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A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate (mainly aragonite or a mixture of aragonite and calcite) in minute crystalline form, which has deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes, known as baroque pearls, can occur. The finest quality of natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries. Because of this, pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, admirable and valuable.
The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as natural pearls. Cultured or farmed pearls from pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of those currently sold.
General Roca | |
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General Roca is a city in the northeast of the Argentine province of Río Negro, northern Patagonia. UN/LOCODE is ARGNR.
The city was founded on September 1, 1879, by Colonel Lorenzo Vintter —by order of War Minister Julio A. Roca— during the Conquest of the Desert. The place of the first settlement was known by native mapuche people as Fiske Menuco, which means "deep water". It was destroyed in 1899 by a flooding of the Río Negro, and had to be rebuilt 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northwest in higher lands.
Its present population is approximately 86,000 (according to 2010 census [INDEC]), making it the second most populated city in the province after Bariloche, and the second most important in the Alto Valle after Neuquén. The main activity around the city is the intensive agriculture under irrigation, which made possible an intense agro-industrial activity. The main crops are pears and apples. The city hosts the annual National Festival of the Apple, which is held in early February.
General Roca, named after Julio A. Roca, is located 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) from Buenos Aires, 505 kilometres (314 mi) from Bahía Blanca, 513 kilometres (319 mi) from Viedma and 400 kilometres (250 mi) from the deepwater port of San Antonio Este.