story with known popularity rather than developing new and untested characters and settings. 　Audiences are sometimes eager for more stories about popular characters or settings, making the production of sequels financially appealing. 　In film, sequels are very common. 　There are many name formats for sequels. 　Sometimes, they either have unrelated titles or have a letter added on the end. 　More commonly, they have numbers at the end or have added words on the end.　[citation needed] It is also common for a sequel to have a variation of the original title or have a subtitle. 　In the 1930s, many musical sequels had the year included in the title. 　Sometimes sequels are released with different titles in different countries, because of the perceived brand recognition. 　There are several ways that subsequent works can be related to the chronology of the original. 　Various neologisms have been coined to describe them.

Treasure

Treasure (from Latin: thesaurus from Greek language θησαυρός thēsauros, "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. 　Some jurisdictions legally define what constitutes treasure, such as in the British Treasure Act 1996. 　The phrase "blood and treasure" has been used to refer to the human and monetary costs associated with massive endeavours such as war that expend both. 　Searching for hidden treasure is a common theme in legend; treasure hunters do exist, and can seek lost wealth for a living.

Cult

In Modern English, cult is a term, considered pejorative by some, for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. 　This sense of the term is controversial and weakly defined, – having divergent definitions both in popular culture and academia – and has also been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study.　: 348–356  An older sense of the word involves a set of religious devotional practices that is conventional within its culture, is related to a particular figure, and is frequently associated with a particular place. 　References to the "cult" of a particular Catholic saint, or references to the imperial cult of ancient Rome, for example, use the word in this sense. 　While the word is still being used in its literal and original sense, a derived sense of "excessive devotion" arose in the 19th century. 　Then, beginning in the 1930s, cults became an object of sociological study within the context of the study of religious behavior. 　Since the 1940s, the Christian countercult movement has opposed some sects and new religious movements, labeling them "cults" because of their unorthodox beliefs. 　Since the 1970s, the secular anti-cult movement has opposed certain groups and, as a reaction to acts of violence, frequently charged those cults with practicing mind control. 　Scholars and the media have disputed some of the claims and actions of anti-cult movements, leading to further public controversy. 　Sociological classifications of religious movements may identify a cult as a social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practices, although this is often unclear. 　Other researchers present a less-organized picture of cults, saying that they arise spontaneously around novel beliefs and practices. 　Groups labelled as "cults" range in size from local groups with a few followers to international organizations with millions of adherents.

Atom

An atom is a particle that consists of a nucleus of protons and neutrons surrounded by a cloud of electrons. 　The atom is the basic particle of the chemical elements, and the chemical elements are distinguished from each other by the number of protons that are in their atoms. 　For example, any atom that contains 11 protons is sodium, and any atom that contains 29 protons is copper. 　The number of neutrons defines the isotope of the element. 　Atoms are extremely small, typically around 100 picometers across. 　A human hair is about a million carbon atoms wide. 　This is smaller than the shortest wavelength of visible light, which means humans cannot see atoms with conventional microscopes. 　Atoms are so small that accurately predicting their behavior using classical physics is not possible due to quantum effects. 　More than 99.94% of an atom's mass is in the nucleus. 　The protons have a positive electric charge, the electrons have a negative electric charge, and the neutrons have no electric charge. 　If the number of protons and electrons are equal, then the atom is electrically neutral. 　If an atom has more or fewer electrons than protons, then it has an overall negative or positive charge, respectively – such atoms are called ions. 　The electrons of an atom are attracted to the protons in an atomic nucleus by the electromagnetic force. 　The protons and neutrons in the nucleus are attracted to each other by the nuclear force. 　This force is usually stronger than the electromagnetic force that repels the positively charged protons from one another. 　Under certain circumstances, the repelling electromagnetic force becomes stronger than the nuclear force. 　In this case, the nucleus splits and leaves behind different elements. 　This is a form of nuclear decay. 　Atoms can attach to one or more other atoms by chemical bonds to form chemical compounds such as molecules or crystals. 　The ability of atoms to attach and detach is responsible for most of the physical changes observed in nature. 　Chemistry is the discipline that studies these changes.

Favourite

A favourite (British English) or favorite (American English) was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. 　In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler. 　It was especially a phenomenon of the 16th and 17th centuries, when government had become too complex for many hereditary rulers with no great interest in or talent for it, and political institutions were still evolving. 　From 1600 to 1660 there were particular successions of all-powerful minister-favourites in much of Europe, particularly in Spain, England, France and Sweden. 　The term is also sometimes employed by writers who want to avoid terms such as "royal mistress", "friend", "companion", or "lover" (of any gender). 　Several favourites had sexual relations with the monarch (or the monarch's spouse), but the feelings of the monarch for the favourite ran the gamut from simple faith in the favourite's abilities to various degrees of emotional affection and dependence, and sometimes even encompassed sexual infatuation. 　The term has an inbuilt element of disapproval and is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "One who stands unduly high in the favour of a prince", citing Shakespeare: "Like favourites/ Made proud by Princes" (Much Ado about Nothing, 3.1.9).

Philosopher

A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. 　The term philosopher comes from the Ancient Greek: φιλόσοφος, romanized: philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. 　The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek thinker Pythagoras (6th century BCE). 　In the classical sense, a philosopher was someone who lived according to a certain way of life, focusing upon resolving existential questions about the human condition; it was not necessary that they discoursed upon theories or commented upon authors. 　Those who most arduously committed themselves to this lifestyle would have been considered philosophers. 　In a modern sense, a philosopher is an intellectual who contributes to one or more branches of philosophy, such as aesthetics, ethics, epistemology, philosophy of science, logic, metaphysics, social theory, philosophy of religion, and political philosophy. 　A philosopher may also be someone who has worked in the humanities or other sciences which over the centuries have split from philosophy, such as the arts, history, economics, sociology, psychology, linguistics, anthropology, theology, and politics.

Plateau

In geology and physical geography, a plateau (/pləˈtoʊ, plæˈtoʊ, ˈplætoʊ/; French: [plato]; pl. plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. 　Often one or more sides have deep hills or escarpments. 　Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, and erosion by water and glaciers. 　Plateaus are classified according to their surrounding environment as intermontane, piedmont, or continental. 　A few plateaus may have a small flat top while others have wider ones.

Hamlet

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet (/ˈhæmlɪt/), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. 　It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. 　Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his attempts to exact revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother. 　Hamlet is considered among the "most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language", with a story capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others". 　There are many works that have been pointed to as possible sources for Shakespeare's play—from ancient Greek tragedies to Elizabethan plays. 　The editors of the Arden Shakespeare question the idea of "source hunting", pointing out that it presupposes that authors always require ideas from other works for their own, and suggests that no author can have an original idea or be an originator. 　When Shakespeare wrote, there were many stories about sons avenging the murder of their fathers, and many about clever avenging sons pretending to be foolish in order to outsmart their foes. 　This would include the story of the ancient Roman, Lucius Junius Brutus, which Shakespeare apparently knew, as well as the story of Amleth, which was preserved in Latin by 13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum, and printed in Paris in 1514. 　The Amleth story was subsequently adapted and then published in French in 1570 by the 16th-century scholar François de Belleforest. 　It has a number of plot elements and major characters in common with Shakespeare's Hamlet, and lacks others that are found in Shakespeare. 　Belleforest's story was first published in English in 1608, after Hamlet had been written, though it's possible that Shakespeare had encountered it in the French-language version. 　Three different early versions of the play are extant: the First Quarto (Q1, 1603); the Second Quarto (Q2, 1604); and the First Folio (F1, 1623). 　Each version includes lines and passages missing from the others.

Doctorate

A doctorate (from Latin docere, "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin doctor, "teacher"), or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism licentia docendi ("licence to teach"). 　In most countries, a research degree qualifies the holder to teach at university level in the degree's field or work in a specific profession. 　There are a number of doctoral degrees; the most common is the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), awarded in many different fields, ranging from the humanities to scientific disciplines. 　In the United States and some other countries, there are also some types of technical or professional degrees that include "doctor" in their name and are classified as a doctorate in some of those countries. 　Professional doctorates historically came about to meet the needs of practitioners in a variety of disciplines. 　Many universities also award honorary doctorates to individuals deemed worthy of special recognition, either for scholarly work or other contributions to the university or society.

Vii

The Vii (Chinese: 威力棒; pinyin: Wēilì bàng; lit. "Power Stick" or "The Power is Great") is a Shanzhai video game console similar in design to Nintendo's Wii. 　It was originally released in China in 2007. 　The Vii was not intended to be a seventh-generation console like the Wii, and was instead part of the dedicated console genre of inexpensive consoles with built-in games. 　The Vii's Puppy Rod controller is similar in size and design to the Wii Remote. 　It features motion detection but not the pointing capability of the Wii Remote. 　The Vii also comes in three colors: "Arctic White", "Hot Pink" and "Mint Blue". 　A redesign of the console, colloquially called the Vii 2 by bloggers, features remodeled controllers and a design reminiscent of the Nintendo Entertainment System and the PlayStation 3, as well as support for both NTSC and PAL televisions. 　In 2008, the Vii was released in Japan under the name V Sports (Sport Vii).

Sexy

Look up sexy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. 　Sexy is an adjective to describe a sexually appealing person (or thing), primarily referring to physical attractiveness. 　It may also refer to: Sexual arousal, the arousal of sexual desire, during or in anticipation of sexual activity Sexual attraction, meaning anything which has the ability to attract the sexual or erotic interest of a person

Episcopal

Look up Episcopal, episcopal, or episcopalian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. 　Episcopal may refer to: Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name Episcopal Church (United States), an affiliate of Anglicanism based in the United States Episcopal conference, an official assembly of bishops in a territory of the Roman Catholic Church Episcopal polity, the church united under the oversight of bishops Episcopal see, the official seat of a bishop, often applied to the area over which he exercises authority Historical episcopate, dioceses established according to apostolic succession

Ghana

Ghana (/ˈɡɑːnə/ (listen); Twi: Gaana, Ewe: Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. 　It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Togo in the east. 　Ghana covers an area of 238,535 km2 (92,099 sq mi), spanning diverse biomes that range from coastal savannas to tropical rainforests. 　With nearly 31 million inhabitants (according to the 2021[update] census), Ghana is the second-most populous country in West Africa, after Nigeria. 　The capital and largest city is Accra; other major cities are Kumasi, Tamale, and Sekondi-Takoradi. 　The first permanent state in present-day Ghana was the Bono state of the 11th century. 　Numerous kingdoms and empires emerged over the centuries, of which the most powerful were the Kingdom of Dagbon in the north and the Ashanti Empire in the south. 　Beginning in the 15th century, the Portuguese Empire, followed by numerous other European powers, contested the area for trading rights, until the British ultimately established control of the coast by the late 19th century. 　Following over a century of colonisation, Ghana's current borders took shape, encompassing four separate British colonial territories: Gold Coast, Ashanti, the Northern Territories, and British Togoland. 　These were unified as an independent dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations on 6 March 1957, becoming the first colony in West Africa to achieve sovereignty. 　Ghana subsequently became influential in decolonisation efforts and the Pan-African movement. 　Ghana is a multi-ethnic country with a diverse population, linguistic and religious groups; while the Akan are the largest ethnic group, they constitute only a plurality. 　Most Ghanaians are Christians (71.3%); almost a fifth are Muslims; a tenth practise traditional faiths or report no religion. 　Ghana is a unitary constitutional democracy led by a president who is both head of state and head of government. 　Ghana has maintained since 1993 one of the freest and most stable governments on the continent, and it performs relatively well in healthcare, economic growth, and human development, so that it has a significant influence in West Africa and is highly integrated in international affairs, being a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, African Union, Economic Community of West African States, Group of 24, and Commonwealth of Nations.

Ski

A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. 　Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. 　For climbing slopes, ski skins (originally made of seal fur, but now made of synthetic materials) can be attached at the base of the ski. 　Originally intended as an aid to travel over snow, they are now mainly used recreationally in the sport of skiing.