1.
1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment
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This elite regiment is part of the 11th Parachute Brigade. In 1935, Russians successfully parachuted airborne contingents with various equipment, on April 1,1937, two Airborne Infantry Groups were created, the 601st at Reims and the 602nd at Baraki near Algiers. Both Airborne Groups conducted their infantry tranining respectively at the 95th Infantry Regiment in Bourges, in 1939, the 601st Airborne Infantry Group joined the 602nd at Baraki and conducted joint military airborne parachute maneuvers at Boghar, Algeria using the Potez 650. With the outbreak of World War II on September 1,1939, in April 1940, a Air Marching Infantry Company was formed, under the command of Captain Sauvagnac, which served in the Niederbronn-les-Bains region of Alsace. On August 25,1940, the German offensive of May 1940 pushed the company to Marseille-Mérignane. In March 1941, the 1re C. I. A or Air Infantry Company was formed from components of the two dissolved Airborne Infantry Groups, at Oued Smar near Algiers, the 1re CIA was renamed Air Company n°1 and commanded by Captain Sauvagnac. In January 1943, following the landings in North Africa. Subsequently, the 1re C. I. A was transformed into the first battalion of parachute chasseurs n°1 under the command of Commandant Sauvagnac, on February 1,1943, the 1re C. I. On October 1943, the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment was attached to the U. S. 82nd Airborne Division, oldest French parachute regiment, the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment of the French Air Force illustrated capabilities during the Liberation combats. The regiment engaged in combat during the campaigns of Vosges and Alsace during World War II, during the final courses of the war, the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment of the French Air Force would be seen transferred to the French Army. On July 30,1947, the unit was separated as a regiment, the three parachute battalions engaged successively in airborne operations in and around the delta of Tonkin. The rapaces of the 1st Parachute Chasseur were the only ones dropped at night on Dien Bien Phu while encircled by Viêt-minh troops, the parachutes where submerged in water and doubled in weight. We tried to remain small because bullets were whistling near our ears, the beginning of May 1954, the Viêt-minh troops gave way to the final assault. On the night of May 1 to May 2, the first, one week later, Eliane 4 fell and only 19 survivors all which were taken prisoners. Dien Bien Phu was lost and fell on May 7,1954, on November 1,1954, its Toussaint Rouge in Algeria. During the day at Arris, rebel terrorist groups intercepted a vehicle carrying dozens of Muslims. The rebel terrorists killed the Qaid and the two Europeans, the insurrectionary debuted and the first bombs exploded in Algiers, and all over Algeria counted thirty some coordinated suicides are targets. It was the commencement of a war torn era
2.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
3.
French Army
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The French Army, officially the Land Army is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. Along with the French Air Force, the French Navy and the National Gendarmerie, the current Chief of Staff of the French Army is General Jean-Pierre Bosser, a direct subordinate of the Chief of the Defence Staff. All soldiers are considered professionals following the suspension of conscription, voted in parliament in 1997, as of 2014, the French Army employed 111,628 personnel. In addition, the element of the French Army consisted of 15,453 personnel of the Operational Reserve. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the Hundred Years War and these units of troops were raised by issuing ordonnances to govern their length of service, composition and payment. These Compagnies dordonnance formed the core of the Gendarme Cavalry into the sixteenth century, stationed throughout France and summoned into larger armies as needed. There was also made for Francs-archers units of bowmen and foot soldiers raised from the non-noble classes. The bulk of the infantry for warfare was still provided by urban or provincial militias, raised from an area or city to fight locally and named for their recruiting grounds. Gradually these units became more permanent, and in 1480s Swiss instructors were recruited and these men would be paid and contracted and receive training. Henry II further regularised the French army by forming standing Infantry regiments to replace the Militia structure, the first of these the Régiments de Picardie, Piémont, Navarre and Champagne were called the Les Vieux Corps. It was normal policy to disband regiments after a war was over as a cost saving measure with the Vieux Corps and the Kings own Household Troops the Maison du Roi being the only survivors. Regiments could be raised directly by the King and so called after the region in which they were raised, or by the nobility and so called after the noble or his appointed colonel. In 1684 there was a reorganisation of the French infantry and again in 1701 to fit in with Louis XIVs plans. This reshuffle created many of the regiments of the French Army and standardised their equipment. The army of the Sun King tended to wear coats with coloured linings. There were exceptions and the troops, recruited from outside France. In addition to these regiments of the line the Maison du Roi provided several elite units, the Swiss Guards, French Guards, the revolution split the army with the main mass losing most of its officers to aristocratic flight or guillotine and becoming demoralised and ineffective. The French Guard joined the revolt and the Swiss Guards were massacred during the storming of the Tuileries palace, under Napoleon I, the French Army conquered most of Europe during the Napoleonic Wars
4.
10th Parachute Division (France)
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The 10th Parachute Division was a formation of the French Army, part of the French Airborne Units. It consisted predominantly of infantry troops and it specialized in airborne combat and air assault. Established in 1956, it primarily in the Suez Crisis. It was dissolved immediately after the Algiers putsch of 1961, on July 1,1956, the 10e D. P. Barely created, the 10e D. P. took part in the Suez Crisis in Egypt, the 10e D. P was reinforced for this purpose with, One squadron of the 2nd Foreign Cavalry Regiment comprising 148 men and 17 AMX-13. Although the battle was a success, allied troops had to withdrawn due to pressure from the United States. In Algiers, the National Liberation Front was carrying out a wave of terrorist attacks an urban guerilla which made many casualties, in January 1957, Robert Lacoste, Minister Resident in Algeria, reacted by giving full powers to General Massu over the Algiers area. Massu sent the 10e D. P. to search out, arrest, the battle of Algiers proved to be a clear success for the French military, with most prominent FLN leaders killed or arrested and terrorist attacks effectively stopped. However, the use of torture against some FLN members led to an opposition to war in France. In 1956, the newly independent Republic of Tunisia was helping the FLN by smuggling weapons, the electrified fence known as the Morice Line was built up to prevent Algerian FLN guerrillas from entering the French colony of Algeria from Tunisia. The 10e D. P. was assigned to the surveillance of a portion of the electrified border, the Morice Line had a significant impact of the reduction of guerrillas activities by forces that originated from Tunisia. However, general Massu, the officer of the 10e D. P. was relieved of his command as he criticized president Charles de Gaulles actions. Despite the military successes, French Prime Minister Michel Debrés government started secret negotiations with the anti-colonialist FLN in order to grant independence to Algeria, French settlers and soldiers were stunned by this decision and a putsch was organized in Algiers. With the exception of the 3e RPIMa, the rest of the 10e D. P. supported the coup. When the putsch failed the 25e D. P. along with the 10e D. P. were dissolved and the 1er R. E. P was the only regiment disbanded. Except for the Legionnaires of the 1e REP that conserve the Green Beret, the Archangel Saint Michael, patron of the French paratroopers is celebrated on September 29. The prière du Para was written by André Zirnheld in 1938, just like the paratrooper Brevet of the French Army, the Insignia of French Paratroopers was created in 1946. The French Army Insignia of metropolitan Paratroopers represents a closed <<winged armed dextrochere>>, the Insignia makes reference to the Patron of Paratroopers
5.
25th Parachute Division (France)
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The 25th Parachute Division was an airborne division of the French Army, part of the French Airborne Units. Consisting mainly of air infantry specialized in combat, air assault and established in 1956. On June 1,1956, the 25th Parachute Division was created in the 5th military region from the 25e DIAP, on April 1,1960, the 9th Parachute Chasseur Regiment relieved the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment part of the 10th Parachute Division. On December 1,1958, the Colonial Parachute Regiments underwent a designation renomination to the Marine Infantry Parachute Regiments while conserving their number regimental designation. Accordingly, General Raoul Salan, superior commander in Algeria, delegated all five airborne infantry regiments to General Paul Vanuxem, the battle took place at both the Morice Line and Challe Line and lasted for about 5 months. Except for the Legionnaires of the 2e REP that conserve the Green Beret, the Archangel Saint Michael, patron of the French paratroopers is celebrated on September 29. The prière du Para was written by André Zirnheld in 1938, just like the paratrooper Brevet of the French Army, the Insignia of French Paratroopers was created in 1946. The French Army Insignia of metropolitan Paratroopers represents a closed <<winged armed dextrochere>>, the Insignia makes reference to the Patron of Paratroopers. In fact, the Insignia represents <<the right Arm of Saint Michael>> and this Insignia is the symbol of righteous combat and fidelity to superior missions. The French Army Insignia of Marine Infantry Paratroopers is backgrounded by a Marine Anchor, J. Baltzer & E. Micheletti, Insignes et brevets parachutistes de larmée française, Histoires et collections,2001, ISBN 2-913-903-118. History of the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment, 9th Parachute Chasseur Regiment, 14th Parachute Chasseur Regiment and 18th Parachute Chasseur Regiment
6.
11th Parachute Brigade (France)
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The 11th Parachute Brigade is a unit of the French Army, dominantly infantry, part of the French Airborne Units and specialized in air combat and air assault. The Brigades primary vocation is to project in emergency in order to contribute a first response to a situational crisis, an elite unit of the French Army, the brigade is commanded by a général de brigade with headquarters based in Balma near Toulouse. The Brigades soldiers and airborne Marines wear the red beret except for the Legionnaires of the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment who wear Green beret of the French Foreign Legion. On May 1,1961, the 11th Light Intervention Division was created from dissolved airborne units of the 10th and 25th Parachute Division. On December 1,1963, the 11th Division was created by merging the 11th Light Intervention Division, on April 1,1971, the 11th Division became the 11th Parachute Division. On June 1999, the 11th Parachute Division became the 11th Parachute Brigade, the division commanded by General Marzloff rejoins the metropole on July 1,1961. On August 1,1963, the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment leaves the Division and takes garrison in Lorraine at Dieuze, on October 1,1963, the division integrated the BOMAP. On December 1,1963, the 11th Light Intervention Division merged with the 9th Colonial Infantry Division, a support battalion, the 61e BS was created on February 1,1964, at Auch. The 61e BS supervised health services and provisions in the Division, in March, the 61st Transmission Airborne Brigade steps in at Pau and regroups the existing transmission companies. On July 1966, the 11th Division reached 16,000 men and was composed of two brigades forming five parachute regiments. The 9th Outremer Brigade left the Division and the 20th Airborne Brigade, the three support regiments were reorganized in two interam regiments of intervention that conserved nevertheless their original nominations. The 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment disappeared, the following year in 1974, the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment was recreated and the interarm regiments find their specialities. On August 1,1974, the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment was reattached to the Division, Units belonging to the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment and the 35th Parachute Artillery Regiment took part in Operation Tacaud starting from 1978 in Tchad. During this time, France was manned with a force of 20,000 strong composed of the 11th Parachute Division. In the aftermath of the Cold War, the French Army reorganised, the 11th Parachute Brigade was formed in 1999 at Balma on the base of the 11 Parachute Division on the occasion of the restructuring of the French Army. The brigade was engaged in Afghanistan and Africa, the 11th Parachute Brigade and mainly the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment 2e REP took part in Operation Licorne in the Ivory Coast. The parachute brigade intervened in Afghanistan starting 2006 within and part of the French Detachment of NATO International Force, the brigade was relieved in September 2007 by the mountain infantry Alpines Chasseurs of the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade. On August 18,2008, a section of the 8th Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment lost eight men during the Ambush of Uzbin, the paratroopers of the 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment made up the first rotation
7.
Pamiers
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Pamiers is a commune in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department, although Pamiers is the largest city in Ariège, the capital is the smaller town of Foix. The seat of the Bishop of Pamiers is at the Pamiers Cathedral, Pamiers is located on the Ariège River. The town of Pamiers is famous for its three towers and for being the birthplace of Gabriel Fauré, one of the greatest French musicians and composers of the late 19th. It also boasts awards for Ville fleurie, the equivalent of town in bloom, local facilities include good restaurants, bars, supermarkets, large public indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Pamiers lies in an ancient alluvial plain of the Ariège River in the area called La Basse Ariège, Pamiers has 17,000 inhabitants, the Appaméens, and is the economical capital of the Ariège, being the most important town in the department. The town itself dates back to the 5th century, the origin of its name is subject to debate. A certain school of linguists tends to believe that it was derived from the fact that, originally it was called Ville de Pams. The fact that Pamiers inhabitants are called Appaméens would seem to favour this hypothesis, in the 18th century a plural stance on the word was introduced making the name Apamias derived from ecclesiastical language and also similar to the Occitan language. The Occitan name Pamias can be seen on the sign, alongside the French name Pamiers, as one enters the town via the old route from Toulouse. The main square of Pamiers, Place de la République, is paved in red marble, every week, three large open-air farmers markets are held, plus a flea market every Sunday morning. Nearby are the old Tour des Cordeliers and the large Church of Notre-Dame-du-Camp
8.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
9.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
10.
Algerian War
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An important decolonization war, it was a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare, maquis fighting, and the use of torture by both sides. The conflict also became a war between loyalist Algerians supporting a French Algeria and their Algerian nationalist counterparts. A referendum took place on 8 April 1962 and the French electorate approved the Évian Accords, the planned French withdrawal led to a state crisis, to various assassination attempts on de Gaulle, and to some attempts at military coups. Upon independence, in 1962,900,000 European-Algerians fled to France, in fear of the FLNs revenge, the French government was totally unprepared for the vast number of refugees, which caused turmoil in France. On the pretext of a slight to their consul, the French invaded Algiers in 1830, in 1834, Algeria became a French military colony and was subsequently declared by the constitution of 1848 to be an integral part of France and divided into three departments. Many French and other Europeans later settled in Algeria, under the Second Empire, the Code de lindigénat was implemented by the Sénatus-consulte of July 14,1865. Its first article stipulated, The indigenous Muslim is French, however and he may be admitted to serve in the army and the navy. He may be called to functions and civil employment in Algeria and he may, on his demand, be admitted to enjoy the rights of a French citizen, in this case, he is subjected to the political and civil laws of France. However, prior to 1870, fewer than 200 demands were registered by Muslims and 152 by Jewish Algerians, the 1865 decree was then modified by the 1870 Crémieux decrees, which granted French nationality to Jews living in one of the three Algerian departments. In 1881, the Code de lIndigénat made the official by creating specific penalties for indigènes. The Law of September 20,1947, granted French citizenship to all Algerian subjects, Algeria was unique to France because, unlike all other overseas possessions acquired by France during the 19th century, only Algeria was considered and legally classified an integral part of France. Both Muslim and European Algerians took part in World War I, Algerian Muslims served as tirailleurs and spahis, and French settlers as Zouaves or Chasseurs dAfrique. Within this context, a grandson of Abd el-Kadir spearheaded the resistance against the French in the first half of the 20th century and he was a member of the directing committee of the French Communist Party. The North African Star broke from the PCF in 1928, before being dissolved in 1929 at Pariss demand, the pieds-noirs violently demonstrated against it and the North African Party opposed it, leading to the projects abandonment. This new party was dissolved in 1939, under Vichy, the French state attempted to abrogate the Crémieux decree in order to suppress the Jews French citizenship, but the measure was never implemented. On the other hand, nationalist leader Ferhat Abbas founded the Algerian Popular Union in 1938, in 1943 Abbas wrote the Algerian Peoples Manifesto. In the early morning hours of November 1,1954, FLN maquisards attacked military and he declared in the National Assembly, One does not compromise when it comes to defending the internal peace of the nation, the unity and integrity of the Republic. The Algerian departments are part of the French Republic and they have been French for a long time, and they are irrevocably French
11.
Lebanese Civil War
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The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon, lasting from 1975 to 1990 and resulting in an estimated 120,000 fatalities. As of 2012, approximately 76,000 people remain displaced within Lebanon, there was also an exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon as a result of the war. The government of Lebanon had been run under a significant influence of the elites among the Maronite Christians, however, the country had a large Muslim population and many pan-Arabist and left-wing groups opposed the pro-western government. Fighting between Maronite and Palestinian forces began in 1975, then Leftist, pan-Arabist and Muslim Lebanese groups formed an alliance with the Palestinians, during the course of the fighting, alliances shifted rapidly and unpredictably. Furthermore, foreign powers, such as Israel and Syria, became involved in the war, Peace keeping forces, such as the Multinational Force in Lebanon & UNIFIL, were also stationed in Lebanon. The 1989 Taif Agreement marked the beginning of the end of the fighting, in January 1989, a committee appointed by the Arab League began to formulate solutions to the conflict. In March 1991, parliament passed an amnesty law that all political crimes prior to its enactment. In May 1991, the militias were dissolved, with the exception of Hezbollah, religious tensions between Sunnis and Shias remained after the war. An 1860 civil war between Druze and Maronites erupted in the Ottoman Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon, which had been divided between them in 1842 and it resulted in the massacre of about 10,000 Christians and at least 6,000 Druzes. The 1860 war was considered by the Druze as a military victory, World War I was hard for the Lebanese. While the rest of the world was occupied with the World War, with the defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish rule ended. France took control of the area under the French Mandate for Syria, the French created the state of Greater Lebanon as a safe haven for the Maronites, but included a large Muslim population within the borders. In 1926, Lebanon was declared a republic, and a constitution was adopted, however, the constitution was suspended in 1932. Various factions sought unity with Syria, or independence from the French, in 1934, the countrys first census was conducted. In 1936, the Maronite Phalange party was founded by Pierre Gemayel, World War II and the 1940s brought great change to Lebanon and the Middle East. Lebanon was promised independence and on 22 November 1943, during World War II, Free French troops, who had invaded Lebanon in 1941 to rid Beirut of the Vichy French forces, left the country in 1946. The Maronites assumed power over the country and economy, a parliament was created, in which both Muslims and Christians each had a set quota of seats. Accordingly, the President was to be a Maronite, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim, the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine in late 1947 led to civil war in Palestine, the end of Mandatory Palestine, and the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 14 May 1948
12.
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon
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The mandate had to be adjusted twice, due to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. The first UNIFIL troops were deployed in the area on 23 March 1978, during the occupation, UNIFILs function was mainly to provide humanitarian aid. UNIFILs mandate is renewed by United Nations Security Council annually, the current mandate expires on 31 August 2017. During the 1982 Lebanon War, UN positions were overrun, primarily by the SLA forces under Saad Haddad and this was the Lebanese paramilitary force supported by the IDF in Southern Lebanon. In 1999, Israel undertook a withdrawal, which concluded in 2000, UNIFIL is currently deployed in Southern Lebanon and primarily along the United Nations-drawn Blue Line, which is the border between Israel and Lebanon. The forces activities have centered around monitoring military activity between Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces with the aim of reducing tensions and allaying tension along the border. UNIFIL has also played an important role in clearing landmines, assisting displaced persons, under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which passed as a result of the 2006 Lebanon War, its mandate and rules of engagement changed. The mandate changed to allow up to 15,000 personnel in order to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces in deploying in Southern Lebanon to implement the Lebanese governments sovereignty. The rules of engagement changed to allow the troops to fire in certain cases, mostly in cases of self-defense but also in order to protect civilians, UN personnel and facilities. ”On 27 August 2006, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that UNIFIL would not intercept arms shipments from Syria. The Maritime Task Force is the component of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. As of February 2012, the MTF is under the command of Rear Admiral Wagner Lopes de Moraes Zamith of Brazil, the Brazilian frigate Constituição is the flagship of the fleet comprising vessels from Brazil, Bangladesh, Germany, Greece, Indonesia and Turkey. With its establishment in October 2006, the force was led by the German Navy which was also the major contributor to the force. The Germans lead the MTF up until 29 February 2008 when they passed control over to EUROMARFOR – a force made up of ships from Portugal, Spain, Italy and France. To date UNIFIL has suffered 272 fatalities,261 troops, two observers, five international civilian staff, and four local staff. Prior to the July 2006 Lebanon War, Israel had been lobbying for UNIFIL to either take an active role vis-a-vis Hezbollah or to step out of the region. Israel was concerned when it was reported that Indonesia was being considered to replace Italy as commander of UNIFILs naval force, according to the book, in 1992, two detained Lebanese men escaped from Khiam prison. Shortly afterward, Israeli Army commander Moshe Tamir visited the Norwegian battalions camp, immediately after the confrontation, the Lebanese men were smuggled onto a bus used by Norwegian peacekeepers on leave, which took them to Beirut. Hezbollah supporters have accused UNIFIL of siding with Israel, especially since the passage of Resolution 1701 which they view as one-sided
13.
Multinational Force in Lebanon
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The ceasefire held until June 3,1982 when the PLO attempted to assassinate Shlomo Argov, Israels ambassador to London. Three days later, Israel reentered the PLO-controlled West Beirut and blockaded the city in order to contain insurgency, seven weeks into the blockade, the besieged PLO acceded to a new agreement for their withdrawal. The four-nation MNF was created as an interposition force meant to oversee the withdrawal of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The participants included the U. S. Additionally, the MNF was in charge of training units of the Lebanese Armed Forces. The relatively benign environment at the beginning of the gave way to chaos as the civil war re-escalated following the assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel in September 1982. Subsequent political and military developments on the ground caused the MNF to be viewed not as a peacekeeper and it was replaced by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon already present in Lebanon since 1978 under the leadership of Ghanaian Lieutenant General Emmanuel Erskine. Under its mandate, the MNF provides a multinational presence requested by the Lebanese Government to assist it, the MNF is not authorized to engage in combat but may exercise the right of self-defense. The USMNF follows a policy of active self-defense in response to attacks, in order to enhance the safety of MNF personnel, authority has been given to U. S. S. The MNF is currently composed of the units, which perform the functions indicated at the request of the Lebanese Government. Their precise functions within the MNF mission have varied over time, one U. S. Marine Amphibious Unit is ashore at Beirut International Airport as a 1, 400-man force which also provides external-security troops at U. S. diplomatic facilities in the greater Beirut area. Additional elements of the MAU in reserve, mainly combat support, as noted above, U. S. military personnel currently with the MNF will remain on the ground for the protection of our remaining personnel. Two Italian battalions are in a 1, 400-man force in southwest Beirut and also protect the Sabra. The Italian Government has nearly completed the process of returning the size of its force to that level from a high of 2,200 men. The Italians announced on Feb.8 their intention to withdraw further forces, the French battalions serve as a force in and near the port of Beirut. In addition, each contingent of the MNF has naval and/or air support forces in the region, the United States had previously been involved in Lebanon during the 1958 crisis. In May 1958 armed rebellion broke out in Beirut, supported mostly by Muslim elements, Marines and paratroopers were sent to Lebanon by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to keep the country from falling to Communism. President Chamoun left office in September after having completed his term, further instability ensued when Israel invaded Lebanon in June 1982, the invasion targeted the Palestine Liberation Organization bases in Beirut. In August 1982, he was successful in bringing about an agreement for the evacuation of Syrian troops, the agreement also provided for the deployment of a three-nation Multinational Force during the period of the evacuation
14.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
15.
Souk Ahras
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Souk Ahras is a municipality in Algeria. It is the capital of Souk Ahras Province, the Numidian city of Thagaste, on whose ruins Souk Ahras was built, was the birthplace of Augustine of Hippo and a center of Berber culture. It was a city of culture, described as the very hub of civilization. In other sources it is cited as the Palace of the African, the town of Souk Ahras, as its region, experienced Aterian culture from the end of the Middle Palaeolithic to the early upper Palaeolithic Ages. After the Aterian, Souk Ahras was inhabited by people of the Capsian culture, many stone tools dating to this period have been discovered. Stemmed arrows were found on the site of present-day Souk Ahras and it was the birthplace of Augustine of Hippo to Monica of Hippo, he later the Bishop of Hippo and Saint Augustin. Souk Ahras has played an important role in the political and cultural history of the region because of its position at the crossroads of Numide, Ancient Roman. It was the location of fortifications and urban centers. Tagaste was a town of Numidia in Roman North Africa, on the banks of the Oued Hamise river, Augustine of Hippo was born here. The Roman city is identified with ruins of Tajilt near Souk Ahras, the Numidian city of Thagaste or Tagaste, on whose ruins Souk Ahras was built, was situated in the north-eastern highlands of Numidia. It was about 60 miles from Hippo Regius,20 miles southwest of Thubursicum, the city was mentioned by Pliny the Elder. As a municipium, Thagaste was not settled by Roman Italian immigrants, in 1830 Souk Ahras became a colonial settlement of French Algeria. Late 19th century connection via the Algerian Railway, and 20th century iron ore and phosphate mining, brought some modern significance and prosperity to the town. During the Algerian War of Independence, Souk Ahras housed the Ouled Bechiah Mounts as a military base of the Army of National Liberation. The town of Souk Ahras is located in a surrounded by wooded mountains as the Djebel Beni Salah or Djebel Ouled Moumen. Souk Ahras is crossed by a major North African river, the Medjerda, three dams exist in the region of Souk Ahras, that of Ain-Edalia supplies the town of Souk Ahras and its region with 76 million cubic meters. Dams of Oued Charef and Djedra, provide a capacity of 153 and 35 million cubic meters, dam Djedra is intended to supply the town of Souk Ahras with a quantity of 12 million cubic meters of potable water, while 2 million cubic meters will be pumped for irrigation. Its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea aids in moderating the citys temperatures, as a result, Souk Ahras usually does not see the extreme temperatures that are experienced in the adjacent interior deserts
16.
Combat
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Combat or fighting is a purposeful violent conflict meant to weaken, establish dominance over, or kill the opposition, or to drive the opposition away from a location where it is not wanted or needed. Combat violence can be unilateral, whereas fighting implies at least a defensive reaction, a large-scale fight is known as a battle. A verbal fight is known as an argument. Combat effectiveness, in the field, requires combat readiness. In military areas, the term is applied also to personnel, Combat may take place under a specific set of rules or be unregulated. Examples of rules include the Geneva Conventions, medieval chivalry, the Marquess of Queensberry rules, Combat in warfare involves two or more opposing military organizations, usually fighting for nations at war. Warfare falls under the laws of war, which govern its purposes and conduct, Combat may be armed or unarmed. Hand-to-hand combat is combat at close range, attacking the opponent with the body and/or with a melee weapon. “Combat Motivation in Today’s Soldiers, U. S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute. ”Armed Forces & Society, vol. “Combat Casualties and Race, What Can We Learn from the 2003-2004 Iraq Conflict. ”“Undermining Combat Readiness in the Russian Military, 1992-2005. ”Armed Forces & Society, Jul 2006, vol. Http, //afs. sagepub. com/cgi/content/abstract/32/4/513 Ben-Shalom, Uzi, Lehrer, Zeev, and Ben-Ari, Eyal. “Cohesion during Military Operations, A Field Study on Combat Units in the Al-Aqsa Intifada. ”Http, //afs. sagepub. com/cgi/content/abstract/32/1/63 Woodruff, Todd, Kelty, Ryan, Segal, Archie Cooper, David R.2006. “Propensity to Serve and Motivation to Enlist among American Combat Soldiers. ”Armed Forces & Society, Apr 2006, vol
17.
General officer
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A general officer is an officer of high rank in the army, and in some nations air forces or marines. The term general is used in two ways, as the title for all grades of general officer and as a specific rank. It originates in the 16th century, as a shortening of captain general, the adjective general had been affixed to officer designations since the late medieval period to indicate relative superiority or an extended jurisdiction. Today, the title of General is known in countries as a four-star rank. However different countries use different systems of stars for senior ranks and it has a NATO code of OF-9 and is the highest rank currently in use in a number of armies. The various grades of general officer are at the top of the rank structure. Lower-ranking officers in military forces are typically known as field officers or field-grade officers. There are two systems of general ranks used worldwide. In addition there is a system, the Arab system of ranks. Variations of one form, the old European system, were used throughout Europe. It is used in the United Kingdom, from which it spread to the Commonwealth. The other is derived from the French Revolution, where ranks are named according to the unit they command. The system used either a general or a colonel general rank. The rank of marshal was used by some countries as the highest rank. Many countries actually used two brigade command ranks, which is why some countries now use two stars as their brigade general insignia, mexico and Argentina still use two brigade command ranks. As a lieutenant outranks a sergeant major, confusion arises because a lieutenant is outranked by a major. Originally the serjeant major was, exclusively, the commander of the infantry, junior only to the captain general, the distinction of serjeant major general only applied after serjeant majors were introduced as a rank of field officer. Serjeant was eventually dropped from both titles, creating the modern rank titles
18.
Batna, Algeria
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Batna is the main city of Batna Province, Algeria. With a population of 290,645 it is the fifth largest city in Algeria and it is also one of the principal cities of the Chaoui area and is considered the capital of the Aures. The first solid foundations of the city were erected by a French garrison in 1844, batnas geographical location offers a natural break through the Atlas Mountains. The Romans did not detect this passage in their early invasion phase, the ancient cities of Timgad and Lambese, built around the first century CE, are living examples of the importance that the Romans gave to commercial control over the region. The inhabitants of the city revolted against the French authorities at the beginning of colonization, thereafter they organized the Algerian revolution against colonialism French. The Algerian revolution started at Batna under the chairmanship of Batnéen Mustapha Benboulaïd, Batna was the first military region of L Algeria 19541962. On the night of November 1,1954, the barracks of the city of Batna was attacked by the mujahedeen, Batna was the command headquarters of the Algerian revolution until independence. On September 6,2007, Batna saw a massive Al-Qaeda suicide bombing, the bombings were condemned by the UN Security Council. Located in the Aurès Mountains, at 1,048 metres above sea level, Batna has a climate with Mediterranean influences. Summers are moderately hot and dry and winters are chilly and wetter and this climate is described by the Köppen climate classification as BSk. Many entertainment resorts are spread across the town, for children, an attraction park is located in Kechida, which is approximately a ten-minute drive from the downtown area. Also a new 7D movie theater called Maya launched this year in downtown, with regard to night life, due to some religious and cultural limitations, there are almost no night clubs in the city. However, the nightlife is concentrated in the heart of the city, around Les allées Benboulaïd and STAND areas. Downtown Batna has plenty of cafés, traditional restaurants or GARGOUTTIER, Pizzerias, French and oriental bakeries, many festivities take place in allées Ben Boulaïd area, mainly in the season of International Timgad Festival. The most attractive exciting places surrounding the city are, Lambese, Timgad, Ghoufi, Chelaalaa, town centre Zone industrielle batna Kechida Bouakal Route de Tazoult Bouzourane Zone militaire Parc à fourrage Houria Aïchi, musician Rachid Mouffouk, sculptor Travel Batna
19.
Lebanon
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Lebanon, officially known as the Lebanese Republic, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, Lebanons location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland facilitated its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity. At just 10,452 km2, it is the smallest recognized country on the entire mainland Asian continent, the earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than seven thousand years, predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Canaanites/Phoenicians and their kingdoms, a culture that flourished for over a thousand years. In 64 BC, the region came under the rule of the Roman Empire, in the Mount Lebanon range a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church was established. As the Arab Muslims conquered the region, the Maronites held onto their religion, however, a new religious group, the Druze, established themselves in Mount Lebanon as well, generating a religious divide that has lasted for centuries. During the Crusades, the Maronites re-established contact with the Roman Catholic Church, the ties they established with the Latins have influenced the region into the modern era. The region eventually was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1918, following the collapse of the empire after World War I, the five provinces that constitute modern Lebanon came under the French Mandate of Lebanon. The French expanded the borders of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, which was populated by Maronites and Druze. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, establishing confessionalism, a unique, foreign troops withdrew completely from Lebanon on 31 December 1946. Lebanon has been a member of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie since 1973, despite its small size, the country has developed a well-known culture and has been highly influential in the Arab world. Before the Lebanese Civil War, the experienced a period of relative calm and renowned prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture, commerce. At the end of the war, there were efforts to revive the economy. In spite of troubles, Lebanon has the highest Human Development Index and GDP per capita in the Arab world. The name of Mount Lebanon originates from the Phoenician root lbn meaning white, occurrences of the name have been found in different Middle Bronze Age texts from the library of Ebla, and three of the twelve tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The name is recorded in Ancient Egyptian as Rmnn, where R stood for Canaanite L, the name occurs nearly 70 times in the Hebrew Bible, as לְבָנוֹן. The borders of contemporary Lebanon are a product of the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920 and its territory was the core of the Bronze Age Phoenician city-states. After the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the Levant, it was part of the Rashidun, Umyayad, Abbasid Seljuk, with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Greater Lebanon fell under French mandate in 1920, and gained independence under president Bechara El Khoury in 1943
20.
1983 Beirut barracks bombings
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An obscure group calling itself Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombings and that the bombings were aimed to get the MNF out of Lebanon. Two suicide bombers detonated each of the truck bombs, another 128 Americans were wounded in the blast. Thirteen later died of their injuries, and they are numbered among the number who died. An elderly Lebanese man, a custodian/vendor who was known to work, the explosives used were later estimated to be equivalent to as much as 9,525 kg of TNT. This attack occurred just minutes after the attack on the American Marines and it was Frances single worst military loss since the end of the Algerian War. The wife and four children of a Lebanese janitor at the French building were also killed,6 June 1982 -- Israel invaded Lebanon, Operation Peace for Galilee. 23 August 1982 -- Bachir Gemayel was elected to be Lebanons president,10 September 1982 -- The PLO retreats from Beirut under MNF protection. Subsequently, the 32d MAU was ordered out of Beirut by the President of the United States,14 September 1982 -- Lebanons President, Bachir Gemayel, was assassinated. 16 September to 18 September 1982 -- The Sabra and Shatila massacres,21 September 1982 -- Bachir Gemayels brother, Amine Gemayel, was elected to be Lebanons president. 29 September 1982 -- The 32d MAU was redeployed to Beirut rejoining 2,200 French,17 May 1983 -- May 17 Agreement of 198330 May 1983 -- The 24th MAU relieved the 22d MAU. On June 6,1982, the Israel Defense Forces initiated Operation Peace for Galilee, the Israeli invasion was tacitly approved by the U. S. and the U. S. provided overt military support to Israel in the form of arms and materiel. The U. S. support for Israels invasion of Lebanon taken in conjunction with U. S. support for Lebanese President Bachir Gemayel, Bachir Gemayel was the legally elected president, but he was a partisan Maronite Christian and covert associate of Israel. These factors served to disaffect the Lebanese Muslim and Druze communities and this animosity was made worse by the Phalangist, a right-wing, largely Maronite-Lebanese militia force closely associated with President Gemayel. The Phalangist militias attacks on Sabra and Shatila were purportedly a response to the September 14,1982, Amine Gemayel, Bachirs brother, succeeded Bachir as the elected president of Lebanon, and Amine continued to represent and advance Maronite interests. Lebanese Muslims believed the MNF, and the Americans in particular, were unfairly siding with the Maronite Christians in their attempt to dominate Lebanon, as a result, this led to artillery, mortar, and small arms fires being directed at MNF peacekeepers by Muslim factions. Operating under the rules of engagement, MNF peacekeepers—primarily U. S. Do not chamber a round unless instructed to do so by an officer unless you must act in immediate self-defense where deadly force is authorized. Keep ammo for crew-served weapons readily available but not loaded in the weapon, weapons will be on safe at all times
21.
New Caledonia
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New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean,1,210 km east of Australia and 16,136 km east of Metropolitan France. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea, locals refer to Grande Terre as Le Caillou. New Caledonia has an area of 18,576 km2. Its population of 268,767 consists of a mix of Kanak people, people of European descent, Polynesian people, the capital of the territory is Nouméa. The earliest traces of human presence in New Caledonia date back to the Lapita period, the Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific. British explorer Captain James Cook was the first European to sight New Caledonia, on 4 September 1774 and he named it New Caledonia, as the northeast of the island reminded him of Scotland. The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse in 1788, shortly before his disappearance, from then until 1840, only a few sporadic contacts with the archipelago were recorded. Contacts became more frequent after 1840, because of the interest in sandalwood from New Caledonia, the trade ceased at the start of the 20th century. The victims of this trade were called Kanakas, like all the Oceanian people, the first missionaries from the London Missionary Society and the Marist Brothers arrived in the 1840s. In 1849, the crew of the American ship Cutter was killed, cannibalism was widespread throughout New Caledonia. On 24 September 1853, under orders from Napoleon III, Admiral Febvrier Despointes took formal possession of New Caledonia, a few dozen free settlers settled on the west coast in the following years. New Caledonia became a colony, and from the 1860s until the end of the transportations in 1897, about 22,000 criminals. Among the convicts were many Communards arrested after the failed Paris Commune, including Henri de Rochefort, between 1873 and 1876,4,200 political prisoners were relegated in New Caledonia. Only 40 of them settled in the colony, the rest returned to France after being granted amnesty in 1879 and 1880. In 1864, nickel was discovered on the banks of the Diahot River and with the establishment of the Société Le Nickel in 1876, mining began in earnest. The French imported labourers to work in the mines, first from neighbouring islands, then from Japan, the Dutch East Indies, the French government also attempted to encourage European immigration, without much success. The indigenous population was excluded from the French economy, even as workers in the mines, and they were ultimately confined to reservations. This sparked a violent reaction in 1878 as High Chief Atal of La Foa managed to unite many of the central tribes, the Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox and measles
22.
Southern Lebanon
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Southern Lebanon is the geographical area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost districts of the Beqaa Governorate, the main cities of the region are Sidon, Tyre, Jezzine and Nabatiyeh. The cazas of Bint Jbeil, Tyre, and Nabatieh in Southern Lebanon are known for their large Shia Muslim population with a minority of Christians. Sidon is predominantly Sunni, with the rest of the caza of Sidon having a Shia Muslim majority, with a considerable Christian minority, the cazas of Jezzine and Marjeyoun have a Christian majority and also Shia Muslims. The villages of Ain Ebel, Debel, Qaouzah, and Rmaich are entirely Christian Maronite, the caza of Hasbaya has a Druze majority. Southern Lebanon has also featured prominently in the Israel-Lebanon conflict, in October 2010 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited South Lebanon. This was his first visit to Lebanon since he first assumed office in Tehran in 2005, both Israel and the United States condemned the trip as being provocative
23.
United Nations
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The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict, at its founding, the UN had 51 member states, there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, the UNs mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in actions in Korea and the Congo. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military, the UN has six principal organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Trusteeship Council. UN System agencies include the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNESCO, the UNs most prominent officer is the Secretary-General, an office held by Portuguese António Guterres since 2017. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UNs work, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UNs effectiveness have been mixed, some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased. Following the catastrophic loss of life in the First World War, the earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. It incorporated Soviet suggestions, but left no role for France, four Policemen was coined to refer to four major Allied countries, United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China, which emerged in the Declaration by United Nations. Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries, the term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom, by 1 March 1945,21 additional states had signed. Each Government pledges itself to cooperate with the Governments signatory hereto, the foregoing declaration may be adhered to by other nations which are, or which may be, rendering material assistance and contributions in the struggle for victory over Hitlerism. During the war, the United Nations became the term for the Allies. To join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis, at the later meetings, Lord Halifax deputized for Mr. Eden, Wellington Koo for T. V. Soong, and Mr Gromyko for Mr. Molotov. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, the General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, and the facility was completed in 1952. Its site—like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi—is designated as international territory, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary-General
24.
Beirut
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Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been done but in 2007 estimates ranged from more than 1 million to slightly less than 2 million as part of Greater Beirut. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanons Mediterranean coast, Beirut is the countrys largest and it is one of the oldest cities in the world, inhabited more than 5,000 years ago. The first historical mention of Beirut is found in the ancient Egyptian Tell el Amarna letters dating from the 15th century BC, the Beirut River runs south to north on the eastern edge of the city. Beirut is Lebanons seat of government and plays a role in the Lebanese economy, with most banks and corporations based in its Central District, Badaro, Rue Verdun, Hamra. Following the destructive Lebanese Civil War, Beiruts cultural landscape underwent major reconstruction, identified and graded for accountancy, advertising, banking/finance and law, Beirut is ranked as a Beta World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. In May 2015, Beirut was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, and La Paz. Beirut I, or Minet el Hosn, was listed as Beyrouth ville by Louis Burkhalter and said to be on the beach near the Orent, the site was discovered by Lortet in 1894 and discussed by Godefroy Zumoffen in 1900. The flint industry from the site was described as Mousterian and is held by the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon, Beirut II, or Umm el Khatib, was suggested by Burkhalter to have been south of Tarik el Jedideh, where P. E. Gigues discovered a Copper Age flint industry at around 100 metres above sea level, the site had been built on and destroyed by 1948. Beirut III, Furn esh Shebbak or Plateau Tabet, was suggested to have located on the left bank of the Beirut River. Burkhalter suggested that it was west of the Damascus road, although this determination has been criticized by Lorraine Copeland, P. E. Gigues discovered a series of Neolithic flint tools on the surface along with the remains of a structure suggested to be a hut circle. Auguste Bergy discussed polished axes that were found at this site. The area was covered in red sand that represented Quaternary river terraces, the site was found by Jesuit Father Dillenseger and published by fellow Jesuits Godefroy Zumoffen, Raoul Describes and Auguste Bergy. Collections from the site were made by Bergy, Describes and another Jesuit, a large number of Middle Paleolithic flint tools were found on the surface and in side gullies that drain into the river. They included around 50 varied bifaces accredited to the Acheulean period, some with a lustrous sheen, Henri Fleisch also found an Emireh point amongst material from the site, which has now disappeared beneath buildings. Levallois flints and bones and similar material were found amongst brecciated deposits. The area has now built on
25.
Gabon
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Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a sovereign state on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, Gabon is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of nearly 270,000 square kilometres and its capital and largest city is Libreville. Since its independence from France in 1960, Gabon has had three presidents, in the early 1990s, Gabon introduced a multi-party system and a new democratic constitution that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and reformed many governmental institutions. Gabon was also a member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2010–2011 term. GDP grew by more than 6% per year from 2010 to 2012, however, because of inequality in income distribution, a significant proportion of the population remains poor. Gabons name originates from gabão, Portuguese for cloak, which is roughly the shape of the estuary of the Komo River by Libreville, the earliest inhabitants of the area were Pygmy peoples. They were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes as they migrated, in the 15th century, the first Europeans arrived. By the 18th century, a Myeni speaking kingdom known as Orungu formed in Gabon, on February 10,1722, Bartholomew Roberts, a Welsh pirate known as Black Bart, died at sea off Cape Lopez. He raided ships off the Americas and West Africa from 1719 to 1722, French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza led his first mission to the Gabon-Congo area in 1875. He founded the town of Franceville, and was later colonial governor, several Bantu groups lived in the area that is now Gabon when France officially occupied it in 1885. In 1910, Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, in World War II, the Allies invaded Gabon in order to overthrow the pro-Vichy France colonial administration. The territories of French Equatorial Africa became independent on August 17,1960, the first president of Gabon, elected in 1961, was Léon Mba, with Omar Bongo Ondimba as his vice president. However, when Mba dissolved the National Assembly in January 1964 to institute one-party rule, French paratroopers flew in within 24 hours to restore Mba to power. After a few days of fighting, the coup ended and the opposition was imprisoned, French soldiers still remain in the Camp de Gaulle on the outskirts of Gabons capital to this day. When MBa died in 1967, Bongo replaced him as president, in March 1968, Bongo declared Gabon a one-party state by dissolving the BDG and establishing a new party—the Parti Democratique Gabonais. He invited all Gabonese, regardless of political affiliation, to participate. Bongo was elected President in February 1975, in April 1975, the position of president was abolished and replaced by the position of prime minister
26.
Central African Republic
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The Central African Republic is a landlocked country in Central Africa. The CAR covers a area of about 620,000 square kilometres and had an estimated population of around 4.7 million as of 2014. Most of the CAR consists of Sudano-Guinean savannas, but the country includes a Sahelo-Sudanian zone in the north. Two thirds of the country is within the Ubangi River basin, while the third lies in the basin of the Chari. Ange-Félix Patassé became president, but was removed by General François Bozizé in the 2003 coup. As of 2015, according to the Human Development Index, the country had the lowest level of human development and this Agricultural Revolution, combined with a Fish-stew Revolution, in which fishing began to take place, and the use of boats, allowed for the transportation of goods. Products were often moved in ceramic pots, which are the first known examples of artistic expression from the regions inhabitants, the Bouar Megaliths in the western region of the country indicate an advanced level of habitation dating back to the very late Neolithic Era. Ironworking arrived in the region around 1000 BC from both Bantu cultures in what is today Nigeria and from the Nile city of Meroë, the capital of the Kingdom of Kush. Bananas arrived in the region and added an important source of carbohydrates to the diet, production of copper, salt, dried fish, and textiles dominated the economic trade in the Central African region. During the 16th and 17th centuries slave traders began to raid the region as part of the expansion of the Saharan, in the mid 19th century, the Bobangi people became major slave traders and sold their captives to the Americas using the Ubangi river to reach the coast. During the 18th century Bandia-Nzakara peoples established the Bangassou Kingdom along the Ubangi River, in 1875 the Sudanese sultan Rabih az-Zubayr governed Upper-Oubangui, which included present-day CAR. The European penetration of Central African territory began in the late 19th century during the Scramble for Africa, Europeans, primarily the French, Germans, and Belgians, arrived in the area in 1885. France created Ubangi-Shari territory in 1894, in 1911 at the Treaty of Fez, France ceded a nearly 300,000 km² portion of the Sangha and Lobaye basins to the German Empire which ceded a smaller area to France. After World War I France again annexed the territory, in 1920 French Equatorial Africa was established and Ubangi-Shari was administered from Brazzaville. The concessionary companies forced local people to harvest rubber, coffee, between 1890, a year after the French first arrived, and 1940, about half of the population died as a result. New forms of forced labor were also introduced and a number of Ubangians were sent to work on the Congo-Ocean Railway. Many of these laborers died of exhaustion, illness, or the poor conditions which claimed between 20% and 25% of the 127,000 workers. In 1928, an insurrection, the Kongo-Wara rebellion or war of the hoe handle, broke out in Western Ubangi-Shari
27.
Chad
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Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east and it is the fifth largest country in Africa in terms of area. Chad has several regions, a zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad, the capital NDjamena is the largest city. Chads official languages are Arabic and French, Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. The religions of Chad are Islam, followed by Christianity, beginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa, in 1960, Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye. Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a civil war in 1965. In 1979 the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the souths hegemony, however, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby, since 2003 the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation, with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad. Unsustainable high birth rates and a lack of agriculture let the country persist in poverty, while many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the hands of President Déby and his political party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement. Chad remains plagued by violence and recurrent attempted coups détat. Chad is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world, since 2003 crude oil has become the countrys primary source of export earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry. In the 7th millennium BC, ecological conditions in the half of Chadian territory favored human settlement. Some of the most important African archaeological sites are found in Chad, mainly in the Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region, for more than 2,000 years, the Chadian Basin has been inhabited by agricultural and sedentary people. The region became a crossroads of civilizations, the earliest of these were the legendary Sao, known from artifacts and oral histories. The Sao fell to the Kanem Empire, the first and longest-lasting of the empires that developed in Chads Sahelian strip by the end of the 1st millennium AD, two other states in the region, Baguirmi and Wadai Empire emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries. The power of Kanem and its successors was based on control of the trade routes that passed through the region
28.
Burundi
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It is also considered part of Central Africa. The southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika, the Twa, Hutu and Tutsi peoples have lived in Burundi for at least 500 years. For more than 200 of those years, Burundi was an independent kingdom, until the beginning of the twentieth century, after the First World War and Germanys defeat, it ceded the territory to Belgium. Both Germans and Belgians ruled Burundi and Rwanda as a European colony known as Ruanda-Urundi, despite common misconceptions, Burundi and Rwanda had never been under common rule until the time of European colonisation. The European intervention exacerbated social differences between the Tutsi and Hutu, and contributed to political unrest in the region. Bouts of ethnic cleansing and ultimately two civil wars and genocides during the 1970s and again in the 1990s left the country undeveloped, Burundis political system is that of a presidential representative democratic republic based upon a multi-party state. The President of Burundi is the head of state and head of government, there are currently 21 registered parties in Burundi. On 13 March 1992, Tutsi coup leader Pierre Buyoya established a constitution, six years later, on 6 June 1998, the constitution was changed, broadening National Assemblys seats and making provisions for two vice-presidents. Because of the Arusha Accord, Burundi enacted a government in 2000. In October 2016, Burundi informed the UN of its intention to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, Burundi remains an overwhelmingly rural society, with just 13% of the population living in urban areas in 2013. The population density of around 315 people per kilometre is the second highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Roughly 85% of the population are of Hutu ethnic origin, 15% are Tutsi, the official languages of Burundi are French and Kirundi, although Swahili can be found spoken along the Tanzanian border. One of the smallest countries in Africa, Burundi has an equatorial climate, Burundi is a part of the Albertine Rift, the western extension of the East African Rift. The country lies on a plateau in the centre of Africa. The highest peak, Mount Heha at 2,685 m, lies to the southeast of the capital, there are two national parks, Kibira National Park to the northwest, Ruvubu National Park to the northeast. Both were established in 1982 to conserve wildlife populations, Burundis lands are mostly agricultural or pasture. Settlement by rural populations has led to deforestation, soil erosion, deforestation of the entire country is almost completely due to overpopulation, with a mere 600 km2 remaining and an ongoing loss of about 9% per annum. In addition to poverty, Burundians often have to deal with corruption, weak infrastructure, poor access to health and education services, Burundi is densely populated and has had substantial emigration as young people seek opportunities elsewhere
29.
Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south. It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba and it is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast and most of its terrain consists of arid desert and mountains. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four regions, Hejaz, Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud and he united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been a monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called the predominant feature of Saudi culture, with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called the Land of the Two Holy Mosques in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the state has a total population of 28.7 million, of which 20 million are Saudi nationals and 8 million are foreigners. The states official language is Arabic, petroleum was discovered on 3 March 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia has since become the worlds largest oil producer and exporter, controlling the second largest oil reserves. The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Index and is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies. However, the economy of Saudi Arabia is the least diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the state has attracted criticism for its treatment of women and use of capital punishment. Saudi Arabia is an autocracy, has the fourth highest military expenditure in the world. Saudi Arabia is considered a regional and middle power, in addition to the GCC, it is an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC. Following the unification of the Hejaz and Nejd kingdoms, the new state was named al-Mamlakah al-ʻArabīyah as-Suʻūdīyah by royal decree on 23 September 1932 by its founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud. Although this is translated as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in English it literally means the Saudi Arab kingdom. Its inclusion expresses the view that the country is the possession of the royal family. Al Saud is an Arabic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning family of or House of, in the case of the Al Saud, this is the father of the dynastys 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud. There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 125,000 years ago
30.
Kuwait
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Kuwait /kuːˈweɪt/, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in Western Asia. Situated in the edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it shares borders with Iraq. As of 2016, Kuwait has a population of 4.2 million people,1.3 million are Kuwaitis and 2.9 million are expatriates, expatriates account for 70% of the population. Oil reserves were discovered in 1938, from 1946 to 1982, the country underwent large-scale modernization. In the 1980s, Kuwait experienced a period of geopolitical instability, in 1990, Kuwait was invaded by Iraq. The Iraqi occupation came to an end in 1991 after military intervention by coalition forces, at the end of the war, there were extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure. Kuwait is a constitutional emirate with a political system. It has an income economy backed by the worlds sixth largest oil reserves. The Kuwaiti dinar is the highest valued currency in the world, according to the World Bank, the country has the fourth highest per capita income in the world. The Constitution was promulgated in 1962, making Kuwait the most democratic country in the region, Kuwait ranks highly in regional metrics of gender equality, as it has the regions highest Global Gender Gap ranking. During the Ubaid period, Kuwait was the site of interaction between the peoples of Mesopotamia and Neolithic Eastern Arabia, mainly centered in As-Subiya in northern Kuwait. The earliest evidence of habitation in Kuwait dates back 8000 B. C. where Mesolithic tools were found in Burgan. As-Subiya in northern Kuwait is the earliest evidence of urbanization in the whole Persian Gulf basin area, mesopotamians first settled in the Kuwaiti island of Failaka in 2000 B. C. Traders from the Sumerian city of Ur inhabited Failaka and ran a mercantile business, the island had many Mesopotamian-style buildings typical of those found in Iraq dating from around 2000 B. C. The Neolithic inhabitants of Kuwait were among the worlds earliest maritime traders, one of the worlds earliest reed-boats was discovered in northern Kuwait dating back to the Ubaid period. In 3rd century BC, the ancient Greeks colonized the bay of Kuwait under Alexander the Great, according to Strabo and Arrian, Alexander the Great named Failaka Ikaros because it resembled the Aegean island of that name in size and shape. Remains of Greek colonization include a large Hellenistic fort and Greek temples, in 224 AD, Kuwait became part of the Sassanid Empire. At the time of the Sassanid Empire, Kuwait was known as Meshan, Akkaz was a Partho-Sassanian site, the Sassanid religions tower of silence was discovered in northern Akkaz
31.
Yugoslavia
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Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe during most of the 20th century. The Serbian royal House of Karađorđević became the Yugoslav royal dynasty, Yugoslavia gained international recognition on 13 July 1922 at the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris. The country was named after the South Slavic peoples and constituted their first union, following centuries in which the territories had been part of the Ottoman Empire, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 3 October 1929, it was invaded by the Axis powers on 6 April 1941. In 1943, a Democratic Federal Yugoslavia was proclaimed by the Partisan resistance, in 1944, the king recognised it as the legitimate government, but in November 1945 the monarchy was abolished. Yugoslavia was renamed the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946 and it acquired the territories of Istria, Rijeka, and Zadar from Italy. Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito ruled the country as president until his death in 1980, in 1963, the country was renamed again as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The constituent six socialist republics that made up the country were the SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Croatia, SR Macedonia, SR Montenegro, SR Serbia, and SR Slovenia. Serbia contained two Socialist Autonomous Provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo, which after 1974 were largely equal to the members of the federation. After an economic and political crisis in the 1980s and the rise of nationalism, Yugoslavia broke up along its republics borders, at first into five countries, eventually, Serbia and Montenegro accepted the opinion of the Badinter Arbitration Committee about shared succession. Serbia and Montenegro themselves broke up in 2006 and became independent states, the concept of Yugoslavia, as a single state for all South Slavic peoples, emerged in the late 17th century and gained prominence through the Illyrian Movement of the 19th century. The name was created by the combination of the Slavic words jug, Yugoslavia was the result of the Corfu Declaration, as a project of the Serbian Parliament in exile and the Serbian royal Karađorđević dynasty, who became the Yugoslav royal dynasty. The country was formed in 1918 immediately after World War I as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes by union of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and it was commonly referred to at the time as the Versailles state. Later, the government renamed the country leading to the first official use of Yugoslavia in 1929, on 6 January 1929 King Alexander I suspended the constitution, banned national political parties, assumed executive power and renamed the country Yugoslavia. He hoped to curb separatist tendencies and mitigate nationalist passions and he imposed a new constitution and relinquished his dictatorship in 1931. None of these three regimes favored the policy pursued by Alexander I, Alexander attempted to create a centralised Yugoslavia. He decided to abolish Yugoslavias historic regions, and new internal boundaries were drawn for provinces or banovinas, the banovinas were named after rivers. Many politicians were jailed or kept under police surveillance, the effect of Alexanders dictatorship was to further alienate the non-Serbs from the idea of unity. During his reign the flags of Yugoslav nations were banned, Alexander was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son Peter II and a regency council headed by his cousin, Prince Paul
32.
Iraq
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The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds, others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, around 95% of the countrys 36 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, the area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and it was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires. Iraqs modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932, in 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Baath Party from 1968 until 2003, after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Husseins Baath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country, the Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name, one dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for city, UR. An Arabic folk etymology for the name is rooted, well-watered. During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī for Lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī, for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran. The term historically included the south of the Hamrin Mountains. The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, the American Heritage Dictionary, the pronunciation /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in U. S. media. Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq was one of centres of a Caucasoid Neolithic culture where agriculture, the following Neolithic period is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gypsum, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations
33.
Turkey
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Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
34.
Overseas France
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Overseas France consists of all the French-administered territories outside of the European continent. Their citizens have French nationality and vote for the president of France and they have the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament. From a legal and administrative standpoint, overseas regions are different from overseas collectivities. Overseas regions have exactly the same status as mainland Frances regions, in the French overseas regions, laws cannot be adapted whereas the overseas collectivities are empowered to make their own laws, except in certain areas. The overseas collectivities are governed by elected assemblies and by the French Parliament. Overseas France has an economic zone of 9,821,231 km². Guadeloupe French Guiana Martinique Réunion Mayotte 1976–2003, sui generis overseas territory, 2001–2003, with the designation departmental community, 2003–2011, in the 2009 Mahoran status referendum, Mahorans voted to become an overseas department in 2011, which occurred on March 31,2011. The category of overseas collectivity was created by Frances constitutional reform of March 28,2003, each overseas collectivity has its own statutory laws. French Polynesia In 2004 it was given the designation of overseas country, despite being given the political status of overseas collectivity, Saint Pierre et Miquelon is called collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, literally territorial collectivity. It is still referred to as a territoire. Saint Martin, In 2003, the populations of St. Martin, on February 7,2007, the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both jurisdictions. The new status took effect on February 22,2007 when the law was published in the Journal Officiel and they remain part of the European Union, as stated in the Treaty of Lisbon. It is currently the only overseas territory, according to law 2007-224 of February 21,2007, the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean constitute the 5th district of TAAF. New Caledonia was classified as an overseas territory beginning in 1946, a New Caledonian citizenship was established, and a gradual transfer of power from the French state to New Caledonia itself was begun, to last from 15 to 20 years. Clipperton Island is a 9 km2 coral atoll located 1,280 km south-west of Acapulco, Mexico and it is held as state private property under the direct authority of the French government, and is administered by Frances Overseas Minister. With 2,691,000 inhabitants in 2013, Overseas France account for 4. 1% of the population of the French Republic and they enjoy a corresponding representation in the two chambers of the French Parliament. In the 13th Legislature, Overseas France is represented by 27 députés in the French National Assembly,2004, Official website Overseas France at DMOZ
35.
Mogadishu
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Mogadishu, known locally as Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. Located in the coastal Banaadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for millennia, tradition and old records assert that southern Somalia, including the Mogadishu area, was historically inhabited by hunter-gatherers. These were later joined by Cushitic-speaking agro-pastoralists, who would go on to establish local aristocracies, during its medieval Golden Age, Mogadishu was ruled by the Muzaffar dynasty, a vassal of the Ajuran Sultanate. It subsequently fell under the control of an assortment of local Sultanates and polities, the city later became the capital of Italian Somaliland in the colonial period. After the Somali Republic became independent in 1960, Mogadishu became known, the ICU thereafter splintered into more radical groups, notably al-Shabaab, which fought the Transitional Federal Government and its African Union Mission to Somalia allies. With a change in administration in late 2010, government troops, Mogadishu has subsequently experienced a period of intense reconstruction. As Somalias capital city, many important national institutions are based in Mogadishu and it is the seat of the Federal Government of Somalia established in August 2012, with the Somalia Federal Parliament serving as the governments legislative branch. Yusuf Hussein Jimaale has been the Mayor of Mogadishu since October 2015, villa Somalia is the official residential palace and principal workplace of the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. In May 2012, the First Somali Bank was established in the capital, the establishment of a local construction yard has also galvanized the citys real-estate sector. Arbaa Rukun Mosque is one of the oldest Islamic places of worship in the capital, the Mosque of Islamic Solidarity in Mogadishu is the largest masjid in the Horn region. Mogadishu Cathedral was built in 1928 by the authorities in Italian Somaliland in a Norman Gothic style. The National Museum of Somalia is based in Mogadishu and holds many important artefacts. The National Library of Somalia is undergoing a $1 million Somali federal government funded renovation, Mogadishu is home to a number of scholastic and media institutions. As part of the urban renewal program,100 schools across the capital are scheduled to be refurbished and reopened. The Somali National University was established in the 1950s, and professors from the university founded the non-governmental Mogadishu University. Benadir University was established in 2002 with the intention of training doctors, various national sporting bodies have their headquarters in Mogadishu, including the Somali Football Federation and the Somali Olympic Committee. Mogadishu Stadium was constructed in 1978 during the Siad Barre administration and it hosts football matches with teams from the Somali First Division and the Somalia Cup. Additionally, the Port of Mogadishu serves as a national seaport and is the largest harbour in Somalia
36.
Somalia
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Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Indian Ocean to the east, Somalia has the longest coastline on Africas mainland, and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands. Climatically, hot conditions prevail year-round, with monsoon winds. Somalia has an population of around 12.3 million. Around 85% of its residents are ethnic Somalis, who have inhabited the northern part of the country. Ethnic minorities are largely concentrated in the southern regions, the official languages of Somalia are Somali and Arabic, both of which belong to the Afroasiatic family. Most people in the country are Muslim, with the majority being Sunni, in antiquity, Somalia was an important commercial centre. It is among the most probable locations of the fabled ancient Land of Punt, during the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade, including the Ajuran Empire, the Adal Sultanate, the Warsangali Sultanate, and the Geledi Sultanate. The toponym Somalia was coined by the Italian explorer Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti, Italian occupation lasted until 1941, yielding to British military administration. British Somaliland would remain a protectorate, while Italian Somaliland in 1949 became a United Nations Trusteeship under Italian administration, in 1960, the two regions united to form the independent Somali Republic under a civilian government. The Supreme Revolutionary Council seized power in 1969 and established the Somali Democratic Republic, led by Mohamed Siad Barre, this government later collapsed in 1991 as the Somali Civil War broke out. Various armed factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum, during this period, due to the absence of a central government, Somalia was a failed state, and residents returned to customary and religious law in most regions. A few autonomous regions, including the Somaliland and Puntland administrations emerged in the north, the early 2000s saw the creation of fledgling interim federal administrations. The Transitional National Government was established in 2000, followed by the formation of the Transitional Federal Government in 2004, in 2006, the TFG, assisted by Ethiopian troops, assumed control of most of the nations southern conflict zones from the newly formed Islamic Courts Union. The ICU subsequently splintered into more radical groups such as Al-Shabaab, by mid-2012, the insurgents had lost most of the territory that they had seized. In 2011–2012, a political process providing benchmarks for the establishment of permanent democratic institutions was launched, within this administrative framework a new provisional constitution was passed in August 2012, which reformed Somalia as a federation. Somalia has maintained an informal economy, mainly based on livestock, remittances from Somalis working abroad, Somalia has been inhabited since at least the Paleolithic. During the Stone Age, the Doian and Hargeisan cultures flourished here, the oldest evidence of burial customs in the Horn of Africa comes from cemeteries in Somalia dating back to the 4th millennium BCE
37.
Sarajevo
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Sarajevo is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its current administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area, including Sarajevo Canton and East Sarajevo is home to 688,384 inhabitants, nestled within the greater Sarajevo valley of Bosnia, it is surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans. Due to its long and rich history of religious and cultural variety and it is the only major European city to have a mosque, Catholic church, Orthodox church and synagogue within the same neighbourhood. Although settlement in the area back to prehistoric times, the modern city arose as an Ottoman stronghold in the 15th century. Sarajevo has attracted international attention several times throughout its history, in 1885, Sarajevo was the first city in Europe and the second city in the world to have a full-time electric tram network running through the city, following San Francisco. For nearly four years, from 1992 to 1996, the city suffered the longest siege of a city in the history of warfare during the Bosnian War. Sarajevo has been undergoing reconstruction, and is the fastest growing city in Bosnia. The travel guide series, Lonely Planet, has named Sarajevo as the 43rd best city in the world, in 2011, Sarajevo was nominated to be the European Capital of Culture in 2014 and will be hosting the European Youth Olympic Festival in 2019. The earliest known name for the large central Bosnian region of todays Sarajevo is Vrhbosna, Sarajevo is a slavicized word based on saray, the Turkish word for palace. The evo portion may come from the term saray ovası first recorded in 1455, the first mention of name Sarajevo was in 1507 letter written by Feriz Beg. The earliest is Šeher, which is the term Isa-Beg Ishaković used to describe the town he was going to build and it is a Turkish word meaning an advanced city of key importance which in turn comes from Persian, شهر shahr. As Sarajevo developed, numerous nicknames came from comparisons to other cities in the Islamic world, the most popular of these was European Jerusalem. Some argue that a correct translation of saray is government office or house. Saray is a word in Turkish for a palace or mansion. Sarajevo is located near the center of the triangular-shaped Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is situated 518 meters above sea level and lies in the Sarajevo valley, the valley itself once formed a vast expanse of greenery, but gave way to urban expansion and development in the post-World War II era. The city is surrounded by forested hills and five major mountains. The last four are known as the Olympic Mountains of Sarajevo
38.
Archangel
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An archangel /ˌɑːrkˈeɪndʒəl/ is an angel of high rank. The word archangel itself is associated with the Abrahamic religions. The word archangel is derived from the Greek ἀρχάγγελος, Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism, Islam and by most Christians. Protestants recognize Gabriel as an angel but consider Michael to be the only archangel, raphael—mentioned in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit—is also recognized in the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael are venerated in the Roman Catholic Church with a feast on September 29, the named archangels in Islam are Gabriel, Michael, Israfil and Azrael. Jewish literature, such as the Book of Enoch, mentions Metatron as an archangel, called the highest of the angels, some branches of the faiths mentioned have identified a group of seven Archangels, but the actual angels vary, depending on the source. Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael are always mentioned, the other archangels vary, but most commonly include Uriel, in Zoroastrianism, sacred texts allude to the six great Amesha Spenta of Ahura Mazda. An increasing number of experts in anthropology, theology and philosophy, the Amesha Spentas of Zoroastrianism are likened to archangels. They individually inhabit immortal bodies that operate in the world to protect, guide, and inspire humanity. The Avesta explains the origin and nature of archangels or Amesha Spentas, to maintain equilibrium, Ahura Mazda engaged in the first act of creation, distinguishing his Holy Spirit Spenta Mainyu, the Archangel of righteousness. Ahura Mazda also distinguished from himself six more Amesha Spentas, who, along with Spenta Mainyu, then he oversaw the development of sixteen lands, each imbued with a unique cultural catalyst calculated to encourage the formation of distinct human populations. The Amesha Spentas were charged with protecting these holy lands and through their emanation, the Amesha Spentas as attributes of God are, Spenta Mainyu, lit. Immortality The Hebrew Bible uses the ter. מלאכי אלוהים, The Hebrew word for angel is malach, מלאכי י י, בני אלוהים and הקדושים to refer to beings traditionally interpreted as angelic messengers. Other terms are used in texts, such as העליונים. References to angels are uncommon in Jewish literature except in works such as the Book of Daniel, though they are mentioned briefly in the stories of Jacob. Daniel is the first biblical figure to refer to individual angels by name and it is therefore widely speculated that Jewish interest in angels developed during the Babylonian captivity. According to Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish of Tiberias, specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylon, there are no explicit references to archangels in the canonical texts of the Hebrew Bible. In post-Biblical Judaism, certain angels came to take on a particular significance, though these archangels were believed to have rank amongst the heavenly host, no systematic hierarchy ever developed
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Michael (archangel)
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Michael is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran traditions, he is called Saint Michael the Archangel, in the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox traditions, he is called Taxiarch Archangel Michael or simply Archangel Michael. Michael is mentioned three times in the Book of Daniel, in the New Testament Michael leads Gods armies against Satans forces in the Book of Revelation, where during the war in heaven he defeats Satan. In the Epistle of Jude Michael is specifically referred to as the archangel Michael, by the 6th century, devotions to Archangel Michael were widespread both in the Eastern and Western Churches. Over time, teachings on Michael began to vary among Christian denominations, Michael is mentioned three times in the Hebrew Scriptures, all in the book of Daniel. The prophet Daniel experiences a vision after having undergone a period of fasting, Daniel 10, 13-21 describes Daniels vision of an angel who identifies Michael as the protector of Israel. At Daniel 12,1, Daniel is informed that Michael will arise during the time of the end, the Book of Revelation describes a war in heaven in which Michael, being stronger, defeats Satan. After the conflict, Satan is thrown to earth along with the fallen angels, in the Epistle of Jude 1,9, Michael is referred to as an archangel when he again confronts Satan. A reference to an archangel also appears in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians 4,16 and this archangel who heralds the second coming of Christ is not named, but is often associated with Michael. Michael, is one of the two mentioned in the Quran, alongside Jibreel. In the Quran, Michael is mentioned only, in Sura 2,98, Whoever is an enemy to God, and His angels and His messengers. Then, God is an enemy to the disbelievers, some Muslims believe that the reference in Sura 11,69 is Michael, one of the three angels who visited Abraham. Michaels enmity with Samael dates from the time when the latter was thrown down from heaven, Samael took hold of the wings of Michael, whom he wished to bring down with him in his fall, but Michael was saved by God. But appeal to Michael seems to have more common in ancient times. Thus Jeremiah is said to have addressed a prayer to him, the rabbis declare that Michael entered upon his role of defender at the time of the biblical patriarchs. Thus, according to Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob, it was Michael who rescued Abraham from the furnace into which he had been thrown by Nimrod. It was Michael, the one that had escaped, who told Abraham that Lot had been taken captive, and he announced to Sarah that she would bear a son and he rescued Lot at the destruction of Sodom. It is said that Michael prevented Isaac from being sacrificed by his father by substituting a ram in his place, later Michael prevented Laban from harming Jacob
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Mont Saint-Michel
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Le Mont-Saint-Michel is an island commune in Normandy, France. It is located one kilometre off the countrys northwestern coast. As of 2009, the island has a population of 44, the island has held strategic fortifications since ancient times and since the 8th century AD has been the seat of the monastery from which it draws its name. The Mont remained unconquered during the Hundred Years War, a small garrison fended off an attack by the English in 1433. The reverse benefits of its defence were not lost on Louis XI. Thereafter the abbey began to be used regularly as a jail during the Ancien Régime. One of Frances most recognizable landmarks, visited by more than 3 million people each year, Mont Saint-Michel, over 60 buildings within the commune are protected in France as monuments historiques. Now a rocky island, the Mont occupied dry land in prehistoric times. As sea levels rose, erosion reshaped the landscape, and several outcrops of granite emerged in the bay. These included Lillemer, the Mont-Dol, Tombelaine, and Mont Tombe, the Mont has a circumference of about 960 metres and its highest point is 92 metres above sea level. The tides can vary greatly, at roughly 14 metres between high and low water marks, popularly nicknamed St. Polderisation and occasional flooding have created salt marsh meadows that were found to be ideally suited to grazing sheep. The connection between Mont Saint-Michel and the mainland has changed over the centuries, previously connected by a tidal causeway, this was converted into a raised causeway in 1879, preventing the tide from scouring the silt around the mount. These factors all encouraged silting-up of the bay, the construction of the dam began in 2009. The project also includes the removal of the causeway and its car park. Since 28 April 2012 the new car park on the mainland has been located 2.5 kilometres from the island, visitors can walk or use shuttles to cross the causeway. On 22 July 2014 the new bridge by architect Dietmar Feichtinger was opened to the public, the light bridge allows the waters to flow freely around the island and improves the efficiency of the now operational dam. The project which cost €209 million was opened by President François Hollande. On rare occasions tidal circumstances produce an extremely high supertide, the new bridge was completely submerged on 21 March 2015, by the highest sea level for at least 18 years, as crowds gathered to snap photos
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French Foreign Legion
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The French Foreign Legion is a military service branch of the French Army established in 1831, unique because it was created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces. Commanded by French officers, it is open to French citizens. This is a way to strengthen them enough to work as a team, although it is part of the French Military, it is the only unit of the military that does not swear allegiance to France, but to the Foreign Legion itself. Consequently, training is described as not only physically challenging. French citizenship may be applied for three years service. Additionally, any soldier who becomes injured during a battle for France immediately becomes a French citizen under a known as Français par le sang versé. As of 2008, members come from 140 countries, the French Foreign Legion was primarily used to protect and expand the French colonial empire during the 19th century. The Foreign Legion was initially stationed only in Algeria, where it took part in the pacification, in World War I, the Foreign Legion fought in many critical battles on the Western Front. It played a role in World War II than in World War I, though having a part in the Norwegian, Syrian. During the First Indochina War, the Foreign Legion saw its numbers swell, the FFL lost a large number of men in the catastrophic Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Notable operations during this period included the Suez Crisis, the Battle of Algiers and various offensives launched by General Maurice Challe including Operations Oranie, in 1990, the Foreign Legion was sent to the Persian Gulf as a part of Opération Daguet. In the 1990s, the Foreign Legion helped with the evacuation of French citizens and foreigners in Rwanda, Gabon, the Foreign Legion was also deployed in Cambodia, Somalia, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the mid- to late-1990s, the Foreign Legion was deployed in the Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, many other countries have tried to emulate the French Foreign Legion model. There have been composed of foreign recruits in China, Israel, the Netherlands, Rhodesia, Russia. The French Foreign Legion was created by Louis Philippe, the King of the French, recruits included soldiers from the recently disbanded Swiss and German foreign regiments of the Bourbon monarchy. The Royal Ordinance for the establishment of the new regiment specified that the foreigners recruited could only serve outside France, the French expeditionary force that had occupied Algiers in 1830 was in need of reinforcements and the Legion was accordingly transferred by sea in detachments from Toulon to Algeria. The Foreign Legion was initially divided into six national battalions, smaller national groups, such as the ten Englishmen recorded in December 1832, appear to have been placed randomly. In late 1831, the first legionnaires landed in Algeria, the country that would be the Foreign Legions homeland for 130 years, the Foreign Legions first service in Algeria came to an end after only four years, as it was needed elsewhere
with colors of the Croix de Guerre.
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