My Science School

          Bucharest is the capital and most prosperous city of Romania. It is also one of the main industrial centres and transportation hubs of Eastern Europe. Bucharest boasts of big convention facilities, educational institutes, cultural venues, traditional “shopping arcades” and recreational areas. Located in the southeast of the country, the city has a mixture of neo-classical, interbellum, communist-era and modern architecture. During the time between the World Wars, the city’s elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned the city the nickname, ‘Little Paris’. In the 1980s, Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu tried to turn Bucharest into a model socialist-planned city. Much of the old city was ordered to be demolished and massive new state buildings, most prominently the Palace of Parliament, the world’s largest civilian administration building, were constructed in its place.

          The major landmarks of the city are the Patriarchal Cathedral or Metropolitan Church, the New St. George Church, the Radu Vod and Stavropoleos Churches and the Athenaeum, devoted to art and music.

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          The Portuguese are one of the most adventurous and industrious peoples in the world. They explored the world like no other and ruled over more than half of the world for over six centuries. Lisbon, being the capital of Portugal, played an important role in the process of the country becoming a global powerhouse. It was a key city for exploration of the south Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as being one of Europe’s most important ports.

          Lisbon is Portugal’s largest city and its cultural, administrative, commercial and industrial centre. The chief source of income for the city is from agriculture, forest products and fishing. The production of textiles, chemicals and steel, oil and sugar refining, and shipbuilding are the main industries of the city. The Tagus, the beautiful river that runs through Lisbon, adds charm to the city. The official entrance to Lisbon is a broad marble staircase mounting from the water to the vast arcaded Commerce Square, and in the middle of the square, stands a bronze statue of King Joseph I on horseback, an important work by the sculptor Joachim Machado de Castro.

          Although the city has many museums, two specialized museums are the Azulejo Museum and the National Museum of Coaches.

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          Norway’s capital is Oslo. It is also the largest city of the country. Although a beautiful city, Oslo is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live. The city assumes great significance as a centre of maritime knowledge in the whole of Europe.

          Oslo is a modern city when it comes to its design, style and construction. The government of Norway has promoted contemporary art in several impressive public projects. In the famous Frogner Park, the biggest and the best-known park of the city, Gustav Vigeland, a Norwegian sculptor, has made several collections of sculptures. There are many medieval structures preserved by the government. Some of them are the Akerskirke, the Akershus Fortress and the ruins of the Cathedral of St. Hallvard, the first cathedral of Oslo. Some of the city’s cultural institutions include the University of Oslo, the national theatre, the national gallery and the Oslo Opera House. There are several museums in the city too.

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          Amsterdam is an old city with a history of more than 700 years. The city is the nominal capital of the Netherland. It is called so, because the government of the Netherlands is seated elsewhere. The offices and government buildings and other administrative establishments are located in The Hague. The city, however, does not lack anything, in its captivating beauty with its centuries-old canals, the ancient patrician houses and the atmosphere of freedom and tolerance.

          Amsterdam is a centre for art and culture. It is a ‘museum city’ with around 40 museums, which attract about four million visitors annually. The Rijksmuseum is known for its collection of 17th century Dutch masterpieces. The Stedelijk Municipal Museum has a leading international Collection of modern art. The Van Gogh Museum is dedicated to the work of Vincent van Gogh, who was born in the Netherlands, and his contemporaries. Other important museums include the Anne Frank House, the Amsterdam Historical Museum, the Dutch Maritime Museum, and the Rembrandt House.

          Modern Amsterdam, however, is struggling hard to find solutions to the problems of pollution and other urban menaces.

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          Dublin has assumed great importance in the cultural milieu of Europe from medieval times onwards. The city was founded as a settlement of the Vikings, the raiding tribes of Northern Europe. It is the capital of Ireland and the primary city of the country bearing much of its cultural significance.

          Dublin is divided into two parts by the River Liffey. The two halves are connected by the O’Connell Bridge. The city is the centre of government administration and houses most of the corporate headquarters in Ireland. The service sector of the city is the biggest employment source as three out of four workers in the city are employed in 37,000 service companies. Business and financial services, information technology, and public administration are the most important sectors in Dublin. The city hosts many manufacturing companies that deal with electronics and engineering, food, drink, tobacco, and paper and printing.

          Dublin has a long and rich cultural heritage. William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett, three winners of the Nobel Prize for literature hail from the city. James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, Brendan Behan and the creator of Dracula, Bram Stoker, are all from Dublin.

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          Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic. Its capital and largest city is Reykjavik. The city is located in the southwest of the country and the Reykjavik area coastline is characterized by peninsulas, coves, straits and islands. The city is the chief commercial and industrial hub of Iceland and the centre of the cod-fishing industry.

          Iceland is a cold country. The difficult terrain and climate of the country are considered beneficial to the country as they make the place an ideal place for thermoelectric power. The city utilizes geothermal energy too. Do you know which country has the highest consumption rate of electricity? It is Iceland. The country uses up more than twice the consumption of the second placed country.

          Reykjavik is one of the cleanest, greenest and safest cities in the world. The Ellioaa River is the largest river in the city. The Icelandic parliament building, Hall-grimskirkja, the largest church in Iceland, and the Centre for Icelandic Art are some of the most compelling destinations in the city.

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          Budapest is one of the most significant cities in the world on account of its role in shaping the fate of Europe in modern times. It is the capital of Hungary. The city sits on the bank of the River Danube, and hence Budapest is often known as the ‘Queen of the Danube’. Owing to its cultural and political significance and its strategic geographical location, the city is also sometimes called the ‘heart of Europe’. Budapest is situated on the Danube River in the magnificent natural setting where the hills of western Hungary meet the plains stretching to the east and south. The city has two parts: Buda and Pest. These regions occur on opposite sides of the river and are connected by a series of bridges.

           There are many monuments in the city that catch the attention of tourists. The neo-Gothic Parliament, the biggest building in Hungary with its 268 metres length, the Aquincum Museum, the House of Terror, another historical museum, several churches, castles and festival sites are places of great interest. The city is also known for its parks and gardens.

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          Do you know where the Western civilization was born? The same city is also known as the birthplace of democracy. Athens, the capital of Greece, has contributed much more to humanity than any other city in the world. Art and literature in the world today owe much to the Athenian civilization and its cultural legacy.

          Athens of old was a city with beautiful public buildings, shops and public baths. Some say it has been inhabited for over 7,000 years. The city is named after its patron goddess Athena. The years between 480 BC and 404 BC are known as the golden period of Athenian democracy. Athens became the leading city of the Ancient world during this period. Great writers and thinkers of the classical age such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, Hippocrates and the philosopher Socrates lived around this time. The Athenians lived below the Acropolis, a rocky hill. The marble Parthenon, a temple, was built on the highest part of the Acropolis.

          In recent times, the attention of the world returned to Athens for the Olympic Games (2004). The city underwent a massive makeover during this time. One of the chief sources of income for the city is tourism. The city is a world centre of archaeological research. Athens is a blend of many architectural styles such as the Greco-Roman, the Neo-classical and the modern. The octagonal,12.8 metre high marble Horologium of Andronicus of Cyrrhus, usually called the Tower of the Winds because each side bears a weather-beaten figure of the wind from that particular compass point, is an important monument in the city.

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         Harare is a modern city and the capital of Zimbabwe. It was founded in 1890 by the British South Africa Company. The city was named Fort Salisbury after the British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury. However, after Zimbabwe declared independence from the British, the city was renamed Harare.

         The city has a distinctive colonial past; and therefore, in its architecture and urban layout, the city shows British influence. In the city, there are several Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals, a Dutch Reformed church, the Queen Victoria Memorial Library and Museum, the National Archives, the University of Zimbabwe and the Rhodes National Gallery.

         The city has a National Gallery that contains the national treasures of Zimbabwe. The gallery displays some of the most interesting Shona carvings in soft stone. Harare also hosts an international exhibition for tourists and foreigners. The city’s National Botanical Garden contains over 900 varieties of fauna from different parts of Africa. The economy of the city depends heavily on the production of tobacco, corn, cotton and citrus fruits.

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         Kampala is the capital of Uganda, a country in Africa. The city is located in the country’s most prosperous agricultural section. Kampala exports coffee, cotton, tea, tobacco, and sugar. The city also manufactures processed foods, beverages, furniture, and machine parts. The city presents itself as the market for the Lake Victoria region.

         There is an interesting story behind the name of the city. According to legend, Kampala was the hunting ground for the Kabaka of Buganda, the King of the Kingdom of Buganda. The place was home to many species of antelope, especially impala. When the British occupied the region, they called it ‘Hills of the impala’, and the single word for that was Kampala.

         An important place of tourist attraction, the Tombs of the Buganda Kings at Kasubi is a World Heritage Site occupying 30 hectares of hillside in Kampala. The city houses the Uganda Museum, several Hindu temples and mosques and the Namirembe Anglican Cathedral. The Ugandan National Theatre and the St. Balikuddembe Market too are major landmarks in the city.

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         The Republic of Tunisia is a small country in Northwest Africa. The capital city of the country is Tunis, the largest city of the country. The city is located on a Mediterranean Sea gulf, known as the Gulf of Tunis. It sits on a hillside, near the lake of Tunis. The historical centre of the city is the Medina, built on a hill slope on the way down to the Tunis Lake, and is home to many monuments, including the Dar Ben Abdallah and Dar Hussein palaces.

         The primary industry in the city is agriculture; however, it is alive only in specialized agricultural areas on the suburbs, particularly in the wine and olive oil industries. There are some important places in the city such as some notable mosques, the University of Tunis, and a national museum. The ruins of Carthage, an ancient city, are found at the northeastern part of the city. The largest park, Belvedere Park, was founded in 1892 and overlooks Lake Tunis. It is the oldest public park in the country and is built in the landscape style of France.

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         Dodoma is the capital city of the United Republic Tanzania. Dodoma means ‘It has sunk’ in the Gogo language, the language spoken throughout the region of Dodoma. The region is located at the heart of Tanzania in the eastern-central part of the country. Dodoma has three main tribes inhabiting the region. They are the Gogo, the Warangi, and the Wasandawi.

         The economy of the region is dependent on trade. The city produces beans, seeds, grain, tea, and tobacco. Raising and marketing cattle is also an important source of income for the locals. Coffee and peanut are two important crops of the region. These locally grown produces are sold at the marketplace in Dodoma. However, the city has a limited industrial base.

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          Have you heard of a country called Seychelles? The Republic of Seychelles is an archipelago country in the Indian Ocean. Victoria is the capital of the Seychelles and is the only city in the entire country. Although the French colonists built the city in 1778, the name Victoria was given to the city only when the British acquired it by virtue of the Treaty of Paris of 1814.

          Victoria has its harbour at eastern edge. The city’s Sainte Anne Marine National Park is located here. The port is the trading centre of the city. The economy of the city heavily depends on its exports, which includes spices, vanilla, coconuts, coconut oil, soap, tuna, and cinnamon bark. An International Airport, the Botanical Gardens, a university, museums, places of worship, offices belonging to tourism companies, airlines, and banks, and a cinema and shops are some of the amenities of the city. Victoria centres around two landmarks: the Clock Tower and the Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market. The former is a replica of the clock tower at Vauxhall Bridge in London and a symbol of the Seychelles that lies in the middle of the northern roundabout and the latter, the main fruit and fish market in Victoria.

          While most cities have long and rich histories, some cities are planned and executed. Abuja, the capital of Nigeria is a planned city which was built in the 1980s. It was envisaged as a beautiful city. The city is surrounded by beautiful hills, highlands, Savannah grassland and tropical rainforests. However, the planning backfired and the city was filled with slums and squatters, settlements in the midst of modern buildings and wealthy houses.  

          An important geographical peculiarity of Abuja is two renowned rock formations called the Zuma Rock and the Aso Rock. The federal capital territory begins at the base of the Zuma Rock and is known as the ‘gateway to Abuja’. The Aso Rock, on the other hand, is a 400-metre monolith formed by water erosion. This rock sits at the head of Abuja city, which extends southward from the rock.

           Another hotspot in the city is the Millennium Tower and Cultural Centre project, which is still under construction. A hundred and seventy metres tall, the tower is designed to be the tallest artificial structure in the city.

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          Rabat, the capital of Morocco, is another ancient city in the African continent. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg. Since the city had acquired great military importance, it acquired the title Ribatu-Fath, meaning ‘stronghold of victory’, from which it derives its current name.

          The people of Rabat earn money from sectors like leather handicrafts, pottery and jewellry. Much of the city’s wealth comes also from other industrial activities such as textile, fish processing, and carpet making industries. There is a special place for women in the economy of the city as they make valuable contributions through their carpet weaving and embroidery named ‘Rabati’.

          The city still preserves its old town very well. There is a museum in Rabat that preserves ancient Moroccan art. The Kasbah of the Udayas, an ambitious project of the world’s largest mosque that was left unfinished, is an important site of tourist interest. Yaqub al-Mansur, a Almohad Caliph, had built it. The city is also known for monuments that exhibit its French colonial heritage.

          Chellah Necropolis, a medieval fortified Muslim cemetery, is another important destination. The city’s iconic Hassan Tower and the Rabat Archaeological Museum are also key places to visit.