Agadir

Agadir (Tashelhit Agadir, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ; Moroccan Arabic اگادير‎) is a major city in Morocco, located on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Sous River flows into the ocean, at a distance of some 508 km to the south of Casablanca, 173 km south of Essaouira and 235 km southwest of Marrakech. It is the capital of the Agadir-Ida Ou Tanane Prefecture and of the Souss-Massa economic region. A majority of its inhabitants speak Tashelhit, a Berber language, as their first language.

Introduction

The city of Agadir together with the neighbouring cities of Inezgane and Ait Melloul was estimated in 2013 to have 609,088 inhabitants

According to the 2004 census, there were 346,106 inhabitants in that year and the population of the Prefecture of Agadir-Ida Outanane was 487,954 inhabitants

Agadir is one of the major urban centres of Morocco, the seventh largest conurbation of the country after Casablanca, Rabat, Fès, Marrakech, Meknes, and Tangier. The population density is quite high.

Morocco

Morocco (ⁱ/məˈrɒkoʊ/; Arabic: المغرب‎ al-Maġrib; Berber: ⵍⵎⴰⵖⵔⵉⴱl'Meġrib; French: Maroc), officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Geographically, Morocco is characterized by a rugged mountainous interior and large portions of desert. It is one of only three countries (with Spain and France) to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines. The Arabic name al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyah (Arabic: المملكة المغربية‎, meaning "The Western Kingdom") and Al-Maghrib (Arabic: المغرب‎, meaning "The West") are commonly used as alternate names.

Morocco has a population of over 33.8 million and an area of 446,550 km² (172,410 sq mi). Its political capital is Rabat, although the largest city is Casablanca; other major cities include Marrakesh, Tangier, Tetouan, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, and Nador. A historically prominent regional power, Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Its distinct culture is a blend of Arab, indigenous Berber, Sub-Saharan African, and European influences.

Jumping platform

A Jumping platform is a naturally occurring or human-made surface for people to jump from. It is usually situated above sufficiently deep water, or above mats, a box-spring mattress, piles of empty cardboard boxes, or other soft landing surfaces, or they may be used together with other means of dampening the impact (such as for example, platforms for bungee jumping). Children often improvise platforms, either on a large scale (at abandoned quarries) or on a smaller scale (e.g. by moving a desk next to a bed, to jump onto the bed from the desk).

Platforms for cliff jumping

For cliff jumping, the platform is usually a simple clearing in the bushes and other vegetation along the cliff above a river, ocean, lake, or quarry.

Sometimes railway bridges and other bridges are used as platforms. They can sometimes be distances up to approximately 30 metres (100 feet) above the water.

Abandoned quarries, and deep ponds will often have platforms, whether by design, or by improvisation of the people in the community. For example, platforms will often be affixed to towers in abandoned rail yards, overlooking a deep pond.

New Year

New Year is the time at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. The New Year of the Gregorian calendar, today mostly in use, falls on 1 January (New Year's Day), as was the case both in the old Roman calendar (at least after about 713 BCE) and in the Julian calendar that succeeded it. The order of months was January to December in the Old Roman calendar during the reign of King Numa Pompilius in about 700 BCE, according to Plutarch and Macrobius, and has been in continuous use since that time. Many countries, such as the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the United States, mark 1 January as a national holiday.

During the Middle Ages in western Europe, while the Julian calendar was still in use, authorities moved New Year's Day variously, depending upon locale, to one of several other days, among them: 1 March, 25 March, Easter, 1 September, and 25 December. These New Year's Day changes generally reverted to using January 1 before or during the various local adoptions of the Gregorian calendar, beginning in 1582. The change from March 25 – Lady Day, one of the four quarter days – to January 1 took place in Scotland in 1600, before the ascension of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603 and well before the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. In England and Wales (and in all British dominions, including Britain's American colonies), 1751 began on March 25 and lasted 282 days, and 1752 began on January 1. For more information about the changeover from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar and the effect on the dating of historical events etc., see Old Style and New Style dates.