|
|
|
China-Russia
Russian PM Visits China
Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, made a visit to China this week, stating Tuesday that ties between the two countries had reached an “all-time high” and affirming their strong economic cooperation. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, US and European sanctions have led Russia to look to China for imported products and sell oil and natural gas to China at deep discounts in turn. Trade between the two countries surpassed $200 billion in the first 11 months of this year. China’s automotive industry has been a significant beneficiary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with China’s share of the Russian auto market rising from 8% in 2021 to 55% in 2023. The land border means China can transport cars to Russia by rail, and cheap Russian energy, notably natural gas through the Power of Siberia pipeline, has helped Chinese factories compete in global markets.
This map depicts Russia-China energy transport links, including operating and projected gas pipelines and planned gas processing plants and chemical facilities. Click on the map to learn more.
|
|
|
|
Graphic Source: Caspian Barrel
__________________________________________
|
|
|
|
Australia
Fisherman Claims MH370 Find
Australian fisherman Kit Olver has claimed he retrieved a large part of missing airliner MH370 off the coast of South Australia a few months after it disappeared in March 2014. Olver says his deep-sea trawler pulled up a jetliner’s wing in September or October of 2014. While it was too large to keep, he claims he provided the coordinates of the find to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority when he returned to port, but they didn’t believe him. The only member of Olver’s crew from that time who is still alive has confirmed the story. Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared from radar over the Indian Ocean on March 8, 2014, prompting the largest and most expensive maritime search in history. While the jet’s presumed crash location was never found, a few pieces of debris later turned up near Reunion Island, on the opposite side of the Indian Ocean. Now retired, Olver claims he didn’t go public with the story before to keep his lucrative fishing territory secret, but he now has come forward to help bring closure to the families of the people on board.
This map depicts the presumed flight path of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which was lost in the Indian Ocean on March 8, 2014. An Australian fisherman has come forward to claim he retrieved a part from the flight a few months after the plane disappeared. Click on the map to learn more.
|
|
|
|
Graphic Source: The U.S. Sun
__________________________________________
|
|
|
|
Australia
Whale Fossil Discovery
A 19-million-year-old baleen whale fossil was found on the east bank of the Murray River in South Australia. A team of paleontologists from the Museums Victoria Research Institute conducted a study of the recovered fossil, which challenges previous ideas about when baleen whales first evolved to be big. Baleen whales are the largest animals to have ever lived, eclipsing even the biggest dinosaurs. Until now, the fossil record indicates that baleen whales without teeth did not exceed 26 feet (8 meters) until about 10 million years ago. But the new fossil pushes the emergence of large toothless baleen whales back to twice as long ago. Using fragments of the extinct whale’s jawbone and comparing to modern whales, the scientists estimate that the ancient whale would have measured nearly 30 feet (9 meters) in length.
This map depicts the location of the baleen whale fossil recovery, off the banks of the Murray River in South Australia. Click on the map to learn more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q: The Indian Ocean maritime trade network connected India, China, Indonesia, the Arabian Peninsula, and East Africa, and led to Austronesian colonization of what country?
A: Madagascar
The Malagasy people are descended from Austronesian settlers native to the Sunda Islands of Indonesia. Their language’s closest relative is Ma’anyan, spoken in Indonesian Borneo, with numerous Malay and Javanese loanwords. It is known that Ma’anyan people were brought as laborers and slaves by Malay and Javanese trading fleets which reached Madagascar by 50-500 AD. Malagasy share traditions with Austronesians of Taiwan, the Pacific Islands, Indonesia, New Zealand, and the Philippines, including ancient customs, cultivation of crops, traditional architecture, music and dance. By the year 600, Austronesian hunter-gatherers and farmers decided to settle in the forests of Madagascar’s central highlands and on the southwestern coast. Later, Bantu agro-pastoralists from East Africa migrated to the island. The Malagasy population emerged from the mixture of Austronesian and Bantu settlers.
Source
|
|
|
|
|
Q: What was the name used for native Indian surveyors working for the British during the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India in the 19th century?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
|
|
|
|
|
AGS is accepting DailyGeo GeoQuestion suggestions.
Write to ags@americangeo.org with any ideas!
Please include GeoQuestions in the subject line, along with your answer and source.
|
|
|
|
DailyGeo is a daily digital communication created by the American Geographical Society (AGS) for the geography community. If you are receiving this email, it is because you are an affiliate of AGS or a participant in one of our programs. Feel free to share and encourage others to become part of the community too!
Copyright © 2023 American Geographical Society, All rights reserved.
We understand this might not be for everyone. Although we would hate to see you go, you can unsubscribe here.
How are we doing? We want to hear your feedback on the DailyGeo – what are we doing right and what should we be doing differently. Talk to us by emailing ags@americangeo.org.
|
|
|
|
|
