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La Mancha
La Mancha () is a natural and historical region located in the Spanish provinces of Albacete, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, and Toledo. La Mancha is an arid but fertile plateau (610 m or 2000 ft) that stretches from the mountains of Toledo to the western spurs of the hills of Cuenca, and bordered to the south by the Sierra Morena and to the north by the Alcarria region. La Mancha historical comarca constitutes the southern portion of Castilla-La Mancha autonomous community and makes up most of the present-day administrative region. Name The name "La Mancha" is probably derived from the Arabic word المنشأ ''al-mansha'', meaning "birthplace" or "fountainhead". The name of the city of Almansa in Albacete shares that origin. The word ''mancha'' in Spanish literally means ''spot'', ''stain'', or ''patch'', but no apparent link exists between this word and the name of the region. Geography The largest plain in Spain, La Mancha is made up of a plateau averaging 500 to 600 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albacete
Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llanos. Halfway between Madrid and the Mediterranean coast, it enjoys connections by motorway, railway (including AVE), and air (Albacete Airport). With a population of 174,336 (2020), it is the largest municipality of Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality of Albacete is also the seventh-largest in Spain by total area, being . Albacete is the seat to the regional High Court of Justice. The origins of the city are uncertain, with the earliest proof of settlement dating to the time of Al-Andalus, when the settlement was originally named (), meaning "The Flat" in Arabic, referring to the flat land around. Albacete was the main headquarters of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War Pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windmill
A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some parts of the English speaking world. The term wind engine is sometimes used to describe such devices. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern periods; the horizontal or panemone windmill first appeared in Persia during the 9th century, and the vertical windmill first appeared in northwestern Europe in the 12th century. Regarded as an icon of Dutch culture, there are approximately 1,000 windmills in the Netherlands today. Forerunners Wind-powered machines may have been known earlier, but there is no clear evidence of windmills before the 9th century. Hero of Alexandria (Heron) in first-century Roman Egypt described what appears to be a wind-driven wheel to power a machine.Dietrich Lohrmann, "Von der östli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, and the fruit has been used as human food over history. Eaten fresh or in dried form (as raisins, currants and sultanas), grapes also hold cultural significance in many parts of the world, particularly for their role in winemaking. Other grape-derived products include various types of jam, juice, vinegar and oil. History The Middle East is generally described as the homeland of grape and the cultivation of this plant began there 6,000–8,000 years ago. Yeast, one of the earliest domesticated microorganisms, occurs naturally on the skins of grapes, leading to the discovery of alcoholic drinks such as wine. The earliest archeological evidence for a dominant position of wine-making in human culture dates from 8,000 years ago i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sugar Beets
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double sugars, are molecules made of two bonded monosaccharides; common examples are sucrose (glucose + fructose), lactose (glucose + galactose), and maltose (two molecules of glucose). White sugar is a refined form of sucrose. In the body, compound sugars are hydrolysed into simple sugars. Longer chains of monosaccharides (>2) are not regarded as sugars, and are called oligosaccharides or polysaccharides. Starch is a glucose polymer found in plants, the most abundant source of energy in human food. Some other chemical substances, such as glycerol and sugar alcohols, may have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugar. Sugars are found in the tissues of most plants. Honey and fruits are abundant natural sources of simple sugars. Sucros ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oats
The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed. Oats are a nutrient-rich food associated with lower blood cholesterol when consumed regularly. Avenins are oat gluten proteins, similar to gliadin in wheat. They can trigger celiac disease in a small proportion of people. Also, oat products are frequently contaminated by other gluten-containing grains, mainly wheat and barley. Origin The wild ancestor of ''Avena sativa'' and the closely related minor crop '' A. byzantina'' is '' A. sterilis''. ''A. sterilis'' is a wild oat that is naturally hexaploid. Genetic evidence shows the ancestral forms of ''A. sterilis'' grew in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East. Oats are usually thought to have emer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley production is used as animal fodder, while 30% as a source of fermentable material for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various foods. It is used in soups and stews, and in barley bread of various cultures. Barley grains are commonly made into malt in a traditional and ancient method of preparation. In 2017, barley was ranked fourth among grains in quantity produced () behind maize, rice and wheat. Etymology The Old English word for barley was ', which traces back to Proto-Indo-European and is cognate to the Latin word ' "flour" (''see corresponding entries''). The direct ancestor of modern English ''barley'' in Old English was the derived adjective ''bærlic'', meaning "of barley". The first citation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeological record suggests that wheat was first cultivated in the regions of the Fertile Crescent around 9600 BCE. Botanically, the wheat kernel is a type of fruit called a caryopsis. Wheat is grown on more land area than any other food crop (, 2014). World trade in wheat is greater than for all other crops combined. In 2020, world production of wheat was , making it the second most-produced cereal after maize. Since 1960, world production of wheat and other grain crops has tripled and is expected to grow further through the middle of the 21st century. Global demand for wheat is increasing due to the unique viscoelastic and adhesive properties of gluten proteins, which facilitate the production of processed foods, whose consumption is inc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Júcar
left The Júcar () or Xúquer () is a river on the Iberian Peninsula of Spain. The river runs for approximately 509 km from its source at Ojuelos de Valdeminguete, on the eastern flank of the Montes Universales, Sistema Ibérico. Its most important tributary is the Cabriel. River Júcar flows first southward and then eastward through the towns of Cuenca, Alcalá del Júcar, Cofrentes, Alzira, Sueca and Cullera, a town located near its mouth into the Gulf of Valencia, Mediterranean Sea. It crosses the provinces of Cuenca, Albacete and Valencia In 1982 the river Júcar broke the Tous's reservoir, causing the biggest flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ... in Spanish history with a flow speed of 16,000 cubic metres per second, killing more than 30 peopl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Záncara
The Záncara is a 168 km long river in Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is a tributary to the Guadiana. Its source is near the village Abia de la Obispalía, west of Cuenca, in the Iberian System. The Záncara flows southwest, along the town of Socuéllamos. Its main tributaries are the Rus, Saona and Córcoles. It flows into the Cigüela from the left near the Ojos del Guadiana, Villarrubia de los Ojos Villarrubia de los Ojos is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Ciudad Real, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 281.86 km2 and, as of 1 January 2020, it has a registered population of 9,762. Geography ... municipal term. There are authors though that claim that it is the Cigüela that flows into the Záncara.ALMAGRO COSTA, Juan, 2006. ''Las huellas del Guadiana'' Org. Auton. Parques Nacionales. MMA. See also * List of rivers of Spain References External links Confederación hidrográfica del Guadiana Rivers o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guadiana
The Guadiana River (, also , , ), or Odiana, is an international river defining a long stretch of the Portugal-Spain border, separating Extremadura and Andalusia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal). The river's basin extends from the eastern portion of Extremadura to the southern provinces of the Algarve; the river and its tributaries flow from east to west, then south through Portugal to the border towns of Vila Real de Santo António (Portugal) and Ayamonte (Spain), where it flows into the Gulf of Cádiz. With a course that covers a distance of , it is the fourth-longest in the Iberian peninsula, and its hydrological basin extends over an area of approximately (the majority of which lies within Spain). Etymology The Romans referred to the river as the , the "River of Ducks". During the Moorish occupation and settlement, the name was extended and referred to as ''Wadi Ana'' (''wādī'' being the Arab term for "river"), later passed on to Portuguese and Spanish sett ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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