The joint is made up of three bones: the femur (thigh bone), the tibia (shin bone), and the patella (knee cap). The surfaces of these bones within the joint are covered with a layer of cartilage. This important surface allows the bones to smoothly glide against each other without causing damage to the bone.
Pyeongtaek: A US base, Americana in rural South Korea. As it gears up to host a huge US overseas base, the city is a window on to fraught relations between locals and troops. A commercial street near Camp Humphreys base in Pyeongtaek. [Steven Borowiec/Al Jazeera] Pyeongtaek, South Korea - The commercial area adjacent to the main entrance of the United States' Camp Humphreys military base, is a slice of Americana in the Korean countryside. Most of the signs are in English, the streets are lined with fast-food restaurants, and the street stalls sell french fries and chicken wings beside Korean staples such as blood sausage and rice cakes in red pepper sauce.
When the relocation is complete, Camp Humphreys will occupy three times its current area and its population will swell from its existing size of about 11,000 troops to more than 40,000 service members, making it one of the US's largest overseas bases - an anchor for defending against North Korea and a focal point of the US military presence in Asia.