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Park

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Recreation

   An Australian park.
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   An Australian park.

   A park is any of a number of geographic features.

Public parks

   Public park in Tours, France.
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   Public park in Tours, France.

   Today, the primary meaning, based on the original meaning, is an area
   of open space provided for recreational uses. Parks in this sense are
   usually owned and provided by the government. Park uses are often
   divided into two categories: active and passive recreation. Active
   recreation is that which require intensive development and often
   involves cooperative or team activity, including playgrounds and ball
   fields. Passive recreation is that which emphasizes the open-space
   aspect of a park and which involves a low level of development,
   including picnic areas and trails.

   Many smaller neighbourhood parks are receiving increased attention and
   valuation as significant community assets and places of refuge in
   heavily populated urban areas. Neighbourhood groups around the world
   are joining together to support local parks that have suffered from
   urban decay and government neglect.

   A linear park is a park that has a much greater length than width. A
   typical example of a linear park is a section of a former railway that
   has been converted into a park (i.e. the tracks removed, vegetation
   allowed to grow back). Parks are sometimes made out of oddly shaped
   areas of land, much like the vacant lots that often become city
   neighbourhood parks.

   Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming, U.S.A..
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   Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming, U.S.A..

   In the United States the concept of preserving unique landscapes for
   the pleasure of the people of the entire nation was established on June
   30, 1864, when President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill creating the
   Yosemite Grant. A policy of preservation, rather than co-usage as in
   the National Forests, where grazing, farming and logging are licensed,
   was implemented four decades later during the presidential
   administration of Teddy Roosevelt, and Yosemite became a National Park.
   Tourism and, later, recreation were the intended purposes of the lands
   Roosevelt set aside in the system. John Muir was instrumental in this
   effort. These parks were ultimately termed national parks and today
   constitute the US National Park System. Similarly, US state governments
   have also set aside and continue to set aside lands of various sizes to
   preserve them for the enjoyment of the public. National and regional
   parks are found in many other countries, and vary greatly in the sort
   of management and administration which they enjoy. There are also
   national parks in many other countries; the usage of the term varies
   greatly from one country to another.

Private parks

   Private parks are owned by individuals or businesses and are used at
   the discretion of the owner. There are a few types of private parks,
   and some which once were privately maintained and used have now been
   made open to the public. The concept of the commons is somewhat related
   to the origin of modern park systems.

   Hunting parks originally referred to an area maintained as open space
   where residences, industry and farming were not allowed, often
   originally so that nobility might have a place to hunt. These were
   known for instance, as deer parks (deer being originally a term meaning
   any wild animal). Many country houses in Great Britain and Ireland
   still have parks of this sort, which since the 18th century have often
   been carefully landscaped for aesthetic effect. They are usually a
   mixture of open grassland with scattered trees and sections of
   woodland, and are often enclosed by a high wall. The area immediately
   around the house is the garden. In some cases this will also feature
   sweeping lawns and scattered trees; the basic difference between a
   country house's park and its garden is that the park is grazed by
   animals, but they are excluded from the garden.

   In some countries, especially the United Kingdom, the concept of the
   country park was popular in the 1970s, and many such parks were
   established with government support during that time. Country parks are
   often located near to urban populations, and provide recreational
   facilities typical of the countryside rather than the town.

   The term park is also used in reference to industrial areas, often
   termed industrial parks. Some technology research areas are also called
   research parks. Small environmental areas, often part of urban renewal
   plans, are called pocket parks. The word park may also be used in
   community names, such as Oak Park or College Park. Sometimes the active
   recreational aspect may be expressed in the extreme of naming an
   amusement park, usually privately owned. A car park is an area of land
   or a building in which cars are parked. The majority of these uses
   refer to private parks.

Notable parks

   Lower park in Peterhof, Russia.
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   Lower park in Peterhof, Russia.
     * Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
     * Amstel Park, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
     * Balboa Park, San Diego, California
     * Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
     * Birkenhead Park, England
     * Bois de la Cambre, Brussels, Belgium
     * Bosque de Chapultepec, Mexico City, Mexico
     * Casa de Campo, Madrid, Spain
     * Central Park, Manhattan, New York
     * Chain of Lakes Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota
     * Death Valley National Park, California
     * Denali National Park, Alaska, USA
     * Echo Park, Los Angeles, California
     * Elysian Park, Los Angeles, California
     * Everglades National Park, Florida, USA
     * Englischer Garten, Munich, Germany
     * Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
     * Forest Park, Portland, Oregon
     * Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, Illinois
     * Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California
     * Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois
     * Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California
     * High Park, Toronto, Canada
     * Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima, Japan
     * Hong Kong Country Parks
     * Humboldt Park, Chicago, Illinois
     * Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom
     * Hyde Park, Sydney, Australia
     * Jackson Park, Chicago, Illinois
     * Kaivopuisto, Helsinki, Finland
     * Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
     * MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, California
     * Parks and gardens of Melbourne, Australia
     * Mill Ends Park, Portland, Oregon
     * Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois
     * Mount Royal Park, Montreal, Quebec
     * Nagasaki Peace Park, Nagasaki, Japan
     * Greenbelt, Ottawa
     * Parks and gardens of Paris, France
     * Park von Muskau, Bad Muskau, Germany
     * People's Park, Berkeley, California
     * Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland
     * Piedmont Park, Atlanta, Georgia
     * Prater park, Vienna, Austria
     * Royal Parks of London, England
     * Parque Simon Bolivar, Bogotá, Colombia
     * Sequoia National Park, California
     * St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, Ireland
     * Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia
     * Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England
     * Vondelpark, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
     * Washington Park, Chicago, Illinois
     * Yellowstone National Park, United States
     * Yosemite National Park, California

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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