Portal:World

The World Portal

The world 

---

The Blue Marble, a photograph of the planet Earth made on 7 December 1972 by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft.

The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique while others talk of a "plurality of worlds". Some treat the world as one simple object while others analyze the world as a complex made up of parts.

In scientific cosmology, the world or universe is commonly defined as "[t]he totality of all space and time; all that is, has been, and will be". Theories of modality talk of possible worlds as complete and consistent ways how things could have been. Phenomenology, starting from the horizon of co-given objects present in the periphery of every experience, defines the world as the biggest horizon or the "horizon of all horizons". In philosophy of mind, the world is contrasted with the mind as that which is represented by the mind. Theology conceptualizes the world in relation to God, for example, as God's creation, as identical to God or as the two being interdependent. In religions, there is a tendency to downgrade the material or sensory world in favor of a spiritual world to be sought through religious practice. A comprehensive representation of the world and our place in it, as is found in religions, is known as a worldview. Cosmogony is the field that studies the origin or creation of the world while eschatology refers to the science or doctrine of the last things or of the end of the world.

In various contexts, the term "world" takes a more restricted meaning associated, for example, with the Earth and all life on it, with humanity as a whole or with an international or intercontinental scope. In this sense, world history refers to the history of humanity as a whole and world politics is the discipline of political science studying issues that transcend nations and continents. Other examples include terms such as "world religion", "world language", "world government", "world war", "world population", "world economy", or "world championship". (Full article...)

Selected articles -

• 

  

  
  Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term globalization first appeared in the early 20th century (supplanting an earlier French term mondialisation), developed its current meaning sometime in the second half of the 20th century, and came into popular use in the 1990s to describe the unprecedented international connectivity of the post-Cold War world. Its origins can be traced back to 18th and 19th centuries due to advances in transportation and communications technology. This increase in global interactions has caused a growth in international trade and the exchange of ideas, beliefs, and culture. Globalization is primarily an economic process of interaction and integration that is associated with social and cultural aspects. However, disputes and international diplomacy are also large parts of the history of globalization, and of modern globalization.
  
  Economically, globalization involves goods, services, data, technology, and the economic resources of capital. The expansion of global markets liberalizes the economic activities of the exchange of goods and funds. Removal of cross-border trade barriers has made the formation of global markets more feasible. Advances in transportation, like the steam locomotive, steamship, jet engine, and container ships, and developments in telecommunication infrastructure such as the telegraph, the Internet, mobile phones, and smartphones, have been major factors in globalization and have generated further interdependence of economic and cultural activities around the globe. (Full article...)
• 

  

  Global urbanization map showing the percentage of urbanization and the biggest global population centres per country in 2018, based on UN estimates.

  
  Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It can also mean population growth in urban areas instead of rural ones. It is predominantly the process by which towns and cities are formed and become larger as more people begin living and working in central areas.
  
  Although the two concepts are sometimes used interchangeably, urbanization should be distinguished from urban growth. Urbanization refers to the proportion of the total national population living in areas classified as urban, whereas urban growth strictly refers to the absolute number of people living in those areas. It is predicted that by 2050 about 64% of the developing world and 86% of the developed world will be urbanized. This is predicted to generate artificial scarcities of land, lack of drinking water, playgrounds and so on for most urban dwellers. The predicted urban population growth is equivalent to approximately 3 billion urbanites by 2050, much of which will occur in Africa and Asia. Notably, the United Nations has also recently projected that nearly all global population growth from 2017 to 2030 will be by cities, with about 1.1 billion new urbanites over the next 10 years. In the long term, urbanization is expected to significantly impact the quality of life in negative ways. (Full article...)
• 
  Global mental health is the international perspective on different aspects of mental health. It is 'the area of study, research and practice that places a priority on improving mental health and achieving equity in mental health for all people worldwide'. There is a growing body of criticism of the global mental health movement, and has been widely criticised as a neo-colonial or "missionary" project and as primarily a front for pharmaceutical companies seeking new clients for psychiatric drugs.
  
  In theory, taking into account cultural differences and country-specific conditions, it deals with the epidemiology of mental disorders in different countries, their treatment options, mental health education, political and financial aspects, the structure of mental health care systems, human resources in mental health, and human rights issues among others. (Full article...)
• 

  

  
  The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological species. A series of Regional Red Lists, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit, are also produced by countries and organizations.
  
  The goals of the Red List are to provide scientifically based information on the status of species and subspecies at a global level, to draw attention to the magnitude and importance of threatened biodiversity, to influence national and international policy and decision-making, and to provide information to guide actions to conserve biological diversity. (Full article...)
• 

  

  The Blue Marble, Earth as seen in 1972 from Apollo 17

  
  The age of Earth is estimated to be 4.54 ± 0.05 billion years (4.54 × 10⁹ years ± 1%). This age may represent the age of Earth's accretion, or core formation, or of the material from which Earth formed. This dating is based on evidence from radiometric age-dating of meteorite material and is consistent with the radiometric ages of the oldest-known terrestrial material and lunar samples.
  
  Following the development of radiometric age-dating in the early 20th century, measurements of lead in uranium-rich minerals showed that some were in excess of a billion years old. The oldest such minerals analyzed to date—small crystals of zircon from the Jack Hills of Western Australia—are at least 4.404 billion years old. Calcium–aluminium-rich inclusions—the oldest known solid constituents within meteorites that are formed within the Solar System—are 4.567 billion years old, giving a lower limit for the age of the Solar System. (Full article...)
• 

  

  
  The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the UN process for negotiating an agreement to limit dangerous climate change. It is an international treaty among countries to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system". The main way to do this is limiting the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It was signed in 1992 by 154 states at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro. The treaty entered into force on 21 March 1994. "UNFCCC" is also the name of the Secretariat charged with supporting the operation of the convention, with offices on the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany.
  
  The convention's main objective is explained in Article 2. It is the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic [i.e., human-caused] interference with the climate system". The treaty calls for continuing scientific research into the climate. This sresearchspuports meetings and negotiations to lead to agreements. The aim is to allow ecosystems to adapt to climate change. At the same time it aims to ensure there are no threats to food production from climate change or measures to address it. And it aims to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner. (Full article...)
• 

  

  The Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty, on display at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, is believed to be the earliest example of any written international agreement of any kind.

  
  
  A treaty is a formal, legally binding written contract between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal persons.
  
  A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, pact, or exchange of letters, among other terms. However, only documents that are legally binding on the parties are considered treaties under international law. Treaties vary in their obligations (the extent to which states are bound to the rules), precision (the extent to which the rules are unambiguous), and delegation (the extent to which third parties have authority to interpret, apply and make rules). (Full article...)

General images -

The following are images from various world-related articles on Wikipedia.

• 
  Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
• 
  An animation of the changing density of productive vegetation on land (low in brown; heavy in dark green) and phytoplankton at the ocean surface (low in purple; high in yellow) (from Earth)
• 
  Battle during 1281 Mongol invasion of Japan
• 
  Hagia Sophia, Istanbul – a symbol of Byzantine civilization
• 
  Earth's night-side upper atmosphere appearing from the bottom as bands of afterglow illuminating the troposphere in orange with silhouettes of clouds, and the stratosphere in white and blue. Next the mesosphere (pink area) extends to the orange and faintly green line of the lowest airglow, at about one hundred kilometers at the edge of space and the lower edge of the thermosphere (invisible). Continuing with green and red bands of aurorae stretching over several hundred kilometers. (from Earth)
• 
  A banded iron formation from the 3.15 Ga Moodies Group, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Red layers represent the times when oxygen was available; gray layers were formed in anoxic circumstances. (from History of Earth)
• 
  Ajloun Castle, Jordan
• 
  Scientific worldview. (from World)
• 
  Pillar erected by India's Maurya Emperor Ashoka
• 
  St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
• 
  A High Desert storm in the Mojave (from Earth)
• 
  Olmec colossal head, now at the Museo de Antropología de Xalapa
• 
  A view of Earth with its global ocean and cloud cover, which dominate Earth's surface and hydrosphere; at Earth's polar regions, its hydrosphere forms larger areas of ice cover. (from Earth)
• 
  Florence, birthplace of the Italian Renaissance
• 
  Earth's axial tilt causing different angles of seasonal illumination at different orbital positions around the Sun (from Earth)
• 
  Angkor Wat temple complex, Cambodia, early 12th century
• 
  The Pantheon, originally a Roman temple, now a Catholic church
• 
  Wittenberg, birthplace of Protestantism (from Human history)
• 
  Earth's land use for human agriculture in 2019 (from Earth)
• 
  Cuneiform inscription, Sumer, Mesopotamia, 26th century BCE
• 
  The pale orange dot, an artist's impression of the early Earth which might have appeared orange through its hazy methane rich prebiotic second atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere at this stage was somewhat comparable to today's atmosphere of Titan. (from History of Earth)
• 
  Taj Mahal, Mughal Empire, India
• 
  Artist's impression of the enormous collision that probably formed the Moon (from History of Earth)
• 
  Trilobites first appeared during the Cambrian period and were among the most widespread and diverse groups of Paleozoic organisms. (from History of Earth)
• 
  A schematic view of Earth's magnetosphere with solar wind flowing from left to right (from Earth)
• 
  Earth's history with time-spans of the eons to scale (from History of Earth)
• 
  Tracy Caldwell Dyson, a NASA astronaut, observing Earth from the Cupola module at the International Space Station on 11 September 2010 (from Earth)
• 
  Pale orange dot, an artist's impression of Early Earth, featuring its tinted orange methane-rich early atmosphere (from Earth)
• 
  A 580 million year old fossil of Spriggina floundensi, an animal from the Ediacaran period. Such life forms could have been ancestors to the many new forms that originated in the Cambrian Explosion. (from History of Earth)
• 
  An artist's impression of ice age Earth at glacial maximum. (from History of Earth)
• 
  Geologic map of North America, color-coded by age. From most recent to oldest, age is indicated by yellow, green, blue, and red. The reds and pinks indicate rock from the Archean.
• 
  Tiktaalik, a fish with limb-like fins and a predecessor of tetrapods. Reconstruction from fossils about 375 million years old. (from History of Earth)
• 
  An artist's impression of the Archean, the eon after Earth's formation, featuring round stromatolites, which are early oxygen-producing forms of life from billions of years ago. After the Late Heavy Bombardment, Earth's crust had cooled, its water-rich barren surface is marked by continents and volcanoes, with the Moon still orbiting Earth half as far as it is today, appearing 2.8 times larger and producing strong tides. (from Earth)
• 
  Japanese depiction of a Portuguese carrack. European maritime innovations led to proto-globalization.
• 
  A reconstruction of human history based on fossil data. (from History of Earth)
• 
  Earth's major plates, which are:

  •   Pacific Plate
  •   African Plate
  •   North American Plate
  •   Eurasian Plate
  •   Antarctic Plate
  •   Indo-Australian Plate
  •   South American Plate

  (from Earth)
• 
  Persepolis, Achaemenid Empire, 6th century BCE
• 
  Atomic bombing of Nagasaki, 1945
• 
  Chennakesava Temple, Belur, India
• 
  A composite image of Earth, with its different types of surface discernible: Earth's surface dominating Ocean (blue), Africa with lush (green) to dry (brown) land and Earth's polar ice in the form of Antarctic sea ice (grey) covering the Antarctic or Southern Ocean and the Antarctic ice sheet (white) covering Antarctica. (from Earth)
• 
  Cave paintings, Lascaux, France, c. 17,000 BCE
• 
  A map of heat flow from Earth's interior to the surface of Earth's crust, mostly along the oceanic ridges (from Earth)
• 
  Artist's conception of Devonian flora (from History of Earth)
• 
  Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci epitomizes the advances in art and science seen during the Renaissance. (from History of Earth)
• 
  First airplane, the Wright Flyer, flew on 17 December 1903.
• 
  A reconstruction of Pannotia (550 Ma). (from History of Earth)
• 
  Shanghai. China urbanized rapidly in the 21st century.
• 
  Satellite time lapse imagery of Earth's rotation showing axis tilt (from Earth)
• 
  Pangaea was a supercontinent that existed from about 300 to 180 Ma. The outlines of the modern continents and other landmasses are indicated on this map. (from History of Earth)
• 
  Ming dynasty section, Great Wall of China
• 
  A composite image of artificial light emissions at night on a map of Earth (from Earth)
• 
  James Watt's steam engine powered the Industrial Revolution.
• 
  Venus figurine, Germany, c. 37,500 BCE
• 
  Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, photographed by Neil Armstrong, 1969 (from History of Earth)
• 
  The replicator in virtually all known life is deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA is far more complex than the original replicator and its replication systems are highly elaborate. (from History of Earth)
• 
  Obelisk of Axum, Ethiopia
• 
  A computer-generated image mapping the prevalence of artificial satellites and space debris around Earth in geosynchronous and low Earth orbit (from Earth)
• 
  Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I
• 
  Standing Buddha from Gandhara, 2nd century CE
• 
  Graph showing range of estimated partial pressure of atmospheric oxygen through geologic time (from History of Earth)
• 
  Map of peopling of the world (Southern Dispersal paradigm), in thousands of years ago.
• 
  Notre-Dame de Paris, France
• 
  Machu Picchu, Inca Empire, Peru
• 
  Cross-section through a liposome (from History of Earth)
• 
  Last Moon landing: Apollo 17 (1972)
• 
  Earth's western hemisphere showing topography relative to Earth's center instead of to mean sea level, as in common topographic maps (from Earth)
• 
  Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989
• 
  Yggdrasil, an attempt to reconstruct the Norse world tree which connects the heavens, the world, and the underworld. (from World)
• 
  Empires of the world in 1898
• 
  Image of the physical world, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope (from World)
• 
  An artist's rendering of a protoplanetary disk (from History of Earth)
• 
  Exaggerated illustration of Earth's elliptical orbit around the Sun, marking that the orbital extreme points (apoapsis and periapsis) are not the same as the four seasonal extreme points, the equinox and solstice (from Earth)
• 
  Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia, founded 670 CE
• 
  Artist's impression of a Hadean landscape with the relatively newly formed Moon still looming closely over Earth and both bodies sustaining strong volcanism. (from History of Earth)
• 
  A 2012 artistic impression of the early Solar System's protoplanetary disk from which Earth and other Solar System bodies were formed (from Earth)
• 
  A pillar at Göbekli Tepe
• 
  View of Earth from the Moon by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (from Earth)
• 
  Dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates throughout most of the Mesozoic (from History of Earth)
• 
  Conjectured illustration of the scorched Earth after the Sun has entered the red giant phase, about 5–7 billion years from now (from Earth)
• 
  Lithified stromatolites on the shores of Lake Thetis, Western Australia. Archean stromatolites are the first direct fossil traces of life on Earth. (from History of Earth)
• 
  Artist's conception of Hadean Eon Earth, when it was much hotter and inhospitable to all forms of life. (from History of Earth)
• 
  Maya observatory, Chichen Itza, Mexico
• 
  Change in average surface air temperature and drivers for that change. Human activity has caused increased temperatures, with natural forces adding some variability. (from Earth)
• 
  A Benin Bronze head from Nigeria
• 
  Artist's impression of Earth during the later Archean, the largely cooled planetary crust and water-rich barren surface, marked by volcanoes and continents, features already round microbialites. The Moon, still orbiting Earth much closer than today and still dominating Earth's sky, produced strong tides. (from History of Earth)
• 
  Earth and the Moon as seen from Mars by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (from Earth)
• 
  Artist's rendition of an oxinated fully-frozen Snowball Earth with no remaining liquid surface water. (from History of Earth)
• 
  "Lucy", the first Australopithecus afarensis skeleton found. Lucy was only 1.06 m (3 ft 6 in) tall.
• 
  Moai, Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
• 
  A view of Earth with different layers of its atmosphere visible: the troposphere with its clouds casting shadows, a band of stratospheric blue sky at the horizon, and a line of green airglow of the lower thermosphere around an altitude of 100 km, at the edge of space (from Earth)
• 
  Relief of Earth's crust (from Earth)
• 
  Chloroplasts in the cells of a moss (from History of Earth)

Megacities of the world -

Xiamen is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, Haicang, and Xiang'an. All together, these cover an area of 1,700.61 square kilometers (656.61 sq mi) with a population of 5,163,970 as of 2020 and estimated at 5.308 million as of 31 December 2022. The urbanized area of the city has spread from its original island to include most parts of all six of its districts, as well as 4 Zhangzhou districts (Xiangcheng, Longwen, Longhai and Changtai), which form a built-up area of 7,284,148 inhabitants. This area also connects with Quanzhou in the north, making up a metropolis of nearly ten million people. The Kinmen Islands (Quemoy) administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan) lie less than 6 kilometers (4 mi) away separated by Xiamen Bay. As part of the Opening Up Policy under Deng Xiaoping, Xiamen became one of China's original four special economic zones opened to foreign investment and trade in the early 1980s.

Xiamen Island possessed a major international seaport. The port of Xiamen is a well-developed first-class trunk line port in the Asia-Pacific region. It is ranked the 7th-largest container port in China and ranks 13th in the world. It is the 4th port in China with the capacity to handle 6th-generation large container ships. On 31 August 2010, Xiamen Port incorporated the neighboring port of Zhangzhou to form the largest port of China's Southeast. Ever since the 12th century, Xiamen was also an important origin for many migrants to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The overseas Chinese used to support Xiamen's educational and cultural institutions. Xiamen is classified as a Large-Port Metropolis. (Full article...)

Did you know -

• ... that Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth was Wole Soyinka's first novel in nearly fifty years?
• ... that in 2007, Arthur Gray's £2 Kangaroo and Map stamp sold for a world record price for a single Australian stamp?
• ... that the Morowali Industrial Park is the largest center of nickel industry in Indonesia, the world's top nickel producer?
• ... that Winston Churchill was often portrayed as a bulldog, but his personal pet dog during the Second World War was a poodle?
• ... that Madonna could be the owner of a French painting believed to have been destroyed in World War I?
• ... that Arthur Leslie Walter Newth was only 21 when appointed to command the 16th (Service) Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment during the First World War?
• ... that Heba Saadia, the first Palestinian referee at a World Cup, only took up the profession when she noticed there were no women among a group of referees she saw training?
• ... that of the ten Royal Navy flag officers to die during the First World War, three were killed in action?

Countries of the world -

The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central and Eastern Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental and oceanic climate. The capital and largest city is Prague; other major cities and urban areas include Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec.

The Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the late 9th century under Great Moravia. It was formally recognized as an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the Crown lands of Bohemia were gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy. Nearly a hundred years later, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Crown lands became part of the Austrian Empire. (Full article...)

Wonders of the World -

The Seven Wonders of Colombia (Spanish: Siete maravillas de Colombia) was a 2007 competition sponsored by El Tiempo. The newspaper asked readers to nominate and vote for man-made structures whose engineering, architectural or historical value deserved special recognition. (Full article...)

Related portals

---

Protected areas of the world -

• 
  Greece is characterized by an extremely fragmented, rugged landscape hosting a great diversity of ecosystems and an outstanding biodiversity. Almost 5% of its extensive coastline consists of ecologically sensitive wetlands. Two thirds of the total population live no further than 2 km from the coast and most of the important urban centers are coastal, while almost all of the tourist infrastructure is divided among islands and the coastal mainland. (Full article...)
• 
  This is a list of protected areas of Romania.
  
  About 5.18% of the area of Romania has a protected status (12,360 km²), including the Danube Delta, which makes half of these areas (2.43% of Romania's area). (Full article...)
• 
  Protected areas of Sri Lanka are administrated by Department of Forest Conservation and Department of Wildlife Conservation of Sri Lanka.There are 501 protected areas in Sri Lanka. The protected areas that fall under supervision of the Department of Forest Conservation include forests defined in National Heritage Wilderness Area Act in 1988, forest reservations, and forests managed for sustainability. Sinharaja Forest Reserve is an example for a National Heritage forest (it is also a World Heritage Site). There are 32 forests categorized as conservation forests including Knuckles Mountain Range. Strict nature reserves, national parks, nature reserves, forest corridors, and sanctuaries recognized under the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance are managed by Department of Wildlife Conservation. Total of all protected areas is 1,767,000 ha. Protected areas in Sri Lanka account for 26.5 percent of the total area. This is a higher percentage of protected areas than in all of Asia and much of the World. (Full article...)
• 

  

  The northernmost tip of Prins Karls Forland in Forlandet National Park

  
  Svalbard is an Arctic wilderness archipelago comprising the northernmost part of Norway. There are twenty-nine protected natural areas, consisting of seven national parks, six nature reserves, fifteen bird sanctuaries and one geotope protected area. In addition, human traces dating from before 1946 are automatically protected. The protected areas make up 39,800 square kilometers (15,400 sq mi) or 65% of the land area, and 78,000 square kilometers (30,000 sq mi) or 86.5% of the territorial waters. The largest protected areas are Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve and Søraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve, which cover most of the areas east of the main island of Spitsbergen, including the islands of Nordaustlandet, Edgeøya, Barentsøya, Kong Karls Land and Kvitøya. Six of the national parks are located on Spitsbergen. Ten of the bird sanctuaries and the Moffen Nature Reserve are located within national parks. Five of the bird sanctuaries are Ramsar sites and fourteen of the bird sanctuaries are islands. Svalbard is on Norway's tentative list for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  
  The supreme responsibility for conservation lies with the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, which has delegated the management to the Governor of Svalbard and the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. The foundation for conservation was established in the Svalbard Treaty of 1920, and has been further specified in the Svalbard Environmental Act of 2001. The first round of protection took force on 1 July 1973, when most of the current protected areas came into effect. This included the two large nature reserves and three of the national parks. Moffen Nature Reserve was established in 1983, followed by four national parks, three nature reserves and one geotope protection area between 2002 and 2005. (Full article...)
• 
  This is a list of protected areas in Peru. (Full article...)
• 
  A list of protected areas of Oman:
  

  • Al Wusta Wildlife Reserve
  • Ra's Al Hadd Turtle Reserve
  • Ad Dimaniyat Islands Reserve
  • Al Saleel National Park (As Salil Natural Park)
  • Jabal Samhan Nature Reserve
  • Al Jabal Al Akhdar Scenic Reserve
  • Western Hajer Stars Lights Reserve
  • Arabian Oryx Sanctuary
  • Al Rustaq Wildlife Reserve
  • Al Wusta Wetland Reserve
  • Jabal Qahwan Nature Reserve
  • Al Sareen Nature Reserve
  • Ras al Shajar Nature Reserve
  • Al Khuwuair Nature Reserve
  • Khawrs of the Salalah Coast Reserve
    • Khor Slalalah Nature Reserve
    • Khawr al Mughsayl Reserve
    • Khawr al Baleed Reserve
    • Khawr Sawli Reserve
    • Khawr al Dahareez Reserve
    • Khawr Taqah Reserve
    • Khawr Rawri Reserve
    • Khawr Awqad Reserve
    • Khawr al Qurum al Sagheer Reserve
    • Khawr al Qurum al Kabeer Reserve

  (Full article...)
• 
  The Protected areas of Kyrgyzstan are regulated by the law on specially protected natural areas of 2 May 2011, last modified on 2 June 2018. In total, they cover 14,761.216 km² (5,699.337 sq mi) and account for 7.38% of the country's total area (as of 2017). The first protected area in Kyrgyzstan (Issyk-Kul) was established in 1948. According to the Government Decree on Priorities of Conservation of Biological Diversity and the relevant Action Plan for 2014-2024 the target area for the protected areas in Kyrgyzstan is 10 percent of the country’s area by 2024.
  
  The protected areas are subdivided into seven categories: (Full article...)
• 
  Protected areas of Turkmenistan include nine nature reserves (zapovednik) and 13 sanctuaries (zakaznik) with a total area of 19,750 km² or more than 4% of Turkmenistan's territory. (Full article...)
• 
  Protected areas of Slovakia are areas that need protection because of their environmental, historical or cultural value to the nation. Protected areas in Slovakia are managed by institutions and organizations governed by the Ministry of the Environment.
  
  Types of protected areas:

  • National Park (Slovak: Národný park; abbr. NP)
  • Protected Landscape Area (Chránená krajinná oblasť; CHKO)
  • National Nature Reserve (Národná prírodná rezervácia; NPR)
  • Nature Reserve (Prírodná rezervácia; PR)
  • National Nature Monument (Národná prírodná pamiatka; NPP)
  • Nature Monument (Prírodná pamiatka; PP)
  • Protected Site (Chránený areál; CHA)
  • Protected Landscape Element (Chránený krajinný prvok; CHKP)
  • Protected Bird Area* (Chránené vtáčie územie; CHVÚ) *Technically Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EU Bird's Directive
  • Protected Tree (Chránený strom; CHS)

  (Full article...)
• 

  

  Dinosaur Provincial Park

  
  This is a list of protected areas of Alberta. Protected areas are managed by the Government of Canada or the Government of Alberta. The provincial government owns 60% of Alberta's landmass but most of this has not been formally protected. The total protected area throughout Alberta including federal and provincial protected areas is approximately 90,700 km² (35,000 sq mi). (Full article...)
• 

  

  Part of the Brecon Beacons National Park, looking from the highest point of Pen y Fan (886 m/2907 feet) to Cribyn (795 m/2608 feet).

  
  Protected areas of the United Kingdom are areas in the United Kingdom which need and /or receive protection because of their environmental, historical or cultural value to the nation. Methods and aims of protection vary depending on the nature and importance of the resource. Protection operates at local, regional, national and international levels, and may be backed by legislation and international treaty, or less formally by planning policy.
  
  Within the United Kingdom, different approaches are taken to some forms of protection within the constituent countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, while other forms of protection are more consistent across the UK. Protected areas can be divided according to the type of resource which each seeks to protect. Primarily, these are: scenic or landscape value; biodiversity value (species and habitats); geodiversity value (relating to geology and geomorphology); and cultural or historic value. Several types of protected areas are focused on more than one of these areas. (Full article...)
• 

  

  Flamingos at the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary

  
  This is a list of protected areas of United Arab Emirates:
  

  • Abu Dhabi Mangrove and Coastal Wetland Reserve
  • Ain al Faydah National Park
    
    
  • Al Awir Nature Reserve
  • Al Khawanij Nature Reserve
  • Al Maha Nature Reserve
  • Al Marmoom Desert Conservation Reserve
  • Al Wohoosh Desert Conservation Reserve
  • Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve National Park
  • Hatta Nature Reserve
  • Jabal Ali Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Khor Kalba Nature Reserve
  • Marawah Marine Protected Area
  • Mushrif National Park
  • Nadd Al Sheba Nature Reserve
  • Rams Lagoon Reserve
    
  • Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Wadi Wurayah National Park
    
    
  • Zirkuh Island Bird Sanctuary

  (Full article...)
• 
  Protected areas of Norway include:

  • National parks of Norway

  
  
  About 17 percent of the mainland of Norway is protected. Of this, ca. 8.3 percent is national parks, 1.3 percent is nature reserves and 4.7 percent otherwise protected. (Full article...)
• 
  This is a list of protected areas of Saudi Arabia, some of which are managed by the Saudi Wildlife Authority.:
  

  • At-Taysiyah Protected Area
  • Jabal Shada Nature Reserve
  • Majami'al-Hadb Protected Area
  • Nafud al-'Urayq
  • Raydah Natural Reserve
  • 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid
  • Saja Umm Ar-Rimth Natural Reserve
  • Harrat al-Harrah Protected Area
  • Al-Khunfah Natural Reserve
  • Ibex Reserve Protected Area
  • Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area
  • Umm al-Qamari Islands
  • Al-Tubayq Natural Reserve
  • Farasan Islands Protected Area
  • Jubail Marine Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Jabal Aja Protected Area
  • Wadi Turabah Nature Reserve

  (Full article...)
• 
  A list of protected areas of Yemen:
  

  • Bura Community Protected Area
    
  • Hawf National Reserve
    
  • Dhamar Montane Plains Mahjur Traditional Reserve
    
    
  • Jabal Bura Valley Forest National Park
    
  • Ras Isa Marine Park
    
  • Socotra Island Protected Area
    
  • Zuqur Islands Marine National Park

  (Full article...)

Selected world maps

• 
  Index map from the International Map of the World (1:1,000,000 scale)
• 
  The Goode homolosine projection is a pseudocylindrical, equal-area, composite map projection used for world maps.
• 
  United Nations Human Development Index map by country (2016)
• 
  The world map by Gerardus Mercator (1569), the first map in the well-known Mercator projection
• 
  Time zones of the world
• 
  1516 map of the world by Martin Waldseemüller
• 
  A plate tectonics map with volcano locations indicated with red circles
• 
  Mollweide projection of the world
• 
  Only a few of the largest large igneous provinces appear (coloured dark purple) on this geological map, which depicts crustal geologic provinces as seen in seismic refraction data

World records

• List of Olympic records in athletics
• List of world records in athletics
• List of junior world records in athletics
• List of world records in masters athletics
• List of world youth bests in athletics
• List of IPC world records in athletics
• List of world records in canoeing
• List of world records in chess
• List of cycling records
• List of world records in track cycling
• List of world records in finswimming
• List of world records in juggling
• List of world records in rowing
• List of world records in speed skating
• List of world records in swimming
• List of IPC world records in swimming
• List of world records in Olympic weightlifting

Topics

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Categories

Category puzzle

Select [►] to view subcategories

World

Administrative divisions

International broadcasting

Continents

Cosmopolitan species

Countries

Global culture

World economy

Global natural environment

Geography

Global governance

Global surveillance

Globalization

Global health

World history

International aircraft

International classification systems

Global issues

World maps

International organizations

Global politics

World population

World records

Regions

International sports

Global studies

World systems theory

World Wars

---

World history

World historians

Geopolitical rivalry

History of globalization

History of international relations

Theories of history

Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

• 

  Commons
  Free media repository

• 

  Wikibooks
  Free textbooks and manuals

• 

  Wikidata
  Free knowledge base

• 

  Wikinews
  Free-content news

• 

  Wikiquote
  Collection of quotations

• 

  Wikisource
  Free-content library

• 

  Wikispecies
  Directory of species

• 

  Wikiversity
  Free learning tools

• 

  Wikivoyage
  Free travel guide

• 

  Wiktionary
  Dictionary and thesaurus

More portals

Discover Wikipedia using portals

• 

  List of all portals

• 

  The arts portal

• 

  Biography portal

• 

  Current events portal

• 

  Geography portal

• 

  History portal

• 

  Mathematics portal

• 

  Science portal

• 

  Society portal

• 

  Technology portal

• 

  Random portal

• 

  WikiProject Portals