Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

engine is permanently mounted inside

the boat’s hull. An outboard engine is

clamped to the outside of the hull and

can be removed easily. Both types

usually move the boat by turning a

propeller in the water.

Uses

Boats can be used for pleasure, for sport,

or for work. Many people enjoy taking a

canoe or kayak out on a river or a sailboat

out on a lake for fun. Others like to

race boats. Very narrow rowboats called

shells or sculls are used in the sport of

racing. Several categories of rowing are

events in the Olympic Games. Sailboats

and motorboats are also used for racing.

The most famous international sailing

competition is the America’s Cup race.

Boats used for work include fishing

boats and tugboats.

Five common types of boat are the rowboat, the sailboat, the motorboat, the raft, and the

canoe.

98 Boat BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

History

Ancient peoples used boats as many as

10,000 years ago. Some of the earliest

boats were simple rafts made out of

bunches of reeds or logs tied together.

Ancient peoples around the world made

dugouts, or canoes carved out of logs.

Native American and Inuit peoples

made canoes out of bark or animal

hides. People later built boats out of

wooden planks. They added masts and

sails, and later engines, for speed. Modern

boats are often made of metal, fiberglass,

or plastic.

..More to explore

Ship

Bog

A bog is a kind of wetland with wet,

spongy soil. Bogs differ from marshes

and swamps because their soil contains

almost no minerals. That is because their

main source of water is rainwater, which

contains few minerals. In contrast,

marshes and swamps have mineral-rich

soil.

Bogs generally form in places where

glaciers once dug into the Earth’s surface.

The glaciers left holes that filled

with water and eventually formed bogs.

A bog begins to form as a lake is covered

with a floating layer of plants. As the

layer thickens, pieces of the plants sink

to the bottom. The plants eventually fill

the lake and create a bog.

Plant life is limited in a bog because of

the lack of minerals in the soil. Mosses

and heaths are the main plants. Layers of

dead plants build up in bogs to form a

material called peat. Dried peat is

burned for fuel. Animals are not common

in bogs.

..More to explore

Glacier • Marsh • Swamp •Wetland

Bogota

Population

(2005 estimate)

6,763,325

Bogota is the capital of the South

American country of Colombia. It is one

of the largest cities in the northern part

of South America. Bogota is also a center

of education, culture, and business.

Service industries such as banking, education,

and health care are important to

the economy. Manufacturing also brings

The Irish countryside features large areas of

peat bogs.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Bogota 99

 

money to the city. Bogota’s major products

include tires, chemicals, and medicines.

At the center of Bogota is the Plaza Bolivar,

where the city government buildings

and Roman Catholic cathedral are

located. The city also has several major

museums, libraries, and theaters. The

Gold Museum has thousands of gold

objects made by native peoples before

Europeans arrived in the Americas.

Hundreds of years ago the Chibcha

Indians lived in the area. The Spanish

captured the Chibcha’s main city in

1538. They named it Bogota and made

it the capital of a huge area they controlled

in northwestern South America.

The city was under Spanish rule until

1819. Bogota remained a center of government

in the area. It later became the

capital of Colombia.

..More to explore

Colombia

Boise

Population

(2000 census),

city, 185,787;

(2007 estimate)

202,832

Boise is the capital of the U.S. state of

Idaho. The city lies on the Boise River.

It is the state’s largest city.

Boise is also a center of business and

banking. Local companies make computer

parts, processed foods, and wood

and metal products. Many people in

Boise work for government offices or in

construction.

Gold was discovered near the site of

Boise in 1862. Fort Boise was soon

founded in the area. A community

sprang up to provide services to the gold

Street performers entertain a crowd in

Bogota.

Mountains rise up to the north of Boise.

They protect the city from blizzards that

form in Canada in the winter.

100 Boise BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

miners. It grew into the city of Boise.

Today tourists visit the empty old mines

and mining towns, called ghost towns,

near Boise.

In 1864 Boise became the capital of the

Idaho Territory. It remained the capital

when Idaho became a U.S. state in

1890.

Bolivar, Simon

Known as the Liberator, Simon Bolivar

led revolutions against Spanish rule in

South America. The countries of Venezuela,

Colombia, Ecuador, Panama,

Peru, and Bolivia all owe their independence

largely to him.

Bolivar was born on July 24, 1783, in

Caracas, New Granada (now in Venezuela).

After studying in Europe, he

returned to South America and began to

fight Spanish rule. Between 1810 and

1814 Venezuela made two failed tries to

break free from Spain. After the second

defeat, Bolivar fled to Jamaica and then

Haiti.

In 1819 Bolivar made a daring attack on

the Spanish in New Granada. That

colony included the territory of modern