Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

locations there are annual hot-air balloon

festivals featuring hundreds of colorful

balloons.

Colorful hot-air balloons soar

above Albuquerque, New

Mexico.

16 Balloon BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

Baltic Sea

An arm of the Atlantic Ocean, the Baltic

is a shallow sea in northern Europe. For

a sea, the Baltic does not have very salty

water. Several rivers, including the Oder

and the Vistula, drain into the sea. The

huge flow of fresh river water keeps the

Baltic from getting too salty.

The Baltic Sea lies between the Scandinavian

peninsula and the rest of Europe.

It covers an area of about 149,000

square miles (386,000 square kilometers).

The countries that border the Baltic

are Sweden, Denmark, Russia,

Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany,

and Poland. The coasts of Sweden

and Finland are generally rocky, but the

coasts on the southern Baltic are flat.

The Baltic coastline of Germany has a

lot of bays and shallow inlets called

fjords. Canals link the Baltic to the

North Sea and the Arctic Ocean.

The countries around the Baltic use the

sea for trade. The chief ports are Copenhagen,

Denmark; Stockholm, Sweden;

Helsinki, Finland; Saint Petersburg,

Russia; and Gdansk, Poland.

The Vikings were the first to trade on

the Baltic, in the AD 700s. During the

Middle Ages, German merchants of a

group called the Hanseatic League controlled

trade on the sea. As the countries

around the sea prospered, the area

became more developed. By the middle

of the 1900s pollution from industries

and farms was a concern. In the 1990s

the Baltic countries agreed to clean up

the environment in and around the sea.

..More to explore

Atlantic Ocean

Bamako

Population

(2007

estimate), urban

area,

1,494,000

Bamako is the capital of theWest African

country of Mali. The city is also

A small town in Sweden is set in the rocky

coast of the Baltic Sea.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Bamako 17

 

Mali’s center for industry and trade.

Bamako spans both sides of the Niger

River. Large boats can travel on the river

for part of the year, when the water level

is high. The river is used to ship products

and for fishing.

At first Bamako was a settlement of only

a few hundred people. In 1880 the

French took it over. Bamako became the

capital of a colony called French Sudan

in 1908. When the area became the

country of Mali in 1960, Bamako

became its capital.

#More to explore

Mali

Bamboo

Bamboo is a name used for many types

of tall, treelike grasses. There are hundreds

of different species, or types, of

bamboo in the world. They grow in

mild to warm and humid areas. Most

are in Asia and on islands of the Indian

and Pacific oceans. A few types grow

naturally in the southern United States.

The stems of bamboo are called culms.

They vary greatly in size. The smallest

types are 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters)

tall. In the largest species the

culms can be more than 130 feet (40

meters) tall. Culms are hollow and grow

in clusters from an underground stem

called a rhizome. Some grow as much as

1 foot (0.3 meter) per day.

Bamboo is used for a variety of purposes,

especially in Asia. In some countries,

the seeds are eaten as grain, or the

young shoots are cooked and eaten as

vegetables. Cattle eat the leaves. Some

types of bamboo are crushed to make

paper. The stems of other types are tied

together and used as rafts. They are also

used to form scaffolding, or a framework

on building construction sites. Bamboo

stems are also used to make buckets,

pipes, furniture, walking sticks, fishing

poles, garden stakes, chopsticks, and

other utensils.

Banana

Bananas are one of the most important

and popular foods in the world. They

are a flavorful fruit that is full of vitamins.

They can be found in stores

throughout the year.

Where Bananas Grow

Scientists believe that bananas first grew

in the tropics in Asia. Over the years

they spread to other humid tropical

places. Today people grow bananas in

Many types of bamboo look like trees, but

they are actually tall grasses.

18 Bamboo BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

Africa, Asia, Central America, and South

America.

Physical Features and Growth

Bananas grow on a banana plant.

Although it is often called a tree, the

banana plant is really a large herb. That

means it does not have a woody trunk

like a tree. Instead the banana plant has

a stalk that looks like a tree trunk. The

stalk grows from an underground stem.

The banana plant can be more than 20

feet (6 meters) tall. Large leaves grow

near the top. These leaves are 9 to 12

feet (3 to 3.5 meters) long. Each plant

produces 50 to 150 bananas. The

bananas grow in clusters of 10 to 20.

The bananas are usually chopped down

while green and unripe.

A banana plant only produces one

bunch of fruit. After the bananas have

been picked, the plant is cut down. In

six months new shoots grow from the

underground stem.

There are hundreds of types of banana.

One of the most popular is the common

banana. Its fruit is yellow and sweet

when ripe.

Uses

Bananas contain the mineral called

potassium. They are also a good source

of vitamins A and C. Bananas are usually

eaten fresh. However, they can be

used in pies, muffins, cakes, or breads.