Travel and Adventure

Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains of the United States. It is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevada. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is making it America's second-deepest, (Crater Lake, in Oregon, being the deepest at 1945 feet (594 m) deep).

The lake was formed about 2 million years ago and is a part of the Lake Tahoe Basin with the modern lake being shaped during the Ice Ages. It is known for the clarity of its water and the panorama of surrounding mountains on all sides. The area surrounding the lake is also referred to as Lake Tahoe, or simply Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe is a major tourist attraction for both California and Nevada. It is home to a number of ski resorts, summer outdoor recreation, and tourist attractions. Snow and skiing are a significant part of the area's economy and reputation. Mountain and lake scenery are attractions throughout the year. The Nevada side also includes large casinos. Highways provide year-round access from Reno, Carson City and Sacramento.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous (regional) languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, the UK's official name is as follows:

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* (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. Created with effect from 1 January 1801 by the Act of Union, 1800, it was known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland' until 1927.

The United Kingdom is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. The largest island, Great Britain, is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and unitary state consisting of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is governed by a parliamentary system with its seat of government in London, the capital, but with three devolved national administrations in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively. The Channel Island bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man are Crown Dependencies which means they are constitutionally tied to the Monarch (King or Queen) but are not constitutionally part of the UK, though they are treated as part of it for many purposes including nationality.

The UK has fourteen overseas territories, all remnants of the British Empire, which at its height in 1922 encompassed almost a quarter of the worlds land surface, the largest empire in history. British influence can continue to be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies.

The UK is a developed country, with the world's sixth largest economy by nominal GDP and the seventh largest by purchasing power parity. It was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the economic cost of two world wars and the decline of its empire in the latter half of the 20th century diminished its leading role in global affairs. The UK nevertheless remains a major power with strong economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence. It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and has the third highest defence spending in the world. It is a Member State of the European Union, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, G8, G20, NATO, OECD, and the World Trade Organization.

The 'Peoples Republic of China (PRC) ( ), commonly known as China', is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the worlds population. It is a socialist republic (specifically a "people's democratic dictatorship" according to its constitution) ruled by the Communist Party of China under a single-party system, and has jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions (Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Ningxia, and Guangxi), four municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two highly autonomous special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The PRC's capital is Beijing.

At approximately 9.6 million square kilometres (3.7 million square miles), the People's Republic of China is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area,Area rank is disputed with the United States and is either ranked third or fourth. See List of countries and outlying territories by area for more information. and the second largest by land area. Its landscape is diverse with forest steppes and deserts (the Gobi and Taklamakan) in the dry north near Mongolia and Russia's Siberia, and subtropical forests in the wet south close to Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar. The terrain in the west is rugged and high altitude, with the Himalayas and the Tian Shan mountain ranges forming China's natural borders with India and Central Asia. In contrast, mainland China's eastern seaboard is low-lying and has a 14,500-kilometre long coastline bounded on the southeast by the South China Sea and on the east by the East China Sea beyond which lies Taiwan, Korea, and Japan.

The ancient Chinese civilization?one of the world's earliest?flourished in the fertile basin of the Yellow River which flows through the North China Plain. For over 4,000 years, China's political system was based on hereditary monarchies (also known as dynasties). The first of these dynasties was the Xia (approx 2000BC) but it was later the Qin Dynasty who first unified China in 221 BC. The last dynasty, the Qing, ended in 1911 with the founding of the Republic of China (ROC) by the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT). The first half of the 20th century saw China plunged into a period of disunity and civil wars that divided the country into two main political camps ? the Kuomintang and the Communists. Major hostilities ended in 1949, when the People's Republic of China was established in mainland China by the victorious Communists. The KMT-led Republic of China government retreated to Taipei, its jurisdiction now limited to Taiwan and several outlying islands. As of today, the PRC is still involved in disputes with the ROC over issues of sovereignty and the political status of Taiwan.

China's importance in the world today as a great power is reflected through its role as the world's third largest economy nominally (or second largest by PPP) and a permanent member of the UN Security Council as well as being a member of several other multilateral organizations including the WTO, APEC, East Asia Summit, G-20 and Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In addition, it is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world's largest standing army with the second largest defense budget.

Since the introduction of market-based economic reforms in 1978, China has become one of the world's fastest growing economies and the world's second largest exporter and the third largest importer of goods. China is currently the largest producer of most commodities.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/opinion/edit-page/Top-Article-Without-Fear-Or-Favour/articleshow/5034350.cms The Times of India. Top Article: Without Fear Or Favour] Rapid industrialization has reduced its poverty rate from 53% in 1981 to 8% in 2001.Fighting Poverty: Findings and Lessons from China's Success (World Bank). Retrieved 10 August 2006. However, the PRC is now faced with a number of other problems including a rapidly aging population due to the one-child policy, [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nationworld/stories/081108dnmetagingchina.43a6e47.html Jim Landers [China's rapidly aging population may strain its economy August 11, 2008. Accessed October 15, 2008]. a widening rural-urban income gap, and environmental degradation.Beijing's Olympic Quest: Turn Smoggy Sky Blue - New York Times Moreover, China has been criticized for its human rights violations, and for having a problematic record of interfering with press freedom.

Australia ( or , or more formally as ), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland (the world's smallest), "Smallest continent and sixth largest country (in area) on Earth, lying between the Pacific and Indian oceans." "Most people recognize seven continents?Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia, from largest to smallest?although sometimes Europe and Asia are considered a single continent, Eurasia." the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to the north-east, and New Zealand to the southeast.

For some 40,000 years before European settlement commenced in the late 18th century, the Australian mainland and Tasmania were inhabited by around 250 individual nationsFirst Australians Documentary (Episode 1), Special Broadcasting Service, Australia, 2008. of indigenous Australians.Both Australian Aborigines and Europeans Rooted in Africa - 50,000 years ago. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north, and European discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606,MacKnight, CC (1976). The Voyage to Marege: Macassan Trepangers in Northern Australia. Melbourne University Press. the eastern half of Australia was claimed by the British in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales, founded on 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in the following years; the continent was explored, and during the 19th century another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were established.

On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a federation, and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth realm. The population is 22.0 million, with approximately 60% concentrated in and around the mainland state capitals of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide. The nation's capital city is Canberra, located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Australia is a developed country, with a prosperous multicultural society and has excellent results in many international comparisons of national performance such as health care, life expectancy, quality of life, human development, public education, economic freedom, and the protection of civil liberties and political rights. Australian cities routinely rank among the world's highest in terms of cultural offerings and quality of life. It is a member of the United Nations, G-20 major economies, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization.