Thursday, April 2, 2015

The Facts About Jura Canada

By Iva Cannon


Jura is part of a chain of islands off the coast of Scotland called the Inner Hebrides. Islay, Mull, Skye and Coll are among the others. It is not to be confused with Jura Canada. A collection of islands such as the Hebrides is known as an archipelago. Together with another Scottish island chain, the Outer Hebrides, the Inner Hebrides is part of the Hebrides, which experiences a mild oceanic climate.

The most heavily populated islands in the inner chain of islands is Skye, which is home to nearly 10,000 people. Mull and Islay have much lower populations of only 2,800 and 3,228 people, respectively. The smallest of the Inner Hebridian islands is Rum, with a population of 22. There are two more islands, Tiree (pop. 653) and Eigg (pop. 83). The coastline is mainly fertile, low-lying pasture land known as machair.

People on the inner island chain earn their keep by crofting, fishing, tourism, and making whisky for export. A croft is a small parcel of land used for farming. Many crofts are run by farmers who pay rent to the landowner, although there are others that own their land. Whisky is made mainly on Jura, Mull, Islay and Skye.

Lewis and Harris, considered a single island but actually two separate land masses connected by a tiny isthmus, has the most people. As of the 2010 census, there were almost 21,000 people living on the two islands. The four next-biggest islands in terms of population are North and South Uist, Barraigh and Barbencula. There are a total of 15 islands in the Outer Hebrides. Harris is very mountainous, but also contains some lovely sandy beaches.

Livelihoods in the Outer Hebrides are broadly similar to those on the Inner chain, with the addition of weaving. The famous Harris tweed comes from here. All aspects of production are located on the outer archipelago: dying, carding, weaving, warping, blending, finishing and inspecting.

The Jura Mountains are located nowhere near Scotland. Instead, they are mainly in Switzerland and France but extend into Germany. The name is derived from the Celtic word for forest, which is an interesting connection with Scotland. The Juras are one of several sub-alpine mountain ranges. This refers to the biotic zone that exists at lower altitudes than the tree line. In Scotland, the tree line is as low as 1,500 feet. The specific types of plants and animals in sub-alpine areas varies with their place on the globe.

In Southeast Asia, however, the tree line is as high as 4,000 metres, or 15,000 feet. The Sumatran Montane Rainforests are home to some fascinating plant and animal species. Among the flora here are the parasitic flower, Rafflesia arnoldii, which boasts blossoms up to 1 metre wide. These are considered to be the largest flowers in the world. Amorphophallus titanum grows on two metre-tall stalks.

Three of Southeast Asia's most endangered species of animal come from the Sumatran rainforest. These include the Sumatran rhinoceros, rabbit and tiger. The biodiversity of the rainforest is explained by its geologic history. Up until 150 million years ago, Sumatra was part of Gondwanaland, one of three supercontinents. After Sumatra, along with Borne and Sulawesi, split from Gondwanaland, the mass of land drifted toward the north, until it banged into India some 70 million years ago and formed the Himalayan mountain range.




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