1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Republic of the Congo
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The Republic of the Congo, also known as the Congo Republic, West Congo, Congo-Brazzaville or simply Congo, is a country located in Central Africa. The region was dominated by Bantu-speaking tribes, who built trade links leading into the Congo River basin, Congo-Brazzaville was formerly part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa. Upon independence in 1960, the colony of French Congo became the Republic of the Congo. The Peoples Republic of the Congo was a Marxist–Leninist one-party state from 1970 to 1991, Bantu-speaking peoples who founded tribes during the Bantu expansions largely displaced and absorbed the earliest inhabitants of the region, the Pygmy people, about 1500 BC. Several Bantu kingdoms—notably those of the Kongo, the Loango, the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão reached the mouth of the Congo in 1484. Commercial relationships quickly grew between the inland Bantu kingdoms and European merchants who traded various commodities, manufactured goods, the area north of the Congo River came under French sovereignty in 1880 as a result of Pierre de Brazzas treaty with King Makoko of the Bateke. This Congo Colony became known first as French Congo, then as Middle Congo in 1903, in 1908, France organized French Equatorial Africa, comprising Middle Congo, Gabon, Chad, and Oubangui-Chari. The French designated Brazzaville as the federal capital, economic development during the first 50 years of colonial rule in Congo centered on natural-resource extraction. The methods were brutal, construction of the Congo–Ocean Railroad following World War I has been estimated to have cost at least 14,000 lives. During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, Brazzaville functioned as the capital of Free France between 1940 and 1943. The Brazzaville Conference of 1944 heralded a period of reform in French colonial policy. Congo benefited from the expansion of colonial administrative and infrastructure spending as a result of its central geographic location within AEF. It also received a local legislature after the adoption of the 1946 constitution that established the Fourth Republic, during these reforms, Middle Congo became known as the Republic of the Congo in 1958 and published its first constitution in 1959. Antagonism between the pro-Opangault Mbochis and the pro-Youlou Balalis resulted in a series of riots in Brazzaville in February 1959, the Republic of the Congo received full independence from France on 15 August 1960. Fulbert Youlou ruled as the countrys first president until labour elements, the Congolese military took charge of the country briefly and installed a civilian provisional government headed by Alphonse Massamba-Débat. Resentment and bitterness between the Baali and the Mbochi peoples brought upheaval in Brazzaville, the French army arrived to quell the turmoil. New elections took place in April 1959, by the time the Congo became independent, Jacques Opangault, the former opponent of Youlou, agreed to serve under him. Youlou became the first President of the Republic of the Congo, since the political tension was so high in Pointe-Noire, Youlou moved the capital to Brazzaville
3.
Capital district
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A capital territory or capital district is normally a specially designated administrative division where a countrys seat of government is located. As such, in a model of government, no state or territory has any political or economic advantage relative to the others because of the national capital lying within its borders. A capital territory can be a form of federal district. A distinction should be made from administrative divisions which include national capitals, some federal countries, give their national capitals the status as full, equal federal units. Some federal countries have made no distinction administratively for the territory around the capital, the city of Ottawa is governed as a regular city. In some non-federal countries there are cities that dont belong to any region. In some countries the region including the capital doesnt have special significance, for example, the Capital Region of Denmark is a name of a normal national region. The following have an administrative district or territory for their national capital cities. In 1996, under the 1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution, the city gained autonomous status, Buenos Aires is represented in the Argentine Senate by three senators and in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies by 25 national deputies. The Australian Capital Territory is one of two self-governing internal territories of the Australian federation, the other being the Northern Territory, created in 1911, the ACT was originally called the Federal Capital Territory, the current name being acquired in 1938. The ACT is an enclave of New South Wales, although the ACT has its own Chief Minister and its own legislature, the Federal Parliament retains the right to overrule ACT legislation. While governing the entire ACT, the Legislative Assembly also acts as a government for the city of Canberra. The Governor-General of Australia exercises certain rights that in the states would be exercised by the governor, at a federal level, the ACT and the NT both elect two members of the House of Representatives and two Senators. The terms of the senators are tied to the term of the House of Representatives. This means that if there is an election for the Senate only, this would involve only half the senators. Conversely, if there is an election for the House of Representatives only, Brasília, the capital of Brazil, is set within the Federal District or Distrito Federal. Its territory includes several cities, officially called regiões administrativas. The District Governor is elected directly for a 4-year term, local laws are issued by a legislative assembly also elected by the local population
4.
Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza
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Pietro Paolo Savorgnan di Brazzà, then known as Pierre Paul François Camille Savorgnan de Brazza, was an Italian-born French explorer. With the backing of the Société de Géographie de Paris, he opened up for France entry along the bank of the Congo that eventually led to French colonies in Central Africa. His easy manner and great charm, as well as his pacific approach among Africans, were his trademarks. Under French colonial rule, the capital of the Republic of the Congo was named Brazzaville after him, pietro was interested in exploration from an early age and won entry to the French naval school at Brest. He graduated as an ensign and sailed on the French ship Jeanne dArc to Algeria, Brazza first encountered Africa in 1872, while sailing on an anti-slavery mission near Gabon. His next ship was the Vénus, which stopped at Gabon regularly, in 1874 Brazza made two trips into the interior, up the Gabon and Ogooué rivers. He then proposed to the government that he explore the Ogooué to its source, with the help of friends in high places, including Jules Ferry and Leon Gambetta, he secured partial funding, the rest coming from his own pocket. He was granted French citizenship in 1874, and adopted the French spelling of his name and his efforts to gain citizenship had been aided by Louis Raymond de Montaignac de Chauvance, who acted as de Brazzas patron in the early years of his career. Upon his return to Paris he was fêted as a celebrity in the French press and was courted by the French political elite as the man to advance their imperialist ambitions in Africa, the French authorized a second mission, which was carried out 1879-1882. The French had adjudged his first mission a success and felt that a mission to the Congo Basin was needed to prevent Belgium from occupying the entire area. De Brazza then proposed to King Illoh Makoko of the Batekes that he place his kingdom under the protection of the French flag, Makoko, interested in trade possibilities and in gaining an edge over his rivals, signed the treaty. During this trip he encountered Stanley near Vivi, Brazza did not tell Stanley that he had just signed a treaty with Makoko, it took Stanley some months to realise that he had been beaten in the race set by his sponsor, King Léopold. Brazza was again celebrated in France for his efforts, the press dubbed him le conquérant pacifique, the peaceful conqueror, for his success in ensuring French imperial expansion without waging war. In 1883, De Brazza was named governor-general of the French Congo in 1886 and he was dismissed in 1897 due to poor revenue from the colony and journalist reports of conditions for the natives that some said were too good. For his part Brazza had become disillusioned with the exploitative and repressive practices of the concessionary companies. De Brazza became a freemason in 1888, initiated at the Alsace-Lorraine lodge in Paris, on June 26,1888. Brazza was sent to investigate these stories and the report was revealing and damning. When his deputy Félicien Challaye put the report before the National Assembly
5.
Congolese Party of Labour
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The Congolese Party of Labour, founded in 1969 by Marien Ngouabi, is the ruling political party of the Republic of the Congo. It was originally a Marxist-Leninist pro-Soviet party, which founded the Peoples Republic of the Congo, denis Sassou Nguesso is President of the PCT Central Committee, and Pierre Ngolo is the PCTs Secretary-General. The PCT was founded by President Ngouabi on 29 December 1969 and was Congo-Brazzavilles sole ruling party from the moment of its creation, from the outset, it was heavily dominated by military officers from the sparsely populated north of Congo-Brazzaville. Although the PCT regime was designed as a Soviet-style socialist party-state, members of the southern ethnic groups, who were far more numerous than northerners, were included in the power structure, but the top leaders were consistently northerners. Ideologically, the party represented a spectrum of Marxist-Leninist views and suffered from internecine struggles in the 1970s, some leaders on the left-wing of the party, such as Ange Diawara and, favored a radical pro-Chinese position, they unsuccessfully attempted a coup detat against Ngouabi in February 1972. Ngouabi was assassinated under unclear circumstances in March 1977, and Yhombi Opango succeeded him, the elevation of Sassou Nguesso, who represented the PCTs left-wing, marked a return to party orthodoxy. Nevertheless, Sassou Nguesso was neither a radical leftist nor an ideologue, his policies were marked by pragmatism. As Sassou Nguesso consolidated power, PCT factionalism was less pronounced during the 1980s, jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya, a leftist ideologue who was one of the PCTs top-ranking leaders, was accused of organizing a bomb plot and removed from the leadership at the 1984 party congress. A powerful faction in the party, led by François-Xavier Katali, favored a hard-line pro-Soviet position, Katali was demoted to a minor government ministry, but suffered no further punishment, when he died of a heart attack in 1986, he was considered a national hero. Serious unrest in 1990 resulted in the collapse of the PCT regime, Sassou Nguesso was forced to introduce multi-party politics in 1990 and then call a National Conference in 1991. The National Conference saw severe criticism of Sassou Nguesso and repudiated PCT rule, it set up a transitional government. The PCT was in opposition from 1992 to 1997, during the Presidency of Pascal Lissouba, although Marxist-Leninist ideology was abandoned, the party remained loyal to Sassou Nguesso and it continued to be dominated by key figures from the one-party era. Sassou Nguesso ultimately returned to power in the June–October 1997 civil war, the PCT is essentially non-ideological today and is simply based around support for President Sassou Nguesso and his development policies. The PCT won 53 out of 137 seats in the National Assembly in the May–June 2002 parliamentary election, together with smaller, allied parties, the political landscape in Congo-Brazzaville has been highly fractured since the early 1990s. In an effort to support for Sassou Nguesso, an initiative to refound the PCT as a broader party was attempted in 2006. Although backed by Secretary-General Noumazalaye, the effort encountered firm opposition from PCT conservatives, led by Justin Lekoundzou, Noumazalaye died in November 2007, and Prime Minister Isidore Mvouba became Interim Secretary-General of the PCT. However, the parties of the Presidential Majority supporting Sassou Nguesso won an overwhelming majority,125 out of 137 seats. After the election, a grouping of parties, including the PCT, was launched in December 2007
6.
Capital (political)
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A capital city is the municipality exercising primary status in a country, state, province, or other region, usually as its seat of government. A capital is typically a city that encompasses the offices and meeting places of its respective government. In some jurisdictions, including countries, the different branches of government are located in different settlements. In some cases, a distinction is made between the capital and the seat of government, which is in another place. The word capital derives from the Latin caput, meaning head, in several English-speaking states, the terms county town, county seat, and borough seat are also used in lower subdivisions. In unitary states, subnational capitals are known as administrative centres. The capital is often, but not necessarily, the largest city of its constituent, historically, the major economic centre of a state or region often becomes the focal point of political power, and becomes a capital through conquest or federation. Examples are Ancient Babylon, Abbasid Baghdad, Ancient Athens, Rome, Constantinople, Changan, Ancient Cusco, Madrid, Paris, London, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Vienna, and Berlin. Some of these cities are or were also religious centres, e. g. Constantinople, Rome, Jerusalem, Ancient Babylon, Moscow, Belgrade, Paris, and Peking. A capital city that is also the economic, cultural. The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal, traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals, e. g. Nanking by Shanghai, Quebec City by Montreal, and numerous US state capitals. The decline of a dynasty or culture could also mean the extinction of its city, as occurred at Babylon. Although many capitals are defined by constitution or legislation, many long-time capitals have no legal designation as such, for example Bern, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London, Paris, are located in or near them. In Canada, there is a capital, while the ten provinces. The states of such countries as Mexico, Brazil, and Australia all have capital cities, for example, the six state capitals of Australia are Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. In Australia, the capital cities is regularly used, to refer to the aforementioned state capitals plus the federal capital Canberra and Darwin. Abu Dhabi is the city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In unitary states which consist of multiple constituent countries, such as the United Kingdom or the Kingdom of Denmark, the national capitals of Germany and Russia, the Stadtstaat of Berlin and the Federal City of Moscow, are also constituent states of both countries in their own right
7.
Congo River
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The Congo River is a river in Africa. It is the second largest river in the world by discharge, the Congo-Chambeshi river has an overall length of 4,700 km, which makes it the ninth-longest river. Measured along the Lualaba, the Congo River has a length of 4,370 km. The Congo Basin has an area of about 4 million km2. The name River Congo originated from the Kingdom of Kongo which was located on the bank of the river. The kingdom in turn is named for the Bantu population, in the 17th century reported as Esikongo, South of the Kongo kingdom proper lay the similarly named Kakongo kingdom, mentioned in 1535. Abraham Ortelius in his map of 1564 labels as Manicongo the city at the mouth of the river. The tribal names in kongo possibly derive from a word for a gathering or tribal assembly. Little is known about the peoples of the inner Congo, but It is probable that the word Kongo itself implies a public gathering, the usual interpretations, admittedly unsatisfactory, make the mistake of being too concrete, for example, they may claim that Kongo comes from nkongo. The modern name of the Kongo people or Bakongo was introduced in the early 20th century, the name Zaire is from a Portuguese adaptation of a Kikongo word nzere, a truncation of nzadi o nzere. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo are named after it, the state of Zaire during 1971–1997 was also named after the river, after its name in French and Portuguese. The Congos drainage basin covers 4,014,500 square kilometres, the Congos discharge at its mouth ranges from 23,000 to 75,000 cubic metres per second, with an average of 41,000 cubic metres per second. The river and its tributaries flow through the Congo Rainforest, the second largest rain forest area in the world, second only to the Amazon Rainforest in South America. Because its drainage basin includes both north and south of the equator, its flow is stable, as there is always at least one part of the river experiencing a rainy season. The Chambeshi River in Zambia is generally taken as the source of the Congo in line with the accepted practice worldwide of using the longest tributary, as with the Nile River. The Congo River Basin is one of the distinct physiographic sections of the larger Mid-African province, sorted in order from the mouth heading upstream. Lower Congo Downstream of Kinshasa, there are no important tributaries, luvua Luapula Chambeshi Although the Livingstone Falls prevent access from the sea, nearly the entire Congo above them is readily navigable in sections, especially between Kinshasa and Kisangani. Large river steamers worked the river until quite recently, the Congo River still is a lifeline in a land with few roads or railways
8.
Kinshasa
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Kinshasa is the capital and the largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is on the Congo River, once a site of fishing villages, Kinshasa is now an urban area with a 2014 population of over 11 million. It faces Brazzaville, the capital of the neighbouring Republic of the Congo, the city of Kinshasa is also one of the DRCs 26 provinces. Kinshasa is Africas third-largest urban area after Cairo and Lagos, Kinshasa hosted the 14th Francophonie Summit in October 2012. Residents of Kinshasa are known as Kinois or Kinshasans, the aboriginal people are called Humbu and Teke. The city was founded as a trading post by Henry Morton Stanley in 1881. It was named Léopoldville in honour of King Leopold II of Belgium, the post flourished as the first navigable port on the Congo River above Livingstone Falls, a series of rapids over 300 kilometres below Leopoldville. At first, all arriving by sea or being sent by sea had to be carried by porters between Léopoldville and Matadi, the port below the rapids and 150 km from the coast. The completion of the Matadi-Kinshasa portage railway, in 1898, provided a route around the rapids. In 1914, a pipeline was installed so that oil could be transported from Matadi to the upriver steamers in Leopoldville. By 1923, the city was elevated to capital of the Belgian Congo, the town, nicknamed Léo or Leopold, became a commercial centre and grew rapidly during the colonial period. In 1965, Joseph-Désiré Mobutu seized power in the Congo in his coup and initiated a policy of Africanizing the names of people. In 1966, Léopoldville was renamed Kinshasa, for a village named Kinchassa that once stood near the site, the city grew rapidly under Mobutu, drawing people from across the country who came in search of their fortunes or to escape ethnic strife elsewhere. This inevitably brought a change to the ethnic and linguistic composition. In the 1990s, an uprising began, which, by 1997, had brought down the regime of Mobutu. Kinshasa suffered greatly from Mobutus excesses, mass corruption, nepotism, nevertheless, it is still a major cultural and intellectual centre for Central Africa, with a flourishing community of musicians and artists. It is also the major industrial centre, processing many of the natural products brought from the interior. The city has recently had to fend off rioting soldiers, who were protesting the failure to pay them
9.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
10.
Free France
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It was set up in London in June 1940 and also organised and supported the Resistance in occupied France. On 27 October 1940, the Empire Defense Council was constituted to organise the rule of the territories in central Africa and it was replaced on 24 September 1941 by the French National Committee. After the reconquest of North Africa, this was in turn merged with de Gaulles rival general Henri Girauds command in Algiers to form the French Committee of National Liberation. Exile officially ended with the capture of Paris by the 2nd Armoured Free French Division and Resistance forces on 25 August 1944, the Free French fought Axis and Vichy regime troops and served on battlefronts everywhere from the Middle East to Indochina and North Africa. The Free French Navy operated as a force to the Royal Navy and, in the North Atlantic. Free French units also served in the Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Force, the French Army of Africa switched allegiance to Free France, and this caused the Axis to occupy Vichy in reaction. On 1 August 1943, LArmée dAfrique was formally united with the Free French Forces to form LArmée française de la Liberation. By mid-1944, the forces of this army numbered more than 400,000, and they participated in the Normandy landings, the Free French government re-established a provisional republic after the liberation, preparing the ground for the Fourth Republic in 1946. Historically, an individual became Free French by enlisting in the military units organised by the CFN or by employment by the arm of the Committee. In many sources, Free French describes any French individual or unit that fought against Axis forces after the June 1940 armistice, postwar, to settle disputes over the Free French heritage, the French government issued an official definition of the term. Under this ministerial instruction of July 1953, only those who served with the Allies after the Franco-German armistice in 1940, between 27 May and 4 June, around 200,000 British soldiers and 140,000 French troops were evacuated from the beaches to safety in England. General Charles de Gaulle was a minister in the French cabinet during the Battle of France, as France was overwhelmed by the stunning German victory, he found himself part of a small group of politicians who argued against a negotiated surrender to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. That same day, the new French President of the Council, former First World War Marshal Philippe Pétain, De Gaulle briefly travelled to Bordeaux to continue the fight but, realising that Pétain would surrender, he returned to London on 17 June. On 18 June, General de Gaulle spoke to the French people via BBC radio, urging French soldiers, sailors and airmen to join in the fight against the Nazis and she has a great empire behind her. Together with the British Empire, she can form a bloc that controls the seas and she may, like England, draw upon the limitless industrial resources of the United States. In Vichys case those reasons were compounded with ideas of a Révolution nationale about stamping out Frances republican heritage. On 22 June 1940, Marshall Pétain signed an armistice with Germany, followed by a one with Italy on 24 June. After a parliamentary vote on 10 July, Pétain became leader of the newly established authoritarian regime known as Vichy France, despite de Gaulles call to continue the struggle, few French forces, at least initially, pledged their support
11.
Pool Malebo
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The Pool Malebo – formerly Stanley Pool, also known as Malebo Pool, or Lake Nkunda by local indigenous people in pre-colonial times – is a lake-like widening in the lower reaches of the Congo River. The former name Stanley Pool was named after early European explorer, the Pool Malebo is about 35 km long,23 km wide and 500 km2 in surface area. Its central part is occupied by MBamou or Bamu Island, which is Republic of the Congo territory. The pool is shallow with depths of 3–10 m, while water levels vary by as much as 3 m over the course of a year at an altitude of 272 m. The capitals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo—Kinshasa and Brazzaville and these are the two closest capital cities in the world. The Pool is the beginning of the part of the Congo River upstream to the cities of Mbandaka, Kisangani. Downstream, the river descends hundreds of meters in a series of known as the Livingstone Falls to reach sea level at the port of Boma after a trajectory of 300 km. There are many palm and papyrus swamps along the edges of the river and pool, most fish endemic to the area are catfishes, including the mountain catfish, L. brieni, Leptoglanis mandevillei, L. bouilloni and Atopochilus chabanaudi, an upside-down catfish. The area has over 200 fish species documented, with Mormyrids as the most common with over 40 species, and with the highest diversification
12.
Equator
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The Equator usually refers to an imaginary line on the Earths surface equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole, dividing the Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere. The Equator is about 40,075 kilometres long, some 78. 7% lies across water and 21. 3% over land, other planets and astronomical bodies have equators similarly defined. Generally, an equator is the intersection of the surface of a sphere with the plane that is perpendicular to the spheres axis of rotation. The latitude of the Earths equator is by definition 0° of arc, the equator is the only line of latitude which is also a great circle — that is, one whose plane passes through the center of the globe. The plane of Earths equator when projected outwards to the celestial sphere defines the celestial equator, in the cycle of Earths seasons, the plane of the equator passes through the Sun twice per year, at the March and September equinoxes. To an observer on the Earth, the Sun appears to travel North or South over the equator at these times, light rays from the center of the Sun are perpendicular to the surface of the Earth at the point of solar noon on the Equator. Locations on the Equator experience the quickest sunrises and sunsets because the sun moves nearly perpendicular to the horizon for most of the year. The Earth bulges slightly at the Equator, the diameter of the Earth is 12,750 kilometres. Because the Earth spins to the east, spacecraft must also launch to the east to take advantage of this Earth-boost of speed, seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earths axis relative to the plane of revolution. During the year the northern and southern hemispheres are inclined toward or away from the sun according to Earths position in its orbit, the hemisphere inclined toward the sun receives more sunlight and is in summer, while the other hemisphere receives less sun and is in winter. At the equinoxes, the Earths axis is not tilted toward the sun, instead it is perpendicular to the sun meaning that the day is about 12 hours long, as is the night, across the whole of the Earth. Near the Equator there is distinction between summer, winter, autumn, or spring. The temperatures are usually high year-round—with the exception of high mountains in South America, the temperature at the Equator can plummet during rainstorms. In many tropical regions people identify two seasons, the wet season and the dry season, but many places close to the Equator are on the oceans or rainy throughout the year, the seasons can vary depending on elevation and proximity to an ocean. The Equator lies mostly on the three largest oceans, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. The highest point on the Equator is at the elevation of 4,690 metres, at 0°0′0″N 77°59′31″W and this is slightly above the snow line, and is the only place on the Equator where snow lies on the ground. At the Equator the snow line is around 1,000 metres lower than on Mount Everest, the Equator traverses the land of 11 countries, it also passes through two island nations, though without making a landfall in either. Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the Equator passes through, Despite its name, however, its island of Annobón is 155 km south of the Equator, and the rest of the country lies to the north
13.
Zaire
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Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire is the name for the Democratic Republic of the Congo that existed between 1971 and 1997 in Central Africa. The country was a one-party state and dictatorship, run by Mobutu Sese Seko and it was established following Mobutus seizure of power in a military coup in 1965, following five years of political upheaval following independence known as the Congo Crisis. Zaire had a strongly centralist constitution and foreign assets were nationalized, a wider campaign of Authenticité, ridding the country of the influences from the colonial era of the Belgian Congo, was also launched under Mobutus direction. Weakened by the end of American support after the end of the Cold War, by the time of its disestablishment, Mobutus rule was characterized by widespread cronyism, corruption and economic mismanagement. The Republic started to collapsed in 1996, amid the destabilization of eastern parts of the state in the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide and growing ethnic violence. The following year, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, at the head of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo militia, with rebel forces making gains in the east, Mobutu fled the country, leaving Kabilas forces in charge. Mobutu died within four months after he was forced into exile in Morocco, the states name, Zaire was derived from the name of the Congo River, sometimes called Zaire in Portuguese, adapted from the Kongo word nzere or nzadi. In 1965, as in 1960, the division of power in Congo-Léopoldville between President and Parliament led to a stalemate and threatened the countrys stability, unlike the first time, however, Mobutu assumed the presidency, rather than remaining behind the scenes. From 1965, Mobutu dominated the life of the country, restructuring the state on more than one occasion. In retrospective justification of his 1965 seizure of power, Mobutu later summed up the record of the First Republic as one of chaos, disorder, negligence, rejection of the legacy of the First Republic went far beyond rhetoric. In the first two years of its existence, the new regime turned to the urgent tasks of political reconstruction and consolidation, creating a new basis of legitimacy for the state, in the form of a single party, came next in Mobutus order of priority. A third imperative was to expand the reach of the state in the social and political realms, by 1976, however, this effort had begun to generate its own inner contradictions, thus paving the way for the resurrection of a Bula Matari system. By 1967, Mobutu had consolidated his rule and proceeded to give the country a new constitution, the new constitution was submitted to popular referendum in June 1967 and approved by 98 percent of those voting. The president was to appoint and dismiss cabinet members and determine their areas of responsibility, the ministers, as heads of their respective departments, were to execute the programs and decisions of the president. The president also was to have the power to appoint and dismiss the governors of the provinces, the bicameral parliament was replaced by a unicameral legislative body called the National Assembly. Governors of provinces were no longer elected by provincial assemblies but appointed by the central government, the president had the power to issue autonomous regulations on matters other than those pertaining to the domain of law, without prejudice to other provisions of the constitution. Under certain conditions, the president was empowered to govern by executive order, but the most far-reaching change was the creation of the Popular Movement of the Revolution on 17 April 1967, marking the emergence of the nation politically organized. Rather than being the emanation of the state, the state was defined as the emanation of the party
14.
Capital city
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A capital city is the municipality exercising primary status in a country, state, province, or other region, usually as its seat of government. A capital is typically a city that encompasses the offices and meeting places of its respective government. In some jurisdictions, including countries, the different branches of government are located in different settlements. In some cases, a distinction is made between the capital and the seat of government, which is in another place. The word capital derives from the Latin caput, meaning head, in several English-speaking states, the terms county town, county seat, and borough seat are also used in lower subdivisions. In unitary states, subnational capitals are known as administrative centres. The capital is often, but not necessarily, the largest city of its constituent, historically, the major economic centre of a state or region often becomes the focal point of political power, and becomes a capital through conquest or federation. Examples are Ancient Babylon, Abbasid Baghdad, Ancient Athens, Rome, Constantinople, Changan, Ancient Cusco, Madrid, Paris, London, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Vienna, and Berlin. Some of these cities are or were also religious centres, e. g. Constantinople, Rome, Jerusalem, Ancient Babylon, Moscow, Belgrade, Paris, and Peking. A capital city that is also the economic, cultural. The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal, traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals, e. g. Nanking by Shanghai, Quebec City by Montreal, and numerous US state capitals. The decline of a dynasty or culture could also mean the extinction of its city, as occurred at Babylon. Although many capitals are defined by constitution or legislation, many long-time capitals have no legal designation as such, for example Bern, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London, Paris, are located in or near them. In Canada, there is a capital, while the ten provinces. The states of such countries as Mexico, Brazil, and Australia all have capital cities, for example, the six state capitals of Australia are Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. In Australia, the capital cities is regularly used, to refer to the aforementioned state capitals plus the federal capital Canberra and Darwin. Abu Dhabi is the city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In unitary states which consist of multiple constituent countries, such as the United Kingdom or the Kingdom of Denmark, the national capitals of Germany and Russia, the Stadtstaat of Berlin and the Federal City of Moscow, are also constituent states of both countries in their own right
15.
French colonial empire
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The French colonial empire constituted the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. The second empire came to an end after the loss of bitter wars in Vietnam and Algeria, competing with Spain, Portugal, the United Provinces, and later Britain, France began to establish colonies in North America, the Caribbean, and India in the 17th century. A series of wars with Great Britain and other European major powers during the 18th century, France rebuilt a new empire mostly after 1850, concentrating chiefly in Africa, as well as Indochina and the South Pacific. Republicans, at first hostile to empire, only became supportive when Germany started to build her own colonial empire and it also provided manpower in the World Wars. It became a mission to lift the world up to French standards by bringing Christianity. In 1884 the leading proponent of colonialism, Jules Ferry declared, The higher races have a right over the lower races, full citizenship rights – assimilation – were offered, although in reality assimilation was always receding the colonial populations treated like subjects not citizens. At its apex, it was one of the largest empires in history, including metropolitan France, the total amount of land under French sovereignty reached 11,500,000 km2 in 1920, with a population of 110 million people in 1939. In World War II, Charles de Gaulle and the Free French used the colonies as bases from which they fought to liberate France. However, after 1945 anti-colonial movements began to challenge European authority, the French constitution of October 27,1946, established the French Union which endured until 1958. Newer remnants of the empire were integrated into France as overseas departments. These now total altogether 119,394 km², which amounts to only 1% of the pre-1939 French colonial empires area, by the 1970s, says Robert Aldrich, the last vestiges of empire held little interest for the French. He argues, Except for the decolonization of Algeria, however. During the 16th century, the French colonization of the Americas began, the story of Frances colonial empire truly began on 27 July 1605, with the foundation of Port Royal in the colony of Acadia in North America, in what is now Nova Scotia, Canada. A few years later, in 1608, Samuel De Champlain founded Quebec, which was to become the capital of the enormous, New France had a rather small population, which resulted from more emphasis being placed on the fur trade rather than agricultural settlements. Due to this emphasis, the French relied heavily on creating friendly contacts with the local First Nations community and these became the most enduring alliances between the French and the First Nation community. The French were, however, under pressure from religious orders to them to Catholicism. Through alliances with various Native American tribes, the French were able to exert a loose control over much of the North American continent, areas of French settlement were generally limited to the St. Lawrence River Valley. Prior to the establishment of the 1663 Sovereign Council, the territories of New France were developed as mercantile colonies
16.
Teke people
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The Teke people, or Bateke, are a Bantu Central African ethnic group that speak the Teke languages. Its population is situated mainly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, omar Bongo, who was President of Gabon in the late 20th century, was a Teke. The name of the tribe shows what the occupation of the tribe was, the word teke means to buy. The economy of the Teke is mainly based on farming maize, millet and tobacco, the Teke lived in an area across Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon. The mfumu was the head of the family and his prestige grew as family members increased, the Teke sometimes chose blacksmiths as chiefs. The blacksmiths were important in the community and this occupation was passed down from father to son, Teke masks are mainly used in traditional dancing ceremonies such as wedding, funeral and initiation ceremonies of young men entering adult hood. The mask is used as a social and political identifier of social structure within a tribe or family. The traditional Teke masks all have triangle shaped noses, the masks have narrow eye slits to enable the masker to see without being seen. They have holes pierced along the edge for the attachment of a woven raffia dress with feathers and fibers, the mask is held in place with a bite bar at the back that the wearer holds in his teeth. The dress would add to the costume and conceal the wearer. The masks originate from the upper Ogowe region, the French first arrived in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo in late 1800, and occupied the Congo until the 1880s. During this colonial period, traditional Teke ceremonies were very few, under the French, the Teke people suffered heavily from colonial exploitation. The French government was gathering land for its own use and damaging traditional economies, the Teke kingdom signed a treaty with the French in 1883 that gave the French land in return for protection. Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza oversaw French interests, a small settlement along the Congo River was renamed Brazzaville and became the capital of the area now called the Middle Congo. In the 1960s the Teke people started to back their independence. Omar Bongo, President of Gabon Charles David Ganao, Prime Minister of the Republic of Congo Ngalifourou, the chien Bateke is a small lean hunting dog with a short, medium gray coat. The chat Bateke is large cat with nearly the same coloring as the dog and these animals constitute landraces, rather than formal breeds. A majority of domesticated cats and dogs in areas bordering the Congo River are of these breeds, though ownership of domesticated animals in general is rare in the region
17.
Scramble for Africa
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The Scramble for Africa was the invasion, occupation, division, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914. It is also called the Partition of Africa and the Conquest of Africa, in 1870, only 10 percent of Africa was under European control, by 1914 it had increased to 90 percent of the continent, with only Ethiopia, the Dervish state and Liberia still being independent. The Berlin Conference of 1884, which regulated European colonization and trade in Africa, is referred to as the starting point of the scramble for Africa. The latter years of the 19th century saw the transition from informal imperialism, by influence and economic dominance, to direct rule. But Europeans showed comparatively little interest in the interior for some two centuries thereafter, European exploration of the African interior began in earnest at the end of the 18th century. By 1835, Europeans had mapped most of northwestern Africa, in the middle decades of the 19th century, famous European explorers included David Livingstone and H. M. Stanley, each of whom mapped vast areas of Southern Africa and Central Africa. Arduous expeditions in the 1850s and 1860s by Richard Burton, John Speke and James Grant located the central lakes. By the end of the 19th century Europeans had charted the Nile from its source, traced the courses of the Niger, Congo and Zambezi Rivers, and realized the vast resources of Africa. Even as late as the 1870s, European states still controlled only ten percent of the African continent, the most important holdings were Angola and Mozambique, held by Portugal, the Cape Colony, held by the United Kingdom, and Algeria, held by France. By 1914, only Ethiopia and Liberia remained independent of European control, technological advances facilitated European expansion overseas. Industrialisation brought about rapid advancements in transportation and communication, especially in the forms of navigation, railways. Medical advances also played an important role, especially medicines for tropical diseases, the development of quinine, an effective treatment for malaria, made vast expanses of the tropics more accessible for Europeans. Sub-Saharan Africa, one of the last regions of the largely untouched by informal imperialism, was also attractive to Europes ruling elites for economic. In addition, surplus capital was more profitably invested overseas, where cheap materials, limited competition. Additionally, Britain wanted the southern and eastern coasts of Africa for stopover ports on the route to Asia and its empire in India. However, in Africa – excluding the area became the Union of South Africa in 1910 – the amount of capital investment by Europeans was relatively small. Consequently, the involved in tropical African commerce were relatively small. Rhodes had carved out Rhodesia for himself, Léopold II of Belgium later, John A. Hobson argued in Imperialism that this shrinking of continental markets was a key factor of the global New Imperialism period
18.
King
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King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, in the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the title may refer to tribal kingship. Germanic kingship is cognate with Indo-European traditions of tribal rulership In the context of classical antiquity, king may translate Latin rex or either Greek archon or basileus. In classical European feudalism, the title of king as the ruler of a kingdom is understood as the highest rank in the order, potentially subject. In a modern context, the title may refer to the ruler of one of a number of modern monarchies. The title of king is used alongside other titles for monarchs, in the West prince, emperor, archduke, duke or grand duke, in the Middle East sultan or emir, etc. Kings, like other royalty, tend to wear purple because purple was a color to wear in the past. The English term king is derived from the Anglo-Saxon cyning, which in turn is derived from the Common Germanic *kuningaz, the Common Germanic term was borrowed into Estonian and Finnish at an early time, surviving in these languages as kuningas. The English term king translates, and is considered equivalent to, Latin rēx, the Germanic term is notably different from the word for king in other Indo-European languages. It is a derivation from the term *kunjom kin by the -inga- suffix, the literal meaning is that of a scion of the kin, or perhaps son or descendant of one of noble birth. English queen translates Latin regina, it is from Old English cwen queen, noble woman, the Germanic term for wife appears to have been specialized to wife of a king, in Old Norse, the cognate kvan still mostly refers to a wife generally. Scandinavian drottning, dronning is a derivation from *druhtinaz lord. The English word is of Germanic origin, and historically refers to Germanic kingship, the Early Middle Ages begin with a fragmentation of the former Western Roman Empire into barbarian kingdoms. The core of European feudal manorialism in the High Middle Ages were the territories of the kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire, in southern Europe, the kingdom of Sicily was established following the Norman conquest of southern Italy. The Kingdom of Sardinia was claimed as a title held by the Crown of Aragon in 1324. In the Balkans, the Kingdom of Serbia was established in 1217, in eastern-central Europe, the Kingdom of Hungary was established in AD1000 following the Christianisation of the Magyars. The kingdoms of Poland and Bohemia were established within the Holy Roman Empire in 1025 and 1198, in Eastern Europe, the Kievan Rus consolidated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which did not technically claim the status of kingdom until the early modern Tsardom of Russia. In northern Europe, the kingdoms of the Viking Age by the 11th century expanded into the North Sea Empire under Cnut the Great, king of Denmark, England
19.
Malamine Camara
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Malamine Camara was a Senegalese sergeant in the French colonial army, and a key figure in the extension of French colonial rule in the Congo Basin. Camara was born in the Senegalese interior, though his exact date and his ethnicity has been described as Soninke, but a French contemporary described Camara as having a mix of Moor and Berber blood and notes that he spoke the Toucouleur language. Camara was recruited as a laptot or colonial soldier, probably in the early 1870s, in Dakar, January 1880, he volunteered to join an expedition led by Franco-Italian explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza from the coast of Gabon to the Congo River. The mission included 11 other West African soldiers,4 Gabonese interpreters, Camara quickly proved his worth on the expedition, learning local languages and winning the support of local populations, as well as the respect of his French commanders. In October 1880, Brazza assigned Camara to lead a 3-man detachment tasked with founding an outpost in Mfoa, Camara and his men stayed there for more than 18 months until they received orders to return to Gabon. During this period at Mfoa, in which Camara received neither reinforcements nor significant supplies from the French, he established excellent relations with local communities. Through his hunting skills, he not only kept his men fed but even made regular contributions of meat to chiefs in the area, Camara carried out his mission to show the French flag and defend Frances newly acquired territory from rival claims by Belgium. Camara twice encountered Henry Morton Stanley, the American explorer who was leading Belgian efforts to claim and they first met in July 1881, when Camara and his two men went to visit Stanleys camp at Kinshasa on the left bank of the river. The two men met again in January 1882, when Stanley sailed across the river in a newly arrived steamboat accompanied by a number of Zanzibari mercenaries. French historians have speculated that Stanley hoped this show of force would cause Camara and his men to abandon their post at Mfoa, in any case, Camaras squad held its ground, and Stanley and his men promptly returned to their camp across the river. Stanley wrote in his memoirs that he was impressed by the Senegalese sergeant, in May 1882, a messenger brought a written order from the French military command that Camara and his men were to leave Mfoa and return to the French post in Franceville, Gabon. Camara was dubious of this order, and suspected that Belgium had pressured the French to withdraw, prior to leaving, Camara visited all the local chiefs and told them that his absence would be only temporary, and urged them to remain loyal to France while he was away. Brazza, who had returned to France, mounted another expedition to the Congo basin in 1883. Once on the Gabonese coast, Camara was responsible for purchasing dugout canoes with which the expedition would travel into the interior. When they reached the Congo River, they found local populations overjoyed at Camaras return, throughout this mission Camara was indispensable to his commanders, supplying ample meat from his hunts and maintaining the trust of the local people. His importance to the French mission was so great that, as Brazzas deputy Charles de Chavannes later claimed, on February 1,1885, during a ceremony in Brazzaville, Camara was awarded the Médaille militaire, among Frances highest honors given to non-citizens in its armed forces. But his health was ailing from what appears to have been a bladder infection, by early 1885 the camp physician believed that Camara was dying, and the sergeant went home to Senegal later that year. He died in January 1886 in the hospital in Goree Island
20.
Berlin Conference
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The conference ushered in a period of heightened colonial activity by European powers, which eliminated or overrode most existing forms of African autonomy and self-governance. Before the conference, European diplomacy treated African indigenous people in the manner as the New World natives. By the mid-19th century, Europeans considered Africa to be disputed territory ripe for exploration, trade, with the exception of trading posts along the coasts, the continent was essentially ignored. In 1876, King Leopold II of Belgium, who had founded the International African Society in 1876. In 1878, the International Congo Society was also formed, with more economic goals, Léopold secretly bought off the foreign investors in the Congo Society, which was turned to imperialistic goals, with the African Society serving primarily as a philanthropic front. From 1878 to 1885, Stanley returned to the Congo, not as a reporter, French intelligence had discovered Leopolds plans, and France quickly engaged in its own colonial exploration. Finally, Portugal, which already had a long, but essentially abandoned colonial Empire in the area through the mostly defunct proxy state Kongo Empire and its claims were based on old treaties with Spain and the Roman Catholic Church. It quickly made a treaty on 26 February 1884 with its former ally, stanleys charting of the Congo River Basin removed the last terra incognita from European maps of the continent, and delineating the areas of British, Portuguese, French, and Belgian control. The powers raced to push these rough boundaries to their furthest limits, France moved to take over Tunisia, one of the last of the Barbary Pirate states, under the pretext of another piracy incident. French claims by Pierre de Brazza were quickly solidified with French taking control of todays Republic of the Congo in 1881, Italy became part of the Triple Alliance, upsetting Bismarcks carefully laid plans with the state and forcing Germany to become involved in Africa. Through it, the UK also ruled over the Sudan and what would later become British Somaliland, owing to the European race for colonies, Germany started launching expeditions of its own, which frightened both British and French statesmen. Hoping to quickly soothe this brewing conflict, King Leopold II convinced France, the conference was convened on Saturday, November 15,1884 at Bismarcks official residence on Wilhelmstrasse. The British representative was Sir Edward Malet, Henry Morton Stanley attended as a U. S. delegate. The General Act fixed the following points, To gain public acceptance, thus, an international prohibition of the slave trade throughout their respected spheres was signed by the European members. Because of this point the writer Joseph Conrad sarcastically referred to the conference as the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs in his novella Heart of Darkness. The Congo Free State was confirmed as the property of the Congo Society. The territory of todays Democratic Republic of the Congo, some two square kilometers, was confirmed by the European powers as essentially the property of Léopold II. The 14 signatory powers would have free trade throughout the Congo Basin as well as Lake Malawi, the Niger and Congo rivers were made free for ship traffic
21.
French Congo
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The French Congo or Middle Congo was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and the Central African Republic. Its borders with Cabinda, Cameroons, and the Congo Free State were established by treaties over the next decade, the plan to develop the colony was to grant massive concessions to some thirty French companies. These were granted huge swaths of land on the promise they would be developed and this development was limited and amounted mostly to the extraction of ivory, rubber, and timber. These operations often involved great brutality and the enslavement of the locals. Even with these measures most of the companies lost money, many of the companies vast holdings existed only on paper with virtually no presence on the ground in Africa. The French Congo was sometimes known as Gabon-Congo, a 1906 study, L’Expansion coloniale au Congo français was published in conjunction with the French Colonial Exposition in Marseille. The colony was administered under four commissioners-general prior to its reorganization into Middle Congo, describes Pierre Savorgnan de Brazzas extensive explorations of what became French Congo, and later, French Equatorial Africa. Media related to French Congo at Wikimedia Commons
22.
French Equatorial Africa
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Established in 1910, the federation contained five territories, French Congo, Gabon, Oubangui-Chari, Chad, and French Cameroon, although the last was not organized as a separate entity until 1920. The Governor-General was based in Brazzaville with deputies in each territory, in 1911, France ceded parts of the territory to German Kamerun as a result of the Agadir Crisis. The territory was returned after Germanys defeat in World War I, during the late 1920s and early 1930s an anti-colonial movement Société Amicale des Originaires de lA. E. F. was established by André Matsoua, seeking French citizenship for the territorys inhabitants. Under the Fourth Republic, the federation was represented in the French parliament, when the territories voted in the September 1958 referendum to become autonomous within the French Community, the federation was dissolved. In 1959 the new republics formed an association called the Union of Central African Republics. Until 1934, French Equatorial Africa was a federation of French colonies like French West Africa and that year, however, the AEF became a unitary entity and its constituent colonies became known as regions, later becoming known as territories in 1937. There was a budget for the unified colony, prior to unification. As of 1942, the AEF was administered by a governor-general, however, his power was limited in practice by Frances centralising colonial policy. Most important legislation is enacted in Paris, wrote the authors of the 1942 British naval intelligence handbook for the colony, whilst the governor-general fills in minor details and penalties. The governor-general was assisted by a council of administration composed of important local officials and some members. Under the unified colony, three of the constituent territories were administered by a governor, while Moyen-Congo was under the purview of the governor-general, each had a council of local interests similar to the council of administration. Locally, the territories were subdivided into départments and subdivisions overseen by appointed officials, the only municipalities were the capitals of the territories, which were classified as communes mixtes as opposed to Senegals communes de plein exercise which had democratically elected councils. Although these municipalities possessed certain powers of local self-government, their mayors, territories, Chad Oubangui-Chari French Congo Gabon The postal administrations of the four territories were separate until 1936, each issuing its own stamps. In that year, stamps of Gabon and Middle Congo were overprinted AFRIQUE / ÉQUATORIALE / FRANÇAISE, a definitive series for the colony followed in 1937, featuring local scenes and key figures in the formation of the colony, with various color and value changes each year through 1940. The 1937 series was overprinted AFRIQUE FRANÇAISE / LIBRE or just LIBRE in 1940 by the Free French, List of colonial heads of French Equatorial Africa French colonial empire French West Africa List of French possessions and colonies French colonial flags French North Africa Pakenham, Thomas
23.
Gabon
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Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a sovereign state on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, Gabon is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of nearly 270,000 square kilometres and its capital and largest city is Libreville. Since its independence from France in 1960, Gabon has had three presidents, in the early 1990s, Gabon introduced a multi-party system and a new democratic constitution that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and reformed many governmental institutions. Gabon was also a member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2010–2011 term. GDP grew by more than 6% per year from 2010 to 2012, however, because of inequality in income distribution, a significant proportion of the population remains poor. Gabons name originates from gabão, Portuguese for cloak, which is roughly the shape of the estuary of the Komo River by Libreville, the earliest inhabitants of the area were Pygmy peoples. They were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes as they migrated, in the 15th century, the first Europeans arrived. By the 18th century, a Myeni speaking kingdom known as Orungu formed in Gabon, on February 10,1722, Bartholomew Roberts, a Welsh pirate known as Black Bart, died at sea off Cape Lopez. He raided ships off the Americas and West Africa from 1719 to 1722, French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza led his first mission to the Gabon-Congo area in 1875. He founded the town of Franceville, and was later colonial governor, several Bantu groups lived in the area that is now Gabon when France officially occupied it in 1885. In 1910, Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, in World War II, the Allies invaded Gabon in order to overthrow the pro-Vichy France colonial administration. The territories of French Equatorial Africa became independent on August 17,1960, the first president of Gabon, elected in 1961, was Léon Mba, with Omar Bongo Ondimba as his vice president. However, when Mba dissolved the National Assembly in January 1964 to institute one-party rule, French paratroopers flew in within 24 hours to restore Mba to power. After a few days of fighting, the coup ended and the opposition was imprisoned, French soldiers still remain in the Camp de Gaulle on the outskirts of Gabons capital to this day. When MBa died in 1967, Bongo replaced him as president, in March 1968, Bongo declared Gabon a one-party state by dissolving the BDG and establishing a new party—the Parti Democratique Gabonais. He invited all Gabonese, regardless of political affiliation, to participate. Bongo was elected President in February 1975, in April 1975, the position of president was abolished and replaced by the position of prime minister
24.
Central African Republic
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The Central African Republic is a landlocked country in Central Africa. The CAR covers a area of about 620,000 square kilometres and had an estimated population of around 4.7 million as of 2014. Most of the CAR consists of Sudano-Guinean savannas, but the country includes a Sahelo-Sudanian zone in the north. Two thirds of the country is within the Ubangi River basin, while the third lies in the basin of the Chari. Ange-Félix Patassé became president, but was removed by General François Bozizé in the 2003 coup. As of 2015, according to the Human Development Index, the country had the lowest level of human development and this Agricultural Revolution, combined with a Fish-stew Revolution, in which fishing began to take place, and the use of boats, allowed for the transportation of goods. Products were often moved in ceramic pots, which are the first known examples of artistic expression from the regions inhabitants, the Bouar Megaliths in the western region of the country indicate an advanced level of habitation dating back to the very late Neolithic Era. Ironworking arrived in the region around 1000 BC from both Bantu cultures in what is today Nigeria and from the Nile city of Meroë, the capital of the Kingdom of Kush. Bananas arrived in the region and added an important source of carbohydrates to the diet, production of copper, salt, dried fish, and textiles dominated the economic trade in the Central African region. During the 16th and 17th centuries slave traders began to raid the region as part of the expansion of the Saharan, in the mid 19th century, the Bobangi people became major slave traders and sold their captives to the Americas using the Ubangi river to reach the coast. During the 18th century Bandia-Nzakara peoples established the Bangassou Kingdom along the Ubangi River, in 1875 the Sudanese sultan Rabih az-Zubayr governed Upper-Oubangui, which included present-day CAR. The European penetration of Central African territory began in the late 19th century during the Scramble for Africa, Europeans, primarily the French, Germans, and Belgians, arrived in the area in 1885. France created Ubangi-Shari territory in 1894, in 1911 at the Treaty of Fez, France ceded a nearly 300,000 km² portion of the Sangha and Lobaye basins to the German Empire which ceded a smaller area to France. After World War I France again annexed the territory, in 1920 French Equatorial Africa was established and Ubangi-Shari was administered from Brazzaville. The concessionary companies forced local people to harvest rubber, coffee, between 1890, a year after the French first arrived, and 1940, about half of the population died as a result. New forms of forced labor were also introduced and a number of Ubangians were sent to work on the Congo-Ocean Railway. Many of these laborers died of exhaustion, illness, or the poor conditions which claimed between 20% and 25% of the 127,000 workers. In 1928, an insurrection, the Kongo-Wara rebellion or war of the hoe handle, broke out in Western Ubangi-Shari
25.
Chad
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Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east and it is the fifth largest country in Africa in terms of area. Chad has several regions, a zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad, the capital NDjamena is the largest city. Chads official languages are Arabic and French, Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. The religions of Chad are Islam, followed by Christianity, beginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa, in 1960, Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye. Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a civil war in 1965. In 1979 the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the souths hegemony, however, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby, since 2003 the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation, with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad. Unsustainable high birth rates and a lack of agriculture let the country persist in poverty, while many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the hands of President Déby and his political party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement. Chad remains plagued by violence and recurrent attempted coups détat. Chad is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world, since 2003 crude oil has become the countrys primary source of export earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry. In the 7th millennium BC, ecological conditions in the half of Chadian territory favored human settlement. Some of the most important African archaeological sites are found in Chad, mainly in the Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region, for more than 2,000 years, the Chadian Basin has been inhabited by agricultural and sedentary people. The region became a crossroads of civilizations, the earliest of these were the legendary Sao, known from artifacts and oral histories. The Sao fell to the Kanem Empire, the first and longest-lasting of the empires that developed in Chads Sahelian strip by the end of the 1st millennium AD, two other states in the region, Baguirmi and Wadai Empire emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries. The power of Kanem and its successors was based on control of the trade routes that passed through the region
26.
Pointe-Noire
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Pointe-Noire is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department since 2004. Before this date it was the capital of the Kouilou region and it is situated on a headland between Pointe-Noire Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Pointe-Noire is the commercial centre of the country and has a population of 715,334. The climate is hot and humid. Pointe-Noire is a divided into six urban districts, Patrice Emery Lumumba district. It is the administrative and commercial centre, mvou-Mvou Tié-Tié Loandjili district Mongo-Pokou district Ngoyo district The name Pointe Noire originated with Portuguese navigators who saw a block of black rocks on the headland in 1484. In 1910, French Equatorial Africa was created, and French companies were allowed to exploit the Middle Congo. It soon became necessary to build a railroad that would connect Brazzaville, the terminus of the navigation on the Congo River. Construction of the Congo-Ocean Railway began in 1921, and led to the foundation of Pointe-Noire on 22 May 1922, in 1927, drinking water became available in the city, which had about 3,000 inhabitants. The airport was built in 1932, in 1934, Governor Raphael Antonetti inaugurated the Congo-Ocean Railway. The first hospital was built in 1936 and that same year, Bank of West Africa opened its first branch in the city. In 1942, the Pointe-Noire Harbour welcomed its first ship, in 1950, Pointe-Noire had 20,000 inhabitants, and became the capital of the Middle Congo, while Brazzaville was the capital city of the AEF. In 1957, the Middle-Congo became the Republic of Congo, although it was not independent. Pointe-Noire continued growing, and was the most modern city in 1960, then, the oil discovery around 1980 re-attracted people and Elf Aquitaine factories. The population doubled by 1982, and reached 360,000 in 1994, civil wars in 1997 and 1999 caused an influx of refugees from the surrounding provinces towards Pointe-Noire, causing the population to climb to over 1 million inhabitants. Recently the Government has proposed the development of a new bulk resource port to be constructed at Point Indienne,30 km to the north of the Port of Pointe-Noire. A meeting was held on 18 December 2012 with a collective of 10 Congo government ministries, Pointe-Noire is the essential centre of the oil industry of the Republic of Congo, one of the main oil producers in Central Africa. Congolese oil has been exploited by the French company Elf Aquitaine since its discovery around 1980
27.
Vichy France
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Vichy France is the common name of the French State headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. In particular, it represents the southern, unoccupied Free Zone that governed the southern part of the country, from 1940 to 1942, while the Vichy regime was the nominal government of France as a whole, Germany militarily occupied northern France. Thus, while Paris remained the de jure capital of France, following the Allied landings in French North Africa in November 1942, southern France was also militarily occupied by Germany and Italy. The Vichy government remained in existence, but as a de facto client and it vanished in late 1944 when the Allies occupied all of France. After being appointed Premier by President Albert Lebrun, Marshal Pétain ordered the French Governments military representatives to sign an armistice with Germany on 22 June 1940, Pétain subsequently established an authoritarian regime when the National Assembly of the French Third Republic granted him full powers on 10 July 1940. At that point, the Third Republic was dissolved, calling for National Regeneration, the French Government at Vichy reversed many liberal policies and began tight supervision of the economy, with central planning a key feature. Labour unions came under government control. The independence of women was reversed, with a put on motherhood. Paris lost its status in European art and culture. The media were tightly controlled and stressed virulent anti-Semitism, and, after June 1941, the French State maintained nominal sovereignty over the whole of French territory, but had effective full sovereignty only in the unoccupied southern zone libre. It had limited and only civil authority in the zones under military occupation. The occupation was to be a state of affairs, pending the conclusion of the war. The French Government at Vichy never joined the Axis alliance, Germany kept two million French soldiers prisoner, carrying out forced labour. They were hostages to ensure that Vichy would reduce its forces and pay a heavy tribute in gold, food. French police were ordered to round up immigrant Jews and other such as communists. Public opinion in some quarters turned against the French government and the occupying German forces over time, when it became clear that Germany was losing the war, and resistance to them increased. Most of the legal French governments leaders at Vichy fled or were subject to show trials by the GPRF, thousands of collaborators were summarily executed by local communists and the Resistance in so-called savage purges. The last of the French State exiles were captured in the Sigmaringen enclave by de Gaulles French 1st Armoured Division in April 1945, in 1940, Marshal Pétain was known as a First World War hero, the victor of the battle of Verdun
28.
French Resistance
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The Résistance also planned, coordinated, and executed acts of sabotage on the electrical power grid, transport facilities, and telecommunications networks. Estimated to have a strength of 100,000 in June 1944 and this burden amounted to approximately 20 million German reichsmarks per day, a sum that, in May 1940, was approximately equivalent to four hundred million French francs. Because of this overvaluation of German currency, the occupiers were able to make fair and honest requisitions and purchases while, in effect. Prices soared, leading to food shortages and malnutrition, particularly among children, the elderly. The labour shortage was worsened by the fact that a number of the French were also held as prisoners of war in Germany. Beyond these hardships and dislocations, the occupation became increasingly unbearable, onerous regulations, strict censorship, incessant propaganda and nightly curfews all played a role in establishing an atmosphere of fear and repression. The sight of French women consorting with German soldiers infuriated many French men, as reprisals for Résistance activities, the authorities established harsh forms of collective punishment. For example, the militancy of communist resistance in August 1941 led to the taking of thousands of hostages from the general population. A typical policy statement read, After each further incident, a number, reflecting the seriousness of the crime, during the occupation, an estimated 30,000 French civilian hostages were shot to intimidate others who were involved in acts of resistance. In early 1943, the Vichy authorities established a paramilitary group and they worked alongside German forces that, by the end of 1942, were stationed throughout France. The group collaborated closely with the Nazis, and was the Vichy equivalent of the Gestapo security forces in Germany and their actions were often brutal and included torture and execution of Résistance suspects. After the liberation of France in the summer of 1944, the French executed many of the estimated 25,000 to 35,000 miliciens for their collaboration. Many of those who escaped arrest fled to Germany, where they were incorporated into the Charlemagne Division of the Waffen SS, the experience of the Occupation was a deeply psychologically disorienting one for the French as what was once familiar and safe become strange and threatening. Many Parisians could not get over the shock experienced when they first saw the huge swastika flags hanging over the Hôtel de Ville, Many résistants often spoke of some climax when they saw some intolerable act of injustice, after which they could not longer remain passive. Barthelt recalled, I recognized him only by his hat, only by his hat, I tell you and because I was waiting on the roadside to see him pass. I saw his face all right, but there was no skin on it, both his poor eyes had been closed into two purple and yellow bruises. In the beginning, resistance was limited to such as severing phone lines, vandalizing posters. Another form of resistance was underground newspapers like Musée de lHomme which circulated clandestinely, the Musée de lHomme was founded by two professors, Paul Rivet and the Russian émigré Boris Vildé in July 1940
29.
Poto-Poto
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Poto-Poto is the name of one of the original residential neighborhoods of the city of Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. Poto-Poto was originally demarcated by French colonizers in 1909, to the northeast of the part of town which was reserved for white residents only. Meanwhile, to the southwest, the neighborhood of Bacongo was also established, the French founded both Poto-Poto and Bacongo in order to create residential zones for the African workers who had begun flocking to the growing city. In fact, the name Poto-Poto comes from the word in the Bambara language meaning watery mud—so named because the neighborhood is located in an area which tends to flood during heavy rains. Still today, streets in Poto-Poto reflect the origins of the neighborhoods inhabitants, they bear the names of distant places. Within five years of its founding, Poto-Poto was subdivided by colonial authorities into units organized by common ethnicity, Poto-Poto is one of Brazzavilles seven arrondissements or administrative districts. The neighborhood is cross-cut by two main paved arteries, Avenue de la Paix which runs north-south and Avenue de France which runs east-west, nearly every other street in Poto-Poto is unpaved, most are called ruelles in French. The railyards of the Congo-Ocean Railway border Poto-Poto to the south, to the north lies the district of Moungali, an extension of the arrondissement of Poto-Poto but in recent decades a large and mostly residential neighborhood in its own right. Poto-Poto is bordered on the east by the neighborhood of Ouenzé. Poto-Poto is home to the Sainte-Anne Basilica, a large Catholic church which sits near the intersection of Avenue de la Paix and it was constructed during the late colonial era with brick walls and a green tiled roof, and was consecrated in 1949. Directly across the roundabout from the Basilica is the Maison du Peuple, the center of the neighborhood is dominated by a market, one of Brazzavilles largest. Since the 1990s Poto-Poto, like most other neighborhoods of Brazzaville, has been home to numerous small but boisterous evangelical churches of all denominations. Finally, the Hotel Marimar rises majestically above Avenue de la Paix and welcomes a discerning clientele from throughout the city, most of whom arrive without luggage and do not spend the night. Pockmarks in the Hotels facade left by bullets and rocket-propelled grenades, the Ecole de Peinture de Poto-Poto, though technically located in Moungali, is a renowned artistic centre which has produced numerous artists with a distinctive visual style. Paris, Presses de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, martin, Phyllis M. Leisure and Society in Colonial Brazzaville
30.
Communes of France
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The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
31.
Pool Department
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Pool is a department of the Republic of the Congo in the southeastern part of the country. It borders the departments of Bouenza, Lékoumou, and Plateaux, and internationally and it also surrounds the commune district of the national capital, Brazzaville. Principal towns include Boko, Kindamba and Mindouli, in the early 2000s, the Pool region was the home of a low-level insurgency led by Pasteur Ntumi. The region is named after the Pool Malebo, which is a wide stretch of the Congo River. Pool is divided into six districts, Boko District Kindamba District Kinkala District Mayama District Mindouli District Ngabe District Republic of the Congo at GeoHive
32.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
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The Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as DR Congo, DRC, DROC, East Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo is a country located in Central Africa. From 1971 to 1997 it was named, and is still called, Zaire. It is the second-largest country in Africa by area and eleventh largest in the world, the Congolese Civil Wars, which began in 1996, brought about the end of Mobutu Sese Sekos 32-year reign and devastated the country. These wars ultimately involved nine African nations, multiple groups of UN peacekeepers and twenty armed groups, besides the capital, Kinshasa, the other major cities, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi, are both mining communities. DR Congos largest export is raw minerals, with China accepting over 50% of DRCs exports in 2012, as of 2015, according to the Human Development Index, DR Congo has a low level of human development, ranking 176 out of 187 countries. The country was known officially as the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 27 October 1971, in 1992, the Sovereign National Conference voted to change the name of the country to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the change was not put into practice. The countrys name was restored by former president Laurent-Désiré Kabila following the fall of longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997, some historians think that Bantu peoples began settling in the extreme northwest of Central Africa at the beginning of the 5th century and then gradually started to expand southward. Their propagation was accelerated by the transition from Stone Age to Iron Age techniques, the people living in the south and southwest were mostly San Bushmen and hunter-gatherer groups, whose technology involved only minimal use of metal technologies. The development of tools during this time period revolutionized agriculture. This led to the displacement of the groups in the east and southeast. The 10th century marked the expansion of the Bantu in West-Central Africa. Rising populations soon made intricate local, regional and foreign commercial networks that traded mostly in salt, iron. Belgian exploration and administration took place from the 1870s until the 1920s and it was first led by Sir Henry Morton Stanley, who undertook his explorations under the sponsorship of King Leopold II of Belgium. The eastern regions of the precolonial Congo were heavily disrupted by constant slave raiding, mainly from Arab–Swahili slave traders such as the infamous Tippu Tip, Leopold had designs on what was to become the Congo as a colony. Leopold formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at the Conference of Berlin in 1885 and he named it the Congo Free State. Leopolds rėgime began various infrastructure projects, such as construction of the railway ran from the coast to the capital of Leopoldville. Nearly all such projects were aimed at making it easier to increase the assets which Leopold. In the Free State, colonists brutalized the local population into producing rubber, for which the spread of automobiles, rubber sales made a fortune for Leopold, who built several buildings in Brussels and Ostend to honor himself and his country
33.
Angola
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Angola /æŋˈɡoʊlə/, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country in Southern Africa. It is the seventh-largest country in Africa and is bordered by Namibia to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Zambia to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to west. The exclave province of Cabinda has borders with the Republic of the Congo, the capital and largest city of Angola is Luanda. In the 19th century, European settlers slowly and hesitantly began to themselves in the interior. As a Portuguese colony, Angola did not encompass its present borders until the early 20th century, following resistance by groups such as the Cuamato, the Kwanyama and the Mbunda. Independence was achieved in 1975 under a communist one-party state backed by the Soviet Union, however, the country soon descended into an even lengthier civil war that lasted until 2002. It has since become a relatively stable presidential republic. Angola has vast mineral and petroleum reserves, and its economy is among the fastest growing in the world, Angolas economic growth is highly uneven, with the majority of the nations wealth concentrated in a disproportionately small sector of the population. Angola is a state of the United Nations, OPEC, African Union, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, the Latin Union. A highly multiethnic country, Angolas 25.8 million people span various tribal groups, customs, Angolan culture reflects centuries of Portuguese rule, namely in the predominance of the Portuguese language and the Catholic Church, combined with diverse indigenous influences. The name Angola comes from the Portuguese colonial name Reino de Angola, the toponym was derived by the Portuguese from the title ngola held by the kings of Ndongo. Ndongo was a kingdom in the highlands, between the Kwanza and Lukala Rivers, nominally tributary to the king of Kongo but which was seeking greater independence during the 16th century, modern Angola was populated predominantly by nomadic Khoi and San prior to the first Bantu migrations. The Khoi and San peoples were neither pastoralists nor cultivators, following a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and they were displaced by Bantu peoples arriving from the north, some of whom likely originated in northwestern Nigeria. Bantu speakers introduced the cultivation of bananas and taro, as well as large herds, to Angolas central highlands. During this time, the Bantu established a number of entities in most of what today comprises Angola. To its south lay the Kingdom of Ndongo, from which the area of the later Portuguese colony was known as Dongo. The region now known as Angola was reached by the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão in 1484, the year before, the Portuguese had established relations with the Kongo, which stretched at the time from modern Gabon in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. The Portuguese established their primary trading post at Soyo, which is now the northernmost city in Angola apart from the Cabinda exclave
34.
MONUSCO
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Since 1999, about US$8.74 billion has been spent to fund the UN peacekeeping effort in DRC. As of December 2015, the strength of UN peacekeeping troops in DRC exceed 23,000. More than thirty nations have contributed military and police personnel for peacekeeping effort, in June 2011, it was reported that India is preparing to gradually scale back its military commitment to MONUSCO. The first liaison officers arrived in the DRC on 3 September 1999, in November 1999 the number of liaison officers totaled 39, distributed in the capitals of the warring countries including 24 who were stationed in Kinshasa. In January 2000 they reached the number of 79 and they were spread over the territory of DRC. Their mission was to liaise with all the factions, give a technical assistance. On 24 February 2000 with the resolution 1291, the U. N. Security Council authorized the deployment of a maximum of 5537 military personnel in the DRC, on 4 April 2000 the Senegalese Major General Mountago Diallo was appointed as the commander of MONUCs military force. Acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter the U. N, in December 2000 there were 224 military personnel deployed, including 148 observers in 13 points around the country. The observers could only record the non-application of the Ceasefire, the violent fighting at Kisangani and in the Equateur, the deployment of UN troops was impossible due to the security situation and the reluctance of the Congolese government. In March 2001, the first Uruguayan guard unit arrived in Kalemie, the force was deployed in four sectors at Kananga, Kisangani, Kalemie and Mbandaka. In July 2001, the strength was of 2366 soldiers. They came from South Africa, Uruguay, Morocco, Senegal, guard units protected MONUC installations in Kinshasa, Kananga, Kisangani, Kalemie, Goma and Mbandaka. A Uruguayan riverine unit and a South African air medical evacuation team were also deployed, with Security Council Resolution 1376, the Security Council launched the third phase of the deployment of MONUC troops, in the East of DRC. The site for the base was planned to be Kindu. In 2002, the 450 military observers, split in 95 teams, the teams also investigated violations of the Ceasefire. Foreign troops continued to leave the country, the riverine units escorted the first ships on the Congo river, which was again open to commercial traffic. In June 2002 the UN troops total number was 3804, contingents from Ghana and Bolivia joined the force, of which more than a third of the soldiers were Uruguayan. More than a thousand soldiers were deployed in Kisangani, on 14 May 2002, a military observer died near Ikela following the explosion of a mine under his vehicle
35.
Conurbation
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In most cases, a conurbation is a polycentric urbanised area, in which transportation has developed to link areas to create a single urban labour market or travel to work area. The term conurbation was coined in 1915 by Patrick Geddes in his book Cities In Evolution, the term as described is used in Britain, whereas the term in the United States is most closely equivalent to metropolitan area as used by the Census Bureau. It may consist of a city and its suburbs. A conurbation should also be contrasted with a megalopolis, where the areas are close but not physically contiguous. The cities and towns of Port Louis, Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, Curepipe, Quatre Bornes, Vacoas-Phoenix and other urbanized villages form a large, a large part of this conurbation is located in the district of Plaines Wilhems. This network of urban areas has a population of 530,920 as of 2011. Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and Tshwane are currently merging to form a region that comprises a population of 14.6 million people, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region consists of Mumbai and its satellite towns. Developing over a period of about 20 years, it consists of seven municipal corporations, the region has an area of 4,355 km² and with a population of 20,998,395, and is among the top ten most populated urban agglomerations in the world. It is linked together through the Mumbai Suburban Railway system and a network of roads. The population of the NCR region is 21.7 million, Dhaka has recently been linked with Narayanganj and Gazipur city such that there are no gaps between Dhaka and those two cities. The Klang Valley conurbation in the state of Selangor is composed of, Kuala Lumpur, the second largest conurbation by population in Malaysia is Greater Penang. Centred in George Town, the city of the state of Penang, the conurbation also includes the following towns in Penang. Lahore–Raiwind–Kala Shah Kaku, the second largest city in Pakistan with its towns of Kala Shah Kaku. Metro Manila, Philippines Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand Ho Chi Minh City Metropolitan Region, comprising Ho Chi Minh City, Bình Dương, Đồng Nai, Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu, Tây Ninh, and Tân An. Hanoi Metropolitan Region, comprising Hanoi, Bắc Ninh, Thái Nguyên, Vĩnh Phúc, and Việt Trì. Qui Nhơn-Nha Trang-Da Lat Conurbation Belt, comprising Qui Nhơn, An Nhơn, Sông Cầu, Tuy Hòa, Vân Phong Bay, Ninh Hòa, Nha Trang, Dien Khánh, Cam Lâm, Cam Ranh, Trường Sa, Phan Rang, and Da Lat. Huế-Da Nang-Quảng Ngãi Conurbation Belt, comprising Huế, Hương Tra, Hương Thủy, Lăng Cô, Da Nang, Hòa Vang, Hoàng Sa, Hội An, Tam Kỳ, Chu Lai, Dung Quất, Sơn Tịnh and this area is colloquially known as the Area Metropolitana. The Flemish Diamond is the Flemish reference to a network of four areas in Belgium
36.
Machining
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Machining is any of various processes in which a piece of raw material is cut into a desired final shape and size by a controlled material-removal process. Exactly what the part of the definition implies can vary. Machining is a part of the manufacture of metal products, but it can also be used on materials such as wood, plastic, ceramic. A person who specializes in machining is called a machinist, a room, building, or company where machining is done is called a machine shop. Machining can be a business, a hobby, or both, much of modern-day machining is carried out by computer numerical control, in which computers are used to control the movement and operation of the mills, lathes, and other cutting machines. The precise meaning of the term machining has evolved over the past one, in the 18th century, the word machinist simply meant a person who built or repaired machines. This persons work was mostly by hand, using processes such as the carving of wood. At the time, millwrights and builders of new kinds of engines, such as James Watt or John Wilkinson, the noun machine tool and the verb to machine did not yet exist. Around the middle of the 19th century, the words were coined as the concepts that they described evolved into widespread existence. Therefore, during the Machine Age, machining referred to the machining processes, such as turning, boring, drilling, milling, broaching, sawing, shaping, planing, reaming. In current usage, the term machining without qualification usually implies the traditional machining processes, the three principal machining processes are classified as turning, drilling and milling. Other operations falling into miscellaneous categories include shaping, planing, boring, broaching and sawing, turning operations are operations that rotate the workpiece as the primary method of moving metal against the cutting tool. Lathes are the machine tool used in turning. Milling operations are operations in which the tool rotates to bring cutting edges to bear against the workpiece. Milling machines are the machine tool used in milling. Drilling operations are operations in which holes are produced or refined by bringing a rotating cutter with cutting edges at the lower extremity into contact with the workpiece, drilling operations are done primarily in drill presses but sometimes on lathes or mills. Burnishing is an example of a miscellaneous operation, burnishing produces no swarf but can be performed at a lathe, mill, or drill press. An unfinished workpiece requiring machining will need to have some material cut away to create a finished product, a finished product would be a workpiece that meets the specifications set out for that workpiece by engineering drawings or blueprints
37.
Textile
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A textile or cloth is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, hemp, Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, or felting. The words fabric and cloth are used in textile assembly trades as synonyms for textile, however, there are subtle differences in these terms in specialized usage. Textile refers to any material made of interlacing fibres, a fabric is a material made through weaving, knitting, spreading, crocheting, or bonding that may be used in production of further goods. Cloth may be used synonymously with fabric but is often a piece of fabric used for a specific purpose. The word textile is from Latin, from the adjective textilis, meaning woven, from textus, the word cloth derives from the Old English clað, meaning a cloth, woven or felted material to wrap around one, from Proto-Germanic kalithaz. The discovery of dyed flax fibres in a cave in the Republic of Georgia dated to 34,000 BCE suggests textile-like materials were made even in prehistoric times. The production of textiles is a craft whose speed and scale of production has been altered almost beyond recognition by industrialization, however, for the main types of textiles, plain weave, twill, or satin weave, there is little difference between the ancient and modern methods. Textiles have an assortment of uses, the most common of which are for clothing and for such as bags. In the household they are used in carpeting, upholstered furnishings, window shades, towels, coverings for tables, beds, and other flat surfaces, in the workplace they are used in industrial and scientific processes such as filtering. Textiles are used in traditional crafts such as sewing, quilting. Textiles for industrial purposes, and chosen for other than their appearance, are commonly referred to as technical textiles. Technical textiles include textile structures for applications, medical textiles, geotextiles, agrotextiles. In all these applications stringent performance requirements must be met, woven of threads coated with zinc oxide nanowires, laboratory fabric has been shown capable of self-powering nanosystems using vibrations created by everyday actions like wind or body movements. Fashion designers commonly rely on textile designs to set their fashion collections apart from others, armani, the late Gianni Versace, and Emilio Pucci can be easily recognized by their signature print driven designs. Textiles can be made from many materials and these materials come from four main sources, animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic. In the past, all textiles were made from natural fibres, including plant, animal, in the 20th century, these were supplemented by artificial fibres made from petroleum. Textiles are made in various strengths and degrees of durability, from the finest gossamer to the sturdiest canvas, microfibre refers to fibres made of strands thinner than one denier
Brazzaville travel guide from Wikivoyage
