Water

This article is about general aspects of water. For a detailed discussion of its properties, see water (properties). For other uses, see Water (disambiguation).

Water is the ubiquitous chemical substance, composed of hydrogen and oxygen, that is essential for the survival of many known forms of life.^[1] In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface^[2]. On Earth, it is found mostly in oceans and other large water bodies, with 1.6% of water below ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds (formed of solid and liquid water particles suspended in air), and precipitation.^[3] Oceans hold 97% of surface water, glaciers and polar ice caps 2.4%, and other land surface water such as rivers, lakes and ponds 0.6%. A very small amount of the Earth's water is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water

Dead Sea

The Dead Sea (Hebrew:‎, "Sea of Salt"; Arabic:‎, al-Baḥr El-Mayyit, "Dead Sea";) is a salt lake between Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. It is 422 metres (1,385 ft) below sea level,^[2] and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of Earth on dry land. The Dead Sea is 378 m (1,240 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7% salinity. Only Lake Assal (Djibouti), Garabogazköl and some hypersaline lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica (such as Don Juan Pond and perhaps Lake Vanda) have a higher salinity. It is 8.6 times as salty as the ocean.^[3] This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometres (42 mi) long and 18 kilometres (11 mi) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River. The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers. People also use the salt and the minerals from the Dead Sea to create cosmetics and herbal sachets.

Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China: (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: pinyin: Chángchéng; literally "long city/fortress") or (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Wànlǐ Chángchéng; literally "The long wall of 10,000 Li (里)"[1]) is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from Xiongnu attacks during various successive dynasties. Since the 5th century BC, several walls have been built that were referred to as the Great Wall. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; it lay farther north than the current wall, which was built during the Ming Dynasty.[2]

The Great Wall stretches over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles)[3] from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia, but stretches to over 6,700 km (4,160 miles) in total;[4] a more recent archaeological survey using advanced technologies points out that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 mi).[5][6][7] At its peak, the Ming Wall was guarded by more than one million men.[8] It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall.[9]

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, also known as the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis, near present-day Al Hillah, Babil in Iraq, is considered one of the original Seven Wonders of the World. They were built by Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BCE. He is reported to have constructed the gardens to please his sick wife, Amytis of Media, who longed for the trees and fragrant plants of her homeland Persia.^[1] The gardens were destroyed by several earthquakes after the 2nd century BCE.

The lush Hanging Gardens are extensively documented by Greek historians such as Strabo and Diodorus Siculus. Through the ages, the location may have been confused with gardens that existed at Nimrud, since tablets from there clearly show gardens. Writings on these tablets describe the possible use of something similar to an Archimedes screw as a process of raising the water to the required height.^{[citation needed]} Nebuchadnezzar II also used massive slabs of stone, which was unheard of in Babylon, to prevent the water from eroding the ground.

PAKISTAN BIG MASJID

The Faisal Mosque in Islamabad is the largest mosque in Pakistan and South Asia and the fourth largest mosque in the world. It was the largest mosque in the world from 1986 to 1993 when overtaken in size by the completion of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. Subsequent expansions of the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of MAKKAH and the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina, Saudi Arabia during the 1990s relegated Faisal Mosque to fourth place in terms of size.
Faisal Mosque is the National Mosque of Pakistan. It has a covered area of 5,000 m² (54,000 sq ft) and has a capacity to accommodate approximately 300,000 worshippers (100,000 in its main prayer hall, courtyard and porticoes and another 200,000 in its adjoining grounds). Although its covered main prayer hall is smaller than that of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca (the world's third largest mosque), Faisal Mosque has the third largest capacity of accommodating worshippers in its adjoining grounds after the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque) of MAKKAH, the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque) in Medina.^[2]. Each of the Mosque's four minarets are 80 m (260 ft) high (the tallest minarets in South Asia) and measure 10 x 10 m in circumference.
The Faisal Mosque is named after the late King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, who supported and financed the project.

THE PROPHET MASJID (MADINA CITY)

The Mosque of the Prophet (or Prophet's Mosque) (Arabic: المسجد النبوي‎ [IPA /mæsʤıd ænːæbæwiː]), in Medina, is the second holiest mosque in Islam and the second largest mosque in the world after the Masjid al-Haram in MAKKAH. It is the final resting place of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The mosque is considered the second holiest mosque by both Shia and Sunni while the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is the third holiest.
One of the most notable features of the site is the Green Dome over the center of the mosque, where the tomb of Muhammad is located. It is not exactly known when the green dome was constructed but manuscripsts dating to the early 12th century describe the dome. It is known as the Dome of the Prophet or the Green Dome.^[1] Subsequent Islamic rulers greatly expanded and decorated it. Early Muslim leaders Abu Bakr and Umar are buried in an adjacent area in the mosque.
The site was originally Muhammad's house; he settled there after his Hijra (emigration) to Medina, later building a mosque on the grounds. He himself shared in the heavy work of construction. The original mosque was an open-air building. The basic plan of the building has been adopted in the building of other mosques throughout the world.
The mosque also served as a community center, a court, and a religious school. There was a raised platform for the people who taught the Qur'an.

THE HOLY KABA (MAKKAH)

MAKKAH

MAKKAH IPA: /ˈmɛkə/, also spelled Makkah IPA: [ˈmækə], Arabic: مكة‎ Makka (in full: Makka al-Mukarrama IPA: [(Arabic) mækːæ(t) ælmʊkarˑamæ]; Arabic: مكّة المكرمة‎, literally: Honored Mecca) is a city in Saudi Arabia. Home to the Masjid al-Haram, it is the holiest city in Islam and plays an important role in the faith. As of 2008 the annual Hajj pilgrimage attracts two to three million pilgrims to the city,^[1][2] and presents both opportunities for the city's economy, and challenges for its infrastructure. Culturally, the city is modern, cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse.^[3][4][5][6]
Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of MAKKAH to Ishmael's descendants. In the 7th century, the Islamic prophet Muhammad proclaimed Islam in the city, by then an important trading center, and the city played an important role in the early history of Islam. After 966, MAKKAH was led by local sharifs, until 1924, when it came under the rule of the Saudis.^[7] In its modern period, MAKKAH has seen a great expansion in size and infrastructure.
The modern day city is located in and is the capital of Saudi Arabia's Makkah Province, in the historic Hejaz region. With a population of 1.7 million (2008), the city is located 73 km (45 mi) inland from Jeddah, in a narrow valley, and 277 m (910 ft) above sea level.