The island of Montserrat is located approximately 480 km (300 miles) east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 48 km(30 miles) southwest of Antigua. It comprises only 104 km² (40 square miles) and is increasing gradually owing to volcanic deposits on the southeast coast of the island; it is 16 km (10 miles) long and 11 km (7 miles) wide, with dramatic rock faced cliffs rising 15 to 30 m (50-100 feet) above the sea and smooth bottomed sandy beaches scattered among coves on the west side of the island. Montserrat has been a quiet haven of extraordinary scenic beauty.

Two-thirds of the island’s population forced to flee abroad by an eruption of the previously dormant Soufriere Hills volcano that began on July 18, 1995. The eruption continues today on a much reduced scale, the damage being confined to the areas around Plymouth.

An exclusion zone extending from the south coast of the island north to parts of the Belham Valley has been closed because of an increase in the size of the existing volcanic dome. This zone includes St. George’s Hill which provided visitors with a spectacular view of the volcano and the destruction it has wrought upon the capital. A new airport at Gerald’s in the northern part of the island opened in 2005.

The island fell under English control in 1632

The southern part of the island is currently off limits to the population because of the volcano, and trespassers caught in the restricted area are subject to fines.

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Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east and south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east.
Costa Rica, which translates literally as “Rich Coast”, was the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish its army.

The country is ranked 5th in the world, and 1st among the Americas, in terms of the 2008 Environmental Performance Index.

Costa Rica borders both the Caribbean Sea (to the east) and the North Pacific Ocean (to the west), with a total of 1,290 kilometers (802 mi) of coastline (212 km / 132 mi on the Caribbean coast and 1,016 km / 631 mi on the Pacific.

Costa Rica also borders Nicaragua to the north (309 km / 192 mi of border) and Panama to the south-southeast (639 km / 397 mi of border). In total, Costa Rica comprises 51,100 square kilometers (19,730 sq. mi) plus 589.000 square kilometers of territorial waters.

The highest point in the country is Cerro Chirripó, at 3,820 metres (12,532 ft), and is the fifth highest peak in Central America. The highest volcano in the country is the Irazú Volcano (3,431 m / 11,257 ft). The largest lake in Costa Rica is Lake Arenal.

Costa Rica also comprises several islands. Cocos Island stands out because of its distance from continental landmass (24 km² / 9.25 sq mi, 300 mi (480 km) from Puntarenas coast), but Calero Island is the largest island of the country (151.6 km² / 58.5 sq mi).

Costa Rica protects 23% of its national territory within the Protected Areas system. It also possesses the greatest density of species in the world.

Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of plants and animals. While the country has only about 0.1% of the world’s landmass, it contains 5% of the world’s biodiversity. Around 25% of the country’s land area is in protected national parks and protected areas, the largest percentual of protected areas in the world.

One national park that is internationally renowned among ecologists for its biodiversity (including big cats and tapirs) and where visitors can expect to see an abundance of wildlife is the Corcovado National Park.
Corocovado is the one park in Costa Rica where all four Costa Rican monkey species can be found.

Tortuguero National Park — the name Tortuguero can be translated as “Full of Turtles” — is home to spider, howler and white-throated Capuchin monkeys, the three-toed sloth, 320 species of birds, and a variety of reptiles, but the park is recognized for the annual nesting of the endangered green turtle and is the most important nesting site for the species. Giant leatherback, hawksbill, and loggerhead turtles also nest there.

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is home to about 2,000 plant species, including numerous orchids. Over four hundred types of birds and over one hundred species of mammals can be found there.
As a whole, around eight hundred species of birds have been identified in Costa Rica. The Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad is allowed to collect royalties on any biological discoveries of medical importance.

The only official language is Spanish.

Uruguay is a country located in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to 3.46 million people.

Uruguay’s only land border is with Brazil to the north. To the west lies the Uruguay River, to the southwest lies the estuary of Río de la Plata, with Argentina only a short commute across the banks of either of these bodies of water, while to the southeast lies the South Atlantic Ocean. Uruguay is the second smallest country in South America, larger only than Suriname.

An estimated 94.6% of the population are of mostly European descent.

At 176,214 square kilometres (68,036 square miles) of continental land and 142,199 square kilometres (54,903 sq mi) of jurisdictional water and small river
islands,Uruguay is the second smallest sovereign nation in South America (after Suriname) and the third smallest territory (French Guiana is the smallest).
The landscape features mostly rolling plains and low hill ranges (cuchillas) with a fertile coastal lowland. A dense fluvial network covers the country, consisting
of four river basins or deltas; the Río de la Plata, the Uruguay River, the Laguna Merín and the Río Negro. The major internal river is the Río Negro
(‘black river’). Several lagoons are found along the Atlantic coast.

The highest point in the country is the Cerro Catedral at 514 meters (1,685 ft) in the Sierra Carapé hill range. To the southwest is the Río de la Plata, the
estuary of the Uruguay River, which forms the western border, and the Paraná River.

The climate in Uruguay is temperate: it has warm summers and cool winters. The predominantly gently undulating landscape is somewhat vulnerable to
rapid changes from weather fronts. It receives the periodic influence of the polar air in winter, and tropical air from Brazil in summer. Without mountains
to act as a barrier, the air masses freely move by the territory, causing abrupt weather changes.

The coolest month is June, while the warmest is January. The rainfall is equally distributed throughout the year but tends to be more frequent in the autumn
months. There can be frequent thunderstorms in the summer. Snow is not very common. One of the coldest winters (since 1951) was 2007:
July averaged 6-7°C (42-45F) in Montevideo, and 6-8°C (42-46F) in Florida city.

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Greenland is a member country of the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically and ethnically an Arctic island country and geographically a part of the continent of North America, politically and historically Greenland is associated with Europe, specifically Iceland, Norway, and Denmark.

Greenland is, by area, the world’s largest island that is not a continent in its own right.
Greenland had been a protected and very isolated society until 1940. The Danish government, which governed Greenland as its colony, had been convinced that the society would face exploitation from the outside world or even extinction if the country was opened up. But wartime Greenland developed a sense of self-reliance through self-government and independent communication with the outside world.

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The Atlantic Ocean borders Greenland’s southeast; the Greenland Sea is to the east; the Arctic Ocean is to the north; and Baffin Bay is to the west. The nearest countries are Iceland, east of Greenland in the Atlantic Ocean, and Canada, to the west and across Baffin Bay. Greenland is the world’s largest island, and is the largest dependent territory by area in the world. It also contains the world’s largest national park.

About 81 percent of Greenland’s surface is covered by the Greenland ice sheet. The weight of the ice has depressed the central land area into a basin shape, whose base lies more than 300 metres (984 ft) below the surrounding ocean. Elevations rise suddenly and steeply near the coast.

Greenland has a population of 56,344, 88% are Inuit or mixed Danish and Inuit. The remaining 12% are of European descent, mainly Danish. The majority of the population is Evangelical Lutheran.

Nearly all Greenlanders live along the fjords in the south-west of the main island, which have a relatively mild climate.

Both Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) and Danish have been used in public affairs since the establishment of home rule in 1979, and most of the population speak both of the languages. Greenlandic, spoken by about 50,000 people, some monolingual, will be the sole official language from June 2009. A minority of Danish migrants with no Inuit ancestry speak Danish as their first, or only, language, and Danish will remain a language of higher education.

English is widely spoken as a third language. The country has a 100% literacy rate.

The Greenlandic language is the most populous of the languages of the Eskimo-Aleut language family and it has as many speakers as all the other languages of the family combined. Within Greenland, three main dialects are recognized: the northern dialect Inuktun or Avanersuarmiutut spoken by around 1000 people in the region of Qaanaaq, Western Greenlandic or Kalaallisut which serves as the official standard language, and the Eastern dialect Tunumiit oraasiat or Tunumiutut spoken in eastern Greenland.(from wikipedia)

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San Marino is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California, USA

It ranks the city as the 47th most expensive place to live in the United States

The small community of San Marino is populated largely by well-educated, wealthy professionals and their families. The city is primarily known for its immaculately preserved housing stock, its strict zoning laws and its distinguished public school system.

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In the middle of San Marino lies Lacy Park, a huge 30 acre expanse of lush grass and trees rare for urban areas. Originally Wilson Lake in 1875, the land was purchased by the City in 1925 and dedicated as a park. Families in San Marino have enjoyed the park for years, and it remains one of San Marino’s best kept secrets. The park includes six championship tennis courts and pro shop, administered by the San Marino Tennis Foundation. At the west entrance of the park is the Rose Arbor, which is of special significance for the people of San Marino. It is 60 years old and has long been a source of beauty and tranquility to many residents. In recent years the care and upkeep of the Rose Arbor itself has been augmented by private donations from dedicated residents who have chosen to sponsor individual posts.
There are many trees in the community, most cultivated by private homeowners. During the Christmas season, the tall trees of St. Albans Road are decorated with many Christmas lights. (from Wikipedia)

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The Falkland Islands are in the South Atlantic Ocean, located 300 miles (480 km) from the coast of Argentina, 671 miles (1,080 km) west of the Shag Rocks (South Georgia), and 584 miles (940 km) north of the British Antarctic Territory (which overlaps with the Argentine and Chilean claims to Antarctica in that region). They consist of two main islands, East Falkland and West Falkland, together with 776 smaller islands.

The islands are a self-governing Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom, but have been the subject of a claim to sovereignty by Argentina since the re-establishment of British rule.

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The islands were uninhabited when they were first discovered by European explorers.

There is disputed evidence of prior settlement, based on:

* The existence of the Falkland Island fox, or Warrah (now extinct). It is thought that humans brought it to the islands, but it may have reached the islands via a land bridge when the sea level was much lower during the last ice age.
* A scattering of undated artifacts including arrowheads and the remains of a canoe.

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There are also some boggy plains, most notably Lafonia, on the southern half of East Falkland. Virtually the entire area of the islands is used as pasture for sheep.

Smaller islands surround the main two. They include Barren Island, Beaver Island, Bleaker Island, Carcass Island, George Island, Keppel Island, Lively Island, New Island, Pebble Island, Saunders Island, Sealion Island, Speedwell Island, Staats Island, Weddell Island, and West Point Island. The Jason Islands lie to the north west of the main archipelago, and Beauchene Island some distance to its south. Speedwell Island and George Island are split from East Falkland by Eagle Passage.

The islands claim a territorial sea of 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) and an exclusive fishing zone of 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi), which has been a source of disagreement with Argentina.

Surrounded by cool South Atlantic waters, the Falkland Islands have a climate very much influenced by the ocean with a narrow annual temperature range. January averages about 9 °C, with average daily high of 13 °C, while July averages about 2 °C with average daily high 4 °C. Rainfall is relatively low at about 24 inches (610 mm). Humidity and winds, however, are constantly high. Snow is rare, but can occur at almost any time of year.

Biogeographically, the Falkland Islands are classified as part of the Neotropical realm, together with South America. It is also classified as part of the Antarctic Floristic Kingdom. ( from Wikipedia)

Guadeloupe is an island group or archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at [show location on an interactive map] 16°15?N 61°35?W? / ?16.25°N 61.583°W? / 16.25; -61.583, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres (629 sq. mi).[1] It is an overseas department of France.

Today the population of Guadeloupe is mostly of African origin with an important European and Indian active population. Lebanese/Syrians, Chinese, and people of many other origins are also present.

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Guadeloupe comprises five islands: Basse-Terre Island, Grande-Terre (separated from Basse-Terre by a narrow sea channel called Salt River) with the adjacent islands of La Désirade, Les Saintes and Marie-Galante.

Guadeloupe’s culture is probably best known for the islanders’ literary achievements, particularly the poetry of Saint-John Perse, the pseudonym used by Alexis Léger. Perse won the 1960 Nobel Prize in Literature “for the soaring flight and the evocative images of his poetry which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of our time.”

Also culturally important are the arts, particularly painting and sculpture. Famous painters and/or sculptors include Michel Rovelas, Claudie Cancelier, Jean-Claude Echard, Christian Bracy, Roger Arekian, les Frères Baptiste, Michelle Chomereau-Lamothe, Léogane, Pédurand, Nicole Réache, Victor Sainsily. Guadeloupean visual effects artist compositor Karim Sahai of Weta Digital, New Zealand, has worked on the visual effects of many movies such as The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, and The Waterhorse.

Another element of the Guadeloupean culture is its dress. Women in particular have a unique style of traditional dresses, with many layers of colourful fabrics, now only worn on special occasions. On festive occasions they also wore a madras (originally the ‘kerchief’ from South India) head scarf tied in many different symbolic forms. The headdress could be done in many styles with names like the “bat” style, or the “firefighter” style, as well as the “Guadeloupean woman.” Jewelry, mainly of gold, is also important in the Guadeloupean lady’s dress, a product of European, African and Indian inspiration. Many famous couturiers like Devaed and Mondelo are Guadeloupeans.

Football (soccer) is popular in Guadeloupe. Thierry Henry, a star of the French National Team and Spanish League club FC Barcelona, often visits, as his father Antoine was originally from the island. William Gallas, whose parentage is Guadeloupean, visits the island when not playing for Arsenal or the French National team. Lilian Thuram, a star football defender for France and FC Barcelona, was born in Guadeloupe. The French national team and Everton F.C. striker, Louis Saha, is also of Guadeloupean descent, as is MK Dons goalkeeper Willy Gueret. Pascal Chimbonda of Tottenham was also born in Guadeloupe. The region’s football team experienced recent success, advancing all the way to the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-finals, where they were defeated just 1-0 by CONCACAF powerhouse Mexico. Many fine track and field athletes, such as Marie-José Perec, Patricia Girard-Léno, and Christine Arron are also Guadeloupe natives. The NBA player Mickaël Piétrus and Mickaël Gelabale were born in this island. Famed Bodybuilder Serge Nubret also hails from Guadeloupe. ( from Wikipedia)

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