New Zealand - Kakapo

Sirocco is a rare kakapo parrot. His cheeky antics have made him world famous, but he channels his celebrity for good - as ambassador for his species and New Zealand's Spokebird for Conservation.

Sent by Aunty Seahorse from Paraparaumu, New Zealand.

The Kakapo (Māori: kākāpō, night parrot), Strigops habroptilus (Gray, 1845), also called owl parrot, is a species of large, flightless, nocturnal, ground-dwelling parrot of the super-family Strigopoidea endemic to New Zealand.  It has finely blotched yellow-green plumage, a distinct facial disc of sensory, vibrissa-like feathers, a large grey beak, short legs, large feet, and wings and a tail of relatively short length. A certain combination of traits makes it unique among its kind; it is the world's only flightless parrot, the heaviest parrot, nocturnal, herbivorous, visibly sexually dimorphic in body size, has a low basal metabolic rate, no male parental care, and is the only parrot to have a polygynous lek breeding system. It is also possibly one of the world's longest-living birds.  Its anatomy typifies the tendency of bird evolution on oceanic islands, with few predators and abundant food: a generally robust physique, with accretion of thermodynamic efficiency at the expense of flight abilities, reduced wing muscles, and a diminished keel on the sternum.  Like many other New Zealand bird species, the Kakapo was historically important to the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, appearing in many of their traditional legends and folklore. It was hunted and used as a resource by Māori, both for its meat as a food source and for its feathers, which were used to make highly valued pieces of clothing. It was also sometimes kept as a pet. (read further)

Finland - South Karelia - Imatra

Imatra
Imatran Valtionhotelli

Sent by Marju from Imatra, Finland.

Imatra is a town and municipality in eastern Finland, founded in 1948 around three industrial settlements near the Finnish–Russian border. In the course of the last 50 years, this amorphous group of settlements has grown into a modern industrial town dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and the border. It gained its municipal charter in 1971.

On the other side of the border, 7 kilometres (4 mi) away from the centre of Imatra, lies the Russian town of Svetogorsk. St Petersburg is situated 210 km (130 mi) to the southeast, Finland's capital Helsinki is 230 km (140 mi) away and Lappeenranta, the nearest Finnish town, is 37 km (23 mi) away. Imatra belongs to the administrative province of Southern Finland and the region of South Karelia.

An Art Nouveau or Jugend style castle, currently known as Imatran Valtionhotelli, was built near the rapids in 1903 as a hotel for tourists from the Russian Imperial capital Saint Petersburg. (read further)

Finland - Southern Savonia - Savonlinna

Savonlinna
Olavinlinna Castle

Sent by Maarit from Savonlinna, Finland.

Savonlinna (Swedish: Nyslott, Russian: Нейшлот, Neishlott) is a town and a municipality of 27,420 (31 January 2014) inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region. The Finnish name of the town means "Castle of Savonia" and the Swedish name means "Newcastle". The city's Russian name is a direct transliteration of the Swedish name. (read further)

Canada - Manitoba - Winnipeg

An aerial view of downtown Winnipeg.

Sent by Lynette from Winnipeg, Canada.

Winnipeg /ˈwɪnɪpɛɡ/ is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. The Winnipeg area was a trading centre for Aboriginal peoples prior to the arrival of Europeans. The first fort was built there in 1738 by French traders. A settlement was later founded by the Selkirk settlers in 1812, the nucleus of which was incorporated as the City of Winnipeg in 1873. Winnipeg is the seventh-largest municipality in Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region. (read further)

U.S.A. - Wyoming - Cheyenne

CHEYENNE, WYOMING
As the capital of Wyoming, the labor force of Cheyenne is predominately government,local, state, and federal employees. Trucking firms are a major employer. The city also functions as a regional shopping center, serving nearly 200,000 people in Southeastern Wyoming, Western Nebraska and Northern Colorado.

Sent by Camellia from Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA.

Cheyenne (/ʃaɪˈæn/ shy-an or /ʃaɪˈɛn/) (Arapaho: Hítesííno'óowú' ) is the capital and most populous city of the US state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population was 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the northern terminus of the extensive and fast-growing Front Range Urban Corridor that stretches from Cheyenne to Pueblo, Colorado, and has a population of 5,467,633 according to the 2010 United States Census. Cheyenne is situated on Crow Creek and Dry Creek. The Cheyenne, Wyoming Metropolitan Area had a 2010 population of 91,738, making it the 354th most populous metropolitan area in the United States. (read further)

Netherlands - Flevoland - Lelystad

Images of Lelystad.

Sent by Esther from Lelystad, Netherlands.

Lelystad (Dutch: [ˈleːlistɑd]) is a municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands, and it is the capital of the province of Flevoland. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named after Cornelis Lely, who engineered the Afsluitdijk, making the reclamation possible. Lelystad is approximately 3 m (9.8 ft) below sea level. (read further)

Finland - Central Ostrobothnia - Kokkola

Kokkola

Sent by Eelco from Kokkola, Finland.

Kokkola (Swedish: Karleby) is a town and municipality of Finland. The town is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of 46,714 (31 January 2014) and covers an area of 2,730.81 square kilometres (1,054.37 sq mi) of which 1,286.61 km² (496.76 sq mi) is water. The population density is 32.35 inhabitants per square kilometre (83.8 /sq mi). The municipality is bilingual with 84.2% being Finnish and 13.9% Swedish speakers. (read further)

Libya - Mosaic Four Seasoun

Libya - mosaic

Sent by Omran from Tripoli, Libya.

Libya

Libya

Sent by Omran from Tripoli, Libya.

Canada - Nunavut - Muskox

Nunavut - Canada's Arctic
Muskox at Cambridge Bay.

The muskox (Ovibos moschatus, also spelled musk ox and musk-ox) is an Arctic mammal of the family Bovidae, noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males, from which its name derives. This musky odor is used to attract females during mating season. Muskoxen primarily live in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland, with small introduced populations in Sweden, Siberia, Norway, and Alaska. (read further)

Russia - Kamchatka Krai - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

Petropavlosk-Kamchatsky
Stretching from center of the town to Zavoiko

Sent by Olesya from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia.

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Russian: Петропа́вловск-Камча́тский) is the city and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultural center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. Population: 179,780 (2010 Census); 198,028 (2002 Census); 268,747 (1989 Census). (read further)

Greece - Athens

Athens

Sent by Elena from Athens, Greece.

Athens (/ˈæθɨnz/; Modern Greek: Αθήνα, Athína, [aˈθina]; Ancient Greek: Ἀθῆναι, Athēnai) is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning around 3,400 years. Classical Athens, as a landlocked location was a powerful city-state that emerged in conjunction with the seagoing development of the port of Piraeus. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC in later centuries on the rest of the then known European continent. Today a cosmopolitan metropolis, modern Athens is central to economic, financial, industrial, political and cultural life in Greece. In 2012, Athens was ranked the world's 39th richest city by purchasing power and the 77th most expensive in a UBS study. (read further)

Finland - Kainuu - Kajaani

Kajaani

Sent by Anni from Kajaani, Finland.

Kajaani (Swedish: Kajana) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is the center and capital of the Kainuu region. It is located southeast of Oulujärvi (Lake Oulu), which drains to the Gulf of Bothnia along the Oulujoki (river Oulu).

There are 38,005 (31 January 2014) inhabitants, and city surface area is 2,264.01 square kilometres (874.14 sq mi) of which 428.94 km² (165.61 sq mi) is water. The population density is 20.71 inhabitants per square kilometre (53.6 /sq mi). The town is unilingually Finnish. (read further)

Finland - Southern Savonia - Mikkeli

Mikkeli
Mikkeli's Cathedral.

Sent by Steffie from Mikkeli, Finland.

Mikkeli (Swedish: Sankt Michel) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 48,970 (31 January 2014) (around 34,000 in the town itself) and covers an area of 2,124.60 square kilometres (820.31 sq mi) of which 424.7 km² (164.0 sq mi) is water. The population density is 28.81 inhabitants per square kilometre (74.6 /sq mi) .

Mikkeli was the site for the headquarters of the Finnish armed forces during World War II. In recognition of this, the town's coat of arms incorporates a pair of crossed Marshal's batons, and the town was awarded the Cross of Liberty, 4th class, to be displayed with the coat of arms. (read further)

France - Picardy - 02 Aisne - Laon

Laon (Aisne)

Sent by Mariel from Laon, France.

Laon (French pronunciation: ​[lɑ̃]) is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.

Netherlands - Drenthe - Assen

Multiviews of Assen.

Sent by Joke from Assen, Netherlands.

Assen (Dutch: [ˈɑ.sə(n)] is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital of the province of Drenthe. It received city rights in 1809. Assen's main claim to fame is the TT Circuit Assen the motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Saturday in June the Dutch TT is run. (read further)

Dominican Republic - Colonial City of Santo Domingo

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Colonial City of Santo Domingo.

Sent by Idrialis from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

After the arrival of Christopher Columbus on the island of Hispaniola in 1492, Santo Domingo became the site of the first cathedral, hospital, customs house and university in the Americas. This colonial town was laid out on the grid pattern that became the model for almost all town planners in the New World.

The first impression of the Spanish colonizers was favourable: the nature was luxuriant; the aborigines were friendly, and it seemed that the ground was rich in gold. Using what was left of the Santa María, Columbus built the fort of the Nativity (Navidad) on the northern coast of the island not far away from a peak that he called Christi Mount, leaving 39 men there under the protection of the village head. When Columbus returned to Hispaniola a year later, the fort had been destroyed, his men were dead, and the aborigines had become mistrustful. He founded a new colony further to the east, which he called Isabella, and left it under the control of Bartholomew. However, the first revolts were very soon to begin.

In 1496, Bartholomew abandoned Isabella in order to move on the southern coast of the island, where he established the settlement of Nueva Isabella, now Santo Domingo, on the left bank of the Ozama River. Because of the insurrections that continued to upset the island, Columbus was replaced as Viceroy and Governor of the colony by Nicolás de Ovando. In 1502 a typhoon destroyed the city and the fleet that was preparing to return to Castile. Ovando decided that the city should be completely rebuilt on its present site on the Ozama.

This colonial town was laid out on the grid pattern that became the model for almost all town planners in the New World. The city was to be embellished with a cathedral, a hospital, convents, a fortress and a university. At that time it was not appropriate to describe these buildings as having been built in the colonial architectural style because they were all based on plans that faithfully followed models imported from Spain. Earthquakes and pirate attacks were in due course to ravage the main buildings of the city, such as the convents of the Dominican, Franciscan and Las Mercedes, the three religious orders that pioneered the evangelization of the New World, and the Hospital of Nicolás de Ovando.

Among the most outstanding buildings, the cathedral was constructed between 1514 and 1542; it is the oldest in America, and is one of the architectural wonders of the Colonial City. The main entrance stands next to the Columbus Plaza, where stands a giant statue of the great navigator himself. The fine stained glass is by the famed Dominican artist José Rinçon Mora.

The Ozama Fortress and Tower of Homage were built in 1503: this stone group is said to be the oldest formal military outpost still standing in America. The Tower of Homage still stands in the centre of the grounds, an impressive architectural structure that is medieval in style and design. (Source)