The great philosopher and painter Nicholas Roerich called Altai the cradle of peoples, the center from which mankind once settled our planet. It is rare to find such a variety of natural phenomena and such an abundance of contrasts, as here. The ancient cultural monuments are preserved in its original form here. This is a land that keeps many mysteries that are still waiting for their researchers.
In the Ulagansky district there are five large mounds which resemble the graves of tribal leaders of the Scythian period (V-IV century BC).
From 1929 to 1949, several archaeological expeditions carried out their excavations. Unique items were found in the burial chambers: the world’s oldest knotted-pile carpet, lushly decorated saddles, a four horse chariot and much more. Interestingly, at that time the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and other peoples with a developed culture did not yet have saddles.
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Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean Sea. Its area is 9,104 square kilometers. It is a commonwealth of the United States. Puerto Rico is part of the island group called the West Indies. It is located at the eastern end of the Greater Antilles, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The island is roughly rectangular in shape. The weather is warm year-round. The island is mostly hilly, though it is flatter along the coast. Rainforests cover parts of the north.
Most Puerto Ricans speak Spanish, and many speak English as well. Most of the people are Christian.
The capital of Puerto Rico is San Juan.
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For the first time, scientists learned about Baalbek (its subsequent ancient name is Heliopolis) when they got acquainted with the Egyptian inscriptions of the epoch of Pharaoh Akhenaten. According to their assumptions, the history of this Phoenician city, which ruins have remained, goes back centuries, and most likely Baalbek was founded much earlier than two thousand years before our era. Today, the ruins of a once majestic city can be seen in the Beqaa Valley, at the foot of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, 85 km northeast of Beirut.
Originally the city was called Baal Beck in honor of the ancient Phoenicians deity Baal – the god of sun and fertility. According to legend, this deity was the patron and protector of the Phoenicians, helped them in work and battles. Men of this city knew how to speak beautifully, and women were famous for their beauty.
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Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East and the largest producer of oil in the world. Its area is 1,960,582 square kilometers. Its official name is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It shares borders with Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. The Red Sea runs along the western border. The Persian Gulf lies to the east. The Rub’ al-Khali desert in the southeast is the longest stretch of sand in the world. There are no lakes or rivers that flow year-round. The country depends on underground water supplies.
Saudis, or Arabs born in Saudi Arabia, make up most of the population. The rest of the people are mainly Arabs from other countries and South Asians. Arabic is the main language.
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Shanghai, the second largest city in China, is removed from the capital of Beijing to the southeast. It is located in the Yangtze River Delta. The population is 16 million people, mostly Chinese. Shanghai does not look like Beijing at all – it’s a state-of-the-art metropolis, the shape of which is formed by skyscrapers made of concrete, steel and glass, annoying ads and trains on a magnetic pillow. The history of the city has three interesting facts: the birth of the Communist Party of China, Soviet jazz under the leadership of Oleg Lundstrem and the Cultural Revolution. In 1921, in Shanghai, the founding congress of the Communist Party of China was held, in which Mao Zedong took part; from 1936 to 1947 Oleg Lundstrem, who later moved to the USSR, directed the orchestra; and in 1966 the city announced the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
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Argentina lies at the southern end of South America and is the second largest country on the continent—only Brazil is larger. Its name is a Spanish word meaning Land of Silver. Argentina is bordered by Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, and Uruguay. Its area is 2,766,890 square kilometers. Its official name is Argentine Republic.
Argentina has four major regions: the Andes, the North, the Pampas, and Patagonia. The mountains of the Andes rise in the northwest. The dry Gran Chaco lowlands lie in the north. In the south is the cold dry region of Patagonia. The Pampas grasslands cover the heart of the country. Tierra del Fuego is a group of islands off the southern tip of the continent. Argentina shares the islands with Chile.
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Wales is a beautiful land of hills, valleys, and ancient castles. It is a part of the United Kingdom. The other three parts of the United Kingdom are England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Wales is called Cymru in the Welsh language. Cardiff is the capital. English is the main language, but some people still speak Welsh. Most of the Welsh people are Protestant.
Wales borders England on the east and on the other three sides it is surrounded by water. Wales’s many mountains—including the highest one, Snowdon—were formed mostly from volcanic rock. There are fabulous cliffs and sandy beaches along the coast. The Severn, Wye, and Dee are the longest rivers. The climate is cool and wet.
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