In geology and earth science, a plateau ( /pləˈtoʊ/ or /ˈplætoʊ/; plural plateaus or rarely plateaux), also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain.

Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, and erosion by water and glaciers. Magma rises from the mantle causing the ground to swell upward, in this way large, flat areas of rock are uplifted. Plateaus can also be built up by lava spreading outward from cracks and weak areas in the crust. Plateaus can also be formed by the erosional processes of glaciers on mountain ranges, leaving them sitting between the mountain ranges. Water can also erode mountains and other landforms down into plateaus.

Plateaus are classified according to their surrounding environment.

The largest and highest plateau in the world is the Tibetan Plateau, called the "roof of the world", which is still being formed by the collisions of the Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates. In all, the Tibetan plateau covers an area of some 2.5 million square kilometres, approximately 5000 m above sea level. The height of this plateau is such that it is enough to reverse the Hadley cell convection cycles and to drive the monsoons of India towards the south.

Renata Przemyk (born February 10, 1966, in Bielsko-Biała) is Polish singer and song writer. In Bielsko-Biała she attended primary and secondary school. She enjoyed her childhood together with her parents, grandmother and brothers. After finishing school, Renata moved to Katowice and began to study Czech philology at University of Śląsk.

In 1994 she moved to Cracow, and at the end of 1999 she decided to lead a quiet life in the country near Cracow, away from the fuss of a big city, which enabled her to compose, make arrangements of her own songs and bring up her daughter in a peaceful atmosphere.

Her career as a singer started when she was a teenager, by singing with local rock bands. However, she developed the real calling for music during her studies when she was inspired by the music of Tom Waits, Talking Heads and Frank Zappa. As a result of it, she started a band named "Ya Hozna" in 1989.

Despite the fact, that the group lasted only for a year, they managed to release an album entitled "Ya Hozna", the album that revealed a unique and original musical style of Renata Przemyk. After her music began to catch on, she started her solo career.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ lyk melɑ̃ʃɔ̃]; born 19 August 1951 in Tangier (International zone of Tangier) is a French politician who served in the government of France as Minister of Vocational Education from 2000 to 2002. He was also a member of the French Senate, representing the département of Essonne.

Mélenchon left the Socialist Party in November 2008 to found the Left Party with French deputy Marc Dolez. As leader of the Left Party, he joined the Left Front before the 2009 European elections and was selected as the coalition's main candidate in the South-West region. At those elections he won 8.15% of the votes cast and was elected to the European Parliament.

Mélenchon is co-president of the Left Party along with Martine Billard. During the protest movement against the pension reform of 2010 his public stature grew thanks to his many public and television appearances.

Born in the international zone of Tangier, he was educated at the Lycée Pierre-Corneille in Rouen (Normandy).