Portal:World

The World Portal

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...)

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Selected articles - show another

Image 1
The term "new world order" refers to a new period of history evidencing dramatic change in world political thought and the balance of power in international relations. Despite varied interpretations of this term, it is commonly associated with the notion of world governance.

The phrase "new world order" or similar language was used in the period toward the end of the First World War in relation to Woodrow Wilson's vision for international peace; Wilson called for a League of Nations to prevent aggression and conflict. In some instances when Franklin D. Roosevelt used the phrase "new world order", or "new order in the world" it was to refer to Axis powers plans for world domination. Although Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman may have been hesitant to use the phrase, commentators have applied the term retroactively to the order put in place by the World War II victors including the United Nations and the Bretton Woods system as a "new world order." (Full article...)
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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 research supports 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...)
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Worldwide levels of happiness as measured by the World Happiness Report (2023).

The World Happiness Report is a publication that contains articles and rankings of national happiness, based on respondent ratings of their own lives, which the report also correlates with various (quality of) life factors. The report primarily uses data from the Gallup World Poll. As of March 2024, Finland has been ranked the happiest country in the world seven times in a row.

Since 2024, the report has been published under a partnership between Gallup, the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The editorial team includes three founding editors, John F. Helliwell, Richard Layard, and Jeffrey D. Sachs, and editors, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Lara Aknin, and Shun Wang. (Full article...)
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World GDP per capita between 1500 and 2003

The world economy or global economy is the economy of all humans in the world, referring to the global economic system, which includes all economic activities conducted both within and between nations, including production, consumption, economic management, work in general, financial transactions and trade of goods and services. In some contexts, the two terms are distinct: the "international" or "global economy" is measured separately and distinguished from national economies, while the "world economy" is simply an aggregate of the separate countries' measurements. Beyond the minimum standard concerning value in production, use and exchange, the definitions, representations, models and valuations of the world economy vary widely. It is inseparable from the geography and ecology of planet Earth.

It is common to limit questions of the world economy exclusively to human economic activity, and the world economy is typically judged in monetary terms, even in cases in which there is no efficient market to help valuate certain goods or services, or in cases in which a lack of independent research, genuine data or government cooperation makes calculating figures difficult. Typical examples are illegal drugs and other black market goods, which by any standard are a part of the world economy, but for which there is, by definition, no legal market of any kind. (Full article...)
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The reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States (1776). The Latin phrase novus ordo seclorum, appearing on the reverse side of the Great Seal since 1782 and on the back of the U.S. one-dollar bill since 1935, translates to "New Order of the Ages", and alludes to the beginning of an era where the United States of America is an independent nation-state; conspiracy theorists claim this is an allusion to the "New World Order".

The New World Order (NWO) is a term used in several conspiracy theories which hypothesize a secretly emerging totalitarian world government. The common theme in conspiracy theories about a New World Order is that a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually achieve world domination and rule the world through an authoritarian one-world government—which will replace sovereign nation-states—and an all-encompassing propaganda whose ideology hails the establishment of the New World Order as the culmination of history's progress. Many influential historical and contemporary figures have therefore been alleged to be part of a cabal that operates through many front organizations to orchestrate significant political and financial events, ranging from causing systemic crises to pushing through controversial policies, at both national and international levels, as steps in an ongoing plot to achieve world domination.

Before the early 1990s, New World Order conspiracism was limited to two American countercultures, primarily the militantly anti-government right, and secondarily the part of fundamentalist Christianity concerned with the eschatological end-time emergence of the Antichrist. Academics who study conspiracy theories and religious extremism, such as Michael Barkun and Chip Berlet, observed that right-wing populist conspiracy theories about a New World Order not only had been embraced by many seekers of stigmatized knowledge but also had seeped into popular culture, thereby fueling a surge of interest and participation in survivalism and paramilitarism as many people actively prepare for apocalyptic and millenarian scenarios. These political scientists warn that mass hysteria over New World Order conspiracy theories could eventually have devastating effects on American political life, ranging from escalating lone-wolf terrorism to the rise to power of authoritarian ultranationalist demagogues. (Full article...)
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A global issue is a matter of public concern worldwide. This list of global issues presents problems or phenomena affecting people around the world, including but not limited to widespread social issues, economic issues, and environmental issues. Organizations that maintain or have published an official list of global issues include the United Nations, and the World Economic Forum. (Full article...)
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The League of Nations (LN or LoN; French: Société des Nations [sɔsjete de nɑsjɔ̃], SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. The main organization ceased operations on 18 April 1946 when many of its components were relocated into the new United Nations. As the template for modern global governance, the League profoundly shaped the modern world.

The League's primary goals were stated in its eponymous Covenant. They included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration. Its other concerns included labour conditions, just treatment of native inhabitants, human and drug trafficking, the arms trade, global health, prisoners of war, and protection of minorities in Europe. The Covenant of the League of Nations was signed on 28 June 1919 as Part I of the Treaty of Versailles, and it became effective with the rest of the Treaty on 10 January 1920. Australia was granted the right to participate as an autonomous member nation, marking the start of Australian independence on the global stage. The first meeting of the Council of the League took place on 16 January 1920, and the first meeting of the Assembly of the League took place on 15 November 1920. In 1919, U.S. president Woodrow Wilson won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as the leading architect of the League. (Full article...)

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General images - load new batch

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

Image 1A 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)
Image 2Geologic 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.
Image 3A 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)
Image 4Cross-section through a liposome (from History of Earth)
Image 5A 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)
Image 6Earth's axial tilt causing different angles of seasonal illumination at different orbital positions around the Sun (from Earth)
Image 7A 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)
Image 8Pillar erected by Ashoka, a Mauryan Emperor in India
Image 9Chloroplasts in the cells of a moss (from History of Earth)
Image 10Tiktaalik, a fish with limb-like fins and a predecessor of tetrapods. Reconstruction from fossils about 375 million years old. (from History of Earth)
Image 11Relief of Earth's crust (from Earth)
Image 12Maya observatory, Chichen Itza, Mexico
Image 13A reconstruction of Pannotia (550 Ma). (from History of Earth)
Image 14Cuneiform inscription, eastern Turkey
Image 15Artist's conception of Hadean Eon Earth, when it was much hotter and inhospitable to all forms of life. (from History of Earth)
Image 16Notre-Dame de Paris, France
Image 17"Lucy", the first Australopithecus afarensis skeleton found, was only 1.06 m (3 ft 6 in) tall.
Image 18Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci epitomizes the advances in art and science seen during the Renaissance. (from History of Earth)
Image 19Wittenberg, birthplace of Protestantism (from Human history)
Image 20Hagia Sophia, Istanbul – a symbol of Byzantine civilization
Image 21Artist'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)
Image 22A composite image of artificial light emissions at night on a map of Earth (from Earth)
Image 23Satellite time lapse imagery of Earth's rotation showing axis tilt (from Earth)
Image 24Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989
Image 25Moai, Easter Island (from Human history)
Image 26Last Moon landing: Apollo 17 (1972)
Image 27A pillar at Göbekli Tepe
Image 28Ming dynasty section, Great Wall of China
Image 29Lithified 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)
Image 30Olmec colossal head, now at the Museo de Antropología de Xalapa
Image 31Shanghai. China urbanized rapidly in the 21st century.
Image 32Empires of the world in 1898
Image 33The 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)
Image 34Ajloun Castle, Jordan
Image 35Earth's history with time-spans of the eons to scale. Ma means "million years ago". (from History of Earth)
Image 36An 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)
Image 37An 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)
Image 38An artist's rendering of a protoplanetary disk (from History of Earth)
Image 39A computer-generated image mapping the prevalence of artificial satellites and space debris around Earth in geosynchronous and low Earth orbit (from Earth)
Image 40Tracy Caldwell Dyson, a NASA astronaut, observing Earth from the Cupola module at the International Space Station on 11 September 2010 (from Earth)
Image 41Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
Image 42Florence, birthplace of the Italian Renaissance
Image 43Obelisk of Axum, Ethiopia
Image 44Earth's major plates, which are:
(from Earth)
Image 45Taj Mahal, Mughal Empire, India
Image 46Artist's conception of Devonian flora (from History of Earth)
Image 47A 2012 artistic impression of the early Solar System's protoplanetary disk from which Earth and other Solar System bodies were formed (from Earth)
Image 48A map of heat flow from Earth's interior to the surface of Earth's crust, mostly along the oceanic ridges (from Earth)
Image 49Benin Bronze head from Nigeria
Image 50Artist's impression of the enormous collision that probably formed the Moon (from History of Earth)
Image 51Earth's land use for human agriculture in 2019 (from Earth)
Image 52Image of the physical world, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope (from World)
Image 53Pangaea 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)
Image 54Japanese depiction of a Portuguese carrack. European maritime innovations led to proto-globalization.
Image 55COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 (from Human history)
Image 56Artist'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)
Image 57Machu Picchu, Inca Empire, Peru
Image 58Battle during the 1281 Mongol invasion of Japan
Image 59Dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates throughout most of the Mesozoic (from History of Earth)
Image 60The 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)
Image 61A High Desert storm in the Mojave (from Earth)
Image 62Peopling of the world, the Southern Dispersal scenario
Image 63Atomic bombing of Nagasaki, 1945
Image 64Earth'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)
Image 65Angkor Wat temple complex, Cambodia, early 12th century
Image 66Yggdrasil, an attempt to reconstruct the Norse world tree which connects the heavens, the world, and the underworld. (from World)
Image 67Change in average surface air temperature and drivers for that change. Human activity has caused increased temperatures, with natural forces adding some variability. (from Earth)
Image 68Graph showing range of estimated partial pressure of atmospheric oxygen through geologic time (from History of Earth)
Image 69Earth's western hemisphere showing topography relative to Earth's center instead of to mean sea level, as in common topographic maps (from Earth)
Image 70Pale orange dot, an artist's impression of Early Earth, featuring its tinted orange methane-rich early atmosphere (from Earth)
Image 71Chennakesava Temple, Belur, India
Image 72Great Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia, founded 670 CE
Image 73James Watt's steam engine powered the Industrial Revolution.
Image 74Scientific worldview. (from World)
Image 7513th-century French historiated initial with the three classes of medieval society: those who prayed (the clergy), those who fought (the knights), and those who worked (the peasantry) (from Human history)
Image 76An artist's impression of ice age Earth at glacial maximum. (from History of Earth)
Image 77First airplane, the Wright Flyer, flew on 17 December 1903.
Image 78Carving of Persian and Median soldiers, Persepolis, Achaemenid Empire, 5th century BCE
Image 79Standing Buddha from Gandhara, 2nd century CE
Image 80A 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)
Image 81A reconstruction of human history based on fossil data. (from History of Earth)
Image 82Earth and the Moon as seen from Mars by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (from Earth)
Image 83Exaggerated 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)
Image 84A schematic view of Earth's magnetosphere with solar wind flowing from left to right (from Earth)
Image 85Conjectured illustration of the scorched Earth after the Sun has entered the red giant phase, about 5–7 billion years from now (from Earth)
Image 86Artist's rendition of an oxinated fully-frozen Snowball Earth with no remaining liquid surface water. (from History of Earth)
Image 87Trilobites first appeared during the Cambrian period and were among the most widespread and diverse groups of Paleozoic organisms. (from History of Earth)

Megacities of the world - show another

Skyline of Seoul at night

Seoul, officially Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Capital Area, encompassing Gyeonggi province and Incheon metropolitan city, emerged as the world's fourth largest metropolitan economy in 2014, trailing only Tokyo, New York City, and Los Angeles, hosting more than half of South Korea's population. Although Seoul's population peaked at slightly over 10 million, it has gradually decreased since 2014, standing at approximately 9.97 million residents as of 2020. Seoul is the seat of the South Korean government.

Seoul's history traces back to 18 BC when it was founded by the people of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. During the Joseon dynasty, Seoul was officially designated as the capital, surrounded by the Fortress Wall of Seoul. In the early 20th century, Seoul was occupied by the Japanese Empire, temporarily renamed "Gyeongseong." The Korean War brought fierce battles, with Seoul changing hands four times and leaving the city mostly in ruins. Nevertheless, the city has since undergone significant reconstruction and rapid urbanization. (Full article...)

List of megacities
Bangalore Bangkok Beijing Bogotá Buenos Aires Cairo Chengdu Chennai Chongqing Delhi Dhaka Guangzhou Hangzhou Ho Chi Minh City Hyderabad Istanbul Istanbul Jakarta Karachi Keihanshin Kinshasa Kolkata Lagos Lahore Lima London Los Angeles Manila Mexico City Moscow Mumbai Nagoya New York City Paris Rhine-Ruhr Rio de Janeiro São Paulo Shanghai Shenzhen Tehran Tianjin Tokyo Xiamen

Did you know - load new batch

... that Guy Gavriel Kay, author of Children of Earth and Sky, has been described as "contemporary fiction's finest fantasist"?
... that Fernhill House has been home to a butter merchant, an Ulster Volunteer Force armoury, a Grand National-winning racehorse and the world's largest collection of Orange Order memorabilia?
... that Tolkien was not sure if Orcs were made of slime or were corrupted Elves?
... that touch-screen technology, pay-at-the-pump, car phones, and Coca-Cola Cherry were shown at the 1982 World's Fair?
... that Trictrac was the classic tables game of France, just as backgammon is of the English-speaking world today?
... that the 1968 Ruby Tower collapse was caused by an earthquake centered more than 200 km (120 mi) away?
... that during World War II, Terry Sanford captured a German officer by grabbing him by the belt?
... that before the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Manhattan opened, its workers were sent to Walt Disney World for training?

Countries of the world - show another

Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world and among the most densely populated with a population of 170 million in an area of 148,460 square kilometres (57,320 sq mi). Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the north, west, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast. To the south, it has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal. It is separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor, and from China by the mountainous Indian state of Sikkim. Dhaka, the capital and largest city, is the nation's political, financial, and cultural centre. Chittagong is the second-largest city and the busiest port. The official language is Bengali, with Bangladeshi English also used in government.

Bangladesh is part of the historic and ethnolinguistic region of Bengal, which was divided during the Partition of British India in 1947 as the eastern enclave of the Dominion of Pakistan, from which it gained independence in 1971 after a bloody war. The country has a Bengali Muslim majority. Ancient Bengal was known as Gangaridai and was a stronghold of pre-Islamic kingdoms. The Muslim conquest after 1204 led to the sultanate and Mughal periods, during which an independent Bengal Sultanate and wealthy Mughal Bengal transformed the region into an important centre of regional affairs, trade, and diplomacy. The Battle of Plassey in 1757 marked the beginning of British rule. The creation of Eastern Bengal and Assam in 1905 set a precedent for the emergence of Bangladesh. The All India Muslim League was founded in Dhaka in 1906. The Lahore Resolution in 1940 was supported by A. K. Fazlul Huq, the first Prime Minister of Bengal. The present-day territorial boundary was established with the announcement of the Radcliffe Line. (Full article...)

List of countries

See also: List of sovereign states

Wonders of the World - show another

16th-century imagined depictions of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. From left to right, top to bottom: Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Temple of Artemis, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2nd–1st century BC.

While the entries have varied over the centuries, the seven traditional wonders are the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Using modern-day countries, two of the wonders were located in Greece, two in Turkey, two in Egypt, and one in Iraq. Of the seven wonders, only the Pyramid of Giza, which is also by far the oldest of the wonders, still remains standing, while the others have been destroyed over the centuries. There is scholarly debate over the exact nature of the Hanging Gardens, and there is doubt as to whether they existed at all. (Full article...)

List of articles
Wonders of the World New7Wonders of the World Seven Wonders of Canada Seven Wonders of Colombia Seven Wonders of Poland Seven Wonders of Portugal Seven Wonders of Romania Seven Wonders of Russia Seven Wonders of Ukraine Seven Wonders of Wales Seven Wonders of the Industrial World Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World 12 Treasures of Spain Eighth Wonder of the World

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Animals

Protected areas of the world - load new batch

Image 1
A National Biodiversity Conservation Area (NBCA) is an environmentally protected area in Laos. There are all together 21 different NBCAs in Laos, protecting 29,775 square kilometers. Another 10 NBCAs have been proposed, many of them being treated by authorities as though they were already officially protected. (Full article...)
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This is a list of protected areas in Belize. (Full article...)
Image 3
Rano Kau, Parque National Rapa Nui, Easter Island

The protected areas of Chile are areas that have natural beauty or significant historical value protected by the government of Chile. These protected areas cover over 140,000 km² (54,054 sq mi), which is 19% of the territory of Chile. The National System of Protected Wild Areas (SNASPE by its Spanish acronym) is regulated by law #18,362 passed in 1984, and administered by the National Forest Corporation (CONAF).

There are three types of territories:
(Full article...)
Image 4
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...)
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There are four categories of protected areas in India, constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Tiger reserves consist of areas under national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. There are 53 tiger reserves in India. As of January 2023,^[update] the protected areas of India cover 173,629.52 square kilometres (67,038.73 sq mi), roughly 5.28% of the total geographical area of the country. (Full article...)
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Andohahela National Park in southern Madagascar

The national parks of Madagascar include all officially recognized protected areas as of 2015. The protected areas network of Madagascar is managed by the Madagascar National Parks Association (PNM-ANGAP). The network includes three types of protected areas: Strict Nature Reserves (IUCN category Ia), National Parks (IUCN category II) and Wildlife Reserves (IUCN category IV). At the 2003 IUCN World Parks Congress in Durban, the Malagasy President, Marc Ravalomanana, announced an initiative to more than triple the area under protection from approximately 17,000 km² (6,600 sq mi) to over 60,000 km² (23,000 sq mi) (from 3% to 10% of Madagascar's area). This "Durban Vision", as it has been dubbed, involved broadening the definition of protected areas in the country and legislation has been passed to allow the creation of four new categories of protected area: Natural Parks (IUCN category II), Natural Monuments (IUCN category III), Protected Landscapes (IUCN category V), and Natural Resource Reserves (IUCN category VI). As well as allowing these new objectives for protected areas management, the new legislation also provided for entities other than PNM-ANGAP to manage protected areas, such as government ministries, community associations, NGOs and other civil society organizations, and the private sector. (Full article...)
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A view of Kaptai National Park

This is a list of protected areas of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 163 million people in an area of either 148,460 square kilometres (57,320 sq mi) or 147,570 square kilometres (56,980 sq mi), making it one of the most densely populated countries in the world. (Full article...)
Image 8
Heathland at the Hoge Kempen National Park

There are numerous protected areas in Belgium with a wide variety of types, protection levels and sizes. The below list gives an overview of the most important protected areas. (Full article...)
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The protected areas of Finland include national parks, nature reserves and other areas, with a purpose of conserving areas of all of Finland's ecosystems and biotopes.

Protected areas include:
- National parks of Finland (Kansallispuisto/Nationalpark) - 8,170 km²
- Strict nature reserves of Finland (Luonnonpuisto/Naturreservat) - 1,530 km²
- Mire reserves of Finland (Soidensuojelualue/Myrskyddsområde) - 4,490 km²
- Protected herb-rich forest areas (Lehtojensuojelualue/Lundskyddsområde) - 13 km²
- Protected old-growth forest areas (Vanhat metsät/Gamla skogar) - 100 km²
- Grey seal protection areas (Hylkeidensuojelualue/Sälskyddsområde) - 190 km²
- Other protected areas on state-owned land - 468 km²
(Full article...)
Image 10
The Protected areas of Portugal (Portuguese: Áreas protegidas de Portugal) are classified under a legal protection statute that allows for the adequate protection and maintenance of biodiversity, while providing services for ecosystem that maintains the natural and geological patrimony. (Full article...)
Image 11
A family of Asiatic lions at Gir National Park

The Gujarat state of western India has four National Parks and twenty-three wildlife sanctuaries which are managed by the Forest Department of the Government of Gujarat. (Full article...)
Image 12
The main protected areas of Croatia are national parks, nature parks and strict reserves. There are 444 protected areas of Croatia, encompassing 9% of the country. Those include 8 national parks in Croatia, 2 strict reserves and 11 nature parks. The most famous protected area and the oldest national park in Croatia is the Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Velebit Nature Park is a part of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. The strict and special reserves, as well as the national and nature parks, are managed and protected by the central government, while other protected areas are managed by counties. In 2005, the National Ecological Network was set up, as the first step in preparation of the EU accession and joining of the Natura 2000 network.

The total area of all national parks in the country is 994 km² (384 sq mi), of which 235 km² (91 sq mi) is sea surface. Each of the national parks is maintained by a separate institution, overseen and funded by the government ministry of nature conservation and spatial development. The State Institute for Nature Protection provides centralized oversight and expertise. (Full article...)
Image 13
The protected areas of Nepal cover mainly forested land and are located at various altitudes in the Terai, in the foothills of the Himalayas and in the mountains, thus encompassing a multitude of landscapes and preserving a vast biodiversity in the Palearctic and Indomalayan realms.
Nepal covers 147,181 km² (56,827 sq mi) in the central part of the Himalayas. Altitudes range from 67 m (220 ft) in the south-eastern Terai to 8,848 m (29,029 ft) at Mount Everest within a short horizontal span. This extreme altitudinal gradient has resulted in 11 bio-climatic zones ranging from lower tropical below 500 m (1,600 ft) to nival above 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in the High Himalayas, encompassing nine terrestrial ecoregions with 36 vegetation types.

Additionally, nine Ramsar sites were declared between 1988 and 2008. Two wildlife reserves were declared as national parks in 2017. (Full article...)
Image 14
Cadw is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government which manages historical buildings and ancient monuments in Wales. (Full article...)
Image 15

Canada's National Parks and National Reserves by provinces and territories

This is a list of protected areas of the Northwest Territories. (Full article...)

List of protected areas

Selected world maps

Image 1United Nations Human Development Index map by country (2016)
Image 2Mollweide projection of the world
Image 3The world map by Gerardus Mercator (1569), the first map in the well-known Mercator projection
Image 4Index map from the International Map of the World (1:1,000,000 scale)
Image 51516 map of the world by Martin Waldseemüller
Image 6Time zones of the world
Image 7A plate tectonics map with volcano locations indicated with red circles
$Image 8Only a few of the largest large igneous provinces appear (coloured dark purple) on this geological map, which depicts crustal geologic provinces as seen in seismic refraction data$

Image 8Only 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
Image 9The Goode homolosine projection is a pseudocylindrical, equal-area, composite map projection used for world maps.

See also: Clickable world map • List of map projections

World records

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[WW1-1] Cancelled due to World War I

[WW2-2] Cancelled due to World War II

[COVID2021-3] Postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

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v t e Earth
Continents	Africa Antarctica Asia Australia Europe North America South America
Oceans	Arctic Ocean Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean
Geology	Age of Earth Geology Earth science Erosion Extremes on Earth Future Geological history time scale Geologic record Geophysics Gravity History of Earth Magnetic field Plate tectonics Structure
Atmosphere	Atmosphere of Earth Climate Global warming Weather
Environment	Biome Biosphere Ecology Ecosystem Human impact on the environment Evolutionary history of life Nature
Cartography	Digital mapping Satellite imagery Virtual globe World map
Culture and society	List of sovereign states dependent territories In culture Earth Day World economy Etymology World history Time zones World
Planetary science	Earth's orbit Evolution of Solar System Geology of solar terrestrial planets Location in the Universe The Moon Solar System
Outline of Earth

v t e World's largest cities
City proper	Capitals Americas (North Latin Central South) Asia (Arab world ASEAN Arabia East, South and Southeast Asia) Europe (European Union Nordic)
Metropolitan area	Americas (North South West Indies) Europe (European Union Nordic) Asia Africa Middle East
Urban area/agglomeration	Asia Africa Europe European Union Nordic North America Oceania Transborder
Historical	World Europe
Related articles	Arcology Ecumenopolis Global city Megacity Megalopolis Conurbation Satellite city population Primate city Secondary city

v t e Lists of World Heritage Sites
Locations	Africa Americas North America Central America Caribbean South America Asia Eastern Northern and Central Southeast Southern Western Europe Eastern Northern Southern Western Oceania
Related	World Heritage in Danger Former sites By country By year of inscription

v t e Carnival around the world
Asia	Indonesia Solo Jember Jakarta
Europe	Austria Belgium Aalst Binche Croatia Denmark England France Nice Paris Belarus, Russia, Ukraine Germany Cologne Mainz Greece Hungary Italy Venice Viareggio Ivrea Lithuania Malta Netherlands Portugal Madeira Ovar Spain Cádiz Las Palmas Santa Cruz Switzerland Basel Turkey
North America	Canada Ottawa Quebec City Toronto México United States Mobile New Orleans New York City
Caribbean	Antigua Bahamas Barbados Cayman Islands Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Haiti Nevis Puerto Rico (Ponce) Trinidad and Tobago
South America	Argentina Buenos Aires Murga Bolivia Oruro Brazil Bahia Rio Colombia Barranquilla Negros y Blancos French Guiana Cayenne Guyana Uruguay
Oceania	Australia

v t e World Sailing
World championships in sailing Sailing at the Summer Olympics Sailing at the Summer Paralympics Sailing at the Youth Olympic Games
Confederations	ASF ASCON EUROSAF OSAF SASC
World Championships	Sailing World Championships Youth Sailing World Championships ISAF Offshore Team Racing World Championship ISAF Open Match Racing World Championship Para World Sailing Championships ISAF Team Racing World Championship Women's Match Racing World Championship eSailing World Championship
World Cup	Sailing World Cup
Special events	America's Cup Extreme Sailing Series PWA World Tour Star Sailors League Vendée Globe Volvo Ocean Race World Match Racing Tour
Presidents	Sir Ralph Gore (1946–1955) Sir Peter Scott (1955–1969) Beppe Croce (1969–1986) Peter Tallberg (1986–1994) Paul Henderson (1994–2004) Göran Petersson (2004–2012) Carlo Croce (2012–2016) Kim Andersen (2016–2020) Quanhai Li (2020-present)
Awards	World Sailor of the Year ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame Beppe Croce Trophy