51.   China and Vietnam have overlapping claims to vast stretches of the South China Sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits.

52.   Coal still is mined by stripping away vast stretches of farmland and forest, digging out open pits and leaving sterile moonscapes.

53.   From the vast stretches of America that lie beyond the Hudson River, the view of New York City is not always complimentary.

54.   Government forces are believed to control only major cities, while police and soldiers avoid vast stretches of this desert country.

55.   Hundreds of firefighters on Saturday battled blazes that destroyed vast stretches of dry scrubland and pine forests in southern France.

56.   Most of the power goes to the big cities, leaving vast stretches of countryside in the dark.

57.   North Korea suffered disastrous floods last year that destroyed vast stretches of farm land and forced the isolationist state to seek international aid.

58.   The Canadian border quickly blends into the vast stretch of wilderness across northern Maine.

59.   The floods have displaced millions of people and inundated vast stretches of rich farmland along the Yangtze.

60.   The lucrative trade has given the rebels control over vast stretches of Colombia.