1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Cantons of Switzerland
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The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte, with the Napoleonic period of the Helvetic Republic the term canton/cantone/Kanton was fully established. From 1833, there were 25 cantons, which became 26 after the secession of the canton of Jura from Bern in 1979. The term canton, now used as English term for administrative subdivisions of other countries, originates in French usage in the late 15th century, from a word for edge. After 1490, canton was increasingly used in French and Italian documents to refer to the members of the Swiss Confederacy, English use of canton in reference to the Swiss Confederacy dates to the early 17th century. It was increasingly replaced by Stand after 1550, the French term canton was not adopted into German usage prior to 1648, and after that only in occasional use. The prominent usage of Ort and Stand only gradually disappeared in German-speaking Switzerland with the Helvetic Republic, only with the Act of Mediation of 1803 did German Kanton become an official designation, retained in the Swiss Constitution of 1848. The term Stand remains in usage and is reflected in the name of the upper chamber of the Swiss Parliament. Republic Some cantonal constitutions provide for a formal name of the state. Most of Romandys cantons and Ticino call themselves république/Repubblica officially, at least within their constitutions, for example, the canton of Geneva refers to itself formally as the République et canton de Genève. Though they were part of the Holy Roman Empire, they had become de facto independent when the Swiss defeated Emperor Maximillian in 1499 in Dornach. The old system was abandoned with the formation of the Helvetic Republic following the French invasion of Switzerland in 1798, the cantons of the Helvetic Republic had merely the status of an administrative subdivision with no sovereignty. The Helvetic Republic collapsed within five years, and cantonal sovereignty was restored with the Act of Mediation of 1803, the status of Switzerland as a federation of states was restored, at the time including 19 cantons. Three additional western cantons, Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva, acceded in 1815, the process of Restoration, completed by 1830, returned most of the former feudal rights to the cantonal patriciates, leading to rebellions among the rural population. The Liberal Radical Party embodied these democratic forces calling for a new federal constitution and this tension, paired with religious issues escalated into armed conflict in the 1840s, with the brief Sonderbund War. The victory of the party resulted in the formation of Switzerland as a federal state in 1848. The cantons retained far-reaching sovereignty, but were no longer allowed to maintain standing armies or international relations. Each canton has its own constitution, legislature, government and courts, most of the cantons legislatures are unicameral parliaments, their size varying between 58 and 200 seats
3.
Canton of Geneva
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The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French-speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland, surrounded on almost all sides by France. As is the case in several other Swiss cantons, this canton is referred to as a republic within the Swiss Confederation, the canton of Geneva is located in the southwestern corner of Switzerland, and is considered one of the most cosmopolitan areas of the country. As a center of the Calvinist Reformation, the city of Geneva has had a influence on the canton. The Republic of Geneva was proclaimed in 1541, under John Calvin, the Republic of Geneva reinforced its alliance to the Protestant cantons of the Swiss Confederacy, becoming an everlasting ally in 1584. The French Revolution reached Geneva in 1792, and in February 1794, after the death of Robespierre in July of the same year, there was a counter-revolution, which gained the upper hand by 1796. This prompted the French invasion of 1798, and the annexation of Geneva as part of the French département du Léman, Geneva finally joined the Swiss Confederation in 1815 as the 22nd canton, having been enlarged by French and Savoyard territories at the Vienna Congress. The area of the canton of Geneva is 282 square kilometers, the canton is surrounded on almost all sides by France and bordered by the Swiss canton of Vaud on northeast. The adjoining French départements are Ain and Haute-Savoie, the current boundaries of the canton were established in 1815. There are 45 municipalities in the canton, Geneva does not have any administrative districts. There are 10 cities with a population of over 10,000 as of 2007, Genève, Vernier, Lancy, Meyrin, Carouge, Onex, Thônex, Versoix, Grand-Saconnex, Chêne-Bougeries. The constitution of the canton was established in 1847, and has, the cantonal government has seven members who are elected for four years. The legislature, the Grand Council, has 100 seats, with deputies elected for four years at a time, the last elecation was held on 7 October 2013. In a similar way to what happens at the Federal level, in addition, any law can be subject to a referendum if it is demanded by 7,000 persons entitled to vote, and 10,000 persons may also propose a new law. The republique and canton of Geneva has 11 seats in the National Council, on 18 October 2015, in the federal election the most popular party was the The Liberals which received three seats with 20. 5% of the votes. In the federal election, a total of 106,852 votes were cast, and she is part of the Council of States since 2007. Councilor Robert Cramer, member of the Green Party, was re-elected in the round with a majority of 42,075 votes. He is part of the Council of States since 2007, ^a FDP before 2009, FDP. The Liberals after 2009 ^b * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton. ^c Part of the FDP for this election ^d Part of the SD for this election The population of the canton is 484,736, as of 2013, the population included 194,623 foreigners from 187 different nations, or about 40. 1% of the total population
4.
Districts of Switzerland
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In contrast to centrally organised states, in the federally constituted Switzerland each canton is completely free to decide its own internal organisation. Therefore, there exists a variety of structures and terminology for the subnational entities between canton and municipality, loosely termed districts, most cantons are divided into Bezirke. They are also termed Ämter, Amtsbezirke, district or distretto, the Bezirke generally provide only administration and court organization. However, for historical reasons districts in cantons Graubünden and Schwyz are their own legal entities with jurisdiction over tax, seven of the 26 cantons – Uri, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Glarus, Zug, Basel-City and Geneva – have always existed without the district level of government. An eighth one, Appenzell Innerrhoden, uses no intermediate level either, bern in 2006 decided a reduction of its 26 districts to five administrative regions. Vaud decided a reduction from 19 to 10 districts, valais is planning a similar reduction and in Thurgau, a reduction of eight to four districts is under discussion. From 2005, districts only have a statistical meaning, the districts are functionally equivalent to municipalities elsewhere in Switzerland, and are generally shown as municipalities on maps etc. The Canton is divided into 6 districts, Appenzell Gonten Oberegg Rüte Schlatt-Haslen Schwende Municipalities of Switzerland
5.
Avully
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Avully is a municipality in the canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Avully is first mentioned in 1220 as Avulie, Avully has an area, as of 2009, of 4.61 square kilometers. Of this area,2.96 km2 or 64. 2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.69 km2 or 15. 0% is forested. Of the rest of the land,0.68 km2 or 14. 8% is settled,0.29 km2 or 6. 3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km2 or 0. 4% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 7. 8%, while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2. 0%. Out of the land,11. 5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3. 5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land,42. 7% is used for growing crops and 15. 4% is pastures, all the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is located in the Champagne region and it consists of the settlements of Avully-Village, Epeisses, Eaumorte and Gennecy. The municipality of Avully consists of the sub-sections or villages of La Touvière, Avully - Eaumorte, Avully - village, Avully - Gennecy, Avully has a population of 1,771. As of 2008,18. 0% of the population are resident foreign nationals, over the last 10 years the population has changed at a rate of 1. 3%. It has changed at a rate of -9. 7% due to migration, most of the population speaks French, with English being second most common and German being third. There is 1 person who speaks Romansh, as of 2008, the gender distribution of the population was 49. 4% male and 50. 6% female. The population was made up of 701 Swiss men and 174 non-Swiss men, There were 748 Swiss women and 149 non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 400 or about 23. 0% were born in Avully and lived there in 2000. There were 602 or 34. 7% who were born in the canton, while 274 or 15. 8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland. In 2008 there were 23 live births to Swiss citizens and 1 birth to non-Swiss citizens, ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 17 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 15 Swiss men and 14 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland, at the same time, there were 4 non-Swiss men and 6 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 was a decrease of 16 and this represents a population growth rate of 0. 2%
6.
Cartigny, Switzerland
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Cartigny is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. Cartigny is first mentioned in 1220 as Cartiniacum and Quartinie, Cartigny has an area, as of 2009, of 4.38 square kilometers. Of this area,2.43 km2 or 55. 5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.28 km2 or 29. 2% is forested. Of the rest of the land,0.5 km2 or 11. 4% is settled,0.13 km2 or 3. 0% is either rivers or lakes and 0.07 km2 or 1. 6% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 7. 1%, out of the forested land,23. 5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 5. 7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land,37. 0% is used for growing crops and 12. 3% is pastures, of the water in the municipality,1. 1% is in lakes and 1. 8% is in rivers and streams. The municipality is located in the center of the Swiss Champagne valley and it consists of the villages of Cartigny and La Petite Grave. The municipality of Cartigny consists of the sub-sections or villages of Nant des Crues, Moulin-de-Vert, Longemalle, La Petite-Grave, Cartigny has a population of 865. As of 2008,22. 7% of the population are resident foreign nationals, over the last 10 years the population has changed at a rate of 11. 3%. It has changed at a rate of 3. 7% due to migration, most of the population speaks French, with English being second most common and German being third. As of 2008, the distribution of the population was 49. 1% male and 50. 9% female. The population was made up of 314 Swiss men and 104 non-Swiss men, There were 338 Swiss women and 95 non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 180 or about 24. 1% were born in Cartigny and lived there in 2000. There were 239 or 32. 0% who were born in the canton, while 118 or 15. 8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland. In 2008 there were 5 live births to Swiss citizens and 2 births to non-Swiss citizens, ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens remained the same while the foreign population increased by 2. There were 3 Swiss men who emigrated from Switzerland, at the same time, there were 10 non-Swiss men and 5 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 was an increase of 3 and this represents a population growth rate of 2. 2%. The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers make up 24. 1% of the population, while adults make up 61. 6%, as of 2000, there were 303 people who were single and never married in the municipality
7.
Chancy
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Chancy is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. The westernmost point of the country is located there, Chancy is first mentioned in 1240 as Chancie. Chancy has an area, as of 2009, of 5.36 square kilometers, of this area,2.8 km2 or 52. 2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.75 km2 or 32. 6% is forested. Of the rest of the land,0.59 km2 or 11. 0% is settled,0.21 km2 or 3. 9% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km2 or 0. 4% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 5. 6%, of the agricultural land,41. 8% is used for growing crops and 8. 4% is pastures, while 2. 1% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water, the municipality is located in the Swiss Champagne valley and contains the westernmost point in Switzerland. It consists of the villages of Chancy and Passeiry as well as the hamlet of Le Cannelet, the municipality of Chancy consists of the sub-sections or villages of Chancy - Les Bois, Chancy - village, Chancy - plateau, Passeiry and Cannelet. Chancy has a population of 1,598, as of 2008,20. 4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has changed at a rate of 27. 4% and it has changed at a rate of 13. 8% due to migration and at a rate of 12. 9% due to births and deaths. Most of the population speaks French, with English being second most common, as of 2008, the gender distribution of the population was 49. 7% male and 50. 3% female. The population was made up of 450 Swiss men and 119 non-Swiss men, There were 457 Swiss women and 119 non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 176 or about 19. 3% were born in Chancy and lived there in 2000. There were 334 or 36. 6% who were born in the canton, while 134 or 14. 7% were born somewhere else in Switzerland. In 2008 there were 6 live births to Swiss citizens and were 5 deaths of Swiss citizens, ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 1 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 2 Swiss men and 7 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland, at the same time, there were 7 non-Swiss men and 4 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 was an increase of 16 and this represents a population growth rate of 3. 6%. The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers make up 29. 4% of the population, while adults make up 65%, as of 2000, there were 386 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 447 married individuals,23 widows or widowers and 57 individuals who are divorced, as of 2000, there were 343 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.6 persons per household
8.
Municipalities of Switzerland
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Municipalities are the lowest level of administrative division in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons, which form the Swiss Confederation, in most cantons municipalities are also part of districts or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions. There are 2,294 municipalities as of January 2016 and their populations range between several hundred thousand, and a few dozen people, and their territory between 0.32 km² and 439 km². The beginnings of the municipality system date back to the Helvetic Republic. Under the Old Swiss Confederacy, citizenship was granted by each town and these citizens enjoyed access to community property and in some cases additional protection under the law. Additionally, the towns and the rural villages had differing rights. The creation of a uniform Swiss citizenship, which applied equally for citizens of the old towns and their tenants and servants, led to conflict. The wealthier villagers and urban citizens held rights to forests, common land and other municipal property which they did not want to share with the new citizens, the compromise solution, which was written into the municipal laws of the Helvetic Republic, is still valid today. Two politically separate but often geographically similar organizations were created, the first, the so-called municipality, was a political community formed by election and its voting body consists of all resident citizens. However, the community land and property remained with the local citizens who were gathered together into the Bürgergemeinde. During the Mediation era, and especially during the Restoration era, many political municipalities were abolished and limits were placed on the exercise of political rights for everyone except the members of the Bürgergemeinde. In the Regeneration era, the revolutions of the common people helped to restore some rights again in a few cantons. In other cantons, the Bürgergemeinden were able to power as political communities. In the city of Zurich it wasnt until the Municipal Act of 1866 that the municipality came back into existence. The relationship between the municipality and the Bürgergemeinde was often dominated by the latters ownership of community property. Often the administration and profit from the property were held by the Bürgergemeinden, leaving the political municipality dependent on the Bürgergemeinde for money. It wasnt until the municipality acquired rights over property that served the public and taxes. For example, in the city of Bern, it wasnt until after the property division of 1852 that the municipality had the right to levy taxes
9.
Geneva (canton)
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The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French-speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland, surrounded on almost all sides by France. As is the case in several other Swiss cantons, this canton is referred to as a republic within the Swiss Confederation, the canton of Geneva is located in the southwestern corner of Switzerland, and is considered one of the most cosmopolitan areas of the country. As a center of the Calvinist Reformation, the city of Geneva has had a influence on the canton. The Republic of Geneva was proclaimed in 1541, under John Calvin, the Republic of Geneva reinforced its alliance to the Protestant cantons of the Swiss Confederacy, becoming an everlasting ally in 1584. The French Revolution reached Geneva in 1792, and in February 1794, after the death of Robespierre in July of the same year, there was a counter-revolution, which gained the upper hand by 1796. This prompted the French invasion of 1798, and the annexation of Geneva as part of the French département du Léman, Geneva finally joined the Swiss Confederation in 1815 as the 22nd canton, having been enlarged by French and Savoyard territories at the Vienna Congress. The area of the canton of Geneva is 282 square kilometers, the canton is surrounded on almost all sides by France and bordered by the Swiss canton of Vaud on northeast. The adjoining French départements are Ain and Haute-Savoie, the current boundaries of the canton were established in 1815. There are 45 municipalities in the canton, Geneva does not have any administrative districts. There are 10 cities with a population of over 10,000 as of 2007, Genève, Vernier, Lancy, Meyrin, Carouge, Onex, Thônex, Versoix, Grand-Saconnex, Chêne-Bougeries. The constitution of the canton was established in 1847, and has, the cantonal government has seven members who are elected for four years. The legislature, the Grand Council, has 100 seats, with deputies elected for four years at a time, the last elecation was held on 7 October 2013. In a similar way to what happens at the Federal level, in addition, any law can be subject to a referendum if it is demanded by 7,000 persons entitled to vote, and 10,000 persons may also propose a new law. The republique and canton of Geneva has 11 seats in the National Council, on 18 October 2015, in the federal election the most popular party was the The Liberals which received three seats with 20. 5% of the votes. In the federal election, a total of 106,852 votes were cast, and she is part of the Council of States since 2007. Councilor Robert Cramer, member of the Green Party, was re-elected in the round with a majority of 42,075 votes. He is part of the Council of States since 2007, ^a FDP before 2009, FDP. The Liberals after 2009 ^b * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton. ^c Part of the FDP for this election ^d Part of the SD for this election The population of the canton is 484,736, as of 2013, the population included 194,623 foreigners from 187 different nations, or about 40. 1% of the total population
10.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
11.
Hamlet (place)
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A hamlet is a small human settlement. The word and concept of a hamlet have roots in the Anglo-Norman settlement of England, in English geography, a hamlet is considered smaller than a village and distinctly without a church. The word comes from Anglo-Norman hamelete, corresponding to Old French hamelet and this, in turn, is a diminutive of Old French ham, possibly borrowed from Franconian languages. Compare with modern French Hameau, Dutch heem, German Heim, Old English hām, in Australia a hamlet is a small village. Officially, a hamlet differs from a village in having no commercial premises, in Bangladesh, Hamlet is known as Para or Paara. A village is divided by more than one Para and that is the smallest partition of a place in Bangladesh. Each para contains some families, or a group of families, in Canadas three territories, hamlets are officially designated municipalities. Canadas two largest hamlets – Fort McMurray and Sherwood Park – are located in Alberta and they each have populations, within their main urban area, in excess of 60, 000—well in excess of the 10, 000-person threshold that can choose to incorporate as a city in Alberta. As such, these two hamlets have been designated by the Province of Alberta as urban service areas. An urban service area is recognized as equivalent to a city for the purposes of provincial and federal program delivery, during the 18th century, for rich or noble people, it was up-to-date to create their own hameau in their gardens. They were a group of houses or farms with rustic appearance. The best known in the Hameau de la Reine built by the queen Marie-Antoinette in the park of the Château de Versailles, or the Hameau de Chantilly built by Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé in Chantilly, Oise. Lieu-dit is another name for hamlet, the difference is that a hamlet is permanently inhabited, but a lieu-dit is not. In Germany hamlets are called Weiler and they are often part of bigger villages and municipalities. Most German hamlets are situated in Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse, in the low Saxon dialect of northwestern Germany hamlets are called Bauerschaft. In different states of India, there are different words for hamlet, in Gujarat a hamlet is called a nesada, which are more prevalent in the Gir forest. In Maharashtra its called a paadaa, in southern Bihar, especially in the Magadh division, a hamlet is called a bigha. All over Indonesia, hamlets are translated as small village, or kampung and they are known as dusun in Central Java and East Java, banjar in Bali, jorong or kampuang in West Sumatra
12.
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
13.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
14.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
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Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
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Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
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Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
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Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
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Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
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Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
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Slovakia
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Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Slovakias territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks, the capital and largest city is Bratislava. The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samos Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which became part of the Habsburg Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a separate Slovak Republic existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reëstablished under Communist rule as a Soviet satellite, in 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country maintains a combination of economy with universal health care. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on 1 January 2009, Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. The Slovak economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and its legal tender, the Euro, is the worlds 2nd most traded currency. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, in 2016, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 165 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world. Slovakia is the world’s biggest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,040,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone, the car industry represents 43 percent of Slovakia’s industrial output, and a quarter of its exports. Radiocarbon datingputs the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BC and these ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era come from the Prévôt cave near Bojnice, the most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium, discovered near Gánovce, a village in northern Slovakia. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone, the statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany. Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and these findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The Bronze Age in the territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BC
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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
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German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
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Population growth
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In biology, population growth is the increase in the number of individuals in a population. Global human population growth amounts to around 75 million annually, or 1. 1% per year, the global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 7 billion in 2012. It is expected to keep growing, and estimates have put the population at 8.4 billion by mid-2030. Many nations with rapid growth have low standards of living. The growth of the started in the Western world during industrialization by the end of the 18th century. The reasons for the Modern Rise of Population were particularly investigated by the British health scientist Thomas McKeown, although the McKeown thesis has been heavily disputed, recent studies have confirmed the value of his ideas. His work is pivotal for present day thinking about population growth, birth control, public health, McKeown had a major influence on many population researchers, such as health economists and Noble prize winners Robert W. Fogel and Angus Deaton. The latter considered McKeown as the founder of social medicine, the population growth rate is the rate at which the number of individuals in a population increases in a given time period, expressed as a fraction of the initial population. A related measure is the net reproduction rate, most populations do not grow exponentially, rather they follow a logistic model. The Analytic Logistic Solution This is a differential equation that can be derived through integration. The analytic solution is useful in analyzing the behavior of population models, the equation is separable and to find the solution we integrate. ∫ d P P = ∫ k ⋅ d t Working on just the left side of the equation, the fraction in the denominator is eliminated by multiplying the variable K, and then the fraction is split in 2. 1 P ⋅ K K = K P K P =1 P +1 K − P The partial fraction is then integrated more easily. This is the equation that remains, | K − P P | = e − k t − C Get rid of the absolute value, in 2009, the estimated annual growth rate was 1. 1%. The CIA World Factbook gives the world annual birthrate, mortality rate, and growth rate as 1. 86%,0. 78%, and 1. 08% respectively. The annual increase in the number of living humans peaked at 88.0 million in 1989, then declined to 73.9 million in 2003. In 2009, the population increased by 74.6 million. In some countries the population is declining, especially in Eastern Europe, mainly due to low fertility rates, high death rates, in Southern Africa, growth is slowing due to the high number of AIDS-related deaths
25.
Swiss federal election, 2007
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Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday,21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November,18 November. For the 48th legislative term of the parliament, voters in 26 cantons elected all 200 members of the National Council as well as 43 out of 46 members of the Council of States. The other three members of the Council of States for that term of service were elected at an earlier date, on 12 December 2007, the newly elected legislature elected the Swiss federal government, the Swiss Federal Council, for a four-year-term. The Swiss Peoples Party successfully came out of the election as the strongest party, among the left-wing parties, support of the Social Democrats eroded to the benefit of the Green and Green Liberal parties. The right-wing parties won 64 seats made up of the SVP with 62 seats and a seat of the Christian right Federal Democratic Union. The left-wing parties won 65 seats, with 43 of the Social Democrats,20 of the Green party, and the Christian-left Christian Social Party,59 of 200 seats were won by women, as compared to 50 in 2003. Ricardo Lumengo is notable as the first black Swiss national councillor, contrary to the developments in the National Council, the Council of States remains dominated by the traditional centrist parties FDP and CVP. Robert Cramer is the first member of the Green Party to be elected to the Council of States, verena Diener, formerly of the Green Party, wins a Council of States seat for the newly founded Green Liberal Party. Christine Egerszegi of Aargau is the first woman elected in that canton. Political Map of Switzerland Hermann, M. und Leuthold, H, die politische Landkarte des Nationalrats 1999-2003. Der Wandel der Parteienlandschaft seit 1971, NSD, European Election Database - Switzerland publishes regional level election data, allows for comparisons of election results, 1991–2007
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Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
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The Christian Democratic Peoples Party of Switzerland is a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. It is the fourth-largest party in the National Council, with 28 seats, and it has one seat, that of Doris Leuthard, on the Swiss Federal Council. The party was founded as the Catholic Conservative Party in 1912, the party peaked in the 1950s, having three members of the Federal Council before agreeing to the Magic formula. It adopted its current name in 1970, from 1979 to 2003, the partys vote declined, mostly in the favour of the Swiss Peoples Party, and the party was reduced to one Federal Councillor at the 2003 election. The party sits in the centre to centre-right of the spectrum, advocating Christian democracy, the social market economy. The party is strongest in Catholic rural areas, particularly Central Switzerland, in 1912 the Catholic-Conservative Party of Switzerland was founded. From 1919 on, the party occupied two out of the seven seats in the cabinet, nonetheless, the party had to relinquish the third seat in favor of the Magic formula, which was introduced to the cabinet in 1959. In 1957 it changed its name to the Conservative-Christian-Social Peoples Party, in the ensuing decades, the Catholic voter base dissolved somewhat. The reduction of the base, in addition to less cohesion among politicians in the party. Beginning in the 1990s, conservative voters from former strongholds of the CVP switched to vote for the right-wing populist Swiss Peoples Party. Due to that voter switch and the resultant 2003 national elections to the national assembly, in its party platform, the CVP describes itself as a centrist party. The CVP fosters a social economy in which a balance is struck between economic liberalism and social justice. There, the electorate is mostly socially conservative, the CVP has three main policies in the political centre, The CVP upholds the social market economy. It supports exporting industries, more spending on education, research and it also aims at combating the black market and tax evasion. The CVP calls for equal wages and job opportunities for men and women. The CVP calls for flexible working times, childcare, and affordable housing, the CVP aims at ensuring social security. The CVP calls for reforms of the security system, by raising taxes on demerit goods to generate more revenues for the pension funds. The retirement age of 65 should also be upheld, the public health care system shall be streamlined by a reduction of waiting times of medical procedures, in order to ensure equitable services
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Swiss People's Party
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The Swiss Peoples Party, also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre, is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Albert Rösti, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, the SVP initially didnt witness any increased support beyond that of the BGB, retaining around 11% of the vote through the 1970s and 1980s. In line with the changes fostered by Blocher, the party started to focus increasingly on issues such as euroscepticism, when Blocher failed to win re-election as a Federal Councillor in 2007, moderates within the party split off, forming the Conservative Democratic Party. The early origins of the SVP go back to the late 1910s, while the Free Democratic Party had earlier been a popular party for farmers, this changed during World War I when the party had mainly defended the interests of industrialists and consumer circles. By 1929, the coalition of parties had gained enough influence to get one of their leaders, Rudolf Minger. In 1936, a party was founded on the national level, called the Party of Farmers, Traders. During the 1930s, the BGB entered the mainstream of Swiss politics as a conservative party in the bourgeois bloc. In the partys fight against left-wing ideologies, sections of party officials and farmers voiced understanding, after World War II, the BGB contributed to the establishment of the characteristic Swiss post-war consensual politics, social agreements and economic growth policies. The party continued to be a political partner with the Swiss Conservative Peoples Party. In 1971, the BGB changed its name to the Swiss Peoples Party after it merged with the Democratic Party from Glarus, as the Democratic Party had represented centrist, social-liberal positions, the course of the SVP shifted towards the political centre following internal debates. The new party continued to see its level of support at around 11%. Blocher soon consolidated his power in Zürich, and began to renew the organisational structures, activities, campaigning style and political agenda of the local branch. The young members of the party was boosted with the establishment of a cantonal Young SVP in 1977 and this was contrasted with the stable level in the other cantons, although the support also stagnated in Zürich through the 1980s. The struggle between the SVPs largest branches of Bern and Zürich continued into the early 1990s, while the Bern-oriented faction represented the old moderate style, the Zürich-oriented wing led by Christoph Blocher represented a new radical right-wing populist agenda. The Zürich wing began to politicise asylum issues, and the question of European integration started to dominate Swiss political debates and they also adopted more confrontational methods. During the 1990s, the party doubled its number of cantonal branches. In 1991, the party for the first time became the strongest party in Zürich, the party broke through in the early 1990s in both Zürich and Switzerland as a whole, and experienced dramatically increasing results in elections. From being the smallest of the four governing parties at the start of the 1990s, at the same time, the party expanded its electoral base towards new voter demographics
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Green Party of Switzerland
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The Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council. The first Green party in Switzerland was founded as a party in 1971 in the town of Neuchâtel. In 1979, Daniel Brélaz was elected to the National Council as the first Green MP on the national level, local and regional Green parties and organisations were founded in many different towns and cantons in the following years. In 1990, an attempt to combine these organisations failed, afterwards, some of the member groups from the Green Alternative Party joined the Federation of Green Parties which has become the de facto national Green party. In 1993, the Federation of Green Parties changed its name to the Green Party of Switzerland, in 1986, the first two Green members of a cantonal government become members of the Regierungsrat of Bern. In 1987, the Green Party of Switzerland joined the European Federation of Green Parties, in the 1990s, members of the Green Party became town mayors, members of the high court and even president of a cantonal government. The traditional emphases of the partys policies lie in environmentalism and green means of transportation, in terms of foreign policy, the greens set out on the course of openness and pacifism. In economic policy, the greens are center-left, the majority of greens support an accession of Switzerland to the European Union. In immigration policy, the greens support further integration initiatives for immigrants, the greens support measures to increase energy efficiency, oppose nuclear power, and support raising energy and fuel prices. According to their policy, the revenues should be allocated to social security spending. On the national level, in 2003 the Green Party was not represented in the Council of States or Federal Council, in 2007, two Green Party members were elected to the Council of States. By 2005, the party held 3.8 percent of the seats in the Swiss cantonal executive governments and 6.9 percent in the Swiss cantonal parliaments. In 2007, the Green Party was represented in the governments of the cantons Bern, Basel-City, Geneva, Neuchâtel, Nidwalden, Vaud, Zug and Zurich. Percentage of the vote for the Green Party in Federal Elections 1971-20151. ^a * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton. 2. ^b Part of the Canton of Bern until 1979
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Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
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The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is a political party in Switzerland. It is represented by two Federal Councilors since 1960 and got the second-most votes in the 2015 national elections, the party was founded on 21 October 1888, and is currently the second largest of the four leading coalition political parties in Switzerland. It is the only left-wing party with representatives in the Swiss Federal Council and it is also the second largest political party in the Swiss parliament. The current members in the Swiss Federal Council are, Alain Berset, the SP is the biggest pro-European party in Switzerland and supports Swiss membership of the European Union, unlike most other Swiss parties. Additionally, it is opposed to capitalism and maintains a long-term goal of overcoming capitalism. The party is a member of the Socialist International, the Progressive Alliance. With its foundation in October 1888, the Social Democratic Party was considered to be the opposition to the Radicals in government and parliament. After the unsuccessful General strike in 1918, proportional representation was introduced which helped the SP gain 41 seats in parliament, the party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1927 and 1940. After the strike the party took a line and in 1943 it became the strongest party in parliament. It picked up a seat in 1959. The partys historical archives is today hosted by the Swiss Social Archives, the SP supports classical social democratic policies. To that rule, the SP stands for a government offering strong public services, the SP also opposes raising the retirement age. In addition, the SP is a proponent of increasing spending in some areas such as for a publicly financed maternity leave, universal health care. In tax policy the SP opposes the notion of lowering taxes for high-income citizens, by campaigning for the harmonisation of all tax rates in Switzerland, the SP seeks more redistribution. The SP is skeptical toward the privatization of state enterprises, nonetheless, the SP also promotes more competition in the areas of agriculture and parallel imports. In social policy, the SP is committed to social equity, thus, the SP aims at making working conditions for women in families easier by promoting more external childcare centers and more opportunities for part-time jobs. It also aims at reinforcing sexual equality in terms of eliminating wage differences based on gender, supports civil union for homosexuals, the SP also rejects strengthening restrictions on asylum seekers and immigrants. Thus, it supports the integration of immigrants by which the immigrants are assigned to immigration procedures immediately after entering the country, the SP has a liberal stance toward drugs and is in favor of publicly regulated heroin consumption and the legalization of cannabis
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Voter turnout
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Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Eligibility varies by country, and the population should not be confused with the total adult population. Age and citizenship status are often among the criteria used to determine eligibility, after increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1980s. In general, low turnout is attributed to disillusionment, indifference, low turnout is usually considered to be undesirable. As a result, there have been efforts to increase voter turnout. In spite of significant study into the issue, scholars are divided on the reasons for the decline and its cause has been attributed to a wide array of economic, demographic, cultural, technological, and institutional factors. Different countries have very different voter turnout rates, for example, turnout in the United States 2012 presidential election was about 55%. In both Belgium, which has compulsory voting, and Malta, which not, participation reaches about 95%. The chance of any one vote determining the outcome is low, some studies show that a single vote in a voting scheme such as the Electoral College in the United States has an even lower chance of determining the outcome. Other studies claim that the Electoral College actually increases voting power, Studies using game theory, which takes into account the ability of voters to interact, have also found that the expected turnout for any large election should be zero. Since P is virtually zero in most elections, PB is also near zero, for a person to vote, these factors must outweigh C. Experimental political science has found that even when P is likely greater than zero, enos and Fowler conducted a field experiment that exploits the rare opportunity of a tied election for major political office. Informing citizens that the election to break the tie will be close has little mobilizing effect on voter turnout. Riker and Ordeshook developed the understanding of D. Other political scientists have since added other motivators and questioned some of Riker, all of these concepts are inherently imprecise, making it difficult to discover exactly why people choose to vote. Recently, several scholars have considered the possibility that B includes not only a personal interest in the outcome, note that this motivation is distinct from D, because voters must think others benefit from the outcome of the election, not their act of voting in and of itself. There are philosophical, moral, and practical reasons that people cite for not voting in electoral politics. High voter turnout is often considered to be desirable, though among scientists and economists specializing in public choice
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Grand Council of Geneva
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The Grand Council of Geneva is the legislature of the canton of Geneva, in Switzerland. Geneva, styled as a Republic and Canton, has a unicameral legislature, the Grand Council was established in 1457, and has 100 seats, with members elected every four years. Members of the executive, the Conseil dEtat, are elected a month later. There is a 7% threshold to representation on the Grand Council, seven parties overcame that hurdle at the election that was held on 11 October 2009. Then, the Liberal Party won a plurality, with 20 of the 100 seats, the most-recent election was held on 6 October 2013. Grand Council of Geneva official website
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FDP.The Liberals
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FDP. The Liberals is a liberal political party in Switzerland. It is the joint-largest party in the Federal Council, third-largest party in the National Council, the party was formed on 1 January 2009, after two parties, the Free Democratic Party and the smaller Liberal Party, united. In Vaud and Valais, the parties retain separate organisations and its youth organisation is Young Liberals. With 120,000 members as of 2015, the FDP has the most members of any party, the party is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and an observer member of the Liberal International. The partys president is Petra Gössi, the current FDP representatives in the Federal Council are Didier Burkhalter and Johann Schneider-Ammann. The party was formed in 2009 from the merger of the Free Democratic Party, the radical Free Democratic Party, also called the Radicals, was Switzerlands major establishment party. Founded in 1894, the classical liberal predecessors had governed Switzerland outright for most of the 19th century. The Liberal Party, known as the Old Liberals, represented the French-speaking establishment and it also had a distinctly liberal Protestant outlook. In the 2003 federal election, the two formed an electoral alliance. In the election, the Liberals were reduced to four seats, below the five required to form a grouping in the Federal Assembly. In June 2005, the two founded the Radical and Liberal Union, which aimed to promote liberal goals through deeper cooperation, in 2007, the womens arms of the parties merged, while the youth wings merged the following year to form the Young Liberals. Agreement on the merger of the parties was agreed in October 2008. The agreement was adopted on 28 February 2009, applying retroactively to 1 January 2009, FDP President Fulvio Pelli of Ticino became the partys first leader, while Liberal President Pierre Weiss was named one of four Vice-Presidents. Separate Free Democrat and Liberal branches remained in competition with other in Geneva, Valais. In May 2011, the partys two Geneva branches – Liberal Party of Geneva and Radical Party of Geneva – merged to form a single FDP. The Liberals cantonal branch. In the 2015 federal election, the FDP increased its share of the vote by 1. 3%. As a classically liberal party, the FDP wants to protect civil liberties, the FDP calls for mutual tolerance of people with different opinions and self-identities, entrepreneurship, social responsibility, the rule of law, and participatory democracy. The party supports neutrality, federalism, direct democracy, and the tax sovereignty of each canton and it believes that national security should be credibly guaranteed by a skilled and strong militia
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Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
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The Free Democratic Party or Radical Democratic Party was a liberal political party in Switzerland. Formerly one of the parties in Switzerland, on 1 January 2009 it merged with the Liberal Party of Switzerland to form FDP. The Liberals. The FDP remained dominant until the introduction of proportional representation in 1919, from 1945 to 1987, it alternated with the Social Democratic Party to be the largest party. In 1959, the party two seats in the magic formula. The party declined in the 1990s and 2000s, as it was put under pressure by the Swiss Peoples Party, in response, the party formed closer relations with the smaller Liberal Party, leading to their formal merger in 2009. The elements liberal, radical and freisinnig in the name originate from the conflicts during the period of Swiss Restoration between the Catholic-conservative cantons and the liberal cantons. From 1848 until 1891, the Federal Council was composed entirely of Radicals, the radical movement of the restoration was anti-clerical, and stood in opposition to the Catholic Conservative Party. They were otherwise heterogeneous, including and classical liberal Liberals, federalist Radicals and it was not until the rise of the Social Democratic Party in the early 20th century that the FDP found itself on the centre-right. The FDP was the dominant party until the 1919 election, when the introduction of proportional representation led to a leap in the representation of the Social Democrats. In 1959, the Free Democrats joined the major parties in agreeing the magic formula to divide up the seats of the Federal Council. After the 2003 elections, lawmakers of FDP and Liberal Party formed a parliamentary group in the Federal Assembly. In June 2005, they strengthened their cooperation by founding the Radical and Liberal Union They merged on 1 January 2009 to form FDP. The Liberals. In 2003, it held 36 mandates in the Swiss National Council,14 in the chamber and 2 out of 7 mandates in the Swiss Federal Council. By 2005, it held 27, 2% of the seats in the Swiss Cantonal governments and 19, at the last legislative elections,22 October 2007, the party won 15. 6% of the popular vote and 31 out of 200 seats. Liberalism and radicalism in Switzerland fdp. ch in German prd. ch in French plrt. ch in Italian Young Liberals Switzerland official site of the youth branch, called jungfreisinnige schweiz
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Primary sector of the economy
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The primary sector of the economy is the sector of an economy making direct use of natural resources. This includes agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining, in contrast, the secondary sector produces manufactured goods, and the tertiary sector provides services. The primary sector is usually most important in less-developed countries, primary industry is a larger sector in developing countries, for instance, animal husbandry is more common in Africa than in Japan. Mining in 19th-century South Wales provides a study of how an economy can come to rely on one form of activity. Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its sector, with the logging. However, in recent years, the number of exchanges have heavily reduced Canadas primary industry. In developed countries primary industry has become more advanced, for instance the mechanization of farming as opposed to hand picking and planting. In more developed economies additional capital is invested in primary means of production, developed countries are allowed to maintain and develop their primary industries even further due to the excess wealth. For instance, European Union agricultural subsidies provide buffers for the inflation rates and prices of agricultural produce. This allows developed countries to be able to export their products at extraordinarily low prices. This makes them extremely competitive against those of poor or underdeveloped countries that maintain free market policies, such differences also come about due to more efficient production in developed economies, given farm machinery, better information available to farmers, and often larger scale. Three-sector hypothesis Resource curse Dwight H. Perkins, Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, Vol.31, No
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Tertiary sector of the economy
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The tertiary sector or service sector is the third of the three economic sectors of the three-sector theory. The others are the secondary sector, and the primary sector, the basic characteristic of this sector is the production of services instead of end products. Services include attention, advice, access, experience, and discussion, the production of information has long been regarded as a service, but some economists now attribute it to a fourth sector, the quaternary sector. The tertiary sector of industry involves the provision of services to businesses as well as final consumers. The goods may be transformed in the process of providing the service, however, the focus is on people interacting with people and serving the customer rather than transforming physical goods. It is sometimes hard to define whether a company is part of the secondary or tertiary sector. These governmental classification systems have a hierarchy that reflects whether the economic goods are tangible or intangible. Unlike governmental classification systems, the first level of market-based classification systems divides the economy into functionally related markets or industries, the second or third level of these hierarchies then reflects whether goods or services are produced. For the last 100 years, there has been a shift from the primary and secondary sectors to the tertiary sector in industrialised countries. The tertiary sector is now the largest sector of the economy in the Western world and these are not necessarily busboys and live-in maids. Many of them are in the professional category and they are earning as much as manufacturing workers, and often more. The first economy to follow path in the modern world was the United Kingdom. The speed at which other economies have made the transition to service-based economies has increased over time, historically, manufacturing tended to be more open to international trade and competition than services. Service providers face obstacles selling services that goods-sellers rarely face, services are intangible, making it difficult for potential customers to understand what they will receive and what value it will hold for them. Indeed, some, such as consultants and providers of investment services, since the quality of most services depends largely on the quality of the individuals providing the services, people costs are usually a high fraction of service costs. Whereas a manufacturer may use technology, simplification, and other techniques to lower the cost of goods sold, for example, how does one choose one investment adviser over another, since they are often seen to provide identical services. Charging a premium for services is usually an option only for the most established firms, who charge extra based upon brand recognition
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Roman Catholic
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The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
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Swiss Reformed Church
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Since 1920, the Swiss Reformed Churches have been organized in 26 member churches of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches. According to a 2012 Swiss census,26. 9% of Swiss population were reported as registered members of a Reformed cantonal church, the Swiss Reformed Churches, together, have approximately 2.4 million members. The Reformation spread primarily in the cities of Switzerland, which was composed of loosely connected cantons. Breakthrough began in the 1520s in Zurich under Zwingli, in Bern in 1528 under Berchtold Haller, after the early death of Zwingli in 1531, the Reformation continued. The French-speaking cities Neuchâtel, Geneva and Lausanne changed to the Reformation ten years later under William Farel, the German Reformed ideological center was Zurich, the French speaking Reformed movement bastion was Geneva. A distinctive feature of the Swiss Reformed churches in the Zwinglian tradition is their historically almost symbiotic link to the state, which is only loosening gradually in the present. One of these secessionist churches still exists today, the Evangelical Free Church of Geneva, founded in 1849, an important issue to liberal theologians was the Apostles Creed. Until the late 1870s, most cantonal reformed churches stopped prescribing any particular creed, like many European Protestant denominations, several of the Swiss Reformed churches have openly welcomed gay and lesbian members to celebrate their civil unions within a church context. As early as 1999, the Reformed Churches in St. Gallen, Fribourg, since then, the Reformed Church in Aaargau has also allowed for prayer services to celebrate same-sex couples. Organizationally, the Reformed Churches in Switzerland remain separate, cantonal units, the German churches are more in the Zwinglian tradition, the French more in the Calvinist tradition. They are governed synodically and their relation to the canton ranges from independent to close collaboration
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Orthodoxy
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Orthodoxy is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. In the Christian sense the term means conforming to the Christian faith as represented in the creeds of the early Church, the first seven Ecumenical Councils were held between the years of 325 and 787 with the aim of formalizing accepted doctrines. In classical Christian usage, the term refers to the set of doctrines which were believed by the early Christians. A series of councils, also known as the First seven Ecumenical Councils, were held over a period of several centuries to try to formalize these doctrines. The most significant of these decisions was that between the Homoousian doctrine of Athanasius and Eustathius and the Heteroousian doctrine of Arius and Eusebius. The earliest recorded use of the term orthodox is in the Codex Iustinianus of 529–534, following the 1054 Great Schism, both the Western and Eastern Churches continued to consider themselves uniquely orthodox and catholic. Over time, the Western Church gradually identified with the Catholic label and this was in note of the fact that both Catholic and Orthodox were in use as ecclesiastical adjectives as early as the 2nd and 4th centuries respectively. Today the two largest Orthodox Christian communions are the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy, Orthodox Judaism is split into various different movements and factions. They have different ways of interpreting and following the laws and traditions of Judaism, Orthodox Judaism is distinct from Conservative Judaism. The term Orthodox Islam generally refers to the teachings and religious practices of traditional Sunni Islam. The term Orthodox Hinduism commonly refers to the teachings and practices of Sanātanī. In this sense, the term has a pejorative connotation. Among various orthodoxies in distinctive fields, most common terms are, Political orthodoxy, Social orthodoxy, Economic orthodoxy, Scientific orthodoxy, Orthodoxy is opposed to heterodoxy or heresy. A deviation lighter than heresy is commonly called error, in the sense of not being enough to cause total estrangement. Sometimes error is used to cover both full heresies and minor errors. The concept of orthodoxy is prevalent in many forms of organized monotheism, syncretism, for example, plays a much wider role in non-monotheistic religion. The prevailing governing norm within polytheism is often rather than the right belief of orthodoxy. Henderson, The Construction of Orthodoxy and Heresy, Neo-Confucian, Islamic, Jewish, and Early Christian Patterns, SUNY Press 1998
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Islam
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Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
France
UK
Portugal
Germany
Italy
Spain
Finland
Belgium
Poland
Slovakia
