# data[].attributes.body
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Endangered pink river dolphins face a rising mercury threat in the Amazon | The Associated Press

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A flash of pink breaks the muddy surface of the Amazon River as scientists and veterinarians, waist-deep in the warm current, patiently work a mesh net

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Not far from the North Pole, the world is frozen for thousands of miles. Suddenly a snowy mound wiggles and reveals two dark eyes. The lump is transformed into the furry white body of a lone arctic fox. The canine casually shakes the blanket of snow off her thick coat-the key to her survival. But warm fur alone might not keep this fox alive during the polar winter, when temperatures rarely get above zero degrees Fahrenheit. Until spring arrives, this arctic fox will rely on some freeze-defying strategies, making it a champion of the cold.

BUILT FOR THE ARCTIC

Arctic foxes live on the land and sea ice within the Arctic Circle. Winter in the Arctic is unlike winter in most parts of the world. From October to February, the sun never rises to shine warmth and light.

Luckily, these small foxes have some useful adaptations for living in the icy Arctic. Their thick fur coat keeps the fox's body at a toasty 104°F. Their long, fluffy tails act like a blanket, keeping the fox warm when it wraps the tail around its body to sleep.

Their feet also have a layer of thick fur, like built-in snow boots. This helps muffle an arctic fox's footsteps, making it harder for prey to hear them. And their white coats make it difficult for predators such as wolves, polar bears, and golden eagles to spot them among the ice and snow.

FINDING FOOD

When it's not trying to keep warm or avoid predators, an arctic fox is on the hunt for food. They prefer to eat small rodents called lemmings, but when times are tough they'll eat whatever they can find: insects, berries, and even the droppings of other animals. Sometimes an arctic fox will follow a polar bear on a hunting trip and eat the bear's leftovers.

If a fox can't find food, or if the weather gets really bad, it can dig a snow den and hunker down for up to two weeks. As long as a fox is warm, it can slow down its heart rate and metabolism, which helps the animal save energy so it doesn't have to eat as much. It's sort of like how bears hibernate, but for a shorter period of time.

Once the animal emerges from its den, it'll try to hunt again. With food in its belly, the arctic fox has a better chance of making it through another long, dark winter.

ARCTIC FOX FAST FACTS

* An arctic fox can smell a seal den a mile away.

* Arctic foxes can be white, brown, or even blueish-gray. Its color depends on the time of year.

* Arctic fox dens are used for generations-some are as old as 300 years.

* These foxes have small ears. That reduces heat loss because less is exposed to the cold.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Not far from the North Pole, the world is frozen for thousands of miles. Suddenly a snowy mound wiggles and reveals two dark eyes. The lump is transformed into the furry white body of a lone arctic fox. The canine casually shakes the blanket of snow off her thick coat-the key to her survival.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Under threat

The biggest threat to the Javan rhino is the very small size of the remaining populations. This leads to inbreeding and loss of genetic variability and vitality. The two habitats where Javan rhinos occur are secure, but much too small for long-term survival of the species.

Apart from poaching, habitat destruction and loss for agriculture and development are further threats to the rhino populations. Habitat is still not a limiting factor overall, but neither of the two remaining habitats are large enough to allow significant growth of the rhino population, now or in the future. Re-establishment of Javan rhinos in areas where they have been exterminated and rejuvenation of their habitat in these areas are vital components of the conservation strategy for this species.

Physical characteristics

Size: the Javan rhino is a smaller and lighter relative of the greater one-horned rhino. It stands at 1.4 to 1.7 metres tall at the shoulder. There is not much difference in size between the males and females, and from information gathered in Ujung Kulon and from museum skeletons, there is a possibility that females are slightly bigger

Weight: Javan rhinos are comparable in size to the African black rhino, though only a few animals have actually been weighed. They typically range between 900 and 2,300 kg

Lifespan: Javan rhinos are estimated to live an average of 35 to 40 years in the wild

Skin colour: Javan rhinos have grey or grey-brown skin, almost black when wet, with pink colouring in the folds

The horn: Javan rhinos have a single horn, grey or brownish in colour, usually less than 20 cm long. Males have larger horns and many females, especially in Ujung Kulon, have no horn or just have a small knob on the nose. The longest horn ever recorded is only about 27 cm long and is now in the British Museum in London. Rhino horn has the same horn structure as the hooves of horses and re-grows if broken off. It is not used for fighting, but for scraping mud from the sides of wallows, pulling down food plants, and for protection of the head and nose when breaking through dense vegetation

Teeth: like all Asian rhinos, Javan rhinos have long, sharp, dagger-shaped lower incisor teeth. These are used in fighting and can inflict deep wounds. Javan rhinos also have two rows of 6 strong, broad and low-crowned molars on each side. The ridges of enamel on these teeth are used to cut up the woody parts of their food into characteristic 1-2 cm long pieces. Over the years the teeth wear down by several centimetres to become shallow and dish-like, and making it difficult for older rhinos to break down their food

Senses: Javan rhinos have a good sense of smelling and hear very well, but are rather short-sighted

Distinctive characteristics: Javan rhinos have long pointed upper lip, which assists in grasping their food. Such prehensile lips are found in all browsing rhino species: the African black rhino, and the greater one-horned and Sumatran rhinos. As for the other Asian rhinos, there are two folds in the skin circling the body behind the front legs and before the hind legs, and horizontal folds at the base of the legs. The neck folds are less massive than in the greater one-horned rhino, but two folds continue over the back of the neck, forming a characteristic "saddle" on the neck-shoulder. The skin is covered with a mosaic pattern, giving a scale-like appearance

Social behaviour and breeding

Sociability: Javan rhinos are usually solitary, except for females with small calves, or during courtship. Occasionally young animals may form pairs or small groups for some time

Male territory: males in Ujung Kulon have larger territories (12-20 km2), only marginally overlapping with other males territories. There is no indication that these territories are actually defended by territorial fights as happens in other rhino species, but they are marked along the main trails by urine, faeces, scrapes and twisted saplings

Female territory: the ranges of the females in Ujung Kulon are much smaller (3-14 km2) and overlap each other considerably

Mating and courtship: there is a short period of courtship around the time when a female is in oestrus and this is generally the only time adult males and adult female socialise

Scent marking: dung heaps serve as a communication point, though the large latrines common in the greater one-horned rhino do not occur, probably because of the much lower natural density of these animals. Unlike Sumatran rhinos, Javan rhinos do not scratch their hind feet in the dung and kick it around in the bushes. They drag a hind foot, sometimes for several metres, to mark the scratch with the secretions of the foot glands. The visual marks made by the Sumatran rhinos in the form of twisted saplings are also unknown in Javan rhinos

Sounds and calls: Javan rhinos are not very vocal, much less than Sumatran rhinos, and only a few vocalisations have been recorded. As with other rhino species, indirect communication through dung, urine and scrapes scented with the secretions of the foot glands play a more prominent role

Gestation period: the gestation period is estimated to be between 16 and 19 months

Location and habitat

Current range: the Javan rhino exists in a single population in Ujung Kulon peninsular, western Java, Indonesia. Here the rhino population has recovered quite well from fewer than 30 individuals in 1967 to between 50 and 60 in 1980. Since then the population has been stagnant or even slowly declining. The current estimate is between 65 and 68 animals

Historical range: Javan rhinos were once rather common over a large part of Southeast Asia, from near Calcutta in India, throughout Bangladesh, southern China, Laos, Vietnam Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, the Large island of Sumatra, and the western half of Java. About 12,000 years ago they also occurred in Borneo and till about 2,000 years ago through large parts of China

Habitat: Javan rhinos used to live in a variety of tropical landscapes, both lowland and highland, from the mangroves of the Sunderbans in India and Bangladesh, the mountains of southern China, to the sub-montane shrubs on the highest volcanoes of Java. The Javan rhino probably had a wider ecological range than either its larger relative, the greater one-horned rhino, or its compatriot, the Sumatran rhino

Diet: the Javan rhino's diet is characterized by high species diversity. Hundreds of food plant species have been recorded, but about 40% of the quantity of food eaten comes from a few preferred and common plant species. The rhinos eat mostly leaves, young shoots and twigs. Most of the plants eaten by rhinos grow in unshaded locations, in vegetation without tall trees, gaps created by fallen trees, and shrubland without trees. These unshaded places have a better average quality of food plants. Javan rhinos rarely feed in vegetation types where the quantity of available food is low

Forest: in spite of their preference for feeding in vegetation types without tall trees, Javan rhinos are probably dependent upon the occurrence of forest in their environment. Forest provides protection against solar radiation, water supply is subject to smaller fluctuations inside forest than outside, and forest trees are the source of many saplings eaten by rhinos. The optimal habitat of the Javan rhino, with regard to vegetation types, therefore appears to be a mosaic of glades interspersed with patches of forest. This kind of habitat is widely distributed in Ujung Kulon

Mud wallows: Javan rhinos spend a large part of the day wallowing in mud holes. They may use temporary pools and puddles, which they deepen with the feet and horn. The access to mud wallows is essential for thermo-regulation, skin condition and to get rid of ectoparasites (parasites that live on the surface of their host) and biting insects

Salt licks: salt licks, which are so dominant in the ecology of the Sumatran rhino, are unknown in Ujung Kulon, but occasionally Javan rhinos are known to drink seawater. It is likely that in other parts of the former range salt licks were also used by Javan rhinos

Other interesting facts

Vietnam: the Javan rhino was confirmed extinct from the Cat Loc part of the Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam in October 2011. The last few Javan rhinos in Vietnam were very small, no more than 1.2 metres at the shoulder, and probably of similar weight to a Sumatran rhino, less than 800 kg

Population decline: the Javan rhino showed the most dramatic decline of all three Asian rhino species, and by about 1930 Javan rhinos were restricted to Ujung Kulon, a small peninsula on the westernmost tip of Java and a few small isolated populations in Vietnam and possible Laos and Cambodia

It's a mystery: by the time the first naturalists ventured into the Southeast Asian forests, the Javan rhino was already very rare, and not much is known about its behaviour and ecology outside the single remaining viable population, which may not even be located in ideal or typical habitat

Future possibilities: with continued strict protection, both of the remaining rhinos and their habitat, and with active translocation and establishment of new populations in suitable and secure habitats, over the next 150 years the populations ought eventually to be able to recover to at least 2,000-2,500 individuals; the number determined by population biologists as a minimum requirement for long-term survival of the species

Digestion: all rhinos are hind-gut fermenters (they use micro organisms in the last part of the intestine to break down indigestible parts of the food) and have a large cavernous caecum and colon

Zoos: very few Javan rhinos have ever been exhibited in zoos, and the last one died in Adelaide Zoo, Australia, in 1907. During its life, it was exhibited as a Greater one-horned rhino!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Javan Rhino | Species | Save the Rhino International

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The biggest threat to the Javan rhino is the very small size of the remaining populations. This leads to inbreeding and loss of genetic variability and vitality. The two habitats where Javan rhinos occur are secure, but much too small for long-term survival of the species.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Javan rhino

(Rhinoceros sondaicus)

Since the 2011 death of the last Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) in Vietnam, the species now only exists in one country, in one national park - Indonesia's Ujung Kulon National Park (UKNP). Once ranging throughout southeast Asia, Javan rhinos have been hunted to near extinction with a single, small population remaining. UKNP has conducted intensive Javan rhino population monitoring since 1967, when the Park estimated that just 25 individuals remained. Since then, the population has been slowly increasing to an estimated high of 76 rhinos in 2022. Unfortunately, earlier this year Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry noted that 15 of these 76 individuals have not been identified on camera traps for the last three years (recently, three of these individuals have been accounted for). It is not known whether these rhinos have simply avoided detection by camera traps, passed away naturally or been poached. Within the last year, UKNP has found evidence of attempted poaching incursions and has responded by closing the Park to visitors, increasing protection and monitoring efforts and implementing added security systems. In addition to the constant threat of poaching shared by all rhino species, the Javan rhino population in Ujung Kulon faces several unique threats. These include an unbalanced sex ratio of about two males for every one female, a lack of genetic diversity within the existing population, and only having access to a single habitat which has neared its carrying capacity for rhinos and is located in an area prone to natural disasters.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Amur leopards, once nearly extinct, are making a comeback in Far East Asia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Once on the brink of extinction, the Amur leopard is making a remarkable recovery in Russia and China thanks to decades of conservation efforts, protected areas, and cross-border collaboration.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
There are 33 species of pinnipeds (meaning "wing-" or "fin-footed") which include 18 true seals, 14 eared seals (sea lions and fur seals), and 1 walrus. California sea lions belong to the family Otariidae which means "little ears." In the scientific community, there are many debates concerning the ancestry of eared and true seals. Some scientists believe that eared seals and walruses may have evolved 30 million years ago from bear-like creatures in the North Pacific, and that seals evolved from otter-like carnivores in the North Atlantic.

Seals vs. Sea Lions: Is there a difference?

Seals and sea lions have several visible differences. Sea lions have external ear flaps, whereas the majority of seals have a small opening for an ear and lack an external ear flap. A flexible pelvic girdle enables sea lions to move more easily on land by rotating their hind flippers underneath their bodies and walking like other four-legged animals. To move on land, seals propel their streamlined bodies in a way similar to a caterpillar. Both seals and sea lions are professionals in the water environment. Sea lions use their large front flippers to propel themselves through the water. Seals use their hind flippers in a side-to-side motion.

How fast can a sea lion swim?

Sea lions can swim in burst speeds up to 25 mph, but generally cruise at approximately 11 mph. Sea lions gain speed by porpoising, gliding on the water's surface to minimize resistance. Surfing in front of waves or large whales seems to be a fun activity for sea lions. Sea lions have often been called the "Angels of the Sea" due to the unique way that they swim. Sea lions will use their hind flippers to steer and swim using their front flippers. True seals usually swim at about 6 mph and can reach speeds as fast as 18 mph. Walruses tend to take a relaxing approach to the water, averaging speeds of 6 mph or less.

How long do sea lions live?

The average life span of a sea lion is around 20 years, although some have been recorded to live into their 30s. Age is determined by counting growth layers in their teeth, similar to counting rings in a tree trunk. Scientists have noticed that males tend to live shorter lives than females.

What do sea lions eat?

Sea lions feed on a variety of organisms including various fish (anchovies, herring, salmon, rockfish, and hake), squid and octopus. Sea lions at Dolphin Research Center eat herring, smelt, and capelin. Wild sea lions often feed cooperatively, eating 5 - 8% of their body weight each day, which is between 15 - 35 pounds (7 - 16 kg) of food. Sea lions have 34 to 38 teeth, specially designed for grasping and tearing their food; however, their food is swallowed whole. Most of their water intake comes directly from the fish they eat, although they may occasionally drink small amounts of seawater while fasting throughout the breeding season. Rocks, sometimes found in the stomachs of sea lions, may create a false sensation of fullness during the fasting period.

Do sea lions have good senses?

Hearing: Sea lions hear both above and below the water's surface, although they hear better under water. Studies show sea lions can hear frequencies up to 70,000 Hz, but tend to vocalize within a range of 100 to 10,000 Hz. This is comparable to humans who have a hearing range of 20 to 20,000 Hz. Sea lion vocalizations include barks, clicks, moans, chirps, growls, and squeaks. There is no concrete evidence to suggest that sea lions use echolocation.

Sight: Sea lions, like many marine mammals, can see well both above and below the surface of the water. Unlike humans, sea lions may not see in color. They can possibly discriminate colors in the blue - green spectrum. All pinnipeds have a membrane at the back of each eye called a tapetum lucidum to aid in night vision. Cats also have a tapetum lucidum, which is why the eyes of both cats and sea lions glow at night. On land, their eyes are protected by a nictitating membrane, which wipes away sand and debris.

Smell: Sea lions cannot smell underwater but, above water, smell is a highly developed sense. Females use smell for pup recognition and males use it for breeding purposes to locate females in estrus.

Taste: Sea lions have a limited sense of taste, similar to other marine mammals.

Touch: Sea lions are tactile mammals. Their whiskers contain nerve fibers, which make them sensitive. They may use their whiskers to aid in navigation or to detect vibrations from prey in the water.

How do sea lions sleep?

On land, sea lions will sleep in a variety of positions, often on top of their friends. California sea lions have been seen interacting with other species of pinnipeds, such as northern elephant seals, harbor seals, Northern fur seals, and Steller sea lions. In the water, they will sink to the bottom of shallow areas, and occasionally rise to the surface for air. In deeper water, they will float upright with the tip of their nose out of the water.

How do sea lions regulate their body temperature?

Sea lions have the ability to regulate their own body temperature. They can often be seen floating with one flipper out of the water. The reason for this is because the capillaries are close to the surface of the skin and can catch sunbeams to warm their body. To cool down, they put their flipper into the water then raise it back up into the air which cools them off during the evaporation process. This process is called thermoregulation..

Do sea lions molt?

Sea lions molt once each year, usually after the breeding season, but not as obviously as true seals. Molting is when an animal loses its fur or feathers and the coat is replaced with a new one. During the molting season, seals cannot enter the water because they do not have proper insulation to keep them warm. Therefore, they fast during this time period. Sea lions are able to enter the water during their gradual molting period. Sea lion pups will molt twice during their first six months of life. Have you ever touched a sea lion? They are soft and, when wet, feel like a dog that just went swimming.

How do sea lions scratch?

Sea lions actually have three toe nails on each hind flipper. Because sea lions are so flexible, they can reach almost all their possible itchy spots. Sometimes they rub against rocks or other sea lions. Seals have nails on both their front and hind flippers.

How large are sea lions?

Females tend to average between 200 and 400 pounds (90 - 180 kg) in weight, with a length between 5 and 6.5 feet (1.5 - 2 m). Pups only weigh about 13 pounds (6 kg) and are 2.5 feet (75 cm) long when born. Males tend to be larger, weighing about 600 to 800 pounds (270 - 360 kg), with a length of 6.5 to 8 feet (2 - 2.4 m). There are records of adult male sea lions reaching 1,000 pounds! Their cousin, the walrus, makes California sea lions look small. Walruses may weigh more than 3,500 pounds (1,600 kg). Wow, that sure is big!

How long can a sea lion hold its breath?

Sea lions can remain underwater for an average of 8 to 20 minutes. Unlike dolphins, sea lions exhale before diving. Naturally, their nostrils are closed, but they have special muscles to open them in order to breathe. Sea lions can dive to depths between 450 and 900 feet (135 - 272 m). The reason they can dive so deeply and stay underwater so long is because they have a high tolerance for carbon dioxide. The oxygen in their body concentrates in their heart and central nervous system rather than in non-vital organs. Their relative, the elephant seal, can hold its breath for 62 minutes and dive to depths of 4,100 feet (1240 m).

Where do California sea lions live?

The majority of California sea lions live in California, but the population range extends from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to Mexico.

Do the sea lions at DRC take vitamins?

Both of DRC's sea lions take vitamins orally each day. The fish they receive are flash-frozen from the north Atlantic and lose nutrients during the freezing process. To compensate, the sea lions' fish diet is supplemented with vitamins such as B Complex and C Plus. Just like dogs, DRC's sea lions also receive Nemacide, a medication to prevent heartworms. Being in and out of the water makes sea lions susceptible to a variety of internal parasites. This is also a concern for wild sea lions.

Do California sea lions have predators?

Great white, hammerhead and blue sharks, as well as killer whales, occasionally hunt sea lions. Young sea lions are often vulnerable to predation due to unfamiliarity with their new water environment. Water pollution, as well as marine debris such as fishing line, also endangers our friends of the sea. Ropes can tangle around the necks of marine mammals and cut into their skin, blocking the passage for food and eventually resulting in starvation. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, sea lions were hunted and harvested for their blubber and fur. Sea lions are now protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.

Breeding

Once a sea lion becomes sexually mature, at around age four or five, they are able to breed. Female sea lions are called cows, while males are called bulls. Those who live in Baja, California and southern California establish breeding territories from May through July. Cows congregate in closely packed, moderate to large groups. Bulls defend territories and fast during the breeding season.

Males compete for dominance, leaving the younger males without a chance to mate for the season. One distinct characteristic of a full-grown breeding male is the presence of a sagittal crest, a raised forehead that appears at about 10 years of age. The dominant male will mate with an average of 16 females in one season. Once the egg is fertilized inside the female, she can delay implantation of the egg to stop the embryo from growing. The delayed implantation may last up to three months with an average gestation period lasting 9 months. Sea lions mate approximately 20 - 30 days after the birth of their pup, leaving only about one month out of the entire year that she is not pregnant.

In the Northern Hemisphere, pups tend to be born in mid-June. Each mother usually gives birth to a single pup. Twins are rare and mothers seldom adopt other pups. The pup nurses from the mother's four abdominal teats for about 6 - 12 months. The length of lactation increases with the increasing age of the female. Sea lion milk contains about 35% fat so the pups grow rapidly. Pups begin feeding on fish along with the mother's milk after about two months. Between nursings the mother returns to the sea and feeds for several days, leaving her pup on the mainland. Upon her return, she recognizes her pup on land through vocalizations and/or scent. Once the mating season is over, the males seasonally migrate long distances north while the females do not move beyond the Southern California Channel Islands. The males return to the breeding grounds from March to May.

For additional great information about California sea lions, check out the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks & Aquariums (AMMPA) species fact sheet. Available in English, Spanish, and Portugese.

REFERENCES:

Bonner, W. Nigel. 1990. The Natural History of Seals. Facts on File Publications, New York, NY.

Fay, Francis H. 1982. Ecology and Biology of the Pacific Walrus, Odobenus rosmarus divergens
Illiger. North American Fauna 74. Wahington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service.

Gentry, Roger L. "Seals and Their Kin." National Geographic 171(4), April 1987, pp. 475-501.

Goodridge, Harry, and Lew Dietz. 1974. A Seal Called Andre. Down East Books, Camden, E.

Hanggi, Evelyn B. "The Importance of Vocal Cues in Mother-Pup Recognition in a California Sea Lion." Marine Mammal Science 8(4), 1992, pp. 430-432.

Harrison, R.J., Richard C. Hubbard, Richard S. Peterson, Charles E. Rice, and Ronald J. Schusterman, eds. 1968. The Behavior and Physiology of Pinnipeds. Meredith Corp., New York, NY.

Leon, Vicki. 1988. Seals and Sea Lions; An Affectionate Portrait. Blake Publishing, Inc., San Luis Obispo, CA.

King, Judith E. 1983. Seals of the World. Second edition. Comstock Publishing Associates, New York, NY.

Patent, Dorthy Hinshaw. 1990. Seals, Sea Lions and Walruses. Holiday House, New York, NY.

Peterson, Richard S. and George A. Bartholomew. 1967. The Natural History and Behavior of the California Sea Lion. The American Society of Mammologists, Stillwater, OK.

Reeves, Randall R., Brent S. Stewart, and Stephen Leathwood. 1992. The Sierra Club Handbook of Seals and Sirenians. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, CA.

Renouf, Deane, ed. 1991. The Behavior of Pinnipeds. Chapman and Hall, New York, NY.

Ridgway, Sam H. and Richard J. Harrison F.R.S., eds. 1981. Handbook of Marine Mammals.
Volume 1: The Walrus, Sea Lions, Fur Seals, and Sea Otter. Academic Press, New York, NY.

Ridgway, Sam H. and Richard J. Harrison F.R.S., eds. Handbook of Marine Mammals. Volume 2: Seals. Academic Press, New York, NY.

Riedman, Marianne. 1990. The Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.

Scheffer, Victor B. 1958. Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses, a Review of the Pinnipedia. Stanford University Press, Stanford.

Stewart, B.S. and P.K. Yochem. 1986. "Size, Status, and Demography of Pinniped Populations in the Southern California Bight. " Hubbs Marine Research Institute Technical Report No. 86-195.

Stuart, Frank S. 1954. A Seal's World. Pyramid Publications, Inc., New York, NY.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There are 33 species of pinnipeds (meaning "wing-" or "fin-footed") which include 18 true seals, 14 eared seals (sea lions and fur seals), and 1 walrus. California sea lions belong to the family Otariidae which means "little ears." In the scientific community, there are many debates concerning the ancestry of eared and true seals.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Manatees Are the "Sea Cows" of the Coasts | Nat Geo Wild

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kristen and Christopher live right next to the manatees’ winter home on the Crystal River in Florida. They come up to them when they’re swimming or snorkeling because manatees love people. But people are actually the manatees’ greatest threat. Speedboats often hit the creatures and the propeller blades hurt them. Researchers can identify the manatees using these scars. These two friends want to know if these are the same manatees they saw last year?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A whale shark the size of a school bus swims slowly near the surface of the ocean. Its wide mouth is open, like an enormous net scooping up whatever happens to be around-mostly small fish, fish eggs, and plants. As the world's largest fish, this won't be a short trip-a whale shark needs to travel about 5,000 miles each year to find enough food.

Filter feeding

Whale sharks spend nearly eight hours a day gulping around 10,000 gallons of ocean water. At nearly 40 feet long, they seem like they could eat whatever they want. But they're really after plankton-microscopic plants and animals.

The opening of whale shark's throat is covered with about 20 giant pads that have hundreds of tiny holes. As the seawater goes in, these pads filter out the food, sort of like a colander catching spaghetti while the cooking water drains out. Then the water escapes through the shark's gills, and the food is pushed down its throat.

Scientists have also observed whale sharks eat while "standing up" in areas with a lot of prey, like large schools of anchovies or other small fish. With its tail pointed toward the ocean floor and its mouth toward the surface, the shark opens and closes its massive four-foot-wide mouth to create suction. The pressure pulls in the surrounding water-along with the fish.

Gentle giants

Although whale sharks are the third biggest creature in the ocean (after blue whales and fin whales), they're not aggressive and don't threaten humans. In fact, researchers and divers often swim right next to them, and the sharks don't mind a bit.

Whale sharks mostly swim and feed alone, but scientists have observed them hunting with other species of fish between March and August in western Australia's Ningaloo Reef. That's when whale sharks as well as predators like tuna, other sharks, and even birds arrive for a plankton buffet caused by coral spawning and egg laying.

Smaller fish try to avoid the predators by swimming in a big ball for protection. That might work against some predators, but the massive-mouthed whale sharks easily gulp up the fish.

Spot 'em

Each whale shark has a unique pattern of spots and stripes, sort of like your fingerprints. These patterns help scientists keep track of their movements as they migrate through tropical waters, including along the coasts of South Africa, Western Australia, Thailand, and Mexico.

Like all sharks, whale sharks don't have bones. Their skeletons are made of cartilage-the same stuff found in human ears and noses. Cartilage is strong, flexible, and less dense than bone, so it helps sharks swim fast and use less energy.

Preserving populations

Adult whale sharks have no known natural predators, though blue marlin and blue sharks prey on younger ones.

Humans are the biggest threat to these endangered fish, which are illegally hunted and sold as food and can be injured by large shipping vessels. (Although their rubbery skin can be more than five inches thick, whale sharks can still be injured when fishing boats crash into them.) Their ocean habitat is also threatened by pollution.

But thanks in part to protected areas, where it's against the law to harm whale sharks, scientists hope to see their numbers to rise. These protected regions include Australia, India, the Philippines, and the United States.

Scientists are also tagging and tracking the giant fish to learn more about their migration and breeding habits. Learning about whale sharks is an important part of protecting them. ( Find out how you can help save oceans.)

Meet more surprising sharks in this story from National Geographic Kids magazine.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These enormous fish are found in tropical oceans around the world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Habitat: Amur leopards live in the temperate forests of Far Eastern Russia, experiencing harsh winters with extreme cold and deep snow, as well as hot summers.

Location: They are found in Southwest Primorye in the Russian Far East, and along the Russian border with Heilongjiang Province and Jilin Province in North East China. It is possible that a few leopards also exist in North Korea, but so far we have not been able to survey this area.

The Amur leopard is the northernmost of all leopard subspecies. Its historic range extended throughout northeastern ("Manchurian") China, the southern part of Primorsky Krai in Russia and the Korean Peninsula. This range shrank dramatically during the 20th century, due primarily to habitat loss and hunting.

At the turn of the 20th century, the leopard was still found throughout much of southern Primorsky Krai. The first reliable estimate of leopard numbers in Russia was made by Dmitry Pikunov and Vladimir Abramov in the winter of 1972-1973. By this time, the population in Primorye had already contracted from one contiguous population into three isolated ones and there were an estimated 38 to 46 Amur leopards remaining in Russia, many of which depended upon habitat on both sides of the Russian-Chinese border. A 1985 survey suggested that leopards had disappeared from the area southwest of Lake Khanka and from southern Sikhote-Alin. The leopard population in southwest Primorye remained approximately the same as the 1972 survey, 25 to 30 animals. A more recent count in the 1990-1991 winter revealed the population size in southwest Primorye to be stable at 30 to 36 animals, if migrants to and from China were included. The most recent results from population monitoring in 2011 suggests there are now approximately 40 individuals and surveys carried out in China in 2012 estimate fewer than 20 leopards living in that region.

The Amur leopard probably went extinct in the wild in South Korea in the late 1960s, although some recent, unconfirmed reports suggest that a few leopards may remain in and around the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. There are likely still leopards in the rugged northern region of North Korea near the Chinese border, and it is also likely that animals from Southwest Primorye in Russia occasionally cross the border into North Korea, but reliable information is lacking.

Competition: Although in other regions it seems leopards do not do well in areas where they share territory with tigers, this has not proved to be the case in Russia. Studies have indicated that an increased tiger population in the Southwest Primorye area has not adversely affected the leopard population.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Amur Leopard Facts - WildCats Conservation Alliance

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
WildCats comprehensive Amur leopard facts, including information on the latest Amur leopard reintroduction plan. Get in touch if there's something missing..

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Slowly stalking down the snowy hillside, the Amur leopard watches its prey through the trees. In the clearing below, a sika deer munches on tree bark, one of its few remaining food sources during the cold Russian winter. The leopard crouches, its body so low to the ground that its belly fur brushes the snow. Suddenly it bounds and springs forward, tackling the deer from 10 feet away. It’s dinnertime.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The cheetah is the fastest land animal on Earth. This spotted member of the cat family can sprint faster than 70 miles (112 kilometers) per hour. The cheetah's scientific...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cheetah Facts for Kids • Cheetah Conservation Fund

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get the coolest cheetah facts for kids from the world’s leading experts on cheetahs. Written for your reports, presentations, and personal enjoyment!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As few as 1,864 giant pandas live in their native habitat, while another 600 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world. The largest threat to giant panda survival is habitat destruction. People in need of food and income have cleared forests for agriculture and timber. This logging has fragmented a once continuous habitat, leaving small groups of pandas isolated from each other.

When populations become small, they are extremely susceptible to extinction due to environmental or genetic influences, such as drought or inbreeding. Small populations cannot rebound the same way large populations do; as groups of pandas become more isolated, it is more likely that reproduction, disease resistance and population stability will be threatened.

For more than 40 years, the Zoo has celebrated these charismatic bears by creating and maintaining one of the world's foremost panda conservation programs. In that time, the Zoo's team - consisting of dozens of animal care staff, scientists, researchers, international collaborators and conservationists - has made great strides in saving this species from extinction by studying giant panda behavior, health, habitat and reproduction.

Specifically, it has allowed scientists at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute to learn about panda estrus, breeding, pregnancy, pseudopregnancy and cub development - work that is shared around the world with other institutions that also care for and breed this vulnerable species.
Breeding Giant Pandas
Smithsonian's National Zoo scientists began giant panda research when Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing arrived at the Zoo in 1972. See a history and timeline of giant pandas at the Zoo here. Much has been learned since that time, but there still remains much more to learn. With the arrival of Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, the Zoo has developed a ten-year research plan that will hopefully culminate in a growing, thriving population of giant pandas.

Some research areas will repeat behavioral observation studies on Tian Tian and Mei Xiang in order to increase sample size and determine whether a behavior pattern is common to giant pandas or particular to an individual. In other areas, such as reproductive biology, the advanced techniques scientists use today largely did not exist when Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing were alive. Also, opportunities for research and conservation initiatives in the wild, including the potential for increasing the wild giant panda population in China through reintroduction, are greater today than at any time in the past. However, these plans and initiatives will be costly to carry out, as will China's official National Plan for the Conservation of Giant Pandas and their Habitats.

Scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation and Biology Institute's Center for Conservation Genomics, have become adept at studying the genetic relatedness of pandas in human care. Chinese colleagues maintain an up-to-date studbook of these vulnerable animals. Zoo scientists developed the formula used to make breeding recommendations for the entire giant panda population in human care, ensuring that it is genetically healthy. Scientists are working to preserve 90 percent of the genetic diversity of the giant panda population in human care.

Panda breeding season is a race against the biological clock. It only comes once a year, and the giant panda team, including scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Center for Species Survival, and vets, keepers and biologists from the Zoo's animal care teams, must be ready. Giant panda females, like Mei Xiang, ovulate for just 24 to 72 hours.

To identify the opening of that tiny window, animal keepers carefully watch Mei Xiang for any behavioral sign of estrus. At the same time, scientists monitor hormones in her urine to pinpoint the window when she is ready to breed. If attempts at natural breeding are not successful, scientists can step in, collect fresh or frozen-thawed semen from a male and use the genetic material collected to artificially inseminate a female. At the Zoo, four artificial inseminations have resulted in successful births: male Tai Shan in 2005, female Bao Bao in 2013, male Bei Bei in 2015 and male Xiao Qi Ji in 2020.
Saving Pandas in the Wild
Under the terms of the Zoo's agreement with China, scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Conservation Ecology Center have studied these bears both in the wild and in human care.

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute ecologists spend months in China every year studying wild pandas and their neighbors, such as Asiatic black bears and takin. They teach colleagues in China how to conduct censuses and surveys of large mammals, including giant pandas that live in the wild, using geographic information systems (GIS) and other high-tech tools for tracking wildlife.

They are also working to identify new landscapes for giant panda reintroduction. Field research has revealed that wild pandas' habitat is highly fragmented, which means pandas have a difficult time finding a mate. To address that problem, Zoo scientists and colleagues have been exploring the possibility of creating "corridors" of forests that link isolated habitats. Such corridors would give giant pandas more options for movement and mate selection. They might also assist with the reintroduction of captive-born pandas into the wild.

The Zoo's pandas are part of Panda Watch behavior study. Each day, dedicated Friends of the National Zoo volunteers, called Panda Watchers, monitor the pandas' behavior via the Panda Cam. Over the years, they've amassed mountains of data on the species, which is notoriously difficult to study in the wild.
The Future
In December 2011, David M. Rubenstein donated $4.5 million to the Zoo to fund the giant panda program through 2016. In appreciation, the giant panda complex was named the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat. In addition, young conservation biologists in the U.S. and in China who were awarded Smithsonian's National Zoo fellowships for their work to save this vulnerable species were named "David M. Rubenstein Fellows." The gift was used to fund conservation efforts in China, reproductive science, professional training programs, giant panda care at the Zoo, upgrades to the Zoo habitats and public education. Mr. Rubenstein provided an additional $4.5 million donation in fall 2015.

The gift allowed the Zoo's animal care and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's scientific team to proceed with the five-year science plan established with their Chinese colleagues from the China Wildlife Conservation Association. The science plan had specific goals: to examine the creation and impact of corridors to link fragmented habitats that will benefit giant pandas and other wildlife species, including promoting genetic diversity; examine how to restore habitats, especially those where pandas appear to be making a comeback; provide advice on giant panda reintroduction; examine the potential impact of transmissible diseases on giant pandas and other wildlife species, including providing advice on implementing new programs associated with a Wildlife Disease Control Center being built in Sichuan Province; and continue research on giant panda reproduction and management, because, although there has been major success in Chinese breeding centers, some pandas still experience reproductive challenges.

In 2020, Mr. Rubenstein pledged a $3 million gift to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, funding its giant panda research and conservation program through the end of 2023. As per the Zoo's original agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, any cub born to Mei and Tian would be sent to a breeding center in one of the panda reserves in China sometime after the cub turned two years old. In April 2007, it was determined that Tai Shan would remain at the Zoo an additional two years past his second birthday, which was July 9, 2007. This extension allowed Tai Shan to become an adolescent bear in front of his fans. What's more, Zoo scientists were able to continue their studies of his growth and development to document changes during this little-known stage of a panda's life.

On February 2010, Tai Shan was sent back to China, per the loan agreement, to a breeding center in Bifengxia, China. The new loan, which was agreed upon in 2010, states that any cub born at Zoo will stay for four years. Bao Bao, Mei Xiang's second surviving cub born Aug. 23, 2013, departed for China on Feb. 21, 2017. Bei Bei, Mei Xiang's cub born Aug. 22, 2015, departed the Zoo for China Nov. 19, 2019.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Always free of charge, the Smithsonian's National Zoo is one of Washington D.C.'s, and the Smithsonian's, most popular tourist destinations, with more than 2 million visitors from all over the world each year. The Zoo instills a lifelong commitment to conservation through engaging experiences with animals and the people working to save them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Two mammals native to the bamboo forests of Asia are called pandas: the giant panda and the much smaller red panda. They are both members of the order Carnivora (the carnivores) but have been difficult to classify further. They were once thought to be closely related to each other and to either bears or raccoons. Through genetic studies, however, scientists have determined that the giant panda is a bear, in the family Ursidae. The red panda is now usually classified in its own family, Ailuridae. The giant panda is also commonly called panda bear. Its scientific name is Ailuropoda melanoleuca.

Giant pandas are found in bamboo forests in the mountains of central China. Like other bears, the giant panda has a bulky build and a short, stubby tail. It also has a round face with powerful jaw muscles. Adults are about 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 meters) long from the tip of the nose to the rump and weigh about 165 to 250 pounds (75 to 115 kilograms) or more. The males are larger than the females. Giant pandas have a thick, woolly, white coat with black fur on the legs, shoulders, tail, muzzle, and ears and around the eyes.

Giant pandas usually live alone. They are mainly ground dwellers but also climb trees. Giant pandas can easily stand on their hind legs and are commonly observed somersaulting, rolling, and dust-bathing. They can also swim.

As much as 90-98 percent of the panda's diet consists of bamboo shoots, leaves, and stems. On each front paw is an extension of the wrist bone, which the panda uses somewhat like a thumb to help it grasp the slender stalks of bamboo. Unable to digest cellulose, a major component of bamboo, giant pandas rapidly pass large quantities of the grass through their digestive tracts on a daily basis. They spend as much as 16 out of every 24 hours feeding, consuming some 20 to 40 pounds (9 to 18 kilograms) of bamboo every day. They eliminate wastes up to 50 times per day.

The female is able to breed for only one to three days in the spring. In the fall she gives birth to one or two cubs (but in the wild only one usually survives). Newborn cubs are tiny and helpless. They spend the first 100-120 days of life in the den in which they were born. The eyes do not begin to open until about 45 days, and the first wobbly steps are taken at 75-80 days. By about 14 months the cubs are readily eating bamboo. The young usually leave the mother at 18 to 24 months of age and reach sexual maturity at four to eight years. Giant pandas may live beyond 30 years in captivity, but their life span in the wild is estimated at about 20 years.

Destruction of habitat and illegal hunting have contributed to drastically reduced numbers of giant pandas in the wild. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) placed the animal on the endangered species list in 1990. At that time China began to expand its conservation efforts. By the early 21st century, China had set aside more than 50 nature reserves in an attempt to save the species. The country also made great strides in restoring the bamboo forest habitat. Giant pandas are difficult to breed in captivity, but expanded breeding programs have begun to have greater success. As a result of these efforts, the IUCN in 2016 changed the status of the giant panda from endangered to vulnerable (meaning that it is still threatened but faces a lesser risk of extinction than before).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Two mammals native to the bamboo forests of Asia are called pandas: the giant panda and the much smaller red panda. They are both members of the order Carnivora (the carnivores) but have been difficult to classify further. They were once thought to be closely related to each other and to either bears or raccoons.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A three-foot-deep watering hole in northeast India hums with buzzing insects and chirping birds. Suddenly seven Asian elephants stomp through the grass surrounding the pool and splash into the water. It’s bath time for the herd. THE BIGGER THE BETTER Asian elephants live in the tropical forests and grasslands of Southeast Asia. They’re a little smaller than African elephants but can grow nine feet tall and weigh nearly six tons. That’s heavier than two medium-size cars! Even newborns are on the hefty side, weighing some 200 pounds. Given their size it’s no surprise that these guys are big on food. Adults can eat 300 pounds in one day, nearly 75 times what the average human eats! An Asian elephant’s ideal meal includes roots, grasses, fruit, and bark. Much of an Asian elephant’s time is spent searching for grub. In fact the animal may travel 50 miles a day to find food. Asian elephants also enjoy taking dips in the water. To cool down their backsides, the animals will fill their trunks with water and spray it over themselves like a hose. SOCIAL NETWORK Asian elephants are gentle and super-social. Related females live with their young in herds. (Adult males go off on their own.) To communicate with each other they use rumbles, bellows, growls, and moans. Some of their vocalizations can be heard more than a mile away. Talk about a long-distance call! Text by Andrea Silen / NGS Staff

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When an elephant drinks, it sucks as much as 2 gallons (7.5 liters) of water into its trunk at a time. Then it curls its trunk under, sticks the tip of its trunk into its mouth, and blows. Out comes the water, right down the elephant's throat.

Since African elephants live where the sun is usually blazing hot, they use their trunks to help them keep cool. First they squirt a trunkful of cool water over their bodies. Then they often follow that with a sprinkling of dust to create a protective layer of dirt on their skin. Elephants pick up and spray dust the same way they do water-with their trunks.

Elephants also use their trunks as snorkels when they wade in deep water. An elephant's trunk is controlled by many muscles. Two fingerlike parts on the tip of the trunk allow the elephant to perform delicate maneuvers such as picking a berry from the ground or plucking a single leaf off a tree. Elephants can also use its trunk to grasp an entire tree branch and pull it down to its mouth and to yank up clumps of grasses and shove the greenery into their mouths.

When an elephant gets a whiff of something interesting, it sniffs the air with its trunk raised up like a submarine periscope. If threatened, an elephant will also use its trunk to make loud trumpeting noises as a warning.

Elephants are social creatures. They sometimes hug by wrapping their trunks together in displays of greeting and affection. Elephants also use their trunks to help lift or nudge an elephant calf over an obstacle, to rescue a fellow elephant stuck in mud, or to gently raise a newborn elephant to its feet. And just as a human baby sucks its thumb, an elephant calf often sucks its trunk for comfort. One elephant can eat 300 pounds (136 kilograms) of food in one day.

People hunt elephants mainly for their ivory tusks. Adult females and young travel in herds, while adult males generally travel alone or in groups of their own.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When an elephant drinks, it sucks as much as 2 gallons (7.5 liters) of water into its trunk at a time. Then it curls its trunk under, sticks the tip of its trunk into its mouth, and blows. Out comes the water, right down the elephant's throat.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For all of their roaring, growling, and ferociousness, lions are family animals and truly social in their own communities. They usually live in groups of 15 or more animals called prides. Prides can be as small as 3 or as big as 40 animals. In a pride, lions hunt prey, raise cubs, and defend their territory together. In prides the females do most of the hunting and cub rearing. Usually all the lionesses in the pride are related—mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and sisters. Many of the females in the pride give birth at about the same time. A cub may nurse from other females as well as its mother. Each pride generally will have no more than two adult males. While the females usually live with the pride for life, the males often stay for only two to four years. After that they go off on their own or are evicted by other males who take over the pride. When a new male becomes part of the pride it is not unusual for him to kill all the cubs, ensuring that all future cubs will have his genes. The main job of males in the pride is defending the pride’s territory. A male’s loud roar, usually heard after sunset, can carry for as far as five miles (eight kilometers). The roar warns off intruders and helps round up stray members of the pride. Hunting generally is done in the dark by the lionesses. They often hunt in groups of two or three, using teamwork to stalk, surround, and kill their prey. Lionesses aren’t the most successful of hunters, because they usually score only one kill out of several tries. After the kill the males usually eat first, lionesses next—and the cubs get what’s left. Males and females fiercely defend against any outside lions that attempt to join their pride. Because of their size, strength, and predatory skills, lions are considered one of the “big cats.” Tigers, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars, and cougars are also part of this grouping. Take the big cat quiz to see how much you know about these fierce felines. Then, just for fun, see which wild cat you’re most like with our personality quiz.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
During Artemis I, NASA's new mega Moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), roared into the night sky and sent...

Mission Overview

Around the Moon with NASA's First Launch of SLS with Orion

Artemis I was the first integrated flight test of NASA's Deep Space Exploration Systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with the upgraded Exploration Ground Systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Launch date: Nov. 16, 2022

Splashdown: Dec. 11, 2022

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Artemis I was the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration at the Moon and future missions to Mars.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Final Steps Underway for NASA’s First Crewed Artemis Moon Mission - NASA

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As NASA moves closer to launch of the Artemis II test flight, the agency soon will roll its SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft to the

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Four astronauts will fly around the Moon to test NASA’s foundational human deep space exploration capabilities, the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, for the first time with crew.

# data[].attributes.headline
Artemis III: NASA’s First Human Mission to Lunar South Pole

# data[].attributes.subject
Artemis III: NASA’s First Human Mission to Lunar South Pole

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Artemis III: NASA’s First Human Mission to Lunar South Pole - NASA

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Humans have always been drawn to explore, discover, and learn as much as we can about the world—and worlds—around us. This isn’t always easy, but it’s in our

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Symbolically, if not geographically, New York City is at the center of things in the United States-the very definition of metropolis, or "mother city." It is the single place that most encompasses all the shades of the American experience. Located at the southernmost tip of New York state, New York City is situated where New York Bay and the Hudson, Harlem, and East rivers join. The latter two rivers are actually narrow straits linking Long Island Sound to the bay and the Hudson, which extends via the Erie Canal at Albany to the Great Lakes. Equidistant from Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C., New York City is the hub of the Eastern Seaboard.

The city is divided into five districts called boroughs. Each of those boroughs was a separate county until 1898. In that year the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Queens were incorporated with Manhattan to form New York City. Each of the boroughs is distinctive, but it is Manhattan, with its commanding skyline, that stands out in the minds of New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers alike. Only about a fifth of New York City residents, however, live in Manhattan. With a population of more than eight million, the city is the largest in the United States and one of the world's largest as well.

New York's distinctive cityscape owes much historically to two factors. One is the unusually deep and protected harbor of New York Bay. The other is the city's concentration of people and cultures in a small land area-305 square miles (790 square kilometers). Geographically New York is less an urban epicenter, or central city surrounded by concentric suburban rings, than an archipelago, or gathering of islands, on the Atlantic coast. Each of the boroughs is-or is on-an island, with the exception of the Bronx, which is itself surrounded by water on three sides. The Bronx and the island boroughs are closely circled in a crescent around the sliver of land that is Manhattan. Though Manhattan is the smallest of the five boroughs in area, it is the soul of the metropolis. Even residents of the other boroughs call Manhattan simply "the city."

The Outer Boroughs
At the bottom of the crescent of outer boroughs, southwest of Manhattan, is Staten Island (from the Dutch, meaning "states land"). This borough is notable mostly for its dissimilarity to the rest of the city. Still the least densely populated borough, for many years Staten Island was dotted with dairy farms and open land. Only the Staten Island Ferry provided a link to the rest of the city. It plies the waters of New York Bay past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island to Manhattan and back. The ferry is one of New York's scenic highlights.

In 1964 the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge opened across the mouth of New York Bay from Staten Island to Brooklyn. At a span of 4,260 feet (1,300 meters), it was then the world's longest suspension bridge. This roadway link with Brooklyn prompted new interest in Staten Island. The population of Staten Island rose almost 20 percent during the 1970s. It was the only borough to show a population increase during that period. In the following decades Staten Island continued to grow faster than any other borough.

East of Staten Island is Brooklyn, the second largest borough in area and the most populous. Poised at the western edge of Long Island, Brooklyn is a sprawling patchwork of industrial sites and shipyards mixed with residential neighborhoods with distinctive ethnic characteristics. Among them is Bedford-Stuyvesant, one of the largest African American communities in the country. The neighborhood is a mixture of attractive brownstones, towering housing projects, and modest apartment buildings. Once a site of social problems stemming from despairing poverty, Bedford-Stuyvesant has shown signs of stabilization. Other notable sections of Brooklyn include Borough Park, with its Orthodox Jewish community and storefront synagogues. Bensonhurst is a traditionally Italian American neighborhood with a growing Chinese presence. Also of note are Crown Heights, with its mix of African American and Jewish residents, and the quiet well-preserved neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope.

Queens is the largest borough in area and the second most populous. Queens is known for its expanse of residential areas featuring detached one- and two-family houses. This is in contrast to the large apartment complexes and concentrated row houses that characterize Manhattan, Brooklyn, and much of the Bronx. Such sections as Douglaston and Forest Hills more closely resemble the white-collar suburbs of Connecticut than the gritty streets of much of the rest of New York. Astoria, long known for its Greek community, has become one of the city's most ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Large numbers of Chinese, Koreans, and East Indians have transformed Flushing into one of the largest of New York's Asian population centers.

The Bronx, which is north of Queens and east of Manhattan, is the northernmost of the city's boroughs. In the early decades of the 20th century, the Bronx was the fastest-growing part of the city. In the 1960s and '70s, however, the borough's fortunes steeply declined. The South Bronx in particular became a symbol of urban decay. Arson, gangs, and drug dealers, among other problems, prompted people to leave the borough. The Morrisania and Mott Haven sections of the South Bronx sustained a net loss of 150,000 people in the 1970s. Left behind was an increasingly poor population in neighborhoods pocked with abandoned buildings and lots. Slums spread to the north, undermining even the once-affluent Grand Concourse.

During the last quarter of the 20th century, the Bronx made a remarkable turnaround. Vacant lands were filled with single-family and row housing. Thousands of apartments were rehabilitated or restored with city funds. By the mid-1990s the population was rising, and the upper-class enclaves of Riverdale and City Island once again attracted the city elite. The borough's population continued to rise at a steady rate in the early 21st century.

Manhattan is exceedingly diverse. The island encompasses within its 2.5- by 12.5-mile (4- by 20-kilometer) bounds manufacturing plants and warehouses, corporate headquarters, and boutiques and major stores. The borough has some of the most prestigious addresses in the United States as well as areas of poverty. It also has artists' lofts and art galleries, ethnic enclaves, major universities, cultural institutions, and international organizations-the best known being the United Nations. Manhattan is home to virtually every style known to American architecture.

This intense concentration gives rise to an elevated and serrated skyline that is Manhattan's signature, whether viewed from across the bridges in Queens and Brooklyn, from the harbor in Staten Island, or from the docks of New Jersey. The crowded horizon is supported below by the durable Manhattan schist, or crystalline rock. Its strength has allowed builders to raise the world's largest collection of skyscrapers. Outcroppings of the rock can be seen poking through the soil in Manhattan's Central Park. The city's two greatest districts of tall buildings are the densely packed skyscrapers of the financial district in Lower Manhattan and the slightly more eclectic towers of Midtown. These coincide with the geologic layout of supporting rock.

Manhattan was settled from the south. Dutch colonists first took up residence in a fortified encampment near the present-day Battery, so named for its emplacements of cannon. Lower Manhattan is now the home of the financial district. The symbolic as well as geographic center of this compact district-where streets may be dark all day from the closely spaced tall buildings-is Wall Street. The street was named for an earthen wall built by Dutch settlers in 1653 to repel an expected English invasion.

Slightly farther north are the monumental state and federal courthouses and City Hall, which was originally an elegant mansion built in 1811. Interspersed among those powerhouses are housing projects, Chinatown, and the outwardly industrial but now-fashionable lofts of Tribeca. The area also has buildings from the colonial era (St. Paul's Chapel and churchyard on Broadway dates to 1776).

North of Canal Street are Soho ("south of Houston Street"), Little Italy, and the Lower East Side. In the 1960s and '70s, Soho-once a manufacturing center-saw its cast-iron buildings transformed into studios for painters and sculptors. By the mid-1980s those spaces had been converted into expensive loft apartments, art galleries, and fashionable shops.

Little Italy, just east of Soho, is a dense nest of small apartment buildings, restaurants, and cafés. The Italian American presence in the neighborhood has waned as Chinatown has expanded from the south and Soho from the west. Nevertheless, festivals celebrating the area's Italian heritage continue to draw crowds.

The Lower East Side is renowned as a haven for Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe. In the years before World War I, some 500 synagogues and religious schools were built in the area running roughly from Little Italy to the East River. This quarter was also famous for its decaying buildings, pushcart vendors, and discounted merchandise. In the years following World War II, some of the tenements were demolished to make way for large public housing projects. The once-predominant Jewish population now coexists with people from many ethnic backgrounds, and the area has experienced a resurgence. Still a site for bargain merchandise, the Lower East Side now includes upscale boutiques, trendy nightspots, and distinctive restaurants.

North of Houston Street is Greenwich Village, a formerly bohemian quarter of artists, writers, and actors. The rebel image of the Village emerged during a literary and artistic flowering in the early 20th century. The image persisted even after the Village shed its low-rent, cheap-restaurant ambience and became a fashionable neighborhood. But much of the original flavor has remained in the irregular street grid, picturesque townhouses, offbeat restaurants and cafés, small bookstores, and colorful street scenes.

Above 14th Street, Manhattan's street grid yields the twisting contours of Lower Manhattan to the predictable logic of right angles-the legacy of mid-19th-century city planning. All numbered streets, from 14th past 190th, run approximately east to west. The broader avenues, from East End to 12th, run roughly north to south. Fifth Avenue divides west from east, with all numbered street addresses originating from that point.

North of 14th Street and west of Fifth Avenue is the neighborhood of Chelsea. Dotted with luxury apartment buildings, Chelsea is also home to the city's flower district. This area of flower retailers and wholesalers is situated along West 28th Street. To the east of Fifth Avenue are the grand old high-rises of Gramercy Park and the huge apartment complexes of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village next to the East River. The buildings were designed to provide middle-income housing for returning World War II servicemen.

Beyond those neighborhoods is Midtown, which best exemplifies the urban character of the city. In just one square mile (2.6 square kilometers), Midtown encompasses great diversity. It includes the old Hell's Kitchen, a once-dangerous slum area turned uneasy mixture of tenements, luxury residential towers, upscale restaurants, and theaters. Midtown also has distinctive skyscrapers, including the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. It has elegant boutiques, stately hotels, the monumental New York Public Library, the United Nations, and the city-within-a-city Rockefeller Center. The center, created by the oil baron John D. Rockefeller, Jr., is a maze of office buildings, shops, and vast underground arcades. Rockefeller Center has the world's largest indoor theater-Radio City Music Hall, which seats 6,000. In winter the center features an outdoor skating rink.

At the northern edge of Midtown's commercial streets begins Central Park. This 843-acre (341-hectare) respite divides Manhattan's Upper West and Upper East sides. While the park appears wooded and natural, it was in fact wholly designed by the landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Begun in the mid-19th century, construction of the park's deceptively simple layout of glades, lakes, woods, and meandering paths took 20 years to complete. It required the movement of 10 million cartloads of stone, earth, and topsoil.

Along the park's eastern edge is the Upper East Side. This stately neighborhood has townhouses and subdued prewar apartment buildings whose external plainness often belies interior luxury. Park and Fifth Avenue addresses in that part of town have long been synonymous with wealth and privilege.

Across the park is the Upper West Side. In the 1970s and '80s it reversed a period of decline to become a thriving, lively, and varied neighborhood. The construction of the 14-acre Lincoln Center complex in the early 1960s is often credited with sparking that revival. The complex includes multiple theaters for music, dance, and drama and the Juilliard School. The neighborhood is also the site of several museums, including the venerable American Museum of Natural History. Primarily, however, the Upper West Side is a residential neighborhood of brownstone blocks and high-rise apartments.

The storied neighborhood of Harlem occupies a large part of northern Manhattan. By World War I Harlem was firmly established as an African American residential and commercial area. In the 1920s it became the center of a cultural movement called the Harlem Renaissance. Elegant precincts such as Sugar Hill and Striver's Row, with its townhouses designed by Stanford White, attracted prominent African American musicians, actors, and professionals. Soon, however, overcrowding, the deterioration of aging dwellings, high unemployment, and crime brought decades of decline.

In the 1990s, however, Harlem began a resurgence as newcomers renovated its beautiful brownstones and brought new businesses to its spacious tree-lined avenues. With gentrification came changes in the neighborhood's ethnic makeup. In 1970 African Americans made up nearly two-thirds of Harlem's residents. By the early 21st century, their proportion had fallen to two-fifths. New waves of immigration also contributed to the ethnic shift. The city's large Puerto Rican population historically was concentrated in East Harlem, east of Fifth Avenue. By 2010, however, the Hispanic community was concentrated in Central Harlem, directly north of Central Park. The early 21st century also saw an influx of non-Hispanic white residents to Harlem.

Farther west are Morningside Heights and Columbia University. The gracious collegiate buildings and the huge nearby Episcopal Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine are in stark contrast to the plain architecture comprising the surrounding neighborhood. Above Harlem and Morningside Heights, Manhattan Island narrows. Washington Heights and Inwood, making up the northern tip, were once mostly Irish, German, and Jewish. By the 1980s, however, the area had become an extension of Harlem, densely populated with African Americans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and more-recent Latino immigrants.

New York is the largest U.S. city by far, with more than double the population of Los Angeles, the second largest city. It is home to more than two-fifths of New York state's residents. The city grew rapidly during the immigration boom of the early 1900s and continued to gain residents throughout most of the 20th century. The population dipped in the 1950s when many residents moved to the suburbs. Increased immigration allowed the population to rebound in the 1960s. Continued flight to the suburbs, however, caused the city's largest population loss-more than 10 percent-in the 1970s. A decrease in residents moving out of the city, combined with the arrival of new immigrants, brought a return to growth in the 1980s. Growth accelerated in the 1990s, with the population surpassing eight million in 2000. Growth continued at a slower pace in the early 21st century.

Ethnic Diversity
Standing sentinel in New York Bay is the Statue of Liberty, which many consider the symbol of New York if not of the United States itself. The placement of the monument is only fitting, for the first stop of most immigrants to the United States was at Ellis Island, not far from the statue's island pedestal. It has been estimated that some 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island during its years of operation from 1892 to 1954. Nearly a third of the U.S. population today can be traced back to those "huddled masses" that crowded through the island's cavernous Registry Room.

New York City has continued to hold a strong allure for immigrants. In 2018 more than a third of New Yorkers were born outside the United States-roughly the same proportion as in 1920. What has changed markedly, however, is the ethnic makeup of the foreign-born population. Historically, immigration to New York was overwhelmingly European-consisting first of the Dutch, English, Scots, Germans, and Scandinavians, followed by the Irish and eastern and southern Europeans, notably Italians, Greeks, Russians, Hungarians, and Poles.

In the 1930s and '40s immigration from Europe slowed, but newcomers from other parts of the world began to take their place. In the early 21st century Latin America (including the Caribbean) was the leading region of origin for New York City's foreign-born residents, followed closely by Asia. Latin American countries-led by the Dominican Republic and Mexico-accounted for about one-third of the city's foreign-born population. Asia contributed more than one-fourth of the foreign-born residents, with China second only to the Dominican Republic among individual countries of origin. Europe's share of the city's foreign-born population fell from 19 percent in 2000 to 15 percent in 2015.

Alongside these changing patterns of immigration, internal migration has also had a major impact on New York City's population. The city's stature as an economic and cultural center has long attracted Americans from other parts of the country. In the early 20th century, the largest group of internal migrants was African Americans fleeing the rural South. Many of them settled in Harlem, leading to its rise as the "Black metropolis." As new residents arrived, others left. Whites who were hostile to the African American newcomers moved to the suburbs. The white exodus continued as the Hispanic community grew.

In 2018 about one-third of New York City's residents were non-Hispanic whites. People of Hispanic origin, led by Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Mexicans, made up nearly 30 percent of the population. African Americans accounted for about 24 percent of the total. Asians were the fastest-growing segment of the city's population, soaring from a tiny proportion in 1970 to 14 percent by 2018.

New York City has the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel. The Jewish population of New York City and its surroundings constitutes more than one-third of the U.S. Jewish population.

Socioeconomic Characteristics
In socioeconomic terms, New York can be characterized as a city polarized. Few other major U.S. cities exhibit a wider gap between rich and poor. One study found that in 2016 the top 5 percent of households in New York City earned incomes that were at least 14.7 times as high as those earned by the bottom 20 percent of the city's households. Though New York City is home to many of the country's richest people, including dozens of billionaires, about one in five of its residents lives in poverty. More than two-fifths of its residents live at or near the poverty level.

The rich live for the most part in Manhattan, though there are pockets of affluence in the other boroughs. Manhattan offers its wealthy residents the best of almost every urban amenity-luxury high-rises, renowned cultural institutions, and world-class restaurants among them. In stark contrast to that world of privilege is the other New York City. In 2016 more than one-fifth of the city's children lived below the poverty line, and nearly one-third of families with children depended on food stamps. Minorities-Hispanics, Asians, and African Americans-suffered the highest poverty rates.

The lives of New York City's poor and middle-class residents are made more challenging by the city's high cost of living, especially its shortage of affordable housing. A city of renters rather than homeowners, New York has one of the lowest rates of owner-occupied housing among U.S. cities. The rental cost of New York apartments is among the world's highest, and availability is often limited. The city's complicated rent-control laws keep some apartments at below-market rents, but those are handed down within families as heirlooms. The result is that many of the poor and middle class who might prefer to live in Manhattan have been forced into the other boroughs or out of New York City altogether.

New York City is widely viewed as the cultural crossroads of the United States. New Yorkers make it a point to have the best selection of films, concerts, plays, exhibits, lectures, and sports events. New Yorkers also pride themselves on being discerning critics. To achieve success, or "make it," in New York is to perform at the highest level.

The museums are a cultural life unto themselves. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a monumental edifice set into the edge of Central Park, is one of the world's leading museums. It is a vast storehouse containing more than 400 galleries. Among other treasures, it has some 17,000 pieces of American fine and decorative art, more than 2,500 European paintings, and the entire ancient Egyptian Temple of Dendur.

In the same Upper East Side locale are the museums that were established by fabulously wealthy businessmen-collectors. They include the Guggenheim Museum, the Frick Collection, and Cooper Hewitt. The Guggenheim specializes in modern art. It is housed in an eye-catching spiraling structure designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The Frick-which is housed in the opulent former mansion of the Pittsburgh industrialist Henry Clay Frick-displays paintings by the old masters. The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, a part of the Smithsonian Institution, is housed in Andrew Carnegie 's former mansion. The Metropolitan, Guggenheim, Cooper Hewitt, and several other institutions located along Fifth Avenue between 82nd and 105th streets constitute New York's Museum Mile.

Across Central Park from the Museum Mile are the American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium. Perhaps the most distinctive museum in New York, however, is the haunting Met Cloisters at the northern tip of Manhattan on a hill overlooking the Hudson River. It was constructed in the form of a medieval monastery and incorporates pieces of medieval churches and abbeys. This repository of medieval art owes its existence to John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Classical music is also a New York staple. Some of the finest classical musicians from all over the world perform in Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher (now David Geffen) and Alice Tully halls (both part of the Lincoln Center complex), and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Classical concerts are also offered at many of the city's museums. The Metropolitan Opera, based at Lincoln Center, and the New York City Opera, which performs throughout the city, also draw enthusiastic audiences. Various resident and visiting dance companies offer full seasons of classical ballet and modern works at Lincoln and City centers.

New York's cultural life is not limited to the rarefied world of dance, opera, symphony, and the old masters. In the Times Square area, clustered on and around Broadway, is one of the greatest aggregations of theaters in the world-about 40 in all, which offer dramas, musicals, and comedies. Off-Broadway, the name given to any of the smaller theaters located in various places outside the Times Square area, generally offers shows that appeal to a narrower audience. There is also Off-Off Broadway, a still more informal union of lofts, church basements, and similar sites for theater that produce experimental and fringe works.

New York is also the home of the American literary establishment. It is the place where such writers as Washington Irving, Walt Whitman, John Dos Passos, Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Tom Wolfe, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, and Norman Mailer, among many others, made names for themselves. The city is also the home of two of the United States' most-celebrated daily newspapers, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. It is home as well to numerous tabloids and many, if not most, of the best-known national magazines. The eminent dean of these magazines is The New Yorker, a venerable institution dating from 1925.

New York's stimulating cultural life rests on the bedrock of the city's more than 90 institutions of higher education. Among the most prominent are Columbia, New York, Fordham, Rockefeller, and St. John's universities. Cooper Union is a mainly undergraduate college focused on art, architecture, and engineering. The City University of New York includes more than 20 public institutions throughout the city.

New York has professional sports teams in virtually every league. Among them are the New York Giants and Jets in gridiron football and the New York Yankees and Mets in baseball. The city is home to the New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets in men's basketball, the New York Liberty in women's basketball, and the New York Rangers and Islanders in ice hockey. New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls are major league soccer (association football) teams. The city also hosts the annual U.S. Open tennis championship in Flushing Meadows in Queens, the New York City Marathon, and track and field meets. Major boxing bouts and other sporting events are often held in Madison Square Garden.

New York's parks and playgrounds number in the hundreds. There are several popular beaches ( Coney Island, for one). There are also botanical gardens and a zoo in every borough. The Bronx Zoo is one of the most popular in the United States.

New York's economy covers such a wide spectrum of activity that the city is almost always in a state of simultaneous boom and bust. Unlike many other U.S. cities, where prosperity rises and falls with a particular industry, New York relies on a great variety of businesses for its continued vitality. Throughout its history, as one industry has declined, others have risen to take its place.

New York's standing as a banking and financial center dates to 1784, when Alexander Hamilton established the Bank of New York. It was soon joined by a branch of the First Bank of the United States (1792) and the Manhattan Company (1799), an ancestor of what is now JPMorgan Chase & Co. The origins of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) can be traced to 1792, though it was not formally organized until 1817. After the Erie Canal opened in 1825, banking became even more concentrated in the city. The country's most prominent financial institutions still have their headquarters in New York, making Wall Street the financial center of not only the United States but also the world.

By the late 19th century, New York's stature in business was so great that the country's largest firms chose to locate their headquarters there, even if-as with Carnegie Steel, American Tobacco, and Standard Oil-the focus of their manufacturing was elsewhere. At the start of the 20th century, more than two-thirds of the top 100 U.S. corporations were based in the city. New York City's position as the United States' corporate headquarters remains intact. In 2019 the New York City metropolitan area was home to more than 70 of the Fortune 500 companies, including JPMorgan Chase, Verizon Communications, and Citigroup. In addition, the city maintains an unrivaled concentration of service businesses on which large companies rely-law, banking, accounting, advertising, and insurance.

In the first half of the 20th century, downtown Manhattan was jammed with small factories mingled among the tenements of Midtown and lower Broadway. New York led the country in total factory workers, number of factories, and product value. In the 1960s and '70s, however, the city lost more than half of its manufacturing jobs as its old economy collapsed, and an information age took shape. While banking and financial services became the new engine of development, white-collar workers with computer skills replaced most of the blue-collar laborers of the past. A major portion of the country's software and computer-related industry located itself in New York and built an urban "Silicon Alley" to mirror California's Silicon Valley. Despite the shift away from traditional manufacturing, the city remains a center of clothing production.

Shipping has always been important to New York. From 1830 until the 1950s, it ranked as the busiest port in the world. Although New York has since lost some of its shipping to other cities, the combined Port of New York and New Jersey is still the busiest on the East Coast and generates billions of dollars of revenue.

Amid all the changes in New York's economy, the city's allure as a tourist destination has remained constant. Vast numbers of bars, restaurants, hotels, stores, and theaters cater to the millions of visitors who come to the city annually.

The Lenni Lenape were the first people to live on the land that would become New York City. Their name means "original people" in their Algonquian language. Europeans later called them the Delaware Indians.

It was the Dutch, motivated more by potential New World commerce than by territory, who established New York's first permanent European settlement about 1626. This was a fortified trading post at the southern tip of Manhattan that they called New Amsterdam. That same year Peter Minuit arrived and became director of the Dutch colony called New Netherland, which encompassed parts of what are now New Jersey, Connecticut, New York state, and Long Island as well as New York City. Minuit had orders to secure title to the land. He purchased Manhattan from its Native American inhabitants for small tools and trinkets valued at about 60 florins (often described as being worth about $24).

Attempts to lure Dutch immigrants met with mixed success. In order to populate their outposts, the company extended its offers-which became increasingly more generous-across Europe. The result was the most heterogeneous of the North American colonies. By 1643 it was reported that 18 different languages were heard on the dirt streets of New Amsterdam.

In 1664 the English sailed through the Verrazzano narrows and conquered New Netherland without firing a shot. Their claim to the Dutch dominion rested on no more than the precarious condition of New Amsterdam and its neighbor colonies, the infiltration of English settlers into nearby areas, and the long-simmering antagonism between England and the United Provinces over commercial and maritime dominance in northern Europe ( see Netherlands). Although British rule was interrupted for a year by a successful Dutch counterinvasion in 1673, the initial arrival marked the birth of the British colony of New York. Under England, however, the city continued to be what it had been under the Dutch-a slow-growing collection of shopkeepers.

By the time of the American Revolution, New York was an established commercial center. When war broke out, there was initial defiance toward the British. On July 9, 1776, the statue of King George III at Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan was toppled and then melted down for bullets. But defiance soon gave way to submission. Only months after the statue was felled, the British occupied the city, and they remained for the duration of the struggle.

The colonists' victory touched off something of a golden era for New York. In 1789 it was selected as the country's first capital. In the same year New Yorkers witnessed the inauguration of George Washington as the first president of the United States. New York lost the seat of government to Philadelphia only a year later. By then, however, New York was the country's largest city-with about 33,000 inhabitants-and the unofficial trading and financial capital.

Through the port of New York came trade goods from all over the globe. With the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, the city took a preeminent role in distributing to the country's interior. By the mid-1800s it handled more goods and people than all the other U.S. ports combined. So secure was its position that in 1861 Mayor Fernando Wood suggested it become a "free city" rather than fight against the South. New York instead provided more soldiers to the Union than any other city during the American Civil War. The city survived the turbulent, violent Draft Riot of 1863, and despite the financial panics between 1837 and 1893, New York remained an economic juggernaut. By 1900 it was the busiest port and one of the wealthiest cities in the world.

Prosperity in Manhattan was concentrated in the hands of the merchant elite until the Democratic Party gradually assumed control of political power. Tammany Hall, a political organization that became closely identified with the Democrats, supported such popular reforms as universal male suffrage and the end of imprisonment for indebtedness. Most important, Tammany provided badly needed social services to the waves of impoverished immigrants entering the city. With their votes, Tammany held a firm grip on political power well into the 20th century. Beginning in 1868, under the leadership of William Magear ("Boss") Tweed, Tammany became a notorious political machine with an international reputation for corruption. Boss Tweed and his successors dispensed pork-barrel patronage and spoils. They thereby gained a stranglehold on city government, the courts, the police, and even the state legislature.

The administrative structure of New York was shaped by the consolidation of the greater city in 1898. In large part spurred by the challenge that Chicago posed to its primacy, modern New York was formed when the independent city of Brooklyn, the portion of Westchester county called the Bronx, Staten Island, and large parts of Queens county were added to Manhattan following a referendum. The population of the city expanded from about 2 million to 3.4 million.

After World War II, however, New York City entered a difficult period. The port of New York lost its dominance, manufacturing declined, and debt ballooned. In the 1970s, as ethnic tensions rose and crime spread, the city lost more than 800,000 residents. Ongoing financial problems drove the city to the brink of bankruptcy in 1975.

Mayor Giuliani's leadership following the September 11 attacks was universally praised. Redevelopment efforts in New York City continued under his successor, the billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg, who took office in 2002. After a lengthy process, plans were announced to build a new World Trade Center complex at the site of the fallen towers (which came to be known as "Ground Zero"). The new complex centered on a 104-story tower called One World Trade Center. Construction on the tower began in 2006, and the building opened in 2014. The gaping crater left by the destroyed twin towers was developed into a memorial to the disaster and was opened to the public on September 12, 2011.

Reelected in 2005 and 2009, Bloomberg erased the city's budget deficit, revitalized tourism, and proposed a 25-year plan for improving the city's infrastructure. New York's financial sector experienced a boom until the so-called Great Recession of 2007-09 brought down several prominent banks and trading institutions and shook the foundations of Wall Street. New York's economy was recovering slowly when another major disaster struck the city, this time a natural one. In October 2012 Superstorm Sandy swept through the Greater New York region. In New York City a high storm surge and heavy rains caused the Hudson River, New York Harbor, and the East River to flood the streets and tunnels of Lower Manhattan. The storm precipitated widespread power outages and property damage. Several dozen people were killed citywide, notably on Staten Island, which was particularly hard hit by the storm. Rebuilding efforts continued for several years afterward.

When Bloomberg's third term as mayor ended, in 2013, he was succeeded by Bill de Blasio. De Blasio was the first Democrat to win the New York City mayoral election in more than two decades. As mayor, de Blasio focused on education, police reform, and initiatives to reduce income inequality in the city. He was easily reelected in 2017. De Blasio's replacement as mayor in 2022 was Eric Adams, an African American former policeman. Adams had previously served as the Brooklyn borough president.

Despite the problems and disasters the city faced in the early 21st century, New York's importance did not wane and, if anything, increased during this period. The host city of the United Nations, it continued to be the country's most international metropolis. It also remained one of the world's foremost tourist destinations. Population (2020) 8,804,190; New York-Newark-Jersey City Metro Area (2020), 20,140,470.

Federal Writers' Project. The WPA Guide to New York City: The Federal Writers' Project Guide to 1930s New York (New Press, 1996).Hampton, Wilborn. September 11, 2001: Attack on New York City, rev. ed. (Candlewick, 2011).Hill, Laban Carrick. Harlem Stomp!: A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance (Little, Brown and Company, 2014).Hopkinson, Deborah. Shutting out the Sky: Life in the Tenements of New York, 1880-1924 (Orchard, 2003).Kazin, Alfred. A Walker in the City (MJF, 1997; orig. pub. 1951).Lee, Nancy, et al. A Nation Challenged: A Visual History of 9/11 and Its Aftermath (Scholastic, 2002).Mackay, D.A. The Building of Manhattan (Dover, 2012).Riis, J.A. How the Other Half Lives (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011; orig. pub. 1890).Sullivan, Laura. Building the Empire State Building (Cavendish Square, 2018).White, E.B. Here Is New York (Little Bookroom, 2001).White, Norval, and Willensky, Elliot. AIA Guide to New York City, 5th ed. (Oxford Univ. Press, 2010).Wright, Carol von Pressentin. Blue Guide: New York, 5th ed. (Somerset, 2016).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Symbolically, if not geographically, New York City is at the center of things in the United States-the very definition of metropolis, or "mother city." It is the single place...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
New York City is composed of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State, making New York City one of the U.S. municipalities in multiple counties. The boroughs of Queens and the Bronx are also Queens County and Bronx County. The other three counties are named differently from their boroughs: Manhattan is New York County, Brooklyn is Kings County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.

All five boroughs came into existence with the creation of modern New York City in 1898, when New York County (including The Bronx), Kings County, part of Queens County, and Richmond County were consolidated within one municipal government under a new city charter. All former municipalities within the newly consolidated city were eliminated.

New York City was originally confined to Manhattan Island and the smaller surrounding islands that formed New York County. As the city grew northward, it began annexing areas on the mainland, absorbing territory from Westchester County into New York County in 1874 ( West Bronx) and 1895 ( East Bronx). During the 1898 consolidation, this territory was organized as the Borough of the Bronx, though still part of New York County. In 1914, Bronx County was split off from New York County so that each borough was then coterminous with a county.

When the western part of Queens County was consolidated with New York City in 1898, that area became the Borough of Queens. In 1899, the remaining eastern section of Queens County was split off to form Nassau County, thereafter making the borough and county of Queens coextensive with each other.

Terminology

The term borough was adopted in 1898 to describe a form of governmental administration for each of the five fundamental constituent parts of the newly consolidated city. Under the 1898 City Charter adopted by the New York State Legislature, a borough is a municipal corporation that is created when a county is merged with populated areas within it. The limited powers of the boroughs are inferior to the authority of the government of New York City, contrasting significantly with the powers of boroughs as that term is used in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, where a borough is an independent level of government, as well as with borough forms used in other states and in Greater London.

Background

New York City is often referred to collectively as the five boroughs, which can unambiguously refer to the city proper as a whole, avoiding confusion with any particular borough or with the Greater New York metropolitan area. The term is also used by politicians to counter a frequent focus on Manhattan and thereby to place all five boroughs on equal footing. In the same vein, the term outer boroughs refers to all of the boroughs excluding Manhattan, even though the geographic center of the city is along the Brooklyn-Queens border.

All five boroughs were created in 1898 during consolidation, when the city's current boundaries were established.

The Bronx originally included parts of New York County outside of Manhattan that had previously been ceded by neighboring Westchester County in two stages; in 1874 ( southern Yonkers, and the towns of Kingsbridge, West Farms, and Morrisania) and then following a referendum in 1894 (towns of Westchester, Williamsbridge, and the southern portion of Eastchester). Ultimately in 1914, the present-day separate Bronx County became the last county to be created in the State of New York.

The borough of Queens consists of what formerly was only the western part of a then-larger Queens County. In 1899, the three eastern towns of Queens County that had not joined the city the year before-the towns of Hempstead, North Hempstead, and Oyster Bay-formally seceded from Queens County to form the new Nassau County.

The borough of Staten Island, concurrent with Richmond County, was officially the borough of Richmond until the name was changed in 1975 to reflect its common appellation, while leaving the name of the county unchanged.

Description of the boroughs

There are hundreds of distinct neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs of New York City, many with a definable history and character to call their own.

(New York County) is the geographically smallest and most densely populated borough; is the symbol of New York City, as home to most of the city's skyscrapers and prominent landmarks, including Times Square and Central Park; and may be locally known simply as The City. Manhattan's (New York County's) population density of 72,033 people per square mile (27,812/km2) in 2015 makes it the highest of any county in the United States and higher than the density of any individual U.S. city. Manhattan is the cultural, administrative, and financial center of New York City and contains the headquarters of many major multinational corporations, the United Nations Headquarters, Wall Street, and a number of important universities. Manhattan is often described by Americans as the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world. Most of the borough is situated onManhattan Island, at the mouth of the Hudson River. Several small islands are also part of the borough of Manhattan, including Randall's Island, Wards Island, and Roosevelt Island in the East River, and Governors Island to the south in New York Harbor; Liberty Island, on which the Statue of Liberty stands, is a Manhattan exclave. Manhattan Island is loosely divided into Lower, Midtown, and Uptown regions. Uptown Manhattan is divided by Central Park into the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side, and above the park is Harlem. The borough also includes a small neighborhood on the mainland, called Marble Hill. Marble Hill was originally part of Manhattan Island, but is now contiguous with the Bronx after having been severed from Manhattan Island by the construction of the Harlem River Ship Canal south of the neighborhood, and having been connected to the mainland by the subsequent filling in of the Harlem River's original path to the neighborhood's north. New York City's remaining four boroughs are collectively referred to as the outer boroughs.

(Kings County), on the western tip of Long Island, is the city's most populous borough. Brooklyn is known for its cultural, social, and ethnic diversity, an independent art scene, distinct neighborhoods, and a distinctive architectural heritage. Downtown Brooklyn is the largest central core neighborhood in the outer boroughs. The borough has a long beachfront shoreline including Coney Island, established in the 1870s as one of the earliest amusement grounds in the country. Marine Park and Prospect Park are the two largest parks in Brooklyn. Since the early 2010s, Brooklyn has evolved into a thriving hub of entrepreneurship and high technology startup firms, and of postmodern art and design.

(Queens County), on Long Island north and east of Brooklyn, is geographically the largest borough, the most ethnically diverse county in the United States, as well as the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world. Historically a collection of small towns and villages founded by the Dutch, the borough has since developed both commercial and residential prominence. Downtown Flushing has become one of the busiest central core neighborhoods in the outer boroughs. Parts of Queens such as Bellerose and Forest Hills are relatively suburban in character. Queens is the site of Citi Field, the baseball stadium of the New York Mets, and hosts the annual U.S. Open tennis tournament at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Additionally, two of the three busiest airports serving the New York metropolitan area, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, are located in Queens. (The third is Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey.)

(Bronx County) is New York City's northernmost borough and the only New York City borough that is part of the United States mainland, aside from Marble Hill, Manhattan. It is the location of Yankee Stadium, the baseball stadium of the New York Yankees, and home to the largest cooperatively owned housing complex in the United States, Co-op City. It is also home to the Bronx Zoo, the world's largest metropolitan zoo, which covers 265 acres (107 ha) and houses over 6,000 animals. Directly to the zoo's north is the New York Botanical Garden, a botanical garden and National Historic Landmark. Pelham Bay Park is the largest park in New York City, at 2,772 acres (1,122 ha).

Staten Island (Richmond County) is generally the most suburban in character of the five boroughs. Staten Island is connected to Brooklyn by the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and to Manhattan by way of the Staten Island Ferry, a free commuter ferry and popular tourist attraction which provides unobstructed views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Lower Manhattan. In central Staten Island, the Staten Island Greenbelt spans approximately 2,500 acres (10 km2), including 28 miles (45 km) of walking trails and one of the last undisturbed forests in the city. Designated in 1984 to protect the island's natural lands, the Greenbelt comprises seven city parks.

Governance

Since 1914, each of New York City's five boroughs has been coextensive with a county of New York State - unlike most U.S. cities, which lie within a single county or extend partially into another county, constitute a county in themselves, or are completely separate and independent of any county.

Each borough is represented by a borough president. Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island each have a Borough Hall with limited administrative functions. The Manhattan Borough President's office is situated in the Manhattan Municipal Building. The Bronx Borough President's office used to be in its own Bronx Borough Hall but has been in the Bronx County Courthouse for decades. Since the abolition of the Board of Estimate in 1990 (due to a 1989 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court), the borough presidents have minimal executive powers, and there is no legislative function within a borough. Executive functions in New York City are the responsibility of the Mayor of New York City, while legislative functions reside with the New York City Council. The borough presidents primarily act as spokesmen, advocates, and ceremonial leaders for their boroughs, have budgets from which they can allocate relatively modest sums of money to community organizations and projects, and appoint the members of the 59 largely advisory community boards in the city's various neighborhoods. The Brooklyn and Queens borough presidents also appoint trustees to the local public library systems in those boroughs.

Being coextensive with an individual county, each borough also elects a district attorney, as does every other county of New York State. While the district attorneys of Manhattan and Brooklyn are popularly referred to as "Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance, Jr.", or "Brooklyn D.A. Kenneth P. Thompson" by the media, they are technically and legally the district attorneys of New York County and Kings County, respectively. The same goes for Staten Island. There is no such distinction made for the district attorneys of the other two counties, Queens and the Bronx, since these boroughs share the respective counties' names. Because the five district attorneys are, technically speaking, state officials (since the counties are considered to be arms of the state government), rather than officials of the city government, they are not subject to the term limitations that govern other New York City officials such as the mayor, the New York City Public Advocate, members of the city council, or the borough presidents. Some civil court judges also are elected on a borough-wide basis, although they generally are eligible to serve throughout the city.

In some document collections the boroughs used to be designated with a one-letter abbreviation: K for Brooklyn; M for Manhattan; Q for Queens; R for Staten Island, Richmond county; X for the Bronx.

Sixth borough

The term "sixth borough" is used to describe any of a number of places that have been metaphorically called a part of New York City because of their geographic location, demographics (they include large numbers of former New Yorkers), special affiliation, or cosmopolitan character. They have included adjacent cities and counties in the New York metropolitan area as well as in other states, U.S. territories, and foreign countries. In 2011, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg referred to the city's waterfront and waterways as a composite sixth borough during presentations of planned rehabilitation projects along the city's shoreline, including Governor's Island in the Upper New York Bay. The Hudson Waterfront in the U.S. state of New Jersey lies opposite Manhattan on the Hudson River, and during the Dutch colonial era, was under the jurisdiction of New Amsterdam and known as Bergen. Jersey City and Hoboken in Hudson County, New Jersey, are sometimes referred to as the sixth borough, given their proximity and connections by rapid transit PATH trains. Fort Lee, New Jersey, in Bergen County, opposite Upper Manhattan and connected by the George Washington Bridge, has also been called the sixth borough.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Boroughs of New York City Facts for Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
New York City is composed of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State, making New York City one of the U.S. municipalities in multiple counties. The boroughs of Queens and the Bronx are also Queens County and Bronx County.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Now there's good news: Tigers could be making a comeback. There are currently about 4,000 tigers worldwide. In July, India announced that its tiger population had reached nearly 3,000. That's a 30% rise in just four years. India has 70% of the world's tigers, making it the biggest, and maybe the safest, habitat for the species.

At a press conference in July, India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, spoke about the country's renewed efforts to save tigers. "Once the people of India decide to do something," he said, "there is no force that can prevent them from getting the desired results."

DAVID CALLAN-GETTY IMAGES

Keeping A Promise

The WWF estimates that the number of tigers in the world has dropped by 95% over the past century. In 2010, 13 countries where tigers live made a pledge to double their tiger populations by 2022. India is on track to reach that goal. The animal's fate depends on other countries reaching it too.

Nilanga Jayasinghe works for the WWF. "We have made significant strides in tiger conservation," she told TIME for Kids. "But the threats to tigers remain. All 13 range countries need to work together to secure a future for tigers."

MILE HIGH TRAVELER/GETTY IMAGES

Challenges Ahead

COURTESY SHARI RODRIGUEZ

Most people are willing to move. In India, "there is a lot of national pride surrounding tigers," says wildlife expert Shari Rodriguez of Clemson University, in South Carolina. "We cannot save wildlife without the cooperation of the people." Tigers are India's biggest attraction, she adds. Villagers benefit from jobs in India's national parks or from selling crafts to tourists.

But challenges remain for tigers all over Asia. They are poached for their skin, and their whiskers and teeth are sold in China as medicine. "They're still in peril," Rodriguez says. She draws hope from India's success: "This is a small, small victory in a long war against extinction."

SOURCES: IUCN RED LIST, PANTHERA

Stepping Up

Tiger habitats are shrinking. Nearly all of the animal's historical range is gone.

India and 12 other countries have vowed to step up conservation efforts. Bhutan, Nepal, and Russia have also increased their tiger populations. WWF is working to reintroduce tigers to Cambodia, where the cat was declared extinct in 2016.

Looking for the cover quiz? After you sign in, click on the Resources tab to search Teaching Resources for printable versions of all our quizzes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 2010, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) issued bad news: The world tiger population had hit an all-time low. Poaching and habitat loss had taken their toll. There were just 3,200 tigers left in the wild, about half as many...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Habitat: Amur leopards live in the temperate forests of Far Eastern Russia, experiencing harsh winters with extreme cold and deep snow, as well as hot summers.

Location: They are found in Southwest Primorye in the Russian Far East, and along the Russian border with Heilongjiang Province and Jilin Province in North East China. It is possible that a few leopards also exist in North Korea, but so far we have not been able to survey this area.

The Amur leopard is the northernmost of all leopard subspecies. Its historic range extended throughout northeastern ("Manchurian") China, the southern part of Primorsky Krai in Russia and the Korean Peninsula. This range shrank dramatically during the 20th century, due primarily to habitat loss and hunting.

At the turn of the 20th century, the leopard was still found throughout much of southern Primorsky Krai. The first reliable estimate of leopard numbers in Russia was made by Dmitry Pikunov and Vladimir Abramov in the winter of 1972-1973. By this time, the population in Primorye had already contracted from one contiguous population into three isolated ones and there were an estimated 38 to 46 Amur leopards remaining in Russia, many of which depended upon habitat on both sides of the Russian-Chinese border. A 1985 survey suggested that leopards had disappeared from the area southwest of Lake Khanka and from southern Sikhote-Alin. The leopard population in southwest Primorye remained approximately the same as the 1972 survey, 25 to 30 animals. A more recent count in the 1990-1991 winter revealed the population size in southwest Primorye to be stable at 30 to 36 animals, if migrants to and from China were included. The most recent results from population monitoring in 2011 suggests there are now approximately 40 individuals and surveys carried out in China in 2012 estimate fewer than 20 leopards living in that region.

The Amur leopard probably went extinct in the wild in South Korea in the late 1960s, although some recent, unconfirmed reports suggest that a few leopards may remain in and around the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. There are likely still leopards in the rugged northern region of North Korea near the Chinese border, and it is also likely that animals from Southwest Primorye in Russia occasionally cross the border into North Korea, but reliable information is lacking.

Competition: Although in other regions it seems leopards do not do well in areas where they share territory with tigers, this has not proved to be the case in Russia. Studies have indicated that an increased tiger population in the Southwest Primorye area has not adversely affected the leopard population.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Amur Leopard Facts - WildCats Conservation Alliance

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
WildCats comprehensive Amur leopard facts, including information on the latest Amur leopard reintroduction plan. Get in touch if there's something missing..

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Five Boroughs of New York City | The Official Guide to New York City

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The City derives its character from hundreds of communities that feel like cities of their own. Find your next destination here.

# data[].attributes.body
World Factbook gives you basic information about the world we live in. Search for a country in Central America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
CIA’s World Factbook is your authoritative source on the world’s countries, territories, oceans, and more. Explore world facts at your fingertips.

# data[].attributes.body
World Factbook gives you basic information about the world we live in. Just search a country in South America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
CIA’s World Factbook is your authoritative source on the world’s countries, territories, oceans, and more. Explore world facts at your fingertips.

# data[].attributes.body
World Factbook gives you basic information about the world we live in.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Britain’s American colonies broke with the mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North Ameri…

# data[].attributes.body
World Factbook gives you basic information about the world we live in.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Introduction

The site of several advanced Amerindian civilizations - including the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec - Mexico was conquered and colonized by Spain in the early 16th century. Administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain for three centuries, it achieved independence early in the 19th century. Elections held in 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that an opposition candidate - Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) - defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was succeeded in 2006 by another PAN candidate Felipe CALDERON, but Enrique PEÑA NIETO regained the presidency for the PRI in 2012. Left-leaning anti-establishment politician and former mayor of Mexico City (2000-05) Andrés Manuel LÓPEZ OBRADOR, from the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), became president in December 2018.

Mexico is currently the second-largest (after Canada) goods trading partner of the US with nearly $780 billion in two-way goods trade in 2022. Mexico's GDP contracted by 8.2% in 2020 due to pandemic-induced closures, its lowest level since the Great Depression. Mexico's economy is rebounding; it grew by 4.8% in 2021, driven largely by increased remittances, despite supply chain and pandemic-related challenges, and grew by 3% in 2022.

The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA, or T-MEC by its Spanish acronym) entered into force on 1 July 2020 and replaced its predecessor, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Mexico amended its constitution on 1 May 2019 to facilitate the implementation of the labor components of USMCA.

Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, high underemployment, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities, particularly for the largely indigenous population in the impoverished southern states. Since 2007, Mexico's powerful transnational criminal organizations have engaged in a struggle to control criminal markets, resulting in tens of thousands of drug-related homicides and forced disappearances.

Visit the Definitions and Notes page to view a description of each topic.

Geography

slightly less than three times the size of Texas

agricultural land: 54.9% (2018 est.)

arable land: 11.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.4% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 41.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 33.3% (2018 est.)

other: 11.8% (2018 est.)

Rio Grande river mouth (shared with US [s]) - 3,057 km; Colorado river mouth (shared with US [s]) - 2,333 km
note - [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Gulf of Mexico) Rio Grande/Bravo (607,965 sq km)
Pacific Ocean drainage: (Gulf of California) Colorado (703,148 sq km)

tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts

volcanism: volcanic activity in the central-southern part of the country; the volcanoes in Baja California are mostly dormant; Colima (3,850 m), which erupted in 2010, is Mexico's most active volcano and is responsible for causing periodic evacuations of nearby villagers; it has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Popocatepetl (5,426 m) poses a threat to Mexico City; other historically active volcanoes include Barcena, Ceboruco, El Chichon, Michoacan-Guanajuato, Pico de Orizaba, San Martin, Socorro, and Tacana; see note 2 under "Geography - note"

People and Society

Spanish only 93.8%, Spanish and indigenous languages 5.4%, indigenous only 0.6%, unspecified 0.2%; note - indigenous languages include various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional languages (2020 est.)

major-language sample(s):
La Libreta Informativa del Mundo, la fuente indispensable de información básica. (Spanish)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

improved: urban: 100% of population

rural: 98.3% of population

total: 99.7% of population

unimproved: urban: 0% of population

rural: 1.7% of population

total: 0.3% of population (2020 est.)

improved: urban: 99.9% of population

rural: 96.4% of population

total: 99.2% of population

unimproved: urban: 0.1% of population

rural: 3.6% of population

total: 0.8% of population (2020 est.)

Environment

agricultural land: 54.9% (2018 est.)

arable land: 11.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.4% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 41.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 33.3% (2018 est.)

other: 11.8% (2018 est.)

Rio Grande river mouth (shared with US [s]) - 3,057 km; Colorado river mouth (shared with US [s]) - 2,333 km
note - [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Gulf of Mexico) Rio Grande/Bravo (607,965 sq km)
Pacific Ocean drainage: (Gulf of California) Colorado (703,148 sq km)

Government

description:

bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Unión consists of:
Senate or Cámara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 32 directly elected in a single, nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 6-year terms)

Chamber of Deputies or Cámara de Diputados (500 seats; 300 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 200 directly elected in a single, nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 3-year terms)

elections:
Senate - last held on 1 July 2018 (next to be held in July 2024)

Chamber of Deputies - last held on 6 June 2021 (next to be held in July 2024)

election results:

Senate - percent of vote by party - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MORENA 58, PAN 22, PRI 14, PRD 9, MC 7, PT 7, PES 5, PVEM 5, PNA/PANAL 1; composition (as of July 2018) - men 65, women 63, percent of women 49.2%

Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MORENA 197, PAN 111, PRI 69, PVEM 44, PT 38, MC 25, PRD 16; composition - men 250, women 250, percent of women 50%; note - overall percent of women in National Congress 49.8%

note: as of the 2018 election, senators will be eligible for a second term and deputies up to 4 consecutive terms

Citizen's Movement (Movimiento Ciudadano) or MC [Clemente CASTAÑEDA Hoeflich]
Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) or PRI [Claudia RUIZ Massieu]
Labor Party (Partido del Trabajo) or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutiérrez]
Mexican Green Ecological Party (Partido Verde Ecologista de México) or PVEM [Karen CASTREJÓN Trujillo]
Movement for National Regeneration (Movimiento Regeneración Nacional) or MORENA [Mario DELGADO Carillo]
National Action Party (Partido Acción Nacional) or PAN [Antonio CORTÉS Mendoza]
Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolución Democrática) or PRD [Jesús ZAMBRANO Grijalva]
This Is For Mexico (Va Por México) (alliance that includes PAN, PRI, and PRD)
Together We Make History (Juntos Hacemos Historia) (alliance that included MORENA, PT, PVEM) (dissolved 23 December 2020)

total World Heritage Sites: 35 (27 cultural, 6 natural, 2 mixed)

selected World Heritage Site locales: Historic Mexico City (c); Earliest 16th-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl (c); Teotihuacan (c); Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino (n); Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (n); Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley (m); Historic Puebla (c); El Tajin (c); Historic Tlacotalpan (c); Historic Oaxaca and Monte Albán (c); Palenque (c); Chichen-Itza (c); Uxmal (c)

Economy

54.3% of GDP (2017 est.)
56.8% of GDP (2016 est.)

comparison ranking: 90

$456.713 billion (2019 est.)
$448.268 billion (2018 est.)

comparison ranking: 29

Mexican pesos (MXN) per US dollar -

Exchange rates:
20.272 (2021 est.)
21.486 (2020 est.)
19.264 (2019 est.)
19.244 (2018 est.)
18.927 (2017 est.)

Energy

electrification - total population: 100% (2021)

463.739 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

from coal and metallurgical coke: 43.24 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

from petroleum and other liquids: 260.311 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

from consumed natural gas: 160.188 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

comparison ranking: total emissions 13

Communications

Transportation

Military and Security

0.7% of GDP (2022 est.)
0.7% of GDP (2021)
0.6% of GDP (2020)
0.5% of GDP (2019)
0.5% of GDP (2018)

comparison ranking: 150

the Mexican military is responsible for defending the independence, integrity, and sovereignty of Mexico, as well as providing for internal security, disaster response, humanitarian assistance, and socio-economic development; in recent years, internal security duties have been a key focus, particularly in countering narcotics trafficking and organized crime groups, as well as border control and immigration enforcement; the constitution was amended in 2019 to grant the president the authority to use the armed forces to protect internal and national security, and courts have upheld the legality of the armed forces' role in law enforcement activities in support of civilian authorities through 2028; the military also provides security for strategic facilities, such as oil production infrastructure, and administers most of the country's land and sea ports and customs services, plus the approximately 2,700 branches of a state-owned development bank; in addition, President LOPEZ OBRADOR has placed the military in charge of a growing number of infrastructure projects, such as building and operating a new airport for Mexico City and sections of a train line in the country's southeast

the Mexican Army is a lightly armed force comprised largely of infantry supplemented by mechanized or motorized forces; it is primarily focused on internal security operations vice conventional warfare, and its posture and composition reflects an internal focus over external threats; much of the force is deployed throughout the country in 12 military regional commands and 48 subordinate military zones, giving the Army a country-wide presence and the ability to respond immediately to a crisis; force strengths in each zone vary according to the security situation, from a single infantry battalion to over 10 infantry battalions and small motorized cavalry regiments, plus other units on rotation; the Army's principal mobile combat forces are approximately 10 light or mechanized/motorized infantry brigades, three special forces brigades, and a paratrooper brigade, which are separate from the units under the military zones; the National Guard has up to 12 military police brigades; the Air Force's inventory reflects its chief roles of supporting the Army, conducting counter-narcotics operations, and providing assistance during natural disasters; its fixed-wing combat aircraft include a handful of US-made fighters acquired in the 1980s and about 30 light attack planes; the Air Force also has more than 30 transport aircraft, as well as about 100 multipurpose helicopters

the Mexican Navy is largely a coastal patrol force but has a growing blue water capability; it has a range of missions including maritime law enforcement, security of maritime facilities, resources, and the environment, humanitarian assistance, and search and rescue; it has fleet commands for both the Pacific and Caribbean Sea/Gulf of Mexico, plus naval aviation, and naval infantry forces; the Navy's warships include five frigates and more than 100 patrol vessels of varying sizes and capabilities; the Naval Infantry Corps (Cuerpo de Infantería de Marina) has both external and internal security responsibilities, including providing port security, protecting the coastal fringe, and patrolling major waterways; it also has had a significant role in combating narcotics trafficking and organized crime; the Corps has more than 30 combat battalions, which include amphibious, commando, infantry, paratrooper, security, and special operations forces (2023)

Space

the AEM's focus is on coordinating Mexico's space policy and the country's commercial space sector, including developing specialists, technologies, and infrastructure, and acquiring satellites; manufactures and operates communications and scientific satellites; conducts research in a range of space-related capabilities and technologies, including satellites and satellite payloads, telecommunications, remote sensing, Earth and weather sciences, astronomy, and astrophysics; has relations with a variety of foreign space agencies and commercial space industries, including those of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the European Space Agency (ESA) and its member states (particularly France, Germany, and the UK), India, Peru, Russia, Ukraine, and the US; leading member of the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency (ALCE) (2023)

note: further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country's space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in Appendix S

Transnational Issues

Mexico-Belize: Mexico and Belize are working to solve minor border demarcation discrepancies arising from inaccuracies in the 1898 border treaty

Mexico-Guatemala: Mexico must deal with thousands of impoverished Guatemalans and other Central Americans who cross the porous border looking for work in Mexico and the US

Mexico-US: the US has intensified security measures to monitor and control legal and illegal persons, transport, and commodities across its border with Mexico

significant source and transit country for fentanyl, fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills, other synthetic opioids, cocaine from South America, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine destined for the United States; a destination for synthetic drug precursor chemicals from China, India, and other countries

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The site of several advanced Amerindian civilizations - including the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec - Mexico was conquered and colonized by Spain in the early 16th century. Administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain for three centuries, it achieved independence early in the 19th century.

# data[].attributes.body
World Factbook gives you basic information about the world we live in.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A land of vast distances and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867, while retaining ties to the British crown. Canada gained legislative independence from Britain in 1931 and formalized its constitutional independence from the UK when it passed the Canada Act in 1982.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Central America Geography is WEIRDER than You Thought – 50 Facts

# data[].attributes.headline
Travel Guide for kids to Central America

# data[].attributes.subject
Travel Guide for kids to Central America

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Our Central America Facts for Kids provide lots of interesting and fun facts on this region in the Americas.

Top 25 Central America Facts

1. Central America is a region in the Americas. This region is usually described as a land bridge or isthmus between the North American and the South American continents.

The Americas are often separated into three regions: North America, Central America and South America.

However, keep in mind that when talking about continents, we usually speak about North American continent and the South American continents and Central America is usually referred to as a region belonging to the major part to the North American continent.

2. Central America borders the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea of the Atlantic Ocean.

El Salvador only borders the Pacific while Belize only borders the (Caribbean Sea) Atlantic Ocean.

Please note that sometimes the Caribbean islands are included in Central America country listings too.

3. There are 7 countries in Central America. Click on the flags to learn more about these countries:

The Central American countries Belize and Guatemala border Mexico while Panama is considered a transcontinental country and borders Colombia that is a country belonging to the South American continent.

4. Largest Country: Nicaragua.

Nicaragua is slightly larger than the state of Pennsylvania/USA or slightly smaller than Greece or about double the land area of Sri Lanka.

5. Smallest Country: El Salvador.

El Salvador is about the same size as the state of New Jersey in the USA or a bit larger than Slovenia or double the size as Lebanon.

6. Largest Capital City: Guatemala City in Guatemala.

The largest capital city of the region is Guatemala City with a population of 3 million people.

7. The capital cities of the seven countries are:

Nicaragua: Managua

Honduras: Tegucigalpa

Guatemala: Guatemala City

Panama: Panama City

Costa Rica: San José

Belize: Belmopan

El Salvador: San Salvador

8. The northernmost country of Central America is Belize, the southernmost country is Panama.

The southernmost point off the mainland is Cocos Island, a Costa Rican island. Cocos island is located about 550 km/ 342 miles to the southwest of the country in the Pacific Ocean.

9. A mountain chain runs the length of Central America from Mexico to Panama. The longest chain and highest mountains are located in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas that crosses Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

10. Volcanoes: The region is often affected by natural disasters due to volcanic activities, earthquakes and tropical storms and hurricanes.

More than 200 volcanic eruptions took place in the Central American region in the last thirty years. The most active volcanoes are located in Guatemala and in northwestern Costa Rica where the Arenal volcano is located.

The highest mountain in Central America is a volcano called Tajumulco in Guatemala. Volcán Tajumulco is 4220 m/ 13,845 ft high.

12. Biggest Lake: Lake Nicaragua.

Lake Nicaragua in Nicaragua is the largest lake in Central America.

13. Biggest Island: Isla de Ometepe (Spanish and Nahuatl, meaning: Island of the two mountains) in Lake Nicaragua is the world's largest island in a freshwater lake. The island is formed by two volcanoes.

More Central America Facts

14. Population of Central America: There are about 48 million people in Central America.

Guatemala is the most populous country with about 18.2 million people. Most of the people in the region live in rural areas, in the fertile mountain valleys and along the coastline.

Belize is the least populated country in Central America with a population of under one million people.

15. People of Central America: Amerindian ethnic groups dominated in the area until the colonisation. Mayans and Aztecs Mayan population still accounts for about half of the Guatemalan people and the Mayan language is still spoken by a third of the population in Guatemala. This country also recognises 21 Mayan languages.

16. The largest cities in Central America are:

17. Languages in Central America: The main languages of the region are Spanish and English as well as many local languages. Spanish is the most spoken language in the region with more than 85% of the population in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama speaking Spanish.

18. The official language in Belize is English, as Belize once was a British colony. Belize only gained independence from the UK in 1981. This country was the last to gain independence in Central America.

19. Religion: The main religion is Christianity (95%). Most people in the region are Roman Catholics but there are also larger numbers of protestants and followers of other Christian faiths. The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in León/ Nicaragua is the largest church in Central America.

Central America Facts
Landmarks and Attractions

20. Attractions and major landmarks in Central America include:

Belize: Great Blue Hole is a marine sinkhole in the Lighthouse Reef about 70 km/ 43 miles off the Belize coastline. This round-shaped hole is about 124 m deep/ 407 ft. and is popular with scuba divers.

Maya ruins and colonial towns

Guatemala's volcanic Lake Atitlan and the pools at Semuc Champey

Nicaragua's rainforest which is the largest in the Western Hemisphere

Panama's cloud forest and the Panama canal

The Panama Canal is an artificial waterway that is 82 km/ 51 miles long. It connects the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. The canal was first opened in 1914 and was further extended in 2016. It now has three sets of locks and there are artificial lakes and a reservoir.

and so many more attractions to visit... we will upload more here soon!

Central America Facts
Wildlife and Biodiversity

21. Animals: In Central America there are tapirs, piranhas and anacondas and many other animals. The toucan is also unique to the Americas and endemic in Central America. The birds with the colourful bills live in hollow trees in the tropical rainforests.

22. Biodiversity: Costa Rica is a megadiverse country and has the highest biodiversity of the Central American countries with over 13,000 species and especially high numbers of Amphibian and reptile species.

23. However, Belize is the country in the region with the most well protected natural territory as about 40% of the country have official protected status. The Belize Barrier Reef is one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world.

Central America Facts | Economy

24. Economy: Guatemala has the largest economy of the Central American countries.

The most important agricultural produce and natural resources of the region are coffee (El Salvador), bananas (Honduras), bananas and pineapples (Costa Rica) or Palm oil (Guatemala).

25. Main natural resources in Central America are minerals such as iron ore (used to make steel) or nickel and agricultural produce such as bananas, coffee, sugar, cocoa and seafood/fish. Timber is an important export product too.

Test your Knowledge

Popular Pages

Useful Resources for Central America Facts

Central Intelligence Agency. "Central America and the Caribbean." WorldFactBook Last accessed 8 June 2022

Global Volcanism Program. "Tajumulco." Smithsonian Institute. Last accessed 8 June 2022

National Geographic. "World Atlas for Young Explorers". Washington: 2010. pages 86-92

Millennium. "Earth Condensed - The World Atlas." Millennium House. 2009

Image Credits on Central America Facts page: Shutterstock.com and wikipedia commons Return from Central America Facts to Kids-World-Travel-Guide Homepage

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Central America Facts for Kids | Facts for Kids | Geography | America

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Our Central America Facts for Kids provide lots of interesting and fun facts on this region in the Americas. 1. Central America is a region in the Americas. This region is usually described as a land bridge or isthmus between the North American and the South American continents.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
instant access to thousands of great kids books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
instant access to thousands of great kids books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Discover wildlife species around the world

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Explore profiles of endangered and iconic species. Learn how each animal fits into its ecosystem and what’s being done to protect them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The manatee calf flips and tumbles beside her mother in the clear, warm water of Blue Spring State Park near Orange City, Florida. Tourists snap photos from a platform nearby. Conservationists are excited to see the mother manatee-named Annie-with her newborn, called Naui (NOW-ee). Just a few decades ago, as few as 14 manatees swam through these freshwater springs, and scientists worried that these marine mammals might disappear from Florida forever.

Manatee emergency

Before European settlers arrived in the United States, up to 10,000 manatees lived off the coast of Florida. But the settlers hunted the slow-moving animals for their meat and fat, which they used for lamp oil, until only a few hundred were left. By the mid-20th century, the hunting had stopped, but the remaining manatees faced new threats. These mammals often glide near the water's surface to breathe-directly in the path of boats. Each decade brought more people and their boats to Florida, making life dangerous for manatees.

Those people created other dangers as well. Manatees don't have blubber like seals and walruses, so they can't survive long in temperatures below 68°F. But the natural warm springs where manatees spent winters resting and raising their young were also popular hangouts for people. Too frightened of humans to enter the springs from chillier waters, many manatees died. "These gentle animals desperately needed help," says biologist Patrick Rose, director of the Save the Manatee Club.

On the mend

Scientists nominated the species to be in the first group of animals protected by the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which gives government agencies in the United States the power to protect endangered animals' habitat and makes it illegal to kill or harass certain species. Two years later, a group of kids campaigned to make the manatee Florida's state marine mammal, which helped spread the word about them.

Over the next decades, Florida officials worked with local governments to create protected spaces for manatees called sanctuaries. People aren't allowed to swim, boat, or fish in these areas, giving manatees a safe place to rest. Just outside the sanctuaries, they created slow-speed zones for boaters, which helps reduce the number of manatees injured by boats. The Save the Manatee Club also gave away "Go Slow!" banners that boaters could hold up if someone spotted a manatee outside of a protected zone. "Every manatee matters for the survival of the species," Rose says.

Manatees forever

In 2019 experts reported that some 7,000 manatees are living along the Florida coast, far more than the number living there during the mid-20th century. The hard work done to protect manatees and their habitat worked-but conservationists know they aren't done. "The population's recovering, but threats to these manatees certainly still exist," says Ron Mezich, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Today more than 700 manatees, including Annie and Naui, spend the winter in Blue Spring State Park. Visitors can observe the pair from a dock, and conservationists keep watch over all the park's manatees. Hopefully Naui is a sign that other manatees will survive in Florida for years to come.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Locals take action to make sure these marine mammals are on the rise.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A gray wolf pads along a forest edge and cautiously sniffs the ground. His movements trigger a trail camera, which snaps a photo of the animal as he crosses the invisible state line that divides Oregon and California. The lone wolf, nicknamed Journey, is on a quest to find a mate. Journey's, well, journey doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is: He's perhaps the first wolf to enter California in nearly a hundred years.

Hunted wolves

Some two million gray wolves once roamed throughout North America. But in the early 1800s, settlers moving westward across what's now the United States cleared areas of land for ranching and farming. That meant the wolves didn't have as much natural prey like bison and elk, so they ate livestock instead.

Over the next century, people got rid of the wolves using guns, poison, and traps. By the 1970s, only a few hundred remained in the lower 48 states of the United States, in parts of northern Minnesota and on an island in Lake Superior, one of the Great Lakes.

Experts knew that the animals were in danger of going extinct in the lower 48 states. (Gray wolves in Alaska were never endangered.) "But wolves belong here too," says Carter Niemeyer, a former wolf manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Back on track

The U.S. government listed the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act in 1974, which made it illegal to kill or harm the country's wolves.

"At this time, people wanted to see wolves expand their territory and return to western parts of the United States," biologist Doug Smith says. Gray wolves had been living successfully in Canada for centuries. So in the early 1990s, U.S. and Canadian scientists captured 76 Canadian wolves and released them in parts of Yellowstone National Park in Montana and Wyoming, plus parts of Idaho. "The wolves thrived in their new homes," Smith says. The hope was that the wolves would explore beyond the park's borders and make their homes in other states, too.

In just 40 years, the gray wolf population grew to about 7,500 in the lower 48 states-plus some 10,000 wolves in Alaska. "We should be really proud that we brought back a species that could've been wiped off the map," Smith says.

Pup progress

Today, wolves like Journey continue to return to their former range-and help those ecosystems at the same time. "Wolves influence the number of big animals such as elk. You need that because too many hungry elk can eat too many plants," Niemeyer says. "Other animals, like foxes and bearded vultures, also feed off of what wolves kill." Although conservationists and ranchers still debate what a healthy wolf population means for farms and cities, these wolves aren't going anywhere.

A few years ago in California, Journey's lonely arrooo was answered by a small, black wolf: his mate. Together the pair raised at least 16 pups, some of which have gone on to start their own packs-giving conservationists something to howl about.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Caring people pass laws to help these canines expand their territory.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A female tiger gives birth to a litter of three or four cubs, who she will care for until they are a year-and-a-half old. These cubs quadruple in size during their first month!

The powerful predator generally hunts alone, able to bring down prey such as deer and antelope. Tigers wait until dark to hunt. The tiger sprints to an unsuspecting animal, usually pulling it off its feet with its teeth and claws. If the prey animal is large, the tiger bites its throat to kill it; smaller prey is usually killed when the tiger breaks its neck. Tigers have been known to eat up to 80 pounds of meat in one night, but more often they consume about 12 pounds during a meal. It may take days for a tiger to finish eating its kill. The cat eats until it's full, and then covers the carcass with leaves and dirt. The tiger comes back to feed some more.

Tigers live far apart from each other. A tiger knows if it is in another tiger's territory based on the trees around him. Each tiger marks the trees in its area with urine and special scratches.

Unlike most members of the cat family, tigers seem to enjoy water and swim well.

Some tigers live where it gets very cold-in India and parts of southeast Asia. The whole species is endangered throughout its range.

Tigers have been overhunted for their fur as well as for other body parts that many people use in traditional medicines. Tigers' habitat has also dwindled seriously as humans have developed land for uses such as farming and logging. However, in the Siberian region of Russia, there's hope that these big cats are making a comeback.

Because of their size, strength, and predatory skills, tigers are considered one of the "big cats." Lions, cheetahs, jaguars, and cougars are also part of this grouping.

Tiger stripes are special to each individual, and their tails help them to keep their balance. The big cats share all but 4.4% of their DNA with domestic cats.

Take the big cat quiz to see how much you know about these fierce felines. Then, just for fun, see which wild cat you're most like with our personality quiz.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Easily recognized by its coat of reddish-orange with dark stripes, the tiger is the largest wild cat in the world. The big cat's tail is three feet long. On average the big cat weighs 450 pounds, about the same as eight ten-year-old kids.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.headline
National geographic video- Surviving sea turtles 

# data[].attributes.subject
National geographic video- Surviving sea turtles 

# data[].attributes.headline
National Geographic - butterfly life cycle 

# data[].attributes.subject
National Geographic - butterfly life cycle 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We all love butterflies for their beautiful, brightly-coloured wings. But did you know that these fab flyers begin life as something completely different? As they grow, they undergo one seriously terrific transformation - a process known as " metamorphosis ".

Join Nat Geo Kids as we follow the life-cycle of this quirky creature, from the egg to the air!

It all starts when a female butterfly lays her eggs, usually on leaves or stems of plants. Inside these tiny eggs, caterpillars grow. Depending on the species, the eggs can vary in shape and texture - they can be round, oval or cylindrical, and smooth, bumpy or wrinkled. The time it takes for the eggs to hatch can also vary - in some species, they will hatch within a few weeks and in others they will only hatch once the weather is warm enough.

(AD)

Stage 2: the caterpillar

Once ready, the caterpillar leaves its egg home and enters the big outside world! And these little critters have one serious appetite - they actually eat their way out of the egg and immediately start chomping on the leaves of the host plant. During this stage, they shed their skin four or five times - as the caterpillar grows, its skin becomes too tight and splits open, revealing a new, larger skin underneath. A fully grown caterpillar can be over 100 times larger than when it emerged from its egg. Wow!

Once fully grown, the caterpillar forms itself into a "pupa" (or chrysalis) - a kind of vessel in which the caterpillar changes into a butterfly. They usually do this on twigs or safe, hidden areas around the host plant. The "pupa" stage may last a few weeks to several months depending on the species. During this time, a hardened case forms around the pupa to protect it from predators and extreme weather conditions. And inside, the tissue, limbs and organs of the caterpillar transform. The result? A wonderful winged butterfly!

Once the butterfly is ready to emerge, the case around the pupa splits open. But it's not time for take off just yet, as the wings are at first wet, soft and wrinkled against its body. The butterfly waits for its wings to dry, and pumps a liquid called hemolymph into them so that they become big and strong. Once fit for flight, this brilliant bug then takes to the air in search for flowers to feed on and for other butterflies to mate with.

And that's the cycle complete - and ready to start all over again!

DID YOU KNOW?
Moths also go through this process of metamorphosis. Check out the four stages of the Atlas moth, below - the largest moth in the world!

Images: Atlas moth: Butterfly World. All other images: Getty Images UK. Monarch butterfly on flower: James Laurie, Shutterstock.

Cool, huh? Did you enjoy learning about the butterfly life cycle? Let us know by leaving a comment, below!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We all love butterflies for their beautiful, brightly-coloured wings. But did you know that these fab flyers begin life as something completely different? As they grow, they undergo one seriously terrific transformation - a process known as " metamorphosis ". Join Nat Geo Kids as we follow the life-cycle of this quirky creature, from the egg to the air!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The frog life cycle

Frogs are animal athletes, with strong powerful legs that allow them to leap out of harm's way. These powerful limbs are the secret to their success - and incredibly, it takes baby frogs weeks and weeks to grow them!

Like beautiful butterflies, frogs and toads undergo an astonishing transformation - which is called ' metamorphosis' - as they grow up. From jelly-like eggs laid in water, they grow into wriggling tadpoles, and finally grow legs suitable for land!

But how does this mesmerising metamorphosis work? Let's have a look at each stage of the frog life cycle in turn, to find out...

Stage 1: Extraordinary eggs

It all starts with adult frogs laying hundreds of tiny eggs, which clump together in groups known as frogspawn. This happens in early spring, when the weather is just starting to get warmer. Spotting frogspawn is often thought of as being a key sign of spring!

You can hunt for frogspawn in shallow, still water - a garden pond, for example! As the eggs are defenceless, they're usually laid among vegetation and just below the surface of the water, to give them some protection.

If you're lucky enough to spot some of these strange eggs, pay attention to their shape. Frogs lay 'frogspawn', which looks like a round cluster of eggs, while toads lay 'toadspawn', which comes in long ribbons.

DID YOU KNOW?
As far as scientists are concerned, there's no difference between frogs and toads! They have different characteristics, but share the same family tree.

In the frogspawn, the baby frogs start out as tiny black dots surrounded by a jelly-like substance. Over time, they become comma-shaped, as their tails begin to develop - amazing!

Stage 2: Teeny tadpoles!

After spending 1-3 weeks eating the yolk of their egg, the baby frog hatches into the big, wide world.

Now, the baby frogs are known as tadpoles. They have gills, a mouth, and a long tail, which they need for swimming!

DID YOU KNOW?
The tadpole stage of the frog life cycle is also known as the larval stage. Tadpoles are frog larvae, in the same way that caterpillars are butterfly larvae!

For the first week or two after hatching, tadpoles won't move around very much, as they're still absorbing some nutrition from the yolk of their egg. However, once the yolk is all gone, the tadpoles are big and strong enough to venture out into their watery world!

Unlike adult frogs, tadpoles can't go on land - so they feed on plant material filteredfrom the water, and tear off tiny chunks of nearby vegetation.

The legless, water-bound tadpoles slowly metamorphose into frogs over the next 14 weeks.

First, they grow back legs, then front legs too! Soon after, their body starts to change shape, and they're able to start eating insects.

Next, the tadpoles' tails shrink away, and skin grows over their gills, as they develop lungs and eardrums! These are super important steps, as they prepare the tadpole for life on land.

Once their gills and tails are gone forever, tadpoles undergo one last 24-hour push, where the metamorphosis completes. Once this stage is finished, the baby frogs emerge from the water as tiny adults!

Amazingly, tadpoles are able to control the timing of their transformation. If they're living in a dangerous environment, like a pond full of hungry fish, they will metamorphose more quickly, to make their escape! On the other hand, if their pond has lots of plants to munch through, and few predators - or if it's extra cold on land - tadpoles can delay their metamorphosis, and remain in the water for up to a year. Wow!

Stage 3: Fully-grown frog!

And there you have it - the frogs are all grown up, and ready to head out into the big wide world!

As adults, frogs and toads are much less reliant on water. So long as they stick to the shade and don't dry out, they can live on land - but they often return to ponds and lakes for a splash!

Before too long, the females will look for water to lay her own eggs. Once that's happened, the life cycle is complete - what a frog-tastic life they lead!

Thanks to S. Hermann & F. Richter; Jill Wellington; PollyDot; David Clode, and Venita Oberholster for the images used in this article.

Have you ever found frogspawn, or spotted a frog? Let us know in the comments below!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Frog Life Cycle for Kids - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From tiny tadpole to bouncing adult, we're learning all about the transformation that takes frogspawn to frog! Discover the frog life cycle

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.headline
Life's Big Changes: Four Animal Life Cycles Up Close

# data[].attributes.subject
Life's Big Changes: Four Animal Life Cycles Up Close

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Life's Big Changes: Four Animal Life Cycles Up Close

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get facts and photos of the U.S. states and territories, and the District of Columbia.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The United States of America is the world’s third largest country in size and nearly the third largest in terms of population.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
instant access to thousands of great kids books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
instant access to thousands of great kids books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
instant access to thousands of great kids books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
instant access to thousands of great kids books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Colombia's people are as diverse as its landscape.

OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Colombia

FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Republic

CAPITAL: Bogotá

POPULATION: 48,168,996

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Spanish

MONEY: Peso

AREA: 439,619 square miles (1,138,910 square kilometers)

MAJOR MOUNTAIN RANGES: Andes, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

MAJOR RIVERS: Magdalena, Cauca, Atrato, Sinú

Colombia is nicknamed the "gateway to South America" because it sits in the northwestern part of the continent where South America connects with Central and North America. It is the fifth largest country in Latin America and home to the world's second largest population of Spanish-speaking people.

Colombia is a land of extremes. Through its center run the towering, snow-covered volcanoes and mountains of the Andes. Tropical beaches line the north and west. And there are deserts in the north and vast grasslands, called Los Llanos, in the east.

Dense forests fill Colombia's Amazon Basin, which takes up nearly the country's entire southern half. In northwest Colombia, a warm, wet, jungle-filled area called the Chocó reaches across the Panama border.
Map created by National Geographic Maps

PEOPLE & CULTURE

Colombia's people are as varied as its landscape. Most citizens are descended from three ethnic groups: Indians, African people brought to Colombia to work as slaves, and European settlers. This rich cultural mix makes the country's foods, music, dance, and art diverse and unique.

With its vast rain forests, sprawling savannas, huge mountains, and 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) of coastline on two oceans, Colombia is one of the most biologically diverse countries on Earth. Even though it takes up less than one percent of the world's land area, about 10 percent of all animal species live in Colombia.

Much of Colombia's forest habitats have been undisturbed for many millions of years. This has given wildlife a chance to evolve into many different species. Animals from jaguars to caimans to poison dart frogs all call Colombia's jungles home. The mountains provide habitat for huge Andean condors and rare spectacled bears, South America's only bear species.

Thousands of years ago, Colombia was nearly completely covered in jungle. But people have cleared most of the trees to create farmland, and now only a handful of areas have their original forests. The government has set up several national parks to protect habitats, but damage to the environment continues.

GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY

Colombia has a long history of democracy. Like the United States, the country is run by a president, who is elected every four years. Laws are made by a House of Representatives and a Senate.

Colombia's biggest trading partner is the United States, which buys 40 percent of the country's exports. Colombia sends a variety of items overseas, including coffee, bananas, oil, coal, gold, platinum, and emeralds.

One of Colombia's worst exports, though, is illegal drugs. With help from the United States, the Colombian government is carrying out Plan Colombia, a costly and wide-ranging effort to rid the country of the gangs, called cartels, that produce illegal drugs for sale around the world.

Archaeologists think the first people to arrive in Colombia came about 20,000 years ago. Some 8,000 years after that, settlers in the Magdalena Valley in the western part of the country grew into a civilization called the Chibcha. From the Chibcha arose the Muisca, an advanced culture that became the dominant power in Colombia by A.D. 700.

Spanish explorers arrived in Colombia in 1500 but didn't establish a settlement until 1525. These settlers were obsessed with finding gold and other valuables, and by 1538 they had conquered the Muisca and stolen all their gold and jewels. Colombia remained under Spanish rule for nearly 250 years.

By the late 1700s, people in Colombia had grown tired of Spanish rule. In 1811, the city of Cartagena declared independence and Bogotá soon followed. Spanish soldiers tried to reclaim control in 1815, but Colombian forces led by the famed Venezuelan general Simón Bolívar defeated the Spanish in 1819.

After independence, Colombia became part of a large country called New Granada. This country fell apart by 1835, and Colombia became a separate nation. Fights soon broke out between political groups over who would lead the country. Since then, Colombia has had several civil wars and relatively few times of peace.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Colombia Country Profile - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Colombia is nicknamed the "gateway to South America" because it sits in the northwestern part of the continent where South America connects with Central and North America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The northern part of the country was ruled by the Inca before the Spanish took control in the 16th century. Native Mapuche people lived in the southern and central regions before the country became a Spanish colony.

The country gained independence from Spain in 1810. Toward the end of the 1800s, many Europeans began to settle in Chile, including Germans, French, British, and Italians. Many Chinese moved to Chile to help build the railroad.

Chile was once considered to be a very stable and free country. But in 1973 a bloody battle overthrew Salvador Allende's elected Marxist government and the country suffered 16 years under the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Democracy was restored in 1989.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Chile Country Profile - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Chile is a long narrow country which extends like a ribbon down the west coast of South America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
South America’s second-smallest country, Uruguay is bordered by Brazil and Argentina and lies along the Atlantic Ocean.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The ancient city of Machu Picchu was built by the Inca.

OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Peru

FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Constitutional republic

CAPITAL: Lima

POPULATION: 31,331,228

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: Spanish, Quechua

MONEY: Nuevo Sol

AREA: 496,224 square miles (1,285,216 sqare kilometers)

MAJOR MOUNTAIN RANGES: Andes

MAJOR RIVERS: Amazon, Ucayali, Madre de Dios

Peru is the third largest country in South America, after Brazil and Argentina. It is made up of a variety of landscapes, from mountains and beaches to deserts and rain forests. Most people live along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, where the capital, Lima, is located.

Along Peru's west coast is a narrow strip of desert 1,555 miles (2,500 kilometers) long. Ancient people, called the Chimú and the Nasca, first inhabited this region thousands of years ago. The coastal desert makes up only about 10 percent of Peru, but it is home to more than half of all Peruvians.

The world's largest rain forest, the Amazon, covers nearly half of Peru. Called the selva in Spanish, this huge jungle, which also covers half of Brazil, is home to plants and animals that do not live anywhere else on Earth. Some scientists think there may even be Indian tribes there that have never seen the outside world.

The second highest mountain range in the world runs through Peru. These peaks, called the Andes, are so tall and forbidding that the ancient Inca people thought they were gods. They run from north to south and can be seen from Peru's beaches 50 miles (80 kilometers) to the west. The highest peak, Mount Huascarán, is 22,205 feet (6,768 meters) high.
Map created by National Geographic Maps

PEOPLE & CULTURE

The people of Peru are a mix of many different cultures, including Indians, Spaniards and other Europeans, descendants of African slaves, and Asians. Until recently, most people lived in the countryside. But now, more than 70 percent live in cities. Most Peruvians follow the Catholic religion introduced by the Spanish.

Because it has so many different ecosystems, Peru is home to a wider variety of plants and animals than most other countries on Earth. For many reasons, Peruvians have not had as much of an impact on their natural world as many other countries, and much of these ecosystems have been undisturbed.

A 250-acre (100-hectare) plot of Peruvian rain forest is home to more than 6,000 kinds of plants! There are hundreds of species that are only found in the Amazon. To protect these plants and animals, Peru has created special forest areas called reserves.

On the Pacific Coast, many interesting plant and animal species have adapted to the dry desert climate. And off the coast, the Peru Current nourishes huge numbers of small fish, which in turn support large populations of bigger fish and seabirds, including Humboldt penguins.

Peru's mountains support special types of grasses and plants, which provide food for mammals like llamas, alpacas, and vicuñas. One plant that grows in the Andes, the puya raimondi, grows for a hundred years before blooming.

GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY

Peru is a constitutional republic, with a president, a congress, and a supreme court. Peruvians are required to vote by law. Presidents serve five-year terms and can only be elected twice in a row.

Peru is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources. Gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, and iron are found across the country, and there are reserves of oil and natural gas. Even so, jobs there can be very hard to find, and Peru remains one of the world's poorest countries.

Peru is a very old country. The earliest inhabitants arrived there about 15,000 years ago. Societies emerged on the west coast more than 5,000 years ago and began to spread inland. These included the Chavín, the Moche, and the Nasca.

One of the most important Peruvian cultures was the Inca, who lived in Peru around 600 years ago. Their capital, Cusco, is still a major city today. The Inca also built Machu Picchu, a famous and mysterious ancient city in the Andes. They thrived for centuries before being conquered by the Spanish in 1532.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Peru is the third largest country in South America, after Brazil and Argentina.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ecuador is located in the western corner at the top of the South American continent. Ecuador is named after the Equator, the imaginary line around the Earth that splits the country in two. Most of the country is in the Southern Hemisphere.

Ecuador is roughly the size of Colorado and is bordered by Colombia and Peru. The high Andes Mountains form the backbone of the country. Cotopaxi in the Andes is the highest active volcano in the world.

The Galápagos Islands, 596 miles (960 kilometers) west of the mainland of Ecuador are part of Ecuador and are home to unique reptiles, birds, and plants. The Costa, or coastal plain region is where many of the world's bananas are grown. The Sierra is also made up of farmland. The Oriente is east of the Andes and is rich in oil.
Map created by National Geographic Maps

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ecuador Country Profile - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ecuador is located in the western corner at the top of the South American continent.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
OFFICIAL NAME: Federal Republic of Brazil

FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Democratic federal republic

CAPITAL: Brasilia

POPULATION: 208,846,892

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Portuguese

MONEY: Real

AREA: 3,286,470 square miles (8,511,965 square kilometers)

MAJOR MOUNTAIN RANGES: Serra do Mar, Serra do Espinhaço

MAJOR RIVERS: Amazon, São Francisco, Paraná, Tocantins

Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth largest nation in the world. It forms an enormous triangle on the eastern side of the continent with a 4,500-mile (7,400-kilometer) coastline along the Atlantic Ocean. It has borders with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador.

The Brazilian landscape is very varied. It is most well known for its dense forests, including the Amazon, the world's largest jungle, in the north. But there are also dry grasslands (called pampas), rugged hills, pine forests, sprawling wetlands, immense plateaus, and a long coastal plain.

Northern Brazil is dominated by the Amazon River and the jungles that surround it. The Amazon is not one river but a network of many hundreds of waterways. Its total length stretches 4,250 miles (6,840 kilometers). Thousands of species live in the river, including the infamous piranha and the boto, or pink river dolphin.
Map created by National Geographic Maps

PEOPLE & CULTURE

Most Brazilians are descended from three ethnic groups: Amerindians, European settlers (mainly from Portugal), and Africans. Starting in the 19th century, waves of immigrants from Europe, the Middle East, and even Japan added to this mix. This diversity of cultures has created a rich religious, musical, and culinary culture.

Brazilians are soccer crazy, and their country has produced some of the best players. The most famous of all is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé. Brazil has won the World Cup soccer finals five times, more than any other nation.

Brazil has the greatest variety of animals of any country in the world. It is home to 600 mammal species, 1,500 fish species, 1,600 bird species, and an amazing 100,000 different types of insects. Brazil's jungles are home to most of its animal life, but many unique species also live in the pampas and semidesert regions.

In the central-western part of Brazil sits a flat, swampy area called the Pantanal. This patchwork of flooded lagoons and small islands is the world's largest wetland. Here live giant anacondas, huge guinea pig relatives called capybaras, and fierce South American alligators called caimans.

For thousands of years, people have been exploiting the jungles of Brazil. But since Europeans arrived about five centuries ago, forest destruction has been rampant. Most of Brazil's Atlantic rain forest is now gone, and huge tracts of the Amazon are disappearing every year. The government has established many national parks and refuges, but they only cover about 7 percent of the country.

GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY

Brazil is a federal republic with a president, a National Congress, and a judiciary. From 1888 until recently, the country struggled with democracy. But in 1985, the military government was peacefully removed, and by 1995, Brazil's politics and economy had become fairly stable.

Brazil has many different soils and climates, so it can produce a great variety of crops. Its agricultural exports include sugarcane, latex, coffee, cocoa beans, cotton, soybeans, rice, and tropical fruits.

Brazil is also South America's most industrial nation, producing chemicals, steel, aircraft, and cars.

Until recently, scientists thought Brazil was first settled by Asians about 10,000 years ago. But new evidence shows there were people living there at least 32,000 years ago. Some experts think they may have arrived from islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Brazil was added to the map of the world during the great European explorations in the late 15th century led by Portugal and Spain. When Europeans first reached the coast of Brazil, the country was home to about 30 million indigenous people, or Amerindians. Today, only about 300,000 remain, living primarily in Brazil's remotest places.

Portugal established its first colony in Brazil in 1530. Colonists created sugarcane plantations along the coast and sent diamonds and gold back to Europe. Soon, people from West Africa were brought to Brazil to work as slaves. The discovery of large inland gold reserves brought thousands of people from the coasts and as far away as Europe to the interior of the country.

In 1789, Brazilians tried to kick out their Portuguese rulers. The rebellion was soon put down, but it started a movement toward independence. By 1822, Brazil was a sovereign nation. Kings of Portuguese blood ruled until 1888, when military leaders and landowners expelled the king, and Brazil became a federal republic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Brazil Country Profile - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth largest nation in the world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The dance called tango is thought to have started in Argentina.

OFFICIAL NAME: Argentine Republic

FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Republic

CAPITAL: Buenos Aires

POPULATION: 44,694,198

OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: Spanish

MONEY: Argentine peso

AREA: 1,073,364 square miles (2,780,400 square kilometers)

Argentina is a vast country located in the southern part of South America. The eighth largest country in the world, it is the second largest country in South America after Brazil, and it's about one-third the size of the United States. Argentina is bordered by the Andes Mountains and Chile to the west.

To the east of the Andes, the interior of the country is flat, fertile grassland called the Pampas. The eastern border of the country is the Atlantic Ocean. Bolivia is to the northwest and Paraguay is to the north. The high mountain spine of the Andes, called the Andes Cordillera, creates a natural 3,195-mile (5,141.9-kilometer) border with Chile.

The country is divided into four regions: The Andes, the North, the Pampas, and Patagonia. The Pampas is the agricultural heartland.
Map created by National Geographic Maps

PEOPLE & CULTURE

Unlike Mexico and South American countries such as Peru and Ecuador, Argentina has fewer native people and a large population, which came from Europe. The population is comprised as much as 95% of people of European descent, mostly from Italy, Spain, and Germany. Much of the native population died from diseases brought in by Europeans.

Nearly half of the population lives in the area around Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires has been called the "Paris of South America," because of the European influences.

The people are well-educated and 97% of the population can read and write.

Soccer is the favorite sport in Argentina.

Gauchos, like American cowboys, have been a symbol of the open plains of the Pampas region.

Argentina is rich in animal species. The coast of Patagonia is home to elephant seals, fur seals, penguins, and sea lions. The waters off the Atlantic are home to sharks, orcas, dolphins, and salmon.

In the north, there are many large cat species such as the cougar, jaguar, and the ocelot. There are also crocodiles and caiman. Flamingos, toucans, turtles, and tortoises also live in the subtropical north.

Patagonia is a sparsely populated area rich in natural resources and wildlife, including herons, condors, pumas, tortoises, and guanacos.

The highest mountain in the Andes range is the Cerro Aconcagua, which peaks at 22,384 feet (6,960 meters). Northeast Argentina features rain forests and Iguazù Falls. These spectacular falls, on Argentina's border with Brazil, descend along a 1.6-mile (2.7-kilometer) front in a horseshoe shape.

As the country develops it is being affected by deforestation and pollution.

GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY

The country is a federal republic. There have been several democratically elected presidents after many years of political turmoil.

The National Congress is made of the Senate with 72 seats and the Chamber of Deputies with a total of 257 seats. There are seven judges in the Supreme Court, but that number will be reduced to five over the next few years. The president picks the judges and the senate must approve their appointments.

Sheep herding, oil, mining, agriculture, and tourism make up Patagonia's economy.

The Spanish arrived in 1516 and ruled the country for 300 years. In 1806, a British force overpowered Spanish military in Buenos Aires and attacked the Malvinas Islands, also called the Falkland Islands. Local residents recaptured the capital, but never regained control of the islands. These events led to the loosening of Spain's grip on Argentina.

In 1810, Napoleon's forces conquered all major Spanish cities in Spain and the Argentine people were empowered to take control of their country. They gained independence in 1816.

In 1946, Juan Perón became president due to his popularity with the working class. His wife, Eva, known as Evita, formed a foundation and gave out cash and benefits to the poor. When she died of cancer in 1952, the people were very sad. She was a symbol of hope to all the poor in Argentina. Juan Perón was forced out of office after he tried to increase his powers. Even after he left office, his followers continued to fight for political power.

After many violent years and near civil war, Perón was re-elected president and his new wife, Isabel, became vice president. He died suddenly and Isabel became president and soon the country's economy fell apart.

The military took control of the country in 1976, and a period of violence called the "dirty war" ensued, during which as many as 20,000-30,000 revolutionaries or sympathizers were killed.

In 1982, the president of Argentina, General Leopoldo Galtieri invaded the Falkland Islands off the coast in the Atlantic Ocean thinking the British wouldn't put up a fight. Galtieri miscalculated and British forces won an easy victory. After the defeat, the country moved toward democracy and civilian rule.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Argentina Country Profile - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Argentina is a vast country located in the southern part of South America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
South America is the world's fourth largest continent. The countries of South America are also part of a larger cultural region known as Latin America, in which most of the...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
instant access to thousands of great kids books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
instant access to thousands of great kids books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
instant access to thousands of great kids books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get unlimited access to 40,000 of the best books, audiobooks, videos, & more for kids 12 and under. Try it free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This Central American country is bordered by Costa Rica and Colombia, and is situated between the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Lake Managua is the only freshwater lake where sharks live. Bull sharks enter the lake by traveling up the Rio San Juan river from the Atlantic Ocean. The sharks can adapt to fresh water, but they are now rarely found in the lake.

Many exotic animals are found in Nicaragua, such as toucans, boa constrictors, monkeys, wild boars, jaguars, and sloths. Manatees and sea turtles swim in the Cayos Miskitos Biological Reserve in coral reefs off the remote islands of the Caribbean coast.

There are over 70 protected areas in the country, which help preserve the habitats of many endangered species. The Bosawas Biosphere Reserves has a cloud forest that protects 12 kinds of poisonous snakes.

The biggest threats to the environment in Nicaragua are deforestation, soil erosion, and water pollution.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America and is slightly bigger in area than New York State.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Christopher Columbus discovered Honduras in the 16th century, then home to the Maya and other indigineous people, and his discovery was soon followed by a Spanish conquest of the country.

In the early 19th century, Honduras gained independence from Spain and briefly became part of Mexico before joining the newly-formed United Provinces of Central America.

Following some political instability in the early 20th century, the United States took action to protect its investment of banana crops in the country.

In 1969, while Honduras was under military rule, a brief but serious war broke out with El Salvador as a result of a dispute over immigration and the lack of a clearly defined border between the two countries. Two decades later, Honduras returned to civilian rule and an agreement was reached with El Salvador.

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch took the lives of more than 5,000 people in Honduras and caused billions of dollars in damage. Political instability continues to trouble the country, with another military coup taking place as recently as 2009.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Honduras Country Profile - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Christopher Columbus discovered Honduras in the 16th century, then home to the Maya and other indigineous people, and his discovery was soon followed by a Spanish conquest of the country. In the early 19th century, Honduras gained independence from Spain and briefly became part of Mexico before joining the newly-formed United Provinces of Central America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Smoke swirls around one of Guatemala's many volcanoes.

OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Guatemala

FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Democratic Republic

CAPITAL: Guatemala City

POPULATION: 16,581,273

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Spanish

MONEY: Quetzal

AREA: 42,043 square miles (108,890 square kilometers)

Guatemala is a country of volcanoes, mountains, and beaches on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. From the Cuchamatán Mountains in the western highlands, to the coastlines on the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, this small country is marked by contrasts. Three of Guatemala's 30 volcanoes are still active.

Pacaya volcano located near Guatemala City is the most active volcano. Lake Atitlan formed when a volcano exploded over 84,000 years ago and collapsed to form a caldera. The lake is the deepest lake in Central America and is believed to be 900 feet (300 meters) deep and covers 48 square miles (125 square kilometers).

Only slightly larger than the U.S. state of Tennessee, Guatemala is a mountainous country with one-third of the population living in cool highland villages. The coastal lowlands are warm and humid. The country is bordered by Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Belize.
Map created by National Geographic Maps

PEOPLE & CULTURE

The Maya civilization was very advanced in math and astronomy. The Maya probably developed the concept of zero and left written records using hieroglyphics and whole words.

While historians are not sure why the Maya Empire collapsed, the Maya society began to shrink in the 10th century and split into separate groups. They may have suffered from overpopulation and the effects of drought.

Maya women continue to weave brightly colored cloth and fashion the same traje, or suit, that their ancestors wore. More than half of the population is indigenous. The largest of the 20 Maya groups, the Quiché, live near the city of Quetzaltenango, called Xela (SHEH-la) by the locals.

Many believe that the name Guatemala comes from the Maya word Guhatezmalh, that described the volcano near the old capital in Antigua, the "Mountain That Vomits Water." Today the volcano is simply called the Volcan de Agua, "Volcano of Water."

High in the mountains in the misty cloud forests lives the colorful quetzal bird. In the bright sunshine, both the male and female quetzal bird have vibrant green, white, and red feathers, but only the male has the fabulous long tail that can measure 3 feet (1 meter) long.

The ancient Maya people believed that the quetzal bird was the living form of the god Quetzalcoatl. Today the rare bird is listed as endangered due to destruction of tropical rain forests.

The cloud forest mist provides a water source to air plants known as bromeliads which cling to tree trunks. The forest floor is also home to orchids, ferns, and mosses.

The lowland Petén region in the northeastern part of the country is home to many plants and animals including jaguars, tapirs, monkeys, mule deer, and the ocelot.

GOVERNMENT

Guatemala's economy boomed in the 1870s thanks to coffee exports. Wealthy landowners pushed Maya communities off their land to make way for more coffee plantations.

Decades of civil war and repression of the indigenous people killed hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans in the 20th century. In 1996, a new president, Alvaro Arzu, signed a peace agreement with rebels and ended the 36-year civil war.

A new constitution in 1986 established three branches of government. The president serves for only one term and is assisted by a vice president and the Council of Ministers. New laws are passed by Congress. President Alvaro Colom Caballeros was sworn in January 2008.

Archaeologists believe that the earliest settlers to Guatemala crossed the Bering Strait from Asia 14,000 years ago and evidence of human settlements date to around 9000 B.C. People began to farm and form villages around 1000 B.C. and some of them became the Maya who dominated Guatemala history from A.D. 250 to 900.

The Maya temple at Tikal was built over 1,300 years ago as a tomb to honor the Maya ruler, Ah Cacaw. Tikal, once an expansive city and home to 100,000 people, began to decline in A.D. 850, and was abandoned about 50 years later. The ruins were not discovered until 1695.

In the 16th century, the Spanish invaded and fought the largest remaining group called the Quiché. The Quiché were overpowered and forced to work on vast estates in the newly established colony of New Spain. In 1821, Guatemala claimed independence from Spain.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Guatemala Country Profile - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Guatemala is a country of volcanoes, mountains, and beaches on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Costa Rica Country Profile - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Costa Rica is small country in Central America. It is bordered by Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The forests of El Salvador have been cut down for firewood, coffee plantations, and for the building of homes. The result is the destruction of wildlife habitats in El Salvador.

Along the coastal plains, there are palm trees and tropical fruit trees, such as mango, coconut, and tamarind. Armadillos, snakes, and iguanas also inhabit the warm, humid coast.

High in the mountains, at the 7,931-foot (2,417-meter) summit of Monte Cristo Mountain, is a cloud forest in the international nature preserve of El Trifinio. The governments of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras are trying to protect this rain forest.

The cloud forest is home to orchids, ferns, spider monkeys, jaguars, anteaters, and many bird species, including green toucans.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
El Salvador Country Profile - National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America and is smaller than the state of Massachusetts.