Topic Review
International Date Line in Judaism
The international date line in Judaism is used to demarcate the change of one calendar day to the next in the Jewish calendar. The Jewish calendar defines days as running from sundown to sundown rather than midnight to midnight. So in the context of Judaism, an international date line demarcates when the line of sundown moving across the Earth's surface stops being the sundown ending and starting one day and starts being the sundown ending and starting the following day. However, the conventional International Date Line is a relatively recent geographic and political construct whose exact location has moved from time to time depending on the needs of different interested parties. There are no objective criteria for its placement. In that light, it cannot be taken for granted that the conventional International Date Line can (or should) be used as a date line under Jewish law. In practice, within Judaism the halakhic date line is similar to, but not necessarily identical with, the conventional Date Line, and the differences can have consequences under religious law.
  • 437
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Grid Reference System
A grid reference system, also known as grid reference or grid system, is a geographic coordinate system that defines locations in maps using Cartesian coordinates based on a particular map projection. Grid lines on maps illustrate the underlying coordinate system. Such coordinate lines are numbered to provide a unique reference to each location on the map. Grid coordinates are normally eastings and northings.
  • 15.6K
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Zomia (Region)
Zomia is a geographical term coined in 2002 by historian Willem van Schendel of the University of Amsterdam to refer to the huge mass of mainland Southeast Asia that has historically been beyond the control of governments based in the population centers of the lowlands.
  • 3.7K
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Cardiff
Cardiff (/ˈkɑːrdɪf/ (listen); Welsh: Caerdydd [kairˈdiːð, kɑːɨrˈdɨːð] (listen)) is the capital of Wales, and its largest city. The eleventh-largest city in the United Kingdom , it is Wales's chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural institutions and Welsh media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. The unitary authority area's 2017 population was estimated to be 362,756. Cardiff is a significant tourist centre and the most popular visitor destination in Wales with 21.3 million visitors in 2017. In 2011, Cardiff was ranked sixth in the world in National Geographic's alternative tourist destinations. Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan (and later South Glamorgan). Cardiff is part of the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a major port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region contributed to its rise as a major city. The Cardiff Built-up Area covers a slightly larger area outside the county boundary and includes the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth. In 1905, Cardiff was made a city and proclaimed the capital of Wales in 1955. Since the 1980s, Cardiff has seen significant development. A new waterfront area at Cardiff Bay contains the Senedd building, home to the Welsh Assembly and the Wales Millennium Centre arts complex. Current developments include the continuation of the redevelopment of the Cardiff Bay and city centre areas with projects such as the Cardiff International Sports Village, a BBC drama village, and a new business district in the city centre. Sporting venues in the city include the Principality Stadium—the national stadium and the home of the Wales national rugby union team—Sophia Gardens (the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club), Cardiff City Stadium (the home of Cardiff City football team and the Wales football team), Cardiff International Sports Stadium (the home of Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club), Cardiff Arms Park (the home of Cardiff Blues and Cardiff RFC rugby union teams) and Ice Arena Wales (the home of Cardiff Devils ice hockey team). The city hosted the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. The city was awarded the title of European City of Sport twice, due to its role in hosting major international sporting events: first in 2009 and again in 2014. The Principality Stadium hosted 11 football matches as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics, including the games' opening event and the men's bronze medal match.
  • 1.5K
  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Pisidia
Pisidia (/pɪˈsɪdiə/; Greek: Πισιδία, Pisidía; Turkish: Pisidya) was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Lycia, bordering Caria, Lydia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, and corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of Antalya in Turkey. Among Pisidia's settlements were Antioch(ia) in Pisidia, Termessos, Cremna, Sagalassos, Etenna, Neapolis, Selge, Tyriacum, Laodiceia Katakekaumene and Philomelium.
  • 428
  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Black Belt (Region of Alabama)
The Black Belt is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. The term originally referred to the region's rich, black topsoil, much of it in the soil order Vertisols. The term took on an additional meaning in the 19th century, when the region was developed for cotton plantation agriculture, in which the workers were enslaved African Americans. After the American Civil War, many freedmen stayed in the area as sharecroppers and tenant farmers, continuing to comprise a majority of the population in many of these counties. The sociological definition of the "Black Belt," as related to the history of this cotton-dependent region, refers to a much larger region of the Southern United States, stretching from Delaware to Texas but centered on the Black Belt of uplands areas of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. In the antebellum and Jim Crow eras, the white elite of the Black Belt dominated Alabama state politics well into the 1960s. As in other Southern states, the white-dominated state legislature of Alabama passed laws and a constitution that created barriers to voter registration, essentially disfranchising most blacks and many poor whites. In addition, the state legislature did not redistrict congressional or state legislative districts after 1901 until it did so in the 1960s under US Supreme Court order. The white rural elite continued to dominate the state despite the rise of urbanized, industrial cities such as Birmingham, Alabama. Montgomery, the Black Belt's largest city, has been the capital of Alabama since 1846. Montgomery and Selma and other parts of the Black Belt were important centers of African-American public activism during the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s to 1968. Since the black population gained the renewed ability to exercise their franchise after 1965 under the Voting Rights Act, they have largely supported Democratic Party candidates. This is in contrast to the majority-white areas of the state, where since the late 20th century, conservatives have largely shifted from the Democratic to the Republican Party.
  • 1.9K
  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Small-Scale Urban Green Infrastructure
Urban green infrastructure (UGI) such as green roofs, green facades, public parks, urban forests, urban wetlands, and unmanaged green sites, provide nature-based solutions (NBS) that offer a promising avenue for climate change adaptation in cities to reduce the negative environmental impacts of urbanization, such as the urban heat island effect and altered precipitation patterns. UGI supports a wide range of ES at different spatial levels including but not limited to provisioning (e.g., food, and freshwater), regulating (e.g., urban temperature regulations, noise reduction, air purification, pollination, runoff mitigation, and waste treatment), socio-cultural (tourism, recreation, cognitive development, social cohesion), and supporting (e.g., habitat for biodiversity diversity), with fewer documented health benefits (e.g., good health, mortality). 
  • 589
  • 19 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Digital Twin System in Virtual Participation
Public participation is crucial in promoting built environment quality. Most studies on built environment participatory projects primarily use physical models (i.e., physical replicas) or 2D maps as tools to interact with the general public. The digital twin model and physical replicas have the common ground of simulating built environment changes and, therefore, assisting the decision-making process in environment optimization.
  • 354
  • 16 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Concerns in Urban Areas
Urban areas continue to be the center of action for many countries due to their contribution to economic development. Many urban areas, through the urbanization process, have become vulnerable to climate risk, thereby making risk mitigation and adaptation essential components in urban planning. Climate change is highly attributed to anthropogenic activities, and this makes population growth in urban areas a factor of global warming. The numerous problems and vulnerabilities associated with the urbanization process place urban areas at the center of climate adaptation and mitigation. Massive efforts have been made by urban areas and cities in general to mitigate and adapt to climate change. As reported, many of the world’s urbanized areas have agreed on protocols that address climate change and push for urban actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks. Urban areas and cities’ mitigation and adaptation actions to climate risks are, thus, essential towards the reduction of vulnerabilities.
  • 281
  • 29 Aug 2022
Topic Review
The Interaction between Urban and Rural Areas
The relationships and interactions between rural and urban spaces have long been of interest to territorial sciences. However, approaches to these issues have evolved in line with the changing characteristics of the two types of territories, reflecting new relationships and structures. 
  • 714
  • 26 Aug 2022
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