1.
Dutch language
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It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after English and German. Dutch is one of the closest relatives of both German and English and is said to be roughly in between them, Dutch vocabulary is mostly Germanic and incorporates more Romance loans than German but far fewer than English. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, the official name for Dutch is Nederlands, and its dialects have their own names, e. g. Hollands, West-Vlaams. The use of the word Vlaams to describe Standard Dutch for the variations prevalent in Flanders and used there, however, is common in the Netherlands, the Dutch language has been known under a variety of names. It derived from the Old Germanic word theudisk, one of the first names used for the non-Romance languages of Western Europe. It literarily means the language of the people, that is. The term was used as opposed to Latin, the language of writing. In the first text in which it is found, dating from 784, later, theudisca appeared also in the Oaths of Strasbourg to refer to the Germanic portion of the oath. This led inevitably to confusion since similar terms referred to different languages, owing to Dutch commercial and colonial rivalry in the 16th and 17th centuries, the English term came to refer exclusively to the Dutch. A notable exception is Pennsylvania Dutch, which is a West Central German variety called Deitsch by its speakers, Jersey Dutch, on the other hand, as spoken until the 1950s in New Jersey, is a Dutch-based creole. In Dutch itself, Diets went out of common use - although Platdiets is still used for the transitional Limburgish-Ripuarian Low Dietsch dialects in northeast Belgium, Nederlands, the official Dutch word for Dutch, did not become firmly established until the 19th century. This designation had been in use as far back as the end of the 15th century, one of them was it reflected a distinction with Hoogduits, High Dutch, meaning the language spoken in Germany. The Hoog was later dropped, and thus, Duits narrowed down in meaning to refer to the German language. g, in English, too, Netherlandic is regarded as a more accurate term for the Dutch language, but is hardly ever used. Old Dutch branched off more or less around the same time Old English, Old High German, Old Frisian and Old Saxon did. During that period, it forced Old Frisian back from the western coast to the north of the Low Countries, on the other hand, Dutch has been replaced in adjacent lands in nowadays France and Germany. The division in Old, Middle and Modern Dutch is mostly conventional, one of the few moments linguists can detect somewhat of a revolution is when the Dutch standard language emerged and quickly established itself. This is assumed to have taken place in approximately the mid-first millennium BCE in the pre-Roman Northern European Iron Age, the Germanic languages are traditionally divided into three groups, East, West, and North Germanic. They remained mutually intelligible throughout the Migration Period, Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots, Frisian, Low German and High German
2.
Municipalities of Belgium
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As such, only Antwerp, having over 500,000 inhabitants, became subdivided into nine districts. The Belgian arrondissements, a level between province and municipality, or the lowest judicial level, are in English sometimes called districts as well. The municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants were grouped in so-called canton municipalities, in 1800, these canton municipalities were abolished again and the number of autonomous municipalities became 2,776. Not much changed during the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, only a number of municipalities were merged. In 1831, Belgium was divided into 2,739 municipalities, New municipalities were created until 1928. There were 2,528 municipalities in 1850,2,572 in 1875,2,617 in 1900 and this also includes the municipalities of the East Cantons that were added to Belgium following the First World War. In 1961, the so-called Unitary Law, of which the chapter was dedicated to the territorial organisation of the municipalities, was adopted. The authority to abolish municipalities was entrusted to the branch for a period of 10 years. Municipalities could be merged on financial grounds or on grounds of a geographical, linguistic, economic, in 1964 and in 1969 and 1970, roughly 300 municipalities ceased to exist and were subsumed into other municipalities. The number of municipalities was reduced from 2,663 in 1961 to 2,586 in 1965, article 4 of the constitution states that each municipality must belong to only one of the four official language areas that were established in 1962–63. In the three officially unilingual language areas, a couple of municipalities in the vicinity of another language area must provide limited facilities for speakers of that other language. Lucien Harmegnies, Minister of the Interior in the government of Gaston Eyskens decided to continue the process of reorganization of Belgium. In 1971, the provisions of the Unity Law were extended and modified to apply to large agglomerations and it was another Minister of the Interior, Joseph Michel, who managed the process. On December 30,1975, the law regarding the merger of the municipalities was adopted, the merger became effective on January 1,1977. The merger of 1977 further reduced the number of municipalities in Belgium from 2,359 to 596, because of the specific nature of the reorganization in Antwerp, the law of December 30,1975 didnt enter into force for Antwerp until January 1,1983. The formerly independent municipalities were called districts and were given an advisory function, however, on January 1,2001 they were given an administrative function again. The Mayor is not only the head of the municipality, he or she is also the representative of the Regional, in that capacity, he or she is responsible for the execution of laws, decrees, ordinances and orders. The Mayor is also responsible for the maintenance of order in his or her municipality
3.
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
4.
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
5.
Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium
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Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities, three regions, and four language areas. For each of these types, the subdivisions together make up the entire country, in other words. The language areas were established by the Second Gilson Act, which entered force on August 2,1963. The division into language areas was included in the Belgian Constitution in 1970 and this is a schematic overview of the basic federal structure of Belgium as defined by Title I of the Belgian Constitution. Each of the entities either have their own Parliament and Government or their own Council, the language areas have no offices or powers and exist de facto as geographical circumscriptions, serving only to delineate the empowered subdivisions. The institutional communities are thus equally geographically determined, Belgian Communities do not officially refer directly to groups of people but rather to specific political, linguistic and cultural competencies of the country. There is no subnationality in Belgium, the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region each comprise five provinces. The Brussels-Capital Region is not a province, nor does it contain any, the three regions are further subdivided into 589 municipalities, which in general consist of several sub-municipalities. These sub-municipalities were independent municipalities in the past, but no longer serve an official purpose, the Federal State retains a considerable common heritage. This includes justice, defence, federal police, social security, public debt and other aspects of public finances, nuclear energy, the State is responsible for the obligations of Belgium and its federalized institutions towards the European Union and NATO. It controls substantial parts of public health, home affairs and foreign affairs and they supervise the provinces, municipalities and intercommunal utility companies. In several fields, the different levels each have their own say on specificities, each level can be involved in scientific research and international relations associated with its powers. Communities were created in 1970 as cultural communities with limited power, in 1980, more power was transferred from the federal state to these entities and they became simply communities. Both the Flemish and French Community have jurisdiction over the area of the Brussels-Capital Region, consequently, they do not have a defined number of inhabitants. The German-speaking Community is the community with an area over which they have sole jurisdiction as a community. It is located within the Walloon Region, which has transferred some regional powers to the German-speaking Community with regards to its area. The Flemish Region or Flanders occupies the part of Belgium. It has an area of 13,522 km2, or 44. 29% of Belgium
6.
French Community of Belgium
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In Belgium, the French Community refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. The name French Community refers to Francophone Belgians, and not to French people residing in Belgium, as such, the French Community of Belgium is sometimes rendered in English as the French-speaking Community of Belgium for clarity. The Community has its own parliament, government, and administration and its official flag is identical to the Walloon Flag, which is also the official flag of the Walloons of Wallonia. Wallonia is home to 80% of all Francophone Belgians, with the remaining 20% residing in Brussels, the French Community of Belgium includes 4.5 million people, of whom,3.6 million live in the Walloon Region,900,000 living in the Brussels-Capital Region. French speakers who live in the Flemish Region are not included in the numbers for the French-speaking Community. Their number is unknown, given the absence of sub-nationality status, estimates of the French-speaking population of Flanders vary from 120,000, around 200,000, to around 300,000. The French Community of Belgium makes up about 41% of the population of Belgium, 58% of the population belongs to the Flemish Community. For years there have been hints that the Community wanted to demonstrate the link between Wallonia and Brussels, the two main territories where the French speakers are in the majority. The independent/private media uses both the alternative and the original designation, in September 2011, the Community adopted a new logo that incorporates its new name. The French Community of Belgium is governed by the Parliament of the French Community, which selects the executive branch, the Parliament of the French Community is the legislative assembly of the French Community of Belgium based in the Quartier Royal. These members are elected for a term of five years, the current President of the Parliament of the French Community is Philippe Courard. Note, Government coalition parties are denoted with bullets The Cabinet of the French Community of Belgium is the branch of the French Community. It consists of a number of ministers chosen by the parliament and is headed by a Minister-President, following the 25 May 2014 election, the PS and CDH parties formed a coalition. A few days later, Milquet was replaced by Marie-Martine Schyns, Schyns took over the Compulsory Education portfolio, which she was already in charge of during the previous legislature. Greoli took over Culture and Child Care from Milquet and also received the Sports portfolio from René Collin, Brussels-Capital Region Commission communautaire française Communities and regions of Belgium Wallonia French Community of Belgium, official website. Parliament of the French Community of Belgium, official website
7.
Wallonia
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Wallonia is a region of Belgium. Wallonia is primarily French-speaking, and accounts for 55% of the territory of Belgium, unlike Flanders, the Walloon Region was not merged with the French Community of Belgium which is the political entity that is responsible for matters related mainly to culture and education. The German-speaking minority in the east forms the German-speaking Community of Belgium, during the industrial revolution, Wallonia was second only to the United Kingdom in industrialization, capitalizing on its extensive deposits of coal and iron. This brought the wealth, and, from the beginning of the 19th to the middle of the 20th century. Since World War II the importance of industry has greatly diminished. Wallonia now suffers high unemployment and has a significantly lower GDP per capita than Flanders. The economic inequalities and linguistic divide between the two are major sources of conflict in Belgium and is a major factor in Flemish separatism. The capital of Wallonia is Namur but the city with the greatest population is Charleroi, most of Wallonias major cities and two-thirds of its population lie along the Sambre and Meuse valley, the former industrial backbone of Belgium. To the north lies the Central Belgian Plateau, which, like Flanders, is relatively flat, in the south-east lie the Ardennes, hilly and sparsely populated. Wallonia borders Flanders and the Netherlands in the north, France to the south and west, Wallonia has been a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie since 1980. The term Wallonia can mean different things in different contexts. One of the three regions of Belgium is still constitutionally defined as the Walloon Region, but the regions government has renamed it Wallonia. In practice, the difference between the two terms is small and what is meant is usually clear, based on context, the root of the word Wallonia, like the words Wales, Cornwall and Wallachia, is the Germanic word Walha, meaning the strangers. Wallonia is named after the Walloons, the population of the Burgundian Netherlands speaking Romance languages, in Middle Dutch, the term Walloons also included the French-speaking population of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège or the whole population of the Romanic sprachraum within the medieval Low Countries. Julius Caesar conquered Gaul in 57 BC, the Low Countries became part of the larger Gallia Belgica province which originally stretched from southwestern Germany to Normandy and the southern part of the Netherlands. The population of territory was Celtic with a Germanic influence which was stronger in the north than in the south of the province. The ancestors of the Walloons became Gallo-Romans and were called the Walha by their Germanic neighbours, the Walha abandoned their Celtic dialects and started to speak Vulgar Latin. The Merovingian Franks gradually gained control of the region during the 5th century, the language border began to crystallize between 700 under the reign of the Merovingians and Carolingians and around 1000 after the Ottonian Renaissance
8.
Provinces of Belgium
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The country of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, the Flemish Region or Flanders, and Walloon Region, the third region, the Brussels-Capital Region, is not divided into provinces, as it was originally only a small part of a province itself. Many of the provinces evolved from earlier duchies and counties of the name and similar location. At the time of the creation of Belgium in 1830, only nine provinces existed, including the province of Brabant and these divisions reflected political tensions between the French-speaking Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemish, the Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual. The division into provinces is fixed by Article 5 of the Belgian Constitution, the provinces are subdivided into 43 administrative arrondissements, and further into 589 municipalities. These each had their own identities and governments, though in the modern period almost all the Belgian states became part of larger entities. Each of the provinces of Belgium takes its name from one of these predecessors. At the time of the independence of Belgium from the Netherlands in 1830, the first article of the Belgian Constitution said, Belgium is divided into provinces. These provinces are Antwerp, Brabant, West Flanders, East Flanders, Hainaut, Liège, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur, in 1839 half of the province of Limburg became part of the Netherlands, which consequently has its own province of Limburg. In 1920, following the First World War, Belgium annexed the Eupen-Malmedy territory, during the second half of the 20th century, Belgium transitioned from a unitary state to a federal state with three Communities and three Regions. As part of the reforms, the province of Brabant was split in 1995 three ways, into two provinces and into the Brussels-Capital Region. The two new Brabant provinces became part of the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region respectively, the remaining eight provinces became part of these regions as well, so the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region each contain five provinces. The Provincial Councils are the bodies of the population of the provinces. This is the equivalent of the States-Provincial in the Netherlands, the numbers of seats in the Provincial Councils are proportional to the population of the province, the numbers were reduced in both Flanders and Wallonia, starting 2013. They are directly elected each six years, at the time of the municipal elections. Before 1994, the elections instead coincided with the national elections. Until then, the provincial councils also appointed Provincial Senators to the Belgian Senate, the executive branch was previously called the Permanent Deputation. In the Flemish Region it is now called the Deputation and it consists of the Governor
9.
Walloon Brabant
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Walloon Brabant is a province of Belgium, located in Wallonia. It borders on the province of Flemish Brabant and the provinces of Liège, Namur, the provincial population was recorded at 347,423 in January 1999, giving a population density of 318 inhabitants / km². Walloon in Walloon Brabant is likely one of the first uses of the word, louis de Haynin wrote Belgium is a great country between France, Germany and the North Sea. This country is divided in two regions, Flanders and Wallonia, Wallonia is divided in Brabant Wallon, Hainaut, Namur, Liège, Luxembourg. The Battle of Waterloo took place in this province in June 1815, the split was made to accommodate the federalisation of Belgium in three regions. It has an area of 1,093 square kilometres and contains only one administrative district, Nivelles District, The Université catholique de Louvain is located in this province. The Louvain-la-Neuve Science Park is developing cooperation between industry and the Université catholique de Louvain and is contributing to economic development. It covers 231 hectares spread over the area of the town of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, the main areas of activity are, Life sciences, Fine chemistry, Information technologies, Engineering,135 innovative companies,4,500 employees, one business incubator. A part of the Walloon industrial power was based in the Sillon industriel with the industry of Clabecq. Piétrain is a breed of domestic pig taking its name from Piétrain, the most important town of this province is Nivelles, which has the Collegiate Church of Saint Gertrude and its westwork. The company distributes 36 doses of vaccines every second, the castle of Corroy-le-Château, one of the best conserved castles of this period in Northern Europe was bought by 21st-century Flemish artist Wim Delvoye for EUR3.3 million. He is planning to convert the Corroy-le-Château into a museum of modern art, Walloon Brabant is twinned with, Shenzhen, China, since 1993 The provinces official site
10.
Arrondissements of Belgium
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Arrondissements of Belgium are subdivisions below the provinces of Belgium. There are administrative, judicial and electoral arrondissements and these may or may not relate to identical geographical areas. The 43 administrative arrondissements are a level between the municipalities and the provinces. Brussels-Capital forms a single arrondissement for all 19 municipalities in the region by that name, Belgium had 27 judicial arrondissements until April 1,2014. Until 1999 the electoral districts for the election of the parliaments were electoral arrondissements, the arrondissement of Brussels-Capital is not part of any province and consequently forms its own electoral district
11.
Arrondissement of Nivelles
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The Arrondissement of Nivelles is the only administrative arrondissement in the Belgian Province of Walloon Brabant, and thus comprises the whole province. Before 1995, it was one of three arrondissements in the province of Brabant and it is both an administrative and a judicial arrondissement. The territory of the Judicial Arrondissement of Nivelles coincides with that of the Administrative Arrondissement of Nivelles, the Administrative Arrondissement of Nivelles consists of the following 27 municipalities
12.
Parti Socialiste (Belgium)
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The Socialist Party is a social-democratic French-speaking political party in Belgium. As of the 2014 elections, it is the second largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives, the party is led by Elio Di Rupo, who was Prime Minister of Belgium from 6 December 2011 until 11 Oktober 2014. The party supplies the Minister-president of the Walloon Region, the French Community, in the German-speaking community, the party is known as the Sozialistische Partei. The party, or its members, have time to time been brought into connection with criminal activities and political scandals, mostly concerning bribery. The Carolorégienne affair caused Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe to step down as Minister-President of the Walloon region, results for the Chamber of Representatives, in percentages for the Kingdom of Belgium. The ideology and image of the PS is a mix of social-democracy, combined with a modern electoral marketing
13.
Municipalities in Belgium
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As such, only Antwerp, having over 500,000 inhabitants, became subdivided into nine districts. The Belgian arrondissements, a level between province and municipality, or the lowest judicial level, are in English sometimes called districts as well. The municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants were grouped in so-called canton municipalities, in 1800, these canton municipalities were abolished again and the number of autonomous municipalities became 2,776. Not much changed during the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, only a number of municipalities were merged. In 1831, Belgium was divided into 2,739 municipalities, New municipalities were created until 1928. There were 2,528 municipalities in 1850,2,572 in 1875,2,617 in 1900 and this also includes the municipalities of the East Cantons that were added to Belgium following the First World War. In 1961, the so-called Unitary Law, of which the chapter was dedicated to the territorial organisation of the municipalities, was adopted. The authority to abolish municipalities was entrusted to the branch for a period of 10 years. Municipalities could be merged on financial grounds or on grounds of a geographical, linguistic, economic, in 1964 and in 1969 and 1970, roughly 300 municipalities ceased to exist and were subsumed into other municipalities. The number of municipalities was reduced from 2,663 in 1961 to 2,586 in 1965, article 4 of the constitution states that each municipality must belong to only one of the four official language areas that were established in 1962–63. In the three officially unilingual language areas, a couple of municipalities in the vicinity of another language area must provide limited facilities for speakers of that other language. Lucien Harmegnies, Minister of the Interior in the government of Gaston Eyskens decided to continue the process of reorganization of Belgium. In 1971, the provisions of the Unity Law were extended and modified to apply to large agglomerations and it was another Minister of the Interior, Joseph Michel, who managed the process. On December 30,1975, the law regarding the merger of the municipalities was adopted, the merger became effective on January 1,1977. The merger of 1977 further reduced the number of municipalities in Belgium from 2,359 to 596, because of the specific nature of the reorganization in Antwerp, the law of December 30,1975 didnt enter into force for Antwerp until January 1,1983. The formerly independent municipalities were called districts and were given an advisory function, however, on January 1,2001 they were given an administrative function again. The Mayor is not only the head of the municipality, he or she is also the representative of the Regional, in that capacity, he or she is responsible for the execution of laws, decrees, ordinances and orders. The Mayor is also responsible for the maintenance of order in his or her municipality
14.
Brussels
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Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the region of Flanders or Wallonia. The region has a population of 1.2 million and an area with a population of over 1.8 million. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, the secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are also located in Brussels. Today, it is considered an Alpha global city, historically a Dutch-speaking city, Brussels has seen a language shift to French from the late 19th century onwards. Today, the majority language is French, and the Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. All road signs, street names, and many advertisements and services are shown in both languages, Brussels is increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants, expatriates and minority groups speaking their own languages. The most common theory of the origin of Brussels name is that it derives from the Old Dutch Broekzele or Broeksel, meaning marsh, Saint Vindicianus, the bishop of Cambrai made the first recorded reference to the place Brosella in 695 when it was still a hamlet. The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580. The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel, Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island. Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven gained the County of Brussels around 1000 by marrying Charles daughter, as it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant at about this time, in the 13th century, the city got its first walls. After the construction of the city walls in the early 13th century, to let the city expand, a second set of walls was erected between 1356 and 1383. Today, traces of it can still be seen, mostly because the small ring, Brabant had lost its independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous Low Countries, and flourished. In 1516 Charles V, who had been heir of the Low Countries since 1506, was declared King of Spain in St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. Upon the death of his grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 and it was in the Palace complex at Coudenberg that Charles V abdicated in 1555. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant. In 1695, during the Nine Years War, King Louis XIV of France sent troops to bombard Brussels with artillery, together with the resulting fire, it was the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels
15.
Marlinspike Hall
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Marlinspike Hall is Captain Haddocks country house and family estate in The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The hall is modelled after the section of the Château de Cheverny. The original French name of the hall is derived from Sart-Moulin, in an allusion to the Haddock familys maritime history, the halls English name refers to the marlinspike, a tool used in seamanship to splice ropes. Marlinspike Hall first appears in The Secret of the Unicorn as the home of the storys villains, the Bird brothers. At the end of Red Rackhams Treasure, the manor is purchased by Professor Calculus on behalf of the Captain, in the following years, Marlinspike provides a home base for Tintin and Haddock in between their various adventures. In The Castafiore Emerald, virtually all of the takes place in the Hall, its grounds. Marlinspike Hall is presented as a large and luxurious dwelling adorned with works of art, antique furniture. The grounds comprise a park with extensive woodlands, wide lawns, a rose garden, the size of the house and park would appear to require a number of domestic and gardening staff, but only one—the faithful Nestor, who serves as butler to the Hall—is ever seen. In Land of Black Gold Calculus blows up part of the Hall while conducting experiments, the Belgian corporation organized to manage the rights to Hergés work is called Moulinsart S. A. after the name of Marlinspike in the original French. Marlinspike Hall is located in Belgium, in the Golden Press editions, the name is Americanized to Hudson Manor, suggesting a location along the Hudson River in the state of New York
16.
Waterloo, Belgium
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Waterloo is a municipality in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium, which in 2011 had a population of 29,706 and an area of 21.03 km2. It is north of Braine-lAlleud, which is the site of the Battle of Waterloo, Waterloo is a multilingual town, the commune offers services in French, Dutch, and English. The placename is of Dutch origin, the first element is most likely water, but it should be understood here as wet. The second element is lo, an ancient word for forest or clearing in a forest, coming from the Latin words lucus or lucum, the early settlement was located on a marshy clearing in the Sonian Forest. Waterloo was located at the crossing of the road with a path leading to a farm. The crossing still exists, chaussée de Bruxelles with Boulevard de la Cense, Waterloo was a place where travellers and carriers of goods could rest and escape the bandits at night. Waterloo was located in the Duchy of Brabant created in 1183 with Leuven as the capital city, the Duchy of Brabant extended from Luttre till s-Hertogenbosch in 1477. Brussels became the city of the Duchy of Brabant in 1267. Waterloo started to develop during the 17th century, a royal chapel was built in 1687 in Petit-Waterloo. This chapel still exists and was extended in 1826 at the back to form todays main church of Waterloo, because of the new ideas following the French Revolution in 1789, the Holy Roman Emperor wanted to impose reforms. This was followed by a period of unrest that ended with the French invasion in 1794, until 1796, Waterloo was divided into two parts depending, respectively, of the parishes of Braine-lAlleud and of Sint-Genesius-Rode. A new system based on municipalities was established in 1796, the municipality of Waterloo was created from Petit-Waterloo detached from Sint-Genesius-Rode and three former hamlets detached from Braine-l’Alleud. In 1813, half of the hamlet of Chenois was detached from Braine-l’Alleud, in 1824, Waterloo grew again as the areas Roussart and Sainte-Gertrude from the Sonian Forest became part of the municipality too. Waterloo had 1571 inhabitants in 1801 and 3202 in 1846, in 1795, the invaded territories were divided into nine departments. Some municipalities, including Waterloo, became part of the Dyle department and it changed name in 1830 when Belgium became independent and became the province of Brabant for 165 years. The strategic location of Waterloo on a road towards Brussels explains why the battle took place just south of Waterloo. It was important for the allies to stop Napoleon from reaching Brussels, just 17 kilometres away, in 1977, the second half of the hamlet of Chenois was detached from Braine-l’Alleud and became part of Waterloo together with a part of the hamlet next to the Lion. In 1995, the province of Brabant was divided to match the limits of the regions created in 1980, the part in which Waterloo is situated became the province of Walloon Brabant
17.
Battle of Waterloo
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The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday,18 June 1815, near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Upon Napoleons return to power in March 1815, many states that had opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition, Wellington and Blüchers armies were cantoned close to the north-eastern border of France. Napoleon chose to attack them in the hope of destroying them before they could join in an invasion of France with other members of the coalition. Despite holding his ground at Quatre Bras, the defeat of the Prussians forced Wellington to withdraw to Waterloo, Napoleon sent a third of his forces to pursue the Prussians, who had withdrawn parallel to Wellington. This resulted in the separate and simultaneous Battle of Wavre with the Prussian rear-guard, upon learning that the Prussian army was able to support him, Wellington decided to offer battle on the Mont-Saint-Jean escarpment, across the Brussels road. Here he withstood repeated attacks by the French throughout the afternoon, in the evening Napoleon committed his last reserves to a desperate final attack, which was narrowly beaten back. With the Prussians breaking through on the French right flank, Wellingtons Anglo-allied army counter-attacked in the centre, Waterloo was the decisive engagement of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleons last. According to Wellington, the battle was the thing you ever saw in your life. Napoleon abdicated four days later, and on 7 July coalition forces entered Paris, the defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleons rule as Emperor of the French, and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile. This ended the First French Empire, and set a chronological milestone between serial European wars and decades of relative peace, the battlefield is located in the municipalities of Braine-lAlleud and Lasne, about 15 kilometres south of Brussels, and about 2 kilometres from the town of Waterloo. The site of the battlefield today is dominated by a large monument, as this mound was constructed from earth taken from the battlefield itself, the contemporary topography of the battlefield near the mound has not been preserved. On 13 March 1815, six days before Napoleon reached Paris, four days later, the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria, and Prussia mobilised armies to defeat Napoleon. Crucially, this would have bought him time to recruit and train more men before turning his armies against the Austrians and Russians, an additional consideration for Napoleon was that a French victory might cause French speaking sympathisers in Belgium to launch a friendly revolution. Wellingtons initial dispositions were intended to counter the threat of Napoleon enveloping the Coalition armies by moving through Mons to the south-west of Brussels and this would have pushed Wellington closer to Blücher, but may have cut Wellingtons communications with his base at Ostend. In order to delay Wellingtons deployment, Napoleon spread false intelligence which suggested that Wellingtons supply chain from the ports would be cut. By June, Napoleon had raised a total strength of about 300,000 men. The force at his disposal at Waterloo was less than one third that size, Napoleon divided his army into a left wing commanded by Marshal Ney, a right wing commanded by Marshal Grouchy and a reserve under his command. Crossing the frontier near Charleroi before dawn on 15 June, the French rapidly overran Coalition outposts and he hoped this would prevent them from combining, and he would be able to destroy first the Prussians army, then Wellingtons
18.
Prehistory
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Prehistory means literally before history, from the Latin word for before, præ, and Greek ιστορία. Neighbouring civilisations were the first to follow, most other civilisations reached the end of prehistory during the Iron Age. The period when a culture is written about by others, but has not developed its own writing is known as the protohistory of the culture. By definition, there are no records from human prehistory. Clear techniques for dating were not well-developed until the 19th century and this article is concerned with human prehistory as defined here above. There are separate articles for the history of the Earth. However, for the race as a whole, prehistory ends when recorded history begins with the accounts of the ancient world around the 4th millennium BC. For example, in Egypt it is accepted that prehistory ended around 3200 BC, whereas in New Guinea the end of the prehistoric era is set much more recently. The three-age system is the periodization of prehistory into three consecutive time periods, named for their respective predominant tool-making technologies, Stone Age Bronze Age Iron Age. The notion of prehistory began to surface during the Enlightenment in the work of antiquarians who used the word primitive to describe societies that existed before written records, the first use of the word prehistory in English, however, occurred in the Foreign Quarterly Review in 1836. The main source for prehistory is archaeology, but some scholars are beginning to more use of evidence from the natural and social sciences. This view has been articulated by advocates of deep history, human population geneticists and historical linguists are also providing valuable insight for these questions. Human prehistory differs from history not only in terms of its chronology, restricted to material processes, remains and artifacts rather than written records, prehistory is anonymous. Because of this, reference terms that use, such as Neanderthal or Iron Age are modern labels with definitions sometimes subject to debate. Palaeolithic means Old Stone Age, and begins with the first use of stone tools, the Paleolithic is the earliest period of the Stone Age. The early part of the Palaeolithic is called the Lower Palaeolithic, evidence of control of fire by early humans during the Lower Palaeolithic Era is uncertain and has at best limited scholarly support. The most widely accepted claim is that H. erectus or H. ergaster made fires between 790,000 and 690,000 BP in a site at Bnot Yaakov Bridge, Israel. The use of fire enabled early humans to cook food, provide warmth, Early Homo sapiens originated some 200,000 years ago, ushering in the Middle Palaeolithic
19.
Godfrey I, Count of Louvain
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He was also margrave of Antwerp from 1106 to his death. Godfrey was the son of Henry II and Adela of Orthen and he succeeded his brother Henry III who died wounded in a tournament in 1095, and only had young daughters. His widow Gertrude married Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine and he first came into conflict with Otbert, Bishop of Liège, over the county of Brunengeruz that both claimed. In 1099, Emperor Henry IV allotted the county to the bishop, Godfrey arbitrated a dispute between Henry III of Luxembourg and Arnold I, Count of Loon, over the appointment of the abbot of Sint-Truiden. Godfrey was in favour with the emperor and defended his interests in Lorraine, in 1102, he stopped Robert II of Flanders the Crusader, who was invading the Cambraisis. After the death of the emperor in 1106, his son and successor, Henry V, Duke Henry of Lower Lorraine was imprisoned and his duchy confiscated and given to Godfrey. After Henry escaped from prison, he tried to retake his duchy and captured Aachen, in 1114, during a rift between the emperor and Pope Paschal II, Godfrey led a revolt in Germany. In 1118, the emperor and the duke were reconciled, in 1119, Baldwin VII of Flanders died heirless and Flanders was contested between several claimants, one of whom, William of Ypres, had married a niece of Godfreys second wife. Godfrey supported William, but could not enforce his claim against that of Charles the Good, also dead in that year was Otbert. Two separate men were elected to him and Godfrey again sided with the loser. By marrying his daughter Adeliza to Henry I of England, who was also the father-in-law of the emperor, however, Henry V died in 1125 and Godfrey supported Conrad of Hohenstaufen, the duke of Franconia, against Lothair of Supplinburg. Lothair withdrew the duchy of Lower Lorraine and granted it to Waleran of Limburg, the son of Henry, nonetheless, Godfrey maintained the margraviate of Antwerp and retained the ducal title. After the assassination of Charles the Good in 1127, the Flemish succession was again in dispute, William Clito prevailed, but was soon fraught with revolts. Godfrey intervened on behalf of Theodoric of Alsace, who prevailed against Clito, Godfrey continued to war against Liège and Namur. Godfrey spent his last years in the abbey of Affligem and he died of old age on 25 January 1139 and was buried in the left aisle of the abbey church. He is sometimes said to have passed in 1140, but this is an error and he married Ida of Chiny, daughter of Otto II, Count of Chiny, and Adelaide of Namur. They had several children, Adeliza of Louvain married Henry I, King of England and later William dAubigny, Godfrey II of Louvain, Duke of Lower Lotharingia, Landgrave of Brabant, Count of Brussels and Louvain. He married Lutgardis of Sulzbach, daughter of Berenger I of Sulzbach, Ida married to Arnold I, Count of Cleves
20.
Gembloux Abbey
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Gembloux Abbey was a Benedictine abbey near the town of Gembloux in the province of Namur, Belgium. Saint Guibert was assisted in the erection of the monastery and the selection of its monks by Erluin, Guibert appointed his friend Erluin the first abbot of Gembloux, while he himself became a monk at Gorze Abbey near Metz. The first time was in 954, when the Hungarians threatened to pillage the monastery, Guibert not only saved it from harm but also converted some Hungarians to Christianity. The second time was in 957, when his brother-in-law Heribrand of Mawolt had seized the revenues of the monastery, Guibert persuaded Heribrand to leave the possessions of the monastery unmolested in the future. On 23 May 962, Guibert died at Gorze and his remains were brought for burial to Gembloux, when monastic discipline was well established at Gembloux, Erluin attempted, at the suggestion of Count Regnier of Hainaut, to reform Lobbes Abbey in 955. Erluin died at Gembloux on 10 August 986 after Pope Benedict VII had granted his monastery exemption and papal protection. During the short reign of his successor, abbot Heriward, the monks voluntarily relinquished their right of exemption in favour of Bishop Notger of Liège, Heriward was succeeded by Erluin II, under whose weak administration monastic discipline greatly relaxed. During the period of its greatest intellectual activity the abbey was ruled by Mysach, Thietmar, Liethard and his chronicle was continued by Abbot Anselm till 1136, and his history of the abbots of Gembloux by the monk Gottschalk, a disciple of Sigebert. The learned prior Guerin, a teacher at the abbey school, was a contemporary of Sigebert. In 1157 and again in 1185 the monastery was destroyed by fire, the abbots did, however, continue to hold the title of count and to sit among the nobility in the States of Brabant. In 1505, under Abbot Arnold II de Solbrecg, the abbey became affiliated to the Bursfeld Union and it was pillaged by the Calvinists in 1598, and was partly destroyed by fire in 1678 and again in 1712. It was just beginning to recover from these heavy misfortunes when in 1793 the Revolutionary government suppressed it, the buildings, which largely survived, are used for the Agronomical University of Gembloux. The succession of abbots is as follows
21.
Henry I, Duke of Brabant
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Henry I of Brabant, named The Courageous, was a member of the House of Reginar and first Duke of Brabant from 1183/84 until his death. He was possibly born in Leuven, the son of Count Godfrey III of Louvain and his wife Margaret and his father also held the title of a Landgrave of Brabant, Duke of Lower Lorraine and margrave of Antwerp. Henry early appeared as a co-ruler of his father, in 1179 he married Matilda of Boulogne, daughter of Marie of Boulogne and Matthew of Alsace and on this occasion received the County of Brussels from his father. He acted as a regent while Count Godfrey III went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from 1182 to 1184, in 1183 Henry took the title of a Duke of Brabant. Upon the death of his father in 1190, King Henry VI confirmed the elevation of Brabant, Duke Henry sought to expand his power and soon picked several quarrels with the Count Baldwin V of Hainaut. He also was in opposition to the German king when his brother Albert of Louvain was elected Bishop of Liège and murdered shortly afterwards. Further conflicts with Duke Henry III of Limburg and Count Otto I of Guelders followed, here he acted as regent until the arrival of the new King, Amalric II. He fought against Philips seconders Count Dirk VII of Holland and Count Otto of Guelders, however, he switched sides in 1204, in 1208, after the assassination of Philip, Henry was proposed as successor by King Philip II. In the war followed, he finally reached a reconciliation with Emperor Otto IV. Together they fought against King Philip in the 1214 Battle of Bouvines, in 1213, Duke Henry also suffered a heavy defeat against the Bishopric of Liège in the Battle of Steppes. From 1217 to 1218 he joined the Fifth Crusade to Egypt, under Henry I, there was town policy and town planning. Among the towns to which the duke gave city rights and trade privileges was s-Hertogenbosch, in 1235 the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II appointed Henry to travel to England to bring him his fiancée Isabella Plantagenet, daughter of King John Lackland. Unfortunately, Henry fell ill on his way back and died at Cologne and he was buried in St. Peters Church at Leuven where his Late Romanesque effigy can still be seen
22.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
23.
Fief
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The fees were often lands or revenue-producing real property held in feudal land tenure, these are typically known as fiefs or fiefdoms. However, not only land but anything of value could be held in fee, including office, rights of exploitation such as hunting or fishing, monopolies in trade. In ancient Rome a benefice was a gift of land for life as a reward for services rendered, originally, in medieval Latin European documents, a land grant in exchange for service continued to be called a beneficium. Later, the term feudum, or feodum, began to replace beneficium in the documents, the first attested instance of this is from 984, although more primitive forms were seen up to one hundred years earlier. The origin of the feudum and why it replaced beneficium has not been well established, but there are multiple theories, described below. The most widely held theory is put forth by Marc Bloch that it is related to the Frankish term *fehu-ôd, in which means cattle and -ôd means goods. When land replaced currency as the store of value, the Germanic word *fehu-ôd replaced the Latin word beneficium. This Germanic origin theory was also shared by William Stubbs in the nineteenth century, a theory put forward by Archibald R. Lewis that the origin of fief is not feudum, but rather foderum, the earliest attested use being in Astronomuss Vita Hludovici. In that text is a passage about Louis the Pious which says annona militaris quas vulgo foderum vocant, a theory by Alauddin Samarrai suggests an Arabic origin, from fuyū. Samarrais theory is that early forms of fief include feo, feu, feuz, feuum and others, Samarrai, however, also advises medieval and early modern Muslim scribes often used etymologically fanciful roots in order to claim the most outlandish things to be of Arabian or Muslim origin. It lacked a precise meaning until the middle of the 12th century, in English usage, the word fee is first attested around 1250–1300, the word fief from around 1605–15. In French, the fief is found from the middle of the 13th century. In French, one also finds seigneurie, which rise to the expression seigneurial system to describe feudalism. Originally, vassalage did not imply the giving or receiving of landholdings, by the middle of the 10th century, fee had largely become hereditary. The eldest son of a deceased vassal would inherit, but first he had to do homage and fealty to the lord, historically, the fees of the 11th and the 12th century derived from two separate sources. The first was land carved out of the estates of the upper nobility, the second source was allodial land transformed into dependent tenures. The process occurred later in Germany, and was going on in the 13th century. In England, Henry II transformed them into important sources of royal income, the discontent of barons with royal claims to arbitrarily assessed reliefs and other feudal payments under Henrys son King John resulted in Magna Carta of 1215
24.
Duke of Brabant
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The Duke of Brabant was formally the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I of the House of Reginar, the Duchy of Brabant was a feudal elevation of the since 1085/1086 existing title of Landgrave of Brabant. This was an Imperial fief which was assigned to Count Henry III of Leuven shortly after the death of the preceding Count of Brabant, Count Palatine Herman II of Lotharingia. Although the corresponding county was quite small its name was applied to the country under control of the Dukes from the 13th century on. In 1190, after the death of Godfrey III, Henry I also became Duke of Lotharingia, formerly Lower Lotharingia, this title was now practically without territorial authority, but was borne by the later Dukes of Brabant as an honorific title. In 1288, the Dukes of Brabant became also Duke of Limburg, the title fell to the Dukes of Burgundy in 1430. Counts of Leuven, Counts of Brussels and Landgraves of Brabant, Henry III, already Count of Leuven and Brussels from 1078. The oldest Son/daughter becomes automatically the duke/duchess of Brabant when his/her father becomes King of the Belgians, when the Duke of Brabant loses his father, or when he abdicates, his title goes to the next in line, and he becomes the new King of the Belgians. Unlike the office of King of the Belgians, you do not have to reach the age of 18 to become Duke of Brabant, however, if a Duke of Brabant does not reach the age of 18, he cannot ascent to the Throne of Belgium. When the prince becomes duke of Brabant, this takes precedence of the other titles. When the Duke of Brabant marries legally, after permission of the King, the last Duke of Brabant became King in 2013, and passed the title to his oldest child. The current Duchess, Crown Princess Elisabeth was in 2013 only 12 years old when she became duchess, Leopold II Leopold, son of Leopold II - the only prince who died a Duke of Brabant. Leopold III Baudouin Philippe Elisabeth Coat of arms of Elisabeth of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant Dukes of Brabant family tree Charters of the Duchy of Brabant Counts of Louvain, genealogical note
25.
Field hospital
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A field hospital is a small mobile medical unit, or mini hospital, that temporarily takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent hospital facilities. This term is used overwhelmingly with reference to situations. The concept was inherited from the battlefield, and is now applied in case of disasters or major accidents, as well as with traditional Military medicine. A field hospital is a staff with a mobile medical kit and, often. In an urban environment, the hospital is often established in an easily accessible. In case of a structure, the mobile medical kit is often placed in normalized container. A field hospital is generally larger than an aid station. Field hospitals were originally called ambulances, the surgical, evacuation, or field hospitals would remain many miles in the rear, and the divisional clearing stations were never intended to provide emergency life-saving surgery. With the Army’s larger mobile hospitals unable to assume their role in support of the front line combat units. Some sort of interim solution had to be found quickly to provide the necessary surgical services, a team of Medical Corps officers modified the basic War Department for a standard 25-bed station hospital into a new theater and table of basic for a portable hospital of 25-beds. The new unit was capable of supporting units in its camp-type version or battalion. Commanded by a Medical Corps captain or major, the new 29-man portable hospital had 4 medical officers 3 general surgeons and 25 enlisted men, including 2 surgical and 11 medical technicians. What really marked a departure was that all of the units equipment, medical and surgical supplies. Because the surgical demands on the hospitals were then only minimal. The surgeons in many of the portable hospitals would set standards of excellence in surgery. Hastily assembled and trained, the portable hospitals suffered from many shortcomings in personnel and equipment, probably the single most critical problem was the severe limitation placed on the total weight to assure the unit’s portability. From the start, this meant that to be portable the unit had to give up medical and surgical equipment, with no actual operational experience as a basis, that doctrine was much more conjectural than concrete. The Surgeon Generals Office and the War Department enthusiastically adopted SWPAs new hospital as a unit before the first portable hospitals proved their value in the Buna campaign
26.
Butte du Lion
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The Lions Mound is a large conical artificial hill located in the municipality of Braine-lAlleud, Belgium. King William I of the Netherlands ordered its construction in 1820 and it commemorates the location on the battlefield of Waterloo where a musket ball hit the shoulder of William II of the Netherlands and knocked him from his horse during the battle. It is also a memorial of the Battle of Quatre Bras, the hill offers a vista of the battlefield, and is the anchor point of the associated museums and taverns in the surrounding Lions Hamlet. Visitors who pay a fee may climb up the Mounds 225 steps, which lead to the statue and its surrounding overlook, at the behest of William I, the Royal Architect Charles Vander Straeten designed the monument. The engineer Jean-Baptiste Vifquain conceived of it as a symbol of the Allied victory rather than as glorifying any sole individual. Earth from many parts of the battlefield, including the fields between La Haye Sainte farm and the Duke of Wellingtons sunken lane, is in the huge man-made hill, the mount is 43 m in height and has a circumference of 520 m. Its volume is greater than 390,000 m3, which far exceeds the frequent claim of 300,000 m3, which had assumed the mount to be conical. Victor Hugo, in his novel Les Miserables, wrote that the Duke of Wellington visited the two years after the Mounds completion and said, They have altered my field of battle. The alleged remark by Wellington as described by Hugo was never documented, a statue of a lion standing upon a stone-block pedestal surmounts the hill. Jean-Louis Van Geel sculpted the lion, which closely resembles the 16th-century Medici lions. The lion is the heraldic beast on the coat of arms of the monarch of The Netherlands. Its right front paw is upon a sphere, signifying global victory, the statue weighs 28 tonnes, has a height of 4.45 m and a length of 4.5 m. There is a legend that the melted down brass from cannons that the French had left on the battlefield. In reality, the foundry made nine separate partial casts in iron, Waterloo, Belgium The Lion Mound Hamlet, local tourism organisation
27.
Waterloo Panorama
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The Panorama of the Battle of Waterloo is a rotunda in Belgium that houses a monumental panoramic painting depicting the Battle of Waterloo. The rotunda was designed by the architect Franz Van Ophem in 1911 and it has an external diameter of 35 metres and stands 15 metres high, with a conical roof. The white painted walls of the rotunda are decorated with recessed blind arches separated by Ionic pilasters. The entrance porch has two pairs of Tuscan columns supporting a triangular pediment and it is lit from above by a ring of glazing around the edge of the conical roof and is viewed from a 5 metres high platform at the centre of the rotunda. The painting depicts several different episodes from the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, physical elements in front of the painting, including cut-out figures, fences and bodies made of plaster and papier mache, disguise the lower edge of the painting and enhance its immersive quality. The building and the painting were protected as monuments in 1998. In 2008 the Belgian government proposed that the panorama should be included within a UNESCO World Heritage Site listing, the Waterloo Panorama is one of few original panoramas that have survived and which are still exhibited in their original location. Other panoramas of the Battle of Waterloo, by Charles Verlat, Paul Philippoteaux and Charles Castellani have been lost
28.
Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
29.
Cardinal (Catholicism)
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A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical leader, considered a Prince of the Church, and usually an ordained bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. The cardinals of the Church are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, the duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available individually or in groups to the Pope as requested. Most have additional duties, such as leading a diocese or archdiocese or managing a department of the Roman Curia, a cardinals primary duty is electing the pope when the see becomes vacant. During the sede vacante, the governance of the Holy See is in the hands of the College of Cardinals. The right to enter the conclave of cardinals where the pope is elected is limited to those who have not reached the age of 80 years by the day the vacancy occurs. In 1059, the right of electing the pope was reserved to the clergy of Rome. The term was applied in this sense as early as the century to the priests of the tituli of the diocese of Rome. The Church of England retains an instance of this origin of the title, which is held by the two senior members of the College of Minor Canons of St Pauls Cathedral. In Rome the first persons to be called cardinals were the deacons of the seven regions of the city at the beginning of the 6th century, when the word began to mean principal, eminent, or superior. The name was given to the senior priest in each of the title churches of Rome. By the 8th century the Roman cardinals constituted a class among the Roman clergy. They took part in the administration of the church of Rome, by decree of a synod of 769, only a cardinal was eligible to become pope. In 1059, during the pontificate of Nicholas II, cardinals were given the right to elect the pope under the Papal Bull In nomine Domini. For a time this power was assigned exclusively to the cardinal bishops, Cardinals were granted the privilege of wearing the red hat by Pope Innocent IV in 1244. In cities other than Rome, the name began to be applied to certain church men as a mark of honour. This meaning of the word spread rapidly, and from the 9th century various episcopal cities had a class among the clergy known as cardinals. The use of the title was reserved for the cardinals of Rome in 1567 by Pius V, in the year 1563 the influential Ecumenical Council of Trent, headed by Pope Pius IV, wrote about the importance of selecting good Cardinals. The earlier influence of temporal rulers, notably the French kings, in early modern times, cardinals often had important roles in secular affairs
30.
Manneken Pis
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Manneken Pis is a landmark small bronze sculpture in Brussels, depicting a naked little boy urinating into a fountains basin. It was designed by Hiëronymus Duquesnoy the Elder and put in place in 1618 or 1619, the famous statue is at the junction of Rue de lÉtuve/Stoofstraat and Rue du Chêne/Eikstraat. To find it, one takes the lane next to the Brussels Town Hall from the famous Grand Place. The figure has been stolen, the current statue dates from 1965. The original restored version is kept at the Maison du Roi/Broodhuis on the Grand Place, there are several legends behind this statue, but the most famous is the one about Duke Godfrey III of Leuven. In 1142, the troops of this two-year-old lord were battling against the troops of the Berthouts, the troops put the infant lord in a basket and hung the basket in a tree to encourage them. From there, the boy urinated on the troops of the Berthouts, another legend states that in the 14th century, Brussels was under siege by a foreign power. The city had held its ground for time, so the attackers conceived of a plan to place explosive charges at the city walls. A little boy named Julianske happened to be spying on them as they were preparing and he urinated on the burning fuse and thus saved the city. There was at the time a statue made of stone. The statue was several times. Another story tells of a merchant who, during a visit to the city with his family, had his beloved young son go missing. The merchant hastily formed a party that scoured all corners of the city until the boy was found happily urinating in a small garden. The merchant, as a gift of gratitude to the locals who helped out during the search, had the fountain built, another legend was that a small boy went missing from his mother when shopping in the centre of the city. The woman, panic-stricken by the loss of her child, called upon everyone she came across, a city-wide search began and when at last the child was found, he was urinating on the corner of a small street. The story was passed down over time and the statue erected as a tribute to the well-known legend. Another legend tells of the boy who was awoken by a fire and was able to put out the fire with his urine. The statue is dressed in several times each week, according to a published schedule which is posted on the railings around the fountain
31.
Eden Hazard
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Eden Michael Hazard is a Belgian professional footballer who plays for English club Chelsea and the Belgium national team. He primarily plays as a midfielder and as a wide midfielder. Hazards creativity, speed, and technical ability are widely acknowledged, Hazard is often ranked by coaches, colleagues, and commentators as one of the best players in the world. Hazard is the son of former Belgian footballers and began his career in Belgium playing for local clubs Royal Stade Brainois. In 2005, he moved to France joining first division club Lille, Hazard spent two years in the clubs academy and, at the age of 16, made his professional debut in November 2007. He went on to become an part of Lille under manager Rudi Garcia. In his first full season as a starter, he won the National Union of Professional Footballers Young Player of the Year award, in the 2009–10 season, Hazard captured the award again, becoming the first player to win the award twice. He was also named to the leagues Team of the Year, Hazard was also given the Bravo Award by Italian magazine Guerin Sportivo for his performances during the 2010–11 season. In the 2014–15 season, he helped Chelsea win the League Cup and Premier League, earning him the FWA Footballer of the Year, Hazard is a Belgium international, having represented his nation at under-17 and under-19 level. Hazard made his international debut in November 2008, aged 17. Nearly three years after his debut, Hazard scored his first international goal against Kazakhstan in October 2011 and he has since earned 76 caps, and was a member of the Belgian squad which reached the quarter-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2016. Hazard was born in La Louvière and grew up in Braine-le-Comte and his mother, Carine, and father, Thierry, were both footballers. His father spent most of his playing at semi-professional level with La Louvière in the Belgian Second Division. He played mainly as a defensive midfielder and his mother played as a striker in the Belgian Womens First Division and stopped playing when she was three months pregnant with Eden. After playing football, both parents became sports teachers, Thierry retired from his position in 2009 in order to devote more time to his children. Hazard is the eldest of four children and he has three brothers, all of whom play football, including Thorgan, who joined him at Chelsea in 2012 but then moved permanently to Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2015. Thorgan had previously progressed through the ranks of Lilles biggest rivals Lens. Hazards other younger brothers are Kylian and Ethan, on 15 July 2013, Kylian joined White Star Bruxelles, but now plays for Hungarian side Újpest, while Ethan remains playing in the youth academy of Edens former club Tubize
32.
Disc golf
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Disc Golf is a flying disc game, as well as a precision and accuracy sport, in which individual players throw a flying disc at a target. According to the Professional Disc Golf Association, the object of the game is to traverse a course from beginning to end in the fewest number of throws of the disc, in just eight years, the number of disc golf courses doubled. The game is played in about 40 countries around the world, the history of disc golf is closely tied to the history of the recreational flying disc. The first known instance of anyone playing golf with a flying disc occurred in Bladworth, Saskatchewan and they called the game Tin Lid Golf and played on a fairly regular basis. However, after they grew older and went their separate ways and it wasnt until the 1970s that disc golf would be reintroduced to Canadians at the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships in Toronto. Modern disc golf started in the early 1960s, when it seems to have invented in many places. In 1968 Frisbee Golf was also played in Alameda Park in Santa Barbara, Ca. by teenagers in the Anacapa, gazebos, water fountains, lamp posts and trees were all part of the course. This took place for years and an Alameda Park collectors edition disc still exists. Clifford Towne from this went on to hold a National Time Aloft record. A true pioneer of the sport of Frisbee Golf is Kevin Donnelly, Kevin began playing a form of Frisbee golf in 1959 called Street Frisbee Golf. This culminated in 1965 with a fully documented, Wham-O sponsored, dave was one of the founders of Innova, a well-known disc manufacturer. In 1976, Headrick formed the DGA, then later the PDGA, ted Smethers took over the PDGA in 1982 to be run independently and to officiate the standard rules of play for the sport. The sport has grown at a rate of 12-15 percent annually for more than the past decade, with nearly 4000 courses in the US and about 5000 globally. The game is now played in more than 40 countries worldwide, primarily in the United States, Canada, Central and Western Europe, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia. In 1965, George Sappenfield, from Fresno California, was a recreation counselor during summer break from college, while playing golf one afternoon he realized that it might be fun for the children on his playground if they played golf with frisbees. He set up a course for his children to play on. Other early courses were also of type, using anything from lamp poles to fire hydrants as targets. When he finished college in 1968, Sappenfield became the Parks and Recreation Supervisor for Conejo Recreation and Park District in Thousand Oaks, George introduced the game to many adults by planning a disc golf tournament as part of a recreation project
33.
Carnival
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Carnival is a Western Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide. Carnival typically involves a public celebration and/or parade combining some elements of a circus, masks, people wear masks and costumes during many such celebrations, allowing them to lose their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity. Excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods proscribed during Lent is extremely common, the term Carnival is traditionally used in areas with a large Catholic presence. However, the Philippines, a predominantly Roman Catholic country, does not celebrate Carnival anymore since the dissolution of the Manila Carnival after 1939, in Slavic Eastern Orthodox nations, Maslenitsa is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent. In German-speaking Europe and the Netherlands, the Carnival season traditionally opens on 11/11 and this dates back to celebrations before the Advent season or with harvest celebrations of St. Martins Day. Rio de Janeiro in Brazil is the biggest in the world, followed jointly by Barranquilla, Colombia, alternative names are used for regional and local celebrations. The origin may be from the Italian word carne or carrus, the former suggests an origin within Christianity, while the alternative links to earlier religions. Folk etymologies state that the word comes from the Late Latin expression carne vale, the word carne may also be translated as flesh, producing a farewell to the flesh, a phrase embraced by certain carnival celebrants to embolden the festivals carefree spirit. However, this interpretation is not supported by philological evidence, the Italian carne levare is one possible origin, meaning to remove meat, since meat is prohibited during Lent. Other scholars argue for the origin from the Roman name for the festival of the Navigium Isidis, the festival consisted of a parade of masks following an adorned wooden boat, possibly source of the floats. From the anthropological point of view, carnival is a ritual, in which social roles are reversed. Winter was thought of as the reign of the winter spirits, Carnival can thus be regarded as a rite of passage from darkness to light, from winter to summer, a fertility celebration, the first spring festival of the new year. Traditionally, a carnival feast was the last opportunity for people to eat well. Until spring produce was available, people were limited to the necessary meals during this period. On what nowadays is called vastenavond, all the winter stores of lard, butter. The selected livestock had already been slaughtered in November and the meat would be no longer preservable, all the food that had survived the winter had to be eaten to assure that everyone was fed enough to survive until the coming spring would provide new food sources. Several Germanic tribes celebrated the returning of the daylight, the winter would be driven out, to make sure that fertility could return in spring
34.
Paul-Henri Spaak
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Paul Henri Charles Spaak was an influential Belgian politician and statesman also considered as one of the founding fathers of the European Union. A convinced socialist, Spaak entered politics in 1932 for the Belgian Workers Party and he became Prime Minister of Belgium in 1938 and held the position until 1939. After the war, he regained the position of Prime Minister, first for under a month in March 1946. He held various further Belgian ministerial portfolios until 1966 and he was Belgiums Foreign Minister for 18 years between 1939 and 1966. Spaak, a supporter of multilateralism, became internationally famous for his support of international cooperation. In 1945, he was chosen to chair the first session of the General Assembly of the new United Nations, a long-running supporter of European integration, Spaak had been an early advocate of customs union and had negotiated the Benelux agreement in 1944. He received the Charlemagne Prize the same year, between 1957 and 1961, he served as the second Secretary-General of NATO. Retiring from Belgian politics in 1966, Spaak died in 1972, Paul-Henri Spaak was born on 25 January 1899 in Schaerbeek, Belgium, to a distinguished Belgian family. The Spaak family originated from Bohuslän in Sweden and his maternal grandfather, Paul Janson was an important member of the Liberal Party. His mother, Marie Janson was a socialist, and the first woman to enter the Belgian Senate, after death of Marguerite in August 1964, he married Simone Dear in April 1965. His brother was the screenwriter Charles Spaak and his niece was the actress Catherine Spaak, and one of his grandsons is the artist Anthony Palliser. During the 1940s, during his time in New York with the United Nations, during World War I, Spaak attempted to join the Belgian Army but was captured by the Germans and spent the next two years in a German prison camp. At the end of the war, Spaak was released from captivity and entered the Université Libre de Bruxelles, during the same period, Spaak was also a tennis star, and played for the Belgian team in the 1922 Davis Cup. He became a member of the Socialist Belgian Labour Party in 1920 and he was elected deputy in 1932. In 1935 he entered the cabinet of Paul Van Zeeland as Minister of Transport, in February 1936 he became Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving first under Zeeland and then under his uncle, Paul-Émile Janson. From May 1938 to February 1939 he was Prime Minister for the first time, in 1938, he allowed Herman Van Breda to smuggle the legacy of Edmund Husserl out of Nazi Germany to Belgium through the Belgian Embassy in Berlin. In social policy, a number of reforms were realised during Spaaks first premiership. The Act also removed a previous requirement in which a wage earner had to work for at least a year with the employer in order to earn an annual holiday
35.
Track and field
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Track and field is a sport which includes athletic contests established on the skills of running, jumping, and throwing. The name is derived from the sports venue, a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and jumping events take place. Track and field is categorised under the sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running. The foot racing events, which include sprints, middle- and long-distance events, the jumping and throwing events are won by the athlete who achieves the greatest distance or height. Regular jumping events include long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault, while the most common throwing events are shot put, javelin, discus and hammer. There are also combined events or multi events, such as the pentathlon consisting of five events, heptathlon consisting of seven events, in these, athletes participate in a combination of track and field events. Most track and field events are individual sports with a victor, the most prominent team events are relay races. Events are almost exclusively divided by gender, although both the mens and womens competitions are held at the same venue. It is one of the oldest sports, in ancient times, it was an event held in conjunction with festivals and sports meets such as the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece. The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC, when Koroibos, a cook from the city of Elis, won the stadium race. According to some traditions, this was the only athletic event of the games for the first 13 Olympic festivals. In modern times, the two most prestigious track and field competitions are athletics competition at the Olympic Games and the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The International Association of Athletics Federations is the governing body. Records are kept of the best performances in specific events, at world and national levels, however, if athletes are deemed to have violated the events rules or regulations, they are disqualified from the competition and their marks are erased. In North America, the track and field may be used to refer to other athletics events, such as the marathon. The sport of track and field has its roots in human prehistory, Track and field-style events are among the oldest of all sporting competitions, as running, jumping and throwing are natural and universal forms of human physical expression. The first recorded examples of organized track and field events at a festival are the Ancient Olympic Games. At the first Games in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, only one event was contested, Track and field events were also present at the Panhellenic Games in Greece around this period, and they spread to Rome in Italy around 200 BC
36.
Train station
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A train station, railway station, railroad station, or depot is a railway facility where trains regularly stop to load or unload passengers or freight. It generally consists of at least one platform and a station building providing such ancillary services as ticket sales. If a station is on a line, it often has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements. The smallest stations are most often referred to as stops or, in parts of the world. Stations may be at level, underground, or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other modes such as buses. In British usage, the station is commonly understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise qualified. In the United States, the most common term in contemporary usage is train station, Railway station and railroad station are less frequent. Outside North America, a depot is place where buses, trains, or other vehicles are housed and maintained and from which they are dispatched for service. The two-storey Mount Clare station in Baltimore, Maryland, which survives as a museum, first saw service as the terminus of the horse-drawn Baltimore. The oldest terminal station in the world was Crown Street railway station in Liverpool, built in 1830, as the first train on the Liverpool-Manchester line left Liverpool, the station is slightly older than the Manchester terminal at Liverpool Road. The station was the first to incorporate a train shed, the station was demolished in 1836 as the Liverpool terminal station moved to Lime Street railway station. Crown Street station was converted to a goods station terminal, the first stations had little in the way of buildings or amenities. The first stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, manchesters Liverpool Road Station, the second oldest terminal station in the world, is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It resembles a row of Georgian houses, dual-purpose stations can sometimes still be found today, though in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. In rural and remote communities across Canada and the United States, such stations were known as flag stops or flag stations. Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the architecture of the time. Countries where railways arrived later may still have such architecture, as later stations often imitated 19th-century styles, various forms of architecture have been used in the construction of stations, from those boasting grand, intricate, Baroque- or Gothic-style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modernist styles
37.
National Railway Company of Belgium
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SNCB/NMBS is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB, however it is referred to in English. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de Velde consists of the linguistically neutral letter B in a horizontal oval, NMBS/SNCB is an autonomous government company, formed in 1926 as successor to the Belgian State Railways. Essentially, this was a move to facilitate future liberalisation of railway freight, several freight operators have since received access permissions for the Belgian network. In February 2011, NMBS/SNCB Logistics began operating as a separate business, faced with rising losses, in June 2012, the Belgian transport minister announced further reform, NMBS/SNCB Holding would be split up, so NMBS/SNCB would be separate from Infrabel. In 2008 NMBS/SNCB carried 207 million passengers a total of 8,676 million passenger-kilometres over a network of 3,536 kilometres
38.
Sister city
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In recent times, town twinning has increasingly been used to form strategic international business links between member cities. In the United Kingdom, the twin towns is most commonly used. In mainland Europe, the most commonly used terms are twin towns, partnership towns, partner towns, the European Commission uses the term twinned towns and refers to the process as town twinning. Spain uses the term ciudades hermanadas that means sister cities, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic use Partnerstadt / Miasto Partnerskie / Partnerské město, which translate as Partner Town or City. France uses Ville Jumelée, and Italy has Gemellaggio and Comune gemellato, in the Netherlands, the term is Stedenband. In Greece, the word αδελφοποίηση has been adopted, in Iceland, the terms vinabæir and vinaborgir are used. In the former Soviet Bloc, twin towns and twin cities are used, the Americas, South Asia, and Australasia use the term sister cities or twin cities. In China, the term is 友好城市, sometimes, other government bodies enter into a twinning relationship, such as the agreement between the provinces of Hainan in China and Jeju-do in South Korea. The Douzelage is a twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union. In recent years, the term city diplomacy has gained increased usage and acceptance, particularly as a strand of paradiplomacy and public diplomacy. It is formally used in the workings of the United Cities and Local Governments, the importance of cities developing their own foreign economic policies on trade, foreign investment, tourism and attracting foreign talent has also been highlighted by the World Economic Forum. The earliest known town twinning in Europe was between Paderborn, Germany, and Le Mans, France, in 836, starting in 1905, Keighley in West Yorkshire, England, had a twinning arrangement with French communities Suresnes and Puteaux. The first recorded modern twinning agreement was between Keighley and Poix-du-Nord in Nord, France, in 1920 following the end of the First World War and this was initially referred to as an adoption of the French town, formal twinning charters were not exchanged until 1986. The practice was continued after the Second World War as a way to promote mutual understanding, for example, Coventry twinned with Stalingrad and later with Dresden as an act of peace and reconciliation, all three cities having been heavily bombed during the war. Similarly, in 1947, Bristol Corporation sent five leading citizens on a mission to Hanover. Reading in 1947 was the first British town to form links with an enemy city – Düsseldorf. Since 9 April 1956 Rome and Paris have been exclusively and reciprocally twinned with other, following the motto, Only Paris is worthy of Rome. Within Europe, town twinning is supported by the European Union, the support scheme was established in 1989
39.
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
40.
Basingstoke
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Basingstoke is the largest town in Hampshire. It is situated in south central England, and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon and it is located 30 miles northeast of Southampton,48 miles southwest of London, and 19 miles northeast of the county town and former capital Winchester. According to the 2011 census the town had a population of 107,355 and it is part of the borough of Basingstoke and Deane and part of the parliamentary constituency of Basingstoke. Basingstoke is often nicknamed Doughnut City or Roundabout City because of the number of large roundabouts, Basingstoke is an old market town expanded in the mid 1960s as a result of an agreement between London County Council and Hampshire County Council. Basingstoke market was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, at the start of World War II the population was little more than 13,000. It still has a market, but is now larger than Hampshire County Councils definition of a market town. It is also the location of the European headquarters of the TaylorMade-Adidas Golf Company, other industries include publishing, IT, telecommunications, insurance and electronics. The name Basingstoke is believed to have derived from the towns position as the outlying. The ending -stoke means outlying settlement or possibly refers to a stockade that surrounded the settlement in early medieval times. Basing, now Old Basing, a village 2 miles to the east, is thought to have the same etymology and it remained the main settlement until changes in the local church moved the religious base from St Marys Church, Basing, to the church in Basingstoke. The site of Winklebury camp is now home to Fort Hill Community School, nearby, to the west, Roman Road marks the course of a Roman road that ran from Winchester to Silchester. Further to the east, another Roman road ran from Chichester through the villages of Upton Grey. The Harrow Way is an Iron-age ancient route that runs to the south of the town, the first recorded historical event here was the victory gained by Æthelred of Wessex and Alfred the Great over the Danes in 871. Again, in 904, Basingstoke saw a battle between Edward the Elder, Alfreds only son, and his cousin Æthelwald. Basingstoke is recorded as being a site in the Domesday Book. During the Civil War, and the siege of Basing House between 1643 and 1645, the town played host to large numbers of Parliamentarians. During this time, St. Michaels Church was damaged whilst being used as a store and lead was stripped from the roof of the Chapel of the Holy Ghost. It had been incorporated in 1524, but was out of use after the Civil War
41.
Hampshire
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Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, the capital city of England. The larger South Hampshire metropolitan area has a population of 1,547,000, Hampshire is notable for housing the birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force. It is bordered by Dorset to the west, Wiltshire to the north-west, Berkshire to the north, Surrey to the north-east, the southern boundary is the coastline of the English Channel and the Solent, facing the Isle of Wight. At its greatest size in 1890, Hampshire was the fifth largest county in England and it now has an overall area of 3,700 square kilometres, and measures about 86 kilometres east–west and 76 kilometres north–south. Hampshires tourist attractions include many seaside resorts and two parks, the New Forest and the South Downs. Hampshire has a maritime history and two of Europes largest ports, Portsmouth and Southampton, lie on its coast. The county is famed as home of writers Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, Hampshire takes its name from the settlement that is now the city of Southampton. Southampton was known in Old English as Hamtun, roughly meaning village-town, the old name was recorded in the Domesday book as Hantescire, and it is from this spelling that the modern abbreviation Hants derives. From 1889 until 1959, the county was named the County of Southampton and has also been known as Southamptonshire. The region is believed to have continuously occupied since the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 BCE. At this time Britain was still attached to the European continent and was covered with deciduous woodland. The first inhabitants came overland from Europe, these were anatomically and behaviourally modern humans, notable sites from this period include Bouldnor Cliff. Agriculture had arrived in southern Britain by 4000 BCE, and with it a neolithic culture, some deforestation took place at that time, although it was during the Bronze Age, beginning in 2200 BCE, that this became more widespread and systematic. Hampshire has few monuments to show from early periods, although nearby Stonehenge was built in several phases at some time between 3100 BCE and 2200 BCE. It is maintained that by this period the people of Britain predominantly spoke a Celtic language, hillforts largely declined in importance in the second half of the second century BCE, with many being abandoned. Julius Caesar invaded southeastern England briefly in 55 and again in 54 BCE, notable sites from this period include Hengistbury Head, which was a major port. There is a Museum of the Iron Age in Andover, the Romans invaded Britain again in 43 CE, and Hampshire was incorporated into the Roman province of Britannia very quickly
Braine-l'Alleud
