1.
Campione 2000
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Campione 2000 was the official song of the European football championship 2000 in the Netherlands and Belgium. It was performed by Swedish musician E-Type and written by E-Type, Rick Blaskey and it gained a huge popularity during the tournament and has since been heard in football games around Europe, both in national and international games. It translates as Champion in English, the song was included in E-Types album Euro IV Ever, and in the Sport Edition of Loud Pipes Save Lives. It was also included in The Official Euro 2000 Album, CD maxi - Europe Campione 2000 -3,34 Campione 2000 -6,39 Campione 2000 -4,53 Campione 2000 -2,50 Football chant
2.
Campione!
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Campione. is a Japanese light novel series written by Jō Taketsuki and illustrated by Sikorski. It has been published by Shueisha in their Super Dash Bunko imprint since September 2008 and it has been adapted into a manga series published in Shueishas Super Dash & Go. A 13-episode anime television series, produced by Diomedéa aired in Japan on AT-X and Tokyo MX beginning in July 2012, Sentai Filmworks released an English dub of the TV series in North America. The novels story focuses on Godou Kusanagi, a baseball player, as he becomes a Campione after killing the god of war. Godou Kusanagi, a baseball player, is asked by his grandfather to return a stone tablet to a friend in Sardinia named Lucrezia Zora. After meeting the demonically manipulative sword-mistress Erica Blandelli, he encounters the god of war, after killing the god, Godou becomes a Campione, or god slayer. His duty is to fight heretical gods who start changing things to suit themselves, one of the problems associated with being a Campione, is that his status keeps attracting attention and difficult girls. Erica, who professes her love for him, usually creates awkward. Godou Kusanagi Voiced by, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Blake Shepard Godou is the main protagonist of the series and is the 7th Campione and he is a retired middle school baseball player, after his grandfather asked him to return a stone tablet in Sardinia to Lucrezia Zora. Upon his encounter with Erica Blandelli, he manages to slay the god Verethragna, the Golden Sword allows Godou to receive knowledge about the gods he slays, making it stronger as the knowledge increases. He receives the information via kissing one of the female protagonists and this and ingestion are the only ways someone can have their magic, benign or malign, bypass a majority of the resistance. He is a little afraid of women due to being completely dense to their feelings, numerous interrogations and punishments from his sister, along with Ericas pranks and he tends to take what people say at face value, missing their intentions. Their battle tactics and colors has likened them to that of red devils, holding the rank of Great Knight and the title of Diavolo Rosso, she is a magic swordsmen that through coincidence meets Godou and assists him while he was in Sardinia, Italy. She ends up falling in love with him and she uses her weapon Cuore di Leone, an enchanted sword that she can summon to her hand. She also has the ability to use the sword to summon a silver lion which can attack in place of Erica in the anime. Her weapon can transform into a spear, lance or sword for offense and its true form is that of a long, silvery, broadsword infused with the spell words of David which she must cast, giving it the ability to harm gods. She is able to multiply the Cuore di Leone, even after throwing it, whether there is a restriction on how many duplicates she can make, due to ability or power, is unknown but so far has made up to thirteen lions and seven spears. Her lions are infused with intelligence allowing them to act independently just like real lions, Erica can use leap magic, able to boost jumping while in midair
3.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
4.
Regions of Italy
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The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of Italy, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are 20 regions, of five are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes. Each region, except for the Aosta Valley, is divided into provinces, regions are autonomous entities with powers defined in the Constitution. As the administrative districts of the state during the Kingdom of Italy. The original draft list comprised the Salento region, friuli and Venezia Giulia were separate regions, and Basilicata was named Lucania. Abruzzo and Molise were identified as regions in the first draft. They were later merged into Abruzzo e Molise in the constitution of 1948. Implementation of regional autonomy was postponed until the first Regional Elections of 1970, the ruling Christian Democracy party did not want the opposition Italian Communist Party to gain power in the regions, where it was historically rooted. Regions acquired a significant level of autonomy following a reform in 2001. In June 2006 the proposals, which had been associated with Lega Nord. The results varied considerably among the regions, ranging from 55. 3% in favour in Veneto to 82% against in Calabria, number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1995, Macroregions are the first-level NUTS of the European Union. These regions, whose statutes are approved by their councils, were created in 1970. Since the constitutional reform of 2001 they have had residual legislative powers, the regions have exclusive legislative power with respect to any matters not expressly reserved to state law. Yet their financial autonomy is quite modest, they just keep 20% of all levied taxes, Article 116 of the Italian Constitution grants to five regions home rule, acknowledging their powers in relation to legislation, administration and finance. These regions became autonomous in order to take into account cultural differences, moreover, the government wanted to prevent their secession from Italy after the Second World War. Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol constitutes a special case, the region is nearly powerless, and the powers granted by the regions statute are mostly exercised by the two autonomous provinces within the region, Trentino and South Tyrol. In this case, the regional institution plays a coordinating role, the latter is directly elected by the citizens of each region, with the exceptions of Aosta Valley and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, where he is chosen by the regional council. Under the 1995 electoral law, the winning coalition receives a majority of seats on the council
5.
Lombardy
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Lombardy is one of the twenty administrative regions of Italy, in the northwest of the country, with an area of 23,844 square kilometres. Milan, Lombardys capital, is the second-largest city and the largest metropolitan area in Italy, the word Lombardy comes from Lombard, which in turn is derived from Late Latin Longobardus, Langobardus, derived from the Proto-Germanic elements *langaz + *bardaz, equivalent to long beard. Some sources derive the second element instead from Proto-Germanic *bardǭ, *barduz, Lombardy referred during the early Middle Ages to the entire territory of Italy ruled by the Lombards, a Germanic tribe who conquered much of the Italian peninsula beginning in the 6th century. During the late Middle Ages, the term shifted meaning and was used to identify the whole of Northern Italy, with a surface of 23,861 km2, Lombardy is the 4th largest region of Italy. It is bordered by Switzerland and by the Italian regions of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, three distinct natural zones can be fairly easily distinguished in the Lombardy region, mountains, hills and plains – the latter being divided in Alta and Bassa. Inconsistent with the three distinctions above made is the subregion of Oltrepò Pavese, formed by the Apennine foothills beyond the Po River. The mighty Po river marks the border of the region for a length of about 210 km. In its progress it receives the waters of the Ticino River, the other streams which contribute to the great river are, the Olona, the Lambro, the Adda, the Oglio and the Mincio. The numerous lakes of Lombardy, all of glacial origin, lie in the northern highlands, from west to east these are Lake Maggiore, Lake Lugano, Lake Como, Lake Iseo, Lake Idro, then Lake Garda, the largest in Italy. A minor mountainous area, the Oltrepò Pavese, lies south of the Po, in the plains, intensively cultivated for centuries, little of the original environment remains. The most commons trees are elm, alder, sycamore, poplar, willow, in the area of the foothills lakes, however, grow olive trees, cypresses and larches, as well as varieties of subtropical flora such as magnolias, azaleas, acacias. Numerous species of flora in the Prealpine area include some kinds of saxifrage, the Lombard garlic, groundsels bellflowers. The highlands are characterized by the vegetation of the whole range of the Italian Alps. At a lower levels oak woods or broadleafed trees grow, on the slopes beech trees grow at the lowest limits. Shrubs such as rhododendron, dwarf pine and juniper are native to the summital zone, Lombardy has a wide array of climates, due to local variances in elevation, proximity to inland water basins, and large metropolitan areas. In addition, there is a seasonal temperature variation. A peculiarity of the climate is the thick fog that covers the plains between October and February. In the Alpine foothills, characterised by an Oceanic climate, numerous lakes exercise a mitigating influence, in the hills and mountains, the climate is humid continental
6.
Provinces of Italy
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In Italy, a province is an administrative division of intermediate level between a municipality and a region. There are currently 107 provinces in Italy, a further 4 such cities were added later. The reorganization of the Italian provinces became operative by January 2015, a province of the Italian Republic is composed of many municipalities. Usually several provinces together form a region, the region of Aosta Valley is the sole exception – it is not subdivided into provinces, the three main functions devolved to provinces are, local planning and zoning, provision of local police and fire services, transportation regulation. The number of provinces in Italy has been growing in recent years. Usually, the name is the same as that of its capital city. According to the 2014 reform, each province is headed by a President assisted by a body, the Provincial Council, and an executive body. President and members of Council are elected together by mayors and city councilors of each municipality of the province, the Executive is chaired by the President who appoint others members, called assessori. Since 2015 the President and others members of the Council will not receive a salary, in each province there is also a Prefect, a representative of the central government who heads an agency called prefettura-ufficio territoriale del governo. The Questor is the head of States Police in the province, there is also a provinces police force depending from local government, called provincial police. Sardinia - following the outcome of the referendums of 2012 it was decreed that such institutions should be reformed or abolished by March 2013. In January 2014 the Sardinian Regional Administrative Court declared unconstitutional the abolition of the Sardinian provinces, sicily - provinces were replaced by Free Communal Consortia in 2013. In 1861, at the birth of the Kingdom of Italy, however, at that time the national territory was smaller than the current one, regions of Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino Alto Adige and Lazio were not included in the kingdom. In 1866, following the Third Independence War, territories of Veneto, Friuli, there were therefore nine more provinces, Belluno, Mantua, Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Venice, Verona, Vicenza and Udine, all previously part of the Austrian Empire. Eventually, in 1870, following the annexion of Rome and its province from the Papal States, after the First World War, new territories were annexed to Italy. The Province of Trento was created in 1920, Provinces of La Spezia, Trieste and Ionio in 1923. In 1924 the new provinces of Fiume, Pola, and Zara were created, in 1927, following a Royal charter, a general province rearrangement took place. 17 new provinces were created and the province of Caserta was suppressed, in the same year the institution of circondari, sub-provincial wards created before the unification, was abolished
7.
Demonym
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A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a member of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms, for example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person, a Brit, or a Briton. In some languages, when a parallel demonym does not exist, in English, demonyms are capitalized and are often the same as the adjectival form of the place, e. g. Egyptian, Japanese, or Greek. Significant exceptions exist, for instance the adjectival form of Spain is Spanish, English widely includes country-level demonyms such as Ethiopian or Guatemalan and more local demonyms such as Seoulite, Wisconsinite, Chicagoan, Michigander, Fluminense, and Paulista. Some places lack a commonly used and accepted demonym and this poses a particular challenge to those toponymists who research demonyms. The word gentilic comes from the Latin gentilis and the English suffix -ic, the word demonym was derived from the Greek word meaning populace with the suffix for name. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a recent work from 1990 and it was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. However, in What Do You Call a Person From, a Dictionary of Resident Names attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names Names, A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon, which is apparently where the term first appears. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language, the most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location name, slightly modified in some instances. Cairo → Cairene Cyrenaica → Cyrene Damascus → Damascene Greece → Greek Nazareth → Nazarene Slovenia → Slovene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. Kingston-upon-Hull → Hullensian Leeds → Leodensian Spain → Spaniard Savoy → Savoyard -ese is usually considered proper only as an adjective, thus, a Chinese person is used rather than a Chinese. Monaco → Monégasque Menton → Mentonasque Basque Country → Basque Often used for French locations, mostly they are from Africa and the Pacific, and are not generally known or used outside the country concerned. In much of East Africa, a person of an ethnic group will be denoted by a prefix. For example, a person of the Luba people would be a Muluba, the plural form Baluba, similar patterns with minor variations in the prefixes exist throughout on a tribal level. And Fijians who are indigenous Fijians are known as Kaiviti and these demonyms are usually more informal and colloquial. In the United States such informal demonyms frequently become associated with mascots of the sports teams of the state university system. In other countries the origins are often disputed and these will typically be formed using the standard models above
8.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
9.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
10.
Zeno of Verona
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Zeno of Verona was either an early Christian Bishop of Verona or a martyr. He is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox Church, according to a Veronese author named Coronato, a notary of the 7th century, Zeno was a native of Mauretania. He taught many children of Africa about the Catholic religion and he helped them with their school work. The children could rely on someone who could help them, another theory is that Zeno was a follower of Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, who accompanied his master when the latter visited Verona in 340. Many of the Sermones concern Old Testament exegesis and have a definite anti-Semitic element in them. Staying in the city, Zeno entered the life, living as a monk until around 362. Zeno’s other reforms included instructions concerning adult baptism and issuing medals to people newly baptized to the Catholic faith, Zenos episcopate lasted for about ten years, and the date of his death is sometimes given as 12 April 371. Zeno is described as a confessor of the faith in early martyrologies, Saint Gregory the Great calls him a martyr in his Dialogues, Saint Ambrose, a contemporary of Zeno, does not. Ambrose speaks of Zenos happy death, although as a confessor, Zeno may have suffered persecution during the reigns of Constantius II, there is an entry in the Roman Martyrology for the Bishop of Verona who was martyred by Roman Emperor Gallienus on 12 April 371. There are problems with this date, however, as Gallienus rule ended in 268, the first evidence for his existence is found in a letter written by Saint Ambrose to Bishop Syagrius of Verona in which Ambrose refers to the holiness of Zeno. Later, Bishop Saint Petronius of Verona wrote of Zeno’s virtues, a poem written between 781 and 810, called the Versus de Verona, an elegy of the city in verse, states that Zeno was the eighth bishop of Verona. Zeno’s liturgical feast day is celebrated on 12 April, but in the diocese of Verona, it is celebrated on 21 May. Tradition states that Zeno built the first basilica in Verona, situated in the area occupied by the present-day cathedral. His eponymous church in its present location dates to the ninth century. It was consecrated on 8 December 806, two local hermits, Benignus and Carus, were assigned the task of translating Zeno’s relics to a new marble crypt. King Pepin was present at the ceremony, as were the Bishops of Cremona and Salzburg, the church was damaged at the beginning of the tenth century by Hungarians, though the relics of Zeno remained safe. The basilica was rebuilt again, and made larger and stronger. Financial support was provided by Otto I, and it was re-consecrated in 967, the present church of San Zeno in Verona is a work of the twelfth, thirteenth and early fifteenth centuries for the most part
11.
Enclave and exclave
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An enclave is a territory, or a part of a territory, that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state. Territorial waters have the same attributes as land, and enclaves may therefore exist within territorial waters. An exclave is a portion of a state or territory geographically separated from the part by surrounding alien territory. Enclave is sometimes used improperly to denote a territory that is partly surrounded by another state. Vatican City and San Marino, enclaved by Italy, and Lesotho, unlike an enclave, an exclave can be surrounded by several states. The Azeri exclave of Naxçıvan is an example of an exclave. Semi-enclaves and semi-exclaves are areas that, except for possessing an unsurrounded sea border, Enclaves and semi-enclaves can exist as independent states, while exclaves always constitute just a part of a sovereign state. A pene-enclave is a part of the territory of one country that can be approached conveniently — in particular by wheeled traffic — only through the territory of another country, pene-enclaves are also called functional enclaves or practical enclaves. Many pene-exclaves partially border their own territorial waters, a pene-enclave can also exist entirely on land, such as when intervening mountains render a territory inaccessible from other parts of a country except through alien territory. A commonly cited example is the Kleinwalsertal, a part of Vorarlberg, Austria. The word enclave is French and first appeared in the century as a derivative of the verb enclaver. In law, this created a servitude of passage for the benefit of the owner of the surrounded land, the first diplomatic document to contain the word enclave was the Treaty of Madrid, signed in 1526. Later, the term began to be used also to refer to parcels of countries, counties, fiefs, communes, towns, parishes. This French word eventually entered the English and other languages to denote the same concept although local terms have continued to be used, in India, the word pocket is often used as a synonym for enclave. In British administrative history, subnational enclaves were usually called detachments or detached parts, in English ecclesiastic history, subnational enclaves were known as peculiars. The word exclave, modeled on enclave, is a extension of the concept of enclave. Enclaves exist for a variety of historical, political and geographical reasons, in particular, this state of affairs persisted into the 19th century in the Holy Roman Empire, and these domains exhibited many of the characteristics of sovereign states. Prior to 1866 Prussia alone consisted of more than 270 discontiguous pieces of territory, thus, over time enclaves have tended to be eliminated. This exchange thus effectively de-enclaved another two dozen second-order enclaves and one third-order enclave, eliminating 197 of the Indo-Bangladesh enclaves in all, the residents in these enclaves had complained of being effectively stateless
12.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
13.
Ticino
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Ticino /tᵻˈtʃiːnoʊ/, formally the Republic and Canton of Ticino is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. The land now occupied by the canton was annexed from Italian cities in the 15th century by various Swiss forces in the last transalpine campaigns of the Old Swiss Confederacy, in the Helvetic Republic, established 1798, it was divided between the two new cantons of Bellinzona and Lugano. The creation of the Swiss Confederation in 1803 saw these two cantons combine to form the canton of Ticino. The name Ticino was chosen for the newly established canton in 1803, known as Ticinus in Roman times, the river appears on the Tabula Peutingeriana as Ticenum. Johann Kaspar Zeuss attributed Celtic origins to the name, tracing it to the Celtic tek, itself from an Indo-European root tak, in ancient times, the area of what is today Ticino was settled by the Lepontii, a Celtic tribe. Later, probably around the rule of Augustus, it part of the Roman Empire. After the fall of the Western Empire, was ruled by the Ostrogoths, the Lombards, around 1100 it was the centre of struggle between the free communes of Milan and Como, in the 14th century it was acquired by the Visconti, Dukes of Milan. In the fifteenth century the Swiss Confederates conquered the south of the Alps in three separate conquests. Between 1403 and 1422 some of these lands were annexed by forces from the Canton of Uri. Uri conquered the Leventina Valley in 1440, in a second conquest Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden gained the town of Bellinzona and the Riviera in 1500. Some of the land and Bellinzona itself were previously annexed by Uri in 1419, the third conquest was fought by troops from the entire Confederation. In 1512 Locarno, the Maggia Valley, Lugano and Mendrisio were annexed, subsequently, the upper valley of the Ticino River, from the St. Gotthard to the town of Biasca was part of Uri. The remaining territory was administered by the Twelve Cantons and these districts were governed by bailiffs holding office for two years and purchasing it from the members of the League. The lands of the canton of Ticino are the last lands to be conquered by the Swiss Confederation, the Confederation gave up any further conquests after their defeat at the battle of Marignano in 1515 by Francis I of France. The Val Leventina revolted unsuccessfully against Uri in 1755, in February 1798 an attempt of annexation by the Cisalpine Republic was repelled by a volunteer militia in Lugano. During the Napoleonic Wars, many Ticinesi served in Swiss military units allied with the French, the canton minted its own currency, the Ticinese franco, between 1813 and 1850, when it began use of the Swiss franc. In the early 19th century, the contemporary Franco-Danish scholar Conrad Malte-Brun stated that, “The canton of Tesino is the poorest, until 1878 the three largest cities, Bellinzona, Lugano and Locarno, alternated as capital of the canton. In 1878, however, Bellinzona became the only and permanent capital, the current cantonal constitution dates from 1997
14.
Como
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Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Como. With 215,320 overnight guests, in 2013 Como was the fourth most visited city in Lombardy after Milan, Bergamo, the hills surrounding the current location of Como have been inhabited, since at least the Bronze Age, by a Celtic tribe known as the Orobii. Remains of settlements are still present on the wood covered hills to the South West of town, around the 1st century BC, the territory became subject to the Romans. The newly founded town was named Novum Comum and had the status of municipium, in 774, the town surrendered to invading Franks led by Charlemagne, and became a center of commercial exchange. In 1127, Como lost a war with the nearby town of Milan. A few decades later, with the help of Frederick Barbarossa, Frederick promoted the construction of several defensive towers around the city limits, of which only one, the Baradello, remains. Subsequently, the history of Como followed that of the Ducato di Milano, through the French invasion and the Spanish domination, until 1714, Napoleon descended into Lombardy in 1796 and ruled it until 1815, when the Austrian rule was resumed after the Congress of Vienna. Finally in 1859, with the arrival of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the town was freed from the Austrians, as a curiosity, the Rockefeller fountain that today stands in the Bronx Zoo in New York City was once in the main square by the lakeside. It was bought by William Rockefeller in 1902 for 3,500 lire, nearby major cities are Varese, Lecco and Lugano. Wind is quite rare, only sudden bursts of foehn or thunderstorms manage to sweep the air clean, pollution levels rise significantly in winter when cold air clings to the soil. Rain is more frequent during spring, summer is subject to thunderstorms and, occasionally, Como Cathedral, construction began in 1396 on the site of the previous Romanesque church of Santa Maria Maggiore. The façade was built in 1457, with the rose window. The construction was finished in 1740, the interior is on the Latin cross plan, with Gothic nave and two aisles divided by piers, while the transept wing and the relative apses are from the Renaissance age. It includes a carved 16th century choir and tapestries on cartoons by Giuseppe Arcimboldi, the dome is a rococo structure by Filippo Juvarra. Other artworks include 16th–17th century tapestries and 16th century paintings by Bernardino Luini, San Fedele, a Romanesque church erected around 1120 over a pre-existing central plan edifice. The original bell tower was rebuilt in modern times, the main feature is the famous Door of St. Fedele, carved with medieval decorations. SantAgostino, built by the Cistercians in the early 14th century, the interior and adjoining cloister have 15th–17th century frescoes, but most of the decoration is Baroque
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Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
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Garrison
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Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base. The garrison is usually in a city, town, fort, castle, garrison town is a common expression for any town that has a military base nearby. Garrison towns were used during the Arab Islamic conquests of Middle Eastern lands by Arab-Muslim armies to increase their dominance over indigenous populations. In Ireland, Association football has historically been termed the game or the garrison sport for its connections with British military serving in Irish cities. In Israel, a unit is a regular unit defending a specified Israeli zone in need of protection from attack from combatants. Israeli garrison units placed in the territories of West Bank are recognized under UN Resolution 242 as occupied pending peaceful recognition by all regional combatants. It was an old custom in ancient Italy to send out colonies for the purpose of securing new conquests, the Romans, having no standing army, used to plant bodies of their own citizens in conquered towns as a kind of garrison
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Helvetii
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The Helvetii were a Gallic tribe or tribal confederation occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. According to Julius Caesar, the Helvetians were divided into four subgroups or pagi, of these Caesar only names the Verbigeni and the Tigurini, while Posidonius mentions the Tigurini and the Tougeni. They feature prominently in the Commentaries on the Gallic War, with their failed attempt to southwestern Gaul serving as a catalyst for Caesars conquest of Gaul. The endonym Helvetii is mostly derived from a Gaulish elu-, meaning gain, prosperity or mulititude, cognate with Welsh elw and Old Irish prefix il-, meaning many or multiple. The second part of the name has sometimes been interpreted as *etu-, terrain, grassland, the earliest attestation of the name is found in a graffito on a vessel from Mantua, dated to c.300 BC. The inscription in Etruscan letters reads eluveitie, which has interpreted as the Etruscan form of the Celtic elu̯eti̯os. The name of the personification of Switzerland, Helvetia. The star 51 Pegasi was named Helvetios after them and this was the first main-sequence star found to have an exoplanet orbiting it. Of the four Helvetian pagi or sub-tribes, Caesar names only the Verbigeni and the Tigurini, Posidonius the Tigurini, there has been substantial debate in Swiss historiography on whether the Tougeni may or may not be identified with the Teutones mentioned by Titus Livius. According to Caesar, the territory abandoned by the Helvetii had comprised 400 villages and 12 oppida and his tally of the total population taken from captured Helvetian records written in Greek is 263,000 people, including fighting men, old men, women and children. However, the figures are generally dismissed as too high by modern scholars, like many other tribes, the Helvetii did not have kings at the time of their clash with Rome but instead seem to have been governed by a class of noblemen. When Orgetorix, one of their most prominent and ambitious noblemen, was making plans to himself as their king. Caesar does not explicitly name the tribal authorities prosecuting the case and gathering men to apprehend Orgetorix, in his Natural History, Pliny provides a foundation myth for the Celtic settlement of Cisalpine Gaul in which a Helvetian named Helico plays the role of culture hero. The Greek historian Posidonius, whose work is preserved only in fragments by other writers, offers the earliest historical record of the Helvetii. Posidonius described the Helvetians of the late 2nd century BC as rich in gold but peaceful and that the Helvetians originally lived in southern Germany is confirmed by the Alexandrian geographer Claudius Ptolemaios, who tells us of an Ἐλουητίων ἔρημος north of the Rhine. Tacitus knows that the Helvetians once settled in the swath between Rhine, Main, and the Hercynian forest, at the later Vicus Turicum, probably in the first 1st century BC or even much earlier, the Celts settled at the Lindenhof Oppidium. In 1890, so-called Potin lumps were found, whose largest weights 59.2 kilograms at the Prehistoric pile dwelling settlement Alpenquai in Zürich, the pieces consist of a large number of fused Celtic coins, which are mixed with charcoal remnants. Some of the 18,000 coins originate from the Eastern Gaul, others are of the Zürich type, that were assigned to the local Helvetii, which date to around 100 BC
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Lombards
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The Lombards or Longobards were a Germanic people who ruled large parts of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. In the 1st century AD, they formed part of the Suebi, the Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thurisind in 551 or 552, his successor Alboin eventually destroyed the Gepids at the Battle of Asfeld in 567. The Lombards were joined by numerous Saxons, Heruls, Gepids, Bulgars, Thuringians, and Ostrogoths, by late 569 they had conquered all north of Italy and the principal cities north of the Po River except Pavia, which fell in 572. At the same time, they occupied areas in central Italy and they established a Lombard Kingdom in north and central Italy, later named Regnum Italicum, which reached its zenith under the 8th-century ruler Liutprand. In 774, the Kingdom was conquered by the Frankish King Charlemagne, however, Lombard nobles continued to rule southern parts of the Italian peninsula, well into the 11th century when they were conquered by the Normans and added to their County of Sicily. In this period, the part of Italy still under Longobardic domination was known by the name Langbarðaland in the Norse runestones. Their legacy is apparent in the regional name Lombardy. The fullest account of Lombard origins, history, and practices is the Historia Langobardorum of Paul the Deacon, pauls chief source for Lombard origins, however, is the 7th-century Origo Gentis Langobardorum. The Origo Gentis Langobardorum tells the story of a tribe called the Winnili dwelling in southern Scandinavia. The Winnili were split into three groups and one part left their land to seek foreign fields. The reason for the exodus was probably overpopulation, the departing people were led by the brothers Ybor and Aio and their mother Gambara and arrived in the lands of Scoringa, perhaps the Baltic coast or the Bardengau on the banks of the Elbe. Scoringa was ruled by the Vandals and their chieftains, the brothers Ambri and Assi, the Winnili were young and brave and refused to pay tribute, saying It is better to maintain liberty by arms than to stain it by the payment of tribute. The Vandals prepared for war and consulted Godan, who answered that he would give the victory to those whom he would see first at sunrise. The Winnili were fewer in number and Gambara sought help from Frea, at sunrise, Frea turned her husbands bed so that he was facing east, and woke him. So Godan spotted the Winnili first and asked, Who are these long-beards. and Frea replied, My lord, thou hast given them the name, from that moment onwards, the Winnili were known as the Longbeards. When Paul the Deacon wrote the Historia between 787 and 796 he was a Catholic monk and devoted Christian and he thought the pagan stories of his people silly and laughable. Paul explained that the name Langobard came from the length of their beards, a modern theory suggests that the name Langobard comes from Langbarðr, a name of Odin. Priester states that when the Winnili changed their name to Lombards, they changed their old agricultural fertility cult to a cult of Odin
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Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio
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The Basilica of SantAmbrogio is a church in Milan, northern Italy. One of the most ancient churches in Milan, it was built by St. Ambrose in 379–386, the first name of the church was in fact Basilica Martyrum. When St. Ambrose arrived in Milan, the churches were in conflict with each other over the conflict between Arianism and the Nicene Creed as well as numerous local issues. He was firmly in support of the Nicene side of the conflict and he did this through both preaching and construction. He built three or four churches surrounding the city, Basilica Apostolorum, Basilica Virginum, and Basilica Martyrum, a fourth church, Basilica Salvatoris is attributed to him as well, but may not actually be from the 4th century. These churches were dedicated with anti-Arian language and as symbols of the wealth, initially, the basilica was outside the city of Milan, but over the following centuries, the city grew up around it. It became a center of life and a community of canons developed in the church. In 789, a monastery was established within the basilica grounds, the canons, however, retained their own community and identity instead of fading away. Two, separate, distinct religious communities shared the basilica, in the 11th century, the canons adopted orders and became Canons Regular. There were now two separate monastic orders following different rules living in the basilica, the canons were in the northern building, the cloister of the canons, while the monks were in the two southern buildings. The two towers symbolize the division in the basilica, the 9th century Torre dei Monaci tower was used by the monks to call the faithful to the monks mass. The monks supported themselves, partly, from the offerings given after mass, however, the canons did not have a bell tower and were not allowed to ring bells until they finished their own tower in the 12th Century. The monastery and church became a landholder in northern Italy. On 4 August 1528 it was the so-called Peace of St. Ambrose, in 1492 the Benedictines commissioned Donato Bramante, structural architect of St. Peters Basilica, to renovate the new rectory. In August 1943 the Allied bombings heavily damaged the basilica, in particular the apse, as a result of this a new building, painted in pink, was constructed to house the Abbotts offices and the museum. The church is built in brickwork of different origins and colors, with parts of stone. The current Romanesque church was begun around 1080, the nave dates to about 1128 and the rib vaults of the nave are from about 1140. The altar occupies about the place as in the time of St. Ambrose
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Roman Catholic Diocese of Como
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The Catholic Diocese of Como in northern Italy, has existed since the fourth century. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Milan, the bishops seat is in Como Cathedral. Local legend credits the conversion of Como to the apostolate of Hermagoras of Aquileia, until 1528 Como was, indeed, a suffragan of the patriarchate of Aquileia and followed the Aquileian Rite. In 1528 Como was placed under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Milan, in the tenth century the Bishops of Como were also its temporal lords. Como Cathedral was begun in 1396, and was completed only in 1595, later the cupola and some small chapels were added. The 338 parishes of the diocese are spread across four provinces of the Lombardy region, the Province of Como, the Province of Lecco, the Province of Sondrio, there is one priest for every 1,001 Catholics. Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae, quotquot innotuerunt a beato Petro apostolo, ratisbon, Typis et Sumptibus Georgii Josephi Manz. pp. 786-788. Hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi V. Patavii, Messagero di S. Antonio, hierarchia catholica medii et recentis aevi VI. Storia della città e della diocesi di Como, storia della città e della diocesi di Como. Le chiese dItalia della loro origine sino ai nostri giorni, caprioli, Adriano, Rimoldi, Antonio, Vaccaro, Luciano. La successione dei vescovi di Como dal 379 al 1930, italia Sacra sive De Episcopis Italiae et insularum adjacentium, tomus quintus. Source This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Herbermann, Charles
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Pope Julius II
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Pope Julius II, nicknamed The Fearsome Pope and The Warrior Pope, born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1 November 1503 to his death in 1513. In addition to a military policy, he personally led troops into battle on at least two occasions. There is disagreement about Juliuss year of birth, for some sources put it as late as 1453, Giuliano della Rovere was the son of Rafaello della Rovere. Francesco della Rovere was his uncle and he was educated among the Franciscans by his uncle, who took him under his special charge and later sent him to a Franciscan friary in Perugia with the purpose of obtaining knowledge of the sciences. After his uncle was elected Pope Sixtus IV, della Rovere was promoted to be cardinal, taking the title as that formerly held by his uncle. With his uncle he obtained great influence, and in addition to the archbishopric of Avignon he held no fewer than eight bishoprics, including Lausanne from 1472. In June 1474, della Rovere led an army to Todi and Spoleto, around this time, in 1483, an illegitimate daughter was born, Felice della Rovere. Della Rovere, jealous and angry, accused Borgia of being elected over him, in 1494 he joined Charles VIII of France who was undertaking a military expedition into Italy. This was, in Andrew Greeleys view, almost certainly by means of bribery with money, but also, per Ott, Ullman, and Hughes, with promises. Giuliano Della Rovere thenceforth took the name of his fourth century predecessor, Julius I, indeed, on the day of his election, he declared I will not live in the same rooms as the Borgias lived. He desecrated the Holy Church as none before and he usurped the papal power by the devils aid, and I forbid under the pain of excommunication anyone to speak or think of Borgia again. His name and memory must be forgotten and it must be crossed out of every document and memorial. All paintings made of the Borgias or for them must be covered over with black crepe, all the tombs of the Borgias must be opened and their bodies sent back to where they belong—to Spain. The Borgias apartments remained sealed until the 19th Century, the combination was, however, at first little more than nominal, and was not immediately effective in compelling the Venetians to deliver up more than a few unimportant places in the Romagna. With a campaign in 1506, he led an army to Perugia and Bologna. The refusal of Pope Clement VII to grant the annulment led to the English Reformation, the same year, he founded the Swiss Guard to provide a constant corps of soldiers to protect the Pope. On Palm Sunday,1507, Julius II entered Rome, both as a second Julius Caesar, heir to the majesty of Romes imperial glory, and in the likeness of Christ, whose vicar the pope was, and who in that capacity governed the universal Roman Church. Julius, who modelled himself after his namesake Caesar, would lead his army across the Italian peninsula under the imperial war-cry
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War of the League of Cambrai
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The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and by several other names, was a major conflict in the Italian Wars. Although the League was initially successful, friction between Julius and Louis caused it to collapse by 1510, Julius then allied himself with Venice against France. In the aftermath of the First Italian War, Pope Alexander VI had, with French assistance, in 1507, Julius returned to the question of the cities in Venetian hands, once again rebuffed by the Senate, he encouraged Emperor Maximilian I to attack the Republic. Julius, humiliated by the failure of the Imperial invasion, turned to Louis XII of France with an offer of alliance. On 10 December 1508, representatives of the Papacy, France, on 15 April 1509, Louis left Milan at the head of a French army and moved rapidly into Venetian territory. Consequently, when Louis crossed the Adda River in early May and Alviano advanced to him, Pitigliano, believing it best to avoid a pitched battle. Alviano, disregarding the new orders, continued the engagement, his army was surrounded and destroyed. DEste, having joined the League and been appointed Gonfalonier on 19 April, the newly arrived Imperial governors, however, quickly proved to be unpopular. In mid-July, the citizens of Padua, aided by detachments of Venetian cavalry under the command of the proveditor Andrea Gritti, the landsknechts garrisoning the city were too few in number to mount effective resistance, and Padua was restored to Venetian control on 17 July 1509. The success of the revolt finally pushed Maximilian into action, in early August, a massive Imperial army, accompanied by bodies of French and Spanish troops, set out from Trento into the Veneto. In mid-November, Pitigliano returned to the offensive, Venetian troops easily defeated the remaining Imperial forces, capturing Vicenza, Este, Feltre, although a subsequent attack on Verona failed, Pitigliano destroyed a Papal army under Francesco II of Gonzaga in the process. Francesco Guicciardini credited the victory to Alfonso himself. A new French advance soon forced Pitigliano to withdraw to Padua once again, faced with a shortage of both funds and men, the Senate decided to send an embassy to Julius in order to negotiate a settlement. The Senate argued over the terms for two months, but finally accepted them on February 24,1510 and this apparent reconciliation between Venice and the Pope did not stop the French from again invading the Veneto in March. Gritti garrisoned Padua for an attack by a combined Franco-Imperial army, but Louis, more concerned by the death of his advisor. His own forces being inadequate for the venture, the Pope hired an army of Swiss mercenaries, ordering them to attack the French in Milan, the Republic, facing a renewed French onslaught, readily accepted the offer. By July 1510, the new Veneto-Papal alliance was on the offensive, Julius now excommunicated Alfonso dEste, thus justifying an attack on the Duchy itself, in anticipation of his coming victory, the Pope traveled to Bologna, so as to be nearby when Ferrara was taken. The French army, however, had been left unopposed by the Swiss and was free to march south into the heart of Italy
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Lake Lugano
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Lake Lugano is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and northern Italy. The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situated between Lake Como and Lago Maggiore, the lake appears in documents in 804 under the name Laco Luanasco. Well-known mountains and tourist destinations on the shores of the lake are Monte Brè to the east, Monte San Salvatore west of Lugano, the World Heritage Site Monte San Giorgio is situated south of the lake. The first certain testimony of a body governing the shores of the lake is from 818. Occupying an area of importance, the lake was then part of the feudal dominion of the County of Sperio. Circa 1000, it came under the control of the Bishop of Como, the region was the site of the war between Como and Milan over control of Alpine traffic from 1218 to 1227. The lake definitively ceased to belong to a sovereign political entity following the establishment of the transalpine bailiwicks of the Swiss cantons at the beginning of the 16th century. The Italian-Swiss border was fixed in 1752 by the Treaty of Varese, in 1848, the Melide causeway was built on a moraine between Melide and Bissone, in order to carry a road across the lake and provide a direct connection between Lugano and Chiasso. Today the causeway carries the Gotthard railway and the A2 motorway. The lake is 48.7 km2 in size, 63% of which is in Switzerland and 37% in Italy, has a width of roughly 1 km. The culminating point of the drainage basin is the Pizzo di Gino summit in the Lugano Prealps. Bathing in the lake is allowed at any of the 50 or so bathing establishments located along the Swiss shores, the Melide causeway separates the northern and southern basins, although a bridge in the causeway permits water flow and navigation. The lake retention time is an average of 8.2 years, places on the lake in Switzerland and in Italy include, The lake is navigable, and used by a considerable number of private vessels. Fishery in the lake is regulated by a 1986 agreement between Switzerland and Italy, the current agreement on navigation dates from 1992. Pollution has long been a problem in Lake Lugano, in the 1960s and 1970s it was officially forbidden to bathe in the lake. The Federal Office for the Environments last published report on Lake Lugano dates from 1995, according to Legambiente, the only reason swimming was not banned on the Italian Lakes was because the state of Lombardy changed the law. They state that pollution levels in the lakes do not conform to European rulings and their 2010 measurements found samples taken at Ponte Tresa, Ostene and Port Ceresio to be heavily polluted. The lake is full of fish, apart from a few protected areas, such as the mouth of the River Cuccio in Porlezza, fishing is allowed anywhere, although according to various regulations
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Indemini
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Indemini is a former municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Indemini is first mentioned in 1260 as Indemine, in the Middle Ages it was part of the Vicinanza of Gambarogno. In the 17th century there were disputes over alpine pastures and forest owned by the cooperatives of the Valle Veddasca. In 1752, these disputes were resolved with the Treaty of Varese. In 1800, the Helvetic government considered exchanging Indemini for Campione dItalia in the Cisalpine Republic, a vice-parish was formed in 1556 after they broke away from the parish of Vira. The church of San Bartolomeo, which is built before 1213, was expanded in the 17th century. The village was isolated for most of its history and it wasnt until 1917–18 that a roadway was built on the Swiss side. A road from Italy wasnt built until 1964, the isolation helped Indemini to retain its rural appearance. In the past, the economy relied on agriculture. During most of the year, the village is mostly abandoned, Indemini has an area, as of 1997, of 11.32 square kilometers. Of this area,0.11 km2 or 1. 0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 8.86 km2 or 78. 3% is forested. Of the rest of the land,0.13 km2 or 1. 1% is settled,0.07 km2 or 0. 6% is either rivers or lakes and 1.5 km2 or 13. 3% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 0. 5% and transportation infrastructure made up 0. 4%. Out of the land,55. 8% of the total land area is heavily forested, while 20. 2% is covered in small trees. Of the agricultural land,0. 4% is used for growing crops, all the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas,11. 8% is unproductive vegetation and 1. 4% is too rocky for vegetation, the village is located in the Locarno district at an elevation of 938 m in the upper Valle Veddasca on the Italian border. The blazon of the coat of arms is Vert, a sickle and axe argent handled or in saltire and in chief a sun issuant from a barulette bendy argent. Indemini has a population of 43, as of 2008,4. 7% of the population are resident foreign nationals
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Benito Mussolini
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Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 to 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he dropped all pretense of democracy, known as Il Duce, Mussolini was the founder of Italian Fascism. In 1912 Mussolini was the member of the National Directorate of the Italian Socialist Party. Mussolini was expelled from the PSI for withdrawing his support for the stance on neutrality in World War I. He served in the Royal Italian Army during the war until he was wounded and discharged in 1917, Mussolini denounced the PSI, his views now centering on nationalism instead of socialism, and later founded the fascist movement. Following the March on Rome in October 1922 he became the youngest Prime Minister in Italian history until the appointment of Matteo Renzi in February 2014, within five years he had established dictatorial authority by both legal and extraordinary means, aspiring to create a totalitarian state. Mussolini remained in power until he was deposed by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1943, a few months later, he became the leader of the Italian Social Republic, a German client regime in northern Italy, he held this post until his death in 1945. Mussolini had sought to delay a major war in Europe until at least 1942, however, Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, resulting in declarations of war by France and the United Kingdom and starting World War II. In the summer of 1941 Mussolini sent Italian forces to participate in the invasion of the Soviet Union, and war with the United States followed in December. On 24 July 1943, soon after the start of the Allied invasion of Italy, the Grand Council of Fascism voted against him, on 12 September 1943, Mussolini was rescued from prison in the Gran Sasso raid by German special forces. In late April 1945, with total defeat looming, Mussolini attempted to escape north and his body was then taken to Milan, where it was hung upside down at a service station for public viewing and to provide confirmation of his demise. Mussolini was born in Dovia di Predappio, a town in the province of Forlì in Romagna on 29 July 1883. During the Fascist era, Predappio was dubbed Duces town, pilgrims went to Predappio and Forlì, to see the birthplace of Mussolini. His father, Alessandro Mussolini, was a blacksmith and a Socialist, while his mother, Benito was the eldest of his parents three children. His siblings Arnaldo and Edvige followed, as a young boy, Mussolini would spend some time helping his father in his smithy. His fathers political outlook combined views of anarchist figures like Carlo Cafiero and Mikhail Bakunin, the military authoritarianism of Garibaldi, in 1902, at the anniversary of Garibaldis death, Benito Mussolini made a public speech in praise of the republican nationalist. The conflict between his parents about religion meant that, unlike most Italians, Mussolini was not baptized at birth, as a compromise with his mother, Mussolini was sent to a boarding school run by Salesian monks. After joining a new school, Mussolini achieved good grades, in 1902, Mussolini emigrated to Switzerland, partly to avoid military service
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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
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Office of Strategic Services
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The Office of Strategic Services was a wartime intelligence agency of the United States during World War II, and a predecessor of the modern Central Intelligence Agency. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branches of the United States Armed Forces, other OSS functions included the use of propaganda, subversion, and post-war planning. It had no direction, coordination, or control. The US Army and US Navy had separate code-breaking departments, Signal Intelligence Service, the FBI was responsible for domestic security and anti-espionage operations. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was concerned about American intelligence deficiencies, Colonel Donovan was employed to evaluate the global military position to offer suggestions concerning American intelligence requirements because the U. S. did not have a central intelligence agency. Thereafter the organization was developed with British assistance, Donovan had responsibilities but no actual powers, until some months after Pearl Harbor, the bulk of OSS intelligence came from the UK. The British immediately made available their short-wave broadcasting capabilities to Europe, Africa, during the war, the OSS supplied policymakers with facts and estimates, but the OSS never had jurisdiction over all foreign intelligence activities. The FBI was left responsible for work in Latin America. At the height of its influence during World War II, the OSS employed almost 24,000 people, OSS officer Archimedes Patti played a central role in OSS operations in French Indochina and met frequently with Ho Chi Minh in 1945. One of the greatest accomplishments of the OSS during World War II was its penetration of Nazi Germany by OSS operatives, the OSS was responsible for training German and Austrian individuals for missions inside Germany. Some of these agents included exiled communists and Socialist party members, labor activists, anti-Nazi prisoners-of-war, the OSS also recruited and ran one of the wars most important spies, the German diplomat Fritz Kolbe. In 1943, the Office of Strategic Services set up operations in Istanbul, turkey, as a neutral country during the Second World War, was a place where both the Axis and Allied powers had spy networks. The railroads connecting central Asia with Europe as well as Turkeys close proximity to the Balkan states placed it at a crossroads of intelligence gathering, the goal of the OSS Istanbul operation called Project Net-1 was to infiltrate and extenuate subversive action in the old Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires. Head of operations at OSS Istanbul was a banker from Chicago named Lanning Packy Macfarland who maintained the story as a banker for the American lend-lease program. Macfarland hired Alfred Schwarz, a Czechoslovakian engineer and businessman who came to be known as Dogwood, Dogwood in turn hired a personal assistant named Walter Arndt and established himself as an employee of the Istanbul Western Electrik Kompani. Through Schwartz and Arndt the OSS was able to infiltrate anti-fascist groups in Austria, Hungary, through this process information about the Nazi regime made its way to Macfarland and the OSS in Istanbul and eventually to Washington. While the OSS Dogwood-chain produced a lot of information, its reliability was increasingly questioned by British intelligence, eventually by May 1944 through collaboration between the OSS, British intelligence, Cairo and Washington the entire Dogwood-chain was found to be unreliable and dangerous. Planting phony information into the OSS was intended to misdirect the resources of the Allies, schwartzs Dogwood-chain, which was the largest American intelligence gathering tool in occupied territory, was shortly thereafter shut down
28.
Central Intelligence Agency
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As one of the principal members of the U. S. Intelligence Community, the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is focused on providing intelligence for the President. Though it is not the only U. S. government agency specializing in HUMINT and it exerts foreign political influence through its tactical divisions, such as the Special Activities Division. Despite transferring some of its powers to the DNI, the CIA has grown in size as a result of the September 11 attacks. In 2013, The Washington Post reported that in fiscal year 2010, the CIA has increasingly expanded its roles, including covert paramilitary operations. One of its largest divisions, the Information Operations Center, has shifted focus from counter-terrorism to offensive cyber-operations, when the CIA was created, its purpose was to create a clearinghouse for foreign policy intelligence and analysis. Today its primary purpose is to collect, analyze, evaluate, and disseminate foreign intelligence, warning/informing American leaders of important overseas events, with Pakistan described as an intractable target. Counterintelligence, with China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, the Executive Office also supports the U. S. military by providing it with information it gathers, receiving information from military intelligence organizations, and cooperates on field activities. The Executive Director is in charge of the day to day operation of the CIA, each branch of the military service has its own Director. The Directorate has four regional groups, six groups for transnational issues. There is a dedicated to Iraq, regional analytical offices covering the Near East and South Asia, Russia and Europe, and the Asian Pacific, Latin American. The Directorate of Operations is responsible for collecting intelligence. The name reflects its role as the coordinator of intelligence activities between other elements of the wider U. S. intelligence community with their own HUMINT operations. This Directorate was created in an attempt to end years of rivalry over influence, philosophy, in spite of this, the Department of Defense recently organized its own global clandestine intelligence service, the Defense Clandestine Service, under the Defense Intelligence Agency. This Directorate is known to be organized by regions and issues. The Directorate of Science & Technology was established to research, create, many of its innovations were transferred to other intelligence organizations, or, as they became more overt, to the military services. For example, the development of the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft was done in cooperation with the United States Air Force, the U-2s original mission was clandestine imagery intelligence over denied areas such as the Soviet Union. It was subsequently provided with signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence capabilities, subsequently, NPIC was transferred to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
29.
Allen Dulles
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Allen Welsh Dulles was an American diplomat and lawyer who became the first civilian Director of Central Intelligence and its longest-serving director to date. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency during the early Cold War, he oversaw the 1954 Guatemalan coup détat, Operation Ajax, the Lockheed U-2 aircraft program, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Dulles was one of the members of the Warren Commission. Between his stints of government service, Dulles was a lawyer and partner at Sullivan & Cromwell. His older brother, John Foster Dulles, was the Secretary of State during the Eisenhower Administration, Dulles was born on April 7,1893, in Watertown, New York, one of five children of Presbyterian minister Allen Macy Dulles, and his wife, Edith F. His maternal grandfather was John W. Foster, who was Secretary of State under Benjamin Harrison, while his uncle by marriage, Robert Lansing served as Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson. Dulles was uncle to Avery Dulles, a Jesuit priest, theologian, and cardinal of the Catholic Church, Dulles graduated from Princeton University, where he participated in the American Whig–Cliosophic Society, and entered the diplomatic service in 1916. In 1920, he married Clover Todd, according to his sister, Eleanor, Dulles had at least a hundred extramarital affairs, including some during his tenure with the CIA. In 1921, while at the US Embassy in Istanbul, he had involvement in exposing the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion as a forgery. Dulles unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the US State Department to publicly denounce the forgery, initially assigned to Vienna, he was transferred to Bern, Switzerland along with the rest of the embassy personnel shortly before the U. S. entered the First World War. Later in life Dulles claimed to have been telephoned by the then obscure Vladimir Lenin, after recovering from the 1918 flu pandemic he was assigned to the American delegation at the Paris Peace Conference, along with his older brother Foster. From 1922-6, he served five years as chief of the Near East division of the Department of State. In 1926, he earned a law degree from George Washington University Law School and took a job at Sullivan and Cromwell and he became a director of the Council on Foreign Relations in 1927, the first new director since the Councils founding in 1921. He was the Councils secretary from 1933 to 1944, during the late 1920s and early 1930s, he served as legal adviser to the delegations on arms limitation at the League of Nations. There he had the opportunity to meet with Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Maxim Litvinov, as a result of Dulles efforts, the Berlin office was closed and the firm ceased to conduct business in Nazi Germany. S. Dulles collaborated with Hamilton Fish Armstrong, the editor of Foreign Affairs magazine and they concluded that diplomatic, military, and economic isolation, in a traditional sense, were no longer possible in an increasingly interdependent international system. Dulles helped a number of German Jews, such as the banker Paul Kemper and he was assisted in intelligence-gathering activities by Gero von Schulze-Gaevernitz, a German emigrant. Dulles also received information from Fritz Kolbe, a German diplomat. Kolbe supplied secret documents regarding active German spies and plans regarding the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter, Dulles was involved in Operation Sunrise, secret negotiations in March 1945 to arrange a local surrender of German forces in northern Italy
30.
Kingdom of Italy
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The state was founded as a result of the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered its legal predecessor state. Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia in 1866, Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power. Italy entered into a Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1882, victory in the war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations. Fascist Italy is the era of National Fascist Party rule from 1922 to 1943 with Benito Mussolini as head of government, according to Payne, Fascist regime passed through several relatively distinct phases. The first phase was nominally a continuation of the parliamentary system, then came the second phase, the construction of the Fascist dictatorship proper from 1925 to 1929. The third phase, with activism, was 1929–34. The war itself was the phase with its disasters and defeats. Italy was allied with Nazi Germany in World War II until 1943 and it switched sides to the Allies after ousting Mussolini and shutting down the Fascist party in areas controlled by the Allied invaders. Shortly after the war, civil discontent led to the referendum of 1946 on whether Italy would remain a monarchy or become a republic. Italians decided to abandon the monarchy and form the Italian Republic, the Kingdom of Italy claimed all of the territory which is modern-day Italy. The development of the Kingdoms territory progressed under Italian re-unification until 1870, the state for a long period of time did not include Trieste or Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, which are in Italy today, and only annexed them in 1919. After the Second World War, the borders of present-day Italy were founded, the Kingdom of Italy was theoretically a constitutional monarchy. Executive power belonged to the monarch, as executed through appointed ministers, two chambers of parliament restricted the monarchs power—an appointive Senate and an elective Chamber of Deputies. The kingdoms constitution was the Statuto Albertino, the governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In theory, ministers were responsible to the king. However, in practice, it was impossible for an Italian government to stay in office without the support of Parliament, members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected by plurality voting system elections in uninominal districts. A candidate needed the support of 50% of those voting, and of 25% of all enrolled voters, if not all seats were filled on the first ballot, a runoff was held shortly afterwards for the remaining vacancies. After a brief multinominal experimentation in 1882, proportional representation into large, regional, Socialists became the major party, but they were unable to form a government in a parliament split into three different factions, with Christian Populists and classical liberals
31.
Swiss franc
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The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione dItalia. The Swiss National Bank issues banknotes and the federal mint Swissmint issues coins, the smaller denomination, a hundredth of a franc, is a Rappen in German, centime in French, centesimo in Italian, and rap in Romansh. The ISO code of the used by banks and financial institutions is CHF, although Fr. is used by most businesses and advertisers. Given the different languages used in Switzerland, Latin is used for inscriptions on the coins. In 1798, the Helvetic Republic introduced a currency based on the Berne thaler, the Swiss franc was equal to 6 3⁄4 grams of pure silver or 1 1⁄2 French francs. This franc was issued until the end of the Helvetic Republic in 1803, in order to solve this problem, the new Swiss Federal Constitution of 1848 specified that the federal government would be the only entity allowed to make money in Switzerland. This was followed two years later by the first Federal Coinage Act, passed by the Federal Assembly on 7 May 1850, the franc was introduced at par with the French franc. It replaced the different currencies of the Swiss cantons, some of which had been using a franc which was worth 1 1⁄2 French francs. In 1865, France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland formed the Latin Monetary Union, the currency was devalued by 30% following the devaluations of the British pound, U. S. dollar and French franc. In 1945, Switzerland joined the Bretton Woods system and pegged the franc to the U. S. dollar at a rate of $1 =4.30521 francs and this was changed to $1 =4.375 francs in 1949. The Swiss franc has historically considered a safe-haven currency with virtually zero inflation. However, this link to gold, which dates from the 1920s, was terminated on 1 May 2000 following a referendum. By March 2005, following a gold selling program, the Swiss National Bank held 1,290 tonnes of gold in reserves which equated to 20% of its assets. In November 2014, the referendum on the Swiss Gold Initiative which proposed a restoration of 20% gold backing for the Swiss franc was voted down, in March 2011 the franc climbed past the US$1.10 mark. In June 2011 the franc climbed past US$1.20 as investors sought safety amidst the continuation of the Greek sovereign-debt crisis, demand for francs and franc-denominated assets was so strong that nominal short-term Swiss interest rates became negative. In response to the announcement the franc fell against the euro, to 1.22 francs from 1.12 francs, the intervention stunned currency traders since the franc had long been regarded as a safe haven. The franc fell 8. 8% against the euro,9. 5% against the dollar and it was the largest plunge of the franc ever against the euro. The SNB had previously set an exchange rate target in 1978 against the Deutsche mark and maintained it, although at the cost of high inflation
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Euro
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Outside of Europe, a number of overseas territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally,210 million people worldwide as of 2013 use currencies pegged to the euro, the euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. The name euro was adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.8252 within two years, it has traded above the U. S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.6038 on 18 July 2008. In July 2012, the euro fell below US$1.21 for the first time in two years, following concerns raised over Greek debt and Spains troubled banking sector, as of 26 March 2017, the euro–dollar exchange rate stands at ~ US$1.07. The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, as an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all states. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, all nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. Since 5 January 2002, the central banks and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Euro banknotes do not show which central bank issued them, Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice, the ECBs banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs and these liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The euro is divided into 100 cents, in Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are used, with many local variations such as centime in France. All circulating coins have a side showing the denomination or value. Due to the plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used. For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, beginning in 2007 or 2008 the old map is being replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the Union like Norway
33.
Vehicle registration plate
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A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate or a license plate, is metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the owner within the issuing regions database. The first two letters indicate the state to which the vehicle is registered, the next two digit numbers are the sequential number of a district. Due to heavy volume of vehicle registration, the numbers were given to the RTO offices of registration as well, the third part indicates the year of registration of the vehicle and is a 4 digit number unique to each plate. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. In the vast majority of jurisdictions, the government holds a monopoly on the manufacturing of vehicle registration plates for that jurisdiction. Thus, it is illegal for private citizens to make and affix their own plates. Alternately, the government will merely assign plate numbers, and it is the owners responsibility to find an approved private supplier to make a plate with that number. In some jurisdictions, plates will be assigned to that particular vehicle for its lifetime. If the vehicle is destroyed or exported to a different country. Other jurisdictions follow a policy, meaning that when a vehicle is sold the seller removes the current plate from the vehicle. Buyers must either obtain new plates or attach plates they already hold, as well as register their vehicles under the buyers name, a person who sells a car and then purchases a new one can apply to have the old plates put onto the new car. One who sells a car and does not buy a new one may, depending on the laws involved, have to turn the old plates in or destroy them. Some jurisdictions permit the registration of the vehicle with personal plates, in some jurisdictions, plates require periodic replacement, often associated with a design change of the plate itself. Vehicle owners may or may not have the option to keep their original plate number, alternately, or additionally, vehicle owners have to replace a small decal on the plate or use a decal on the windshield to indicate the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Plates are usually fixed directly to a vehicle or to a frame that is fixed to the vehicle. Sometimes, the plate frames contain advertisements inserted by the service centre or the dealership from which the vehicle was purchased. Vehicle owners can also purchase customized frames to replace the original frames, in some jurisdictions licence plate frames are illegal
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Vehicle registration plates of Italy
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Present Italian car number plates have black characters on a rectangular white background, with small blue side-fields on the right and left. The current numbering scheme, in use from 1994, is unrelated to the provenance of the car. Italian plates are printed by the state and they had to have the owners name and the local communal number that had to be visible. These early Italian number plates gave the name of the place of origin, followed by a number, as GENOVA83. These were first plates to be made of metal and had to be done by the cars owner. Today, the registration number was a numeric code, different for each province, and a progressive number on a sigle line, unique for that province. E. g.63 –2993, where 63 is the code for Turin, from 1927 to 1932, the progressive code was before the provincial designator on a single line. Then, the code was before the provincial designator in front plates and after it in rear plates. From 1932 to 1951, Rear plate was square 32.0 x 22.0 cm, Rear plate had from 1928 to 1944, the Fasces emblem next to the provincial code. After Mussolinis fall, in 1944 to 1948 the Association of War Maimed and Disabled printed the number plates, after 1948 the Italian Republic Constitution was approved, so the Republic emblem appeared on the number plate on both rear and front plates. From 1951 to 1976, Rear plate was square 27.5 ×20 cm, note that single line rear registration plates were not available until 1976. The registration number was the provincial designator, which is a code. For cars from 1000000, it was A00000-A99999, B00000-B99999 etc, possible letters were, in this order, A B D E F G H K L M N P R S T U V Z X Y W. After that, it was 00000A-99999A, 00000D-99999D etc. Possible letters were, in order, A D E F G H L M N P R S T V W X Y Z, then, the letter was moved to the second position. Schematic representation, Front plate was identical as in the period 1927-1976, Rear plate, instead, was changed in three pieces. One, size 10,7 ×33 cm, black with digits, contains the progressive number and, very small. The other two were black with letters, and contained the provincial designator. In 1985, plates become black digits with white reflective background, Rear plate was identical as in the period 1976-1985
35.
Vehicle registration plates of Switzerland
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Swiss car number plates consist of a two letter code for the canton followed by up to 6 numerical digits. The rear plates also contain small shields representing the flags of Switzerland, for official vehicles, the two letter code is replaced by a one letter code, A, P or M, meaning respectively Federal Administration, Public Authorities or Postal Service, and Military. The front numberplate is a version with the same code as the rear. In most cantons, it is possible to find any license plate with the number in different colors. The colors are different kinds of use or vehicle types, black, Military vehicles U - Dealer plate Z - Import plate V - Rental plate Year bands - Temporary plate Only official car dealer / car repair companies can use the U plates. Usually they use this plate for only a few days on one vehicle and this U plate can be used on trucks and cars no matter what engine power or pollution rating the vehicle has. The plate can be placed on the position as like a car plate is based on a vehicle. Because of a European regulation, the plates with the V are no longer in use, today, rental cars usually have common car plates with the canton codes VD or AI. Temporary duty unpaid vehicles use Z plates and year band while Temporary duty paid plate have year band on the right, taxi cabs are generally given three- or four-digit registration numbers. This is to allow telephone reservation customers easy identification of the car when it arrives for the pick-up. This flag bears the Swiss coat followed by an M and the number of characters on a black background. The M numbers are assigned according to type and procurement tranche and are continuously in sourcing series. E. g. Civilian Federal vehicles got the Swiss shield followed by A, the first digit of the five digit number indicated the department to which the vehicle belonged to. These plates are no longer used and were replaced with cantonal plates, but the black numbers for the Swiss Army remain untouched. Their vehicles had a plate with the Swiss coat followed by a P. After Post, Swisscom and SBB became independent companies, the P-plates were phased out and replaced with cantonal plates, replacement was completed by the end of 2003. The vehicle pass should in such cases have the words approved CC characters, the diplomatic plates reflect the mission to which that particular plate has been assigned. For example, CD VD79035, would be a CD plate, from Canton Vaud, the number 79 is a sequence number within the same organisation
36.
Swisscom
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Swisscom AG is a major telecommunications provider in Switzerland. Its headquarters are located at Worblaufen near Bern, the Swiss Confederation owns 51.0 percent of Swisscom AG. As of the end of 2015, Swisscom had around 21,000 employees, the Swiss telegraph network was first set up in 1852, followed by telephones in 1877. The two networks were combined with the service in 1920 to form the PTT. The Swiss telecommunications market was deregulated in 1997, Telecom PTT was spun off and rebranded Swisscom ahead of a partial privatisation in 1998 which has left the Swiss government with a 51% stake. Besides pioneering the first mobile telephone network NATEL A, the present-day Swisscom owns the protected brand NATEL, 25% of Swisscom Mobile was sold to Vodafone in 2001. Since then Swisscom has bought a majority stake in Italys second-biggest telecom company Fastweb and invested in such as hospitality support, cloud services, mobile solutions. Switzerlands entry into the era came in 1851, with the passage of legislation giving the Swiss government control over development of a telegraph network throughout the country. The governments initial plans called for the creation of three primary lines, as well as a number of secondary networks. In order to build equipment for the system, the government established the Atelier Fédéral de Construction des Télégraphs, in July 1852, the first leg of the countrys telegraph system—between St. Gallen and Zurich—was operational. By the end of year, most of the countrys main cities had been connected to the telegraph system. In 1855, the network was extended with the first underwater cable, connecting Winkel-Stansstad, night service was also launched that year, starting in Basel, St. Gallen and Bellinzona. Telegraph traffic took off in the late 1860s after the government reduced the cost of a 20-word message in 1867, while telegraph traffic continued to rise in the following decade, the technology was soon to be replaced by the telephone. The following year, the government passed legislation establishing a monopoly on the telephone network. Nonetheless, private operators were allowed to bid for licenses in order to develop their local concessions, by 1880, Switzerlands first private network had been created in Zurich. This was a system with the capacity for 200 lines. The first directory was published that year and listed 140 subscribers. Basel, Bern, and Geneva all launched their own local networks between 1881 and 1882, one year later, the first inter-city telephone line was established, linking Zurichs private exchange with Winterthurs public system
37.
Livigno
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Livigno is a town and comune in the province of Sondrio, in the region of Lombardy, Italy, located in the Italian Alps, near the Swiss border. Livignos second settlers were probably shepherds during the Middle Ages, the first documents called this area vinla et vineola. This Latin name does not refer to the presence of vineyards in the area, the valley has always been at risk from this point of view. The last avalanche hitting the village was in 1951, which caused seven deaths, politically, Livigno has always followed Bormios history, although the relationships between the two communes have always been tense, Bormio being dominant and more populous than Livigno. Until the 1970s Livigno was a farming village, in recent decades, however, things have changed, and nowadays Livigno enjoys a better economic situation and a higher number of inhabitants. Livigno has recently enjoyed one of Italys highest birth rates, livignos economy is based on tourism, both in winter and in summer, and on its duty-free status, with goods sold at bargain prices. Saint Marys parish church was erected at the end of the 19th century, the current building incorporated the previous one, which was left standing until the end of works, allowing church services to be carried out as usual. Other sights are represented by the panorama, with high peaked mountains. Livigno enjoys a special tax status as a duty-free area, although tax advantages for Livigno were recorded as far back as the sixteenth century, the current tax exemption was first introduced by the Austrian Empire around 1840. It was then confirmed by the Kingdom of Italy around 1910, then by the Italian Republic, although no VAT is paid, income taxes are, thus Livigno cannot be considered as a tax haven. The justification for such a status is the difficulty in reaching Livigno during winter, the various states wanted to ensure people would have an incentive to live in the area. At the same time, the tax revenue from Livigno would have been negligible, only three roads lead to the town. Two link to Switzerland, one through the Forcola di Livigno, elevation 2,315 metres and open in summer only, the third road connects to other parts of Italy through the Foscagno Pass, elevation 2,291 metres. Leaving Livigno into the rest of Italy on the there is a custom checkpoint manned by Guardia di Finanza militaries. Entering or leaving from Switzerland there is both Guardia di Finanza militaries and Swiss Border Guards, Livigno once made a living from agriculture and a little commerce. Smuggling was both widespread and not socially deprecated, being often the way to survive in such a harsh environment. Nowadays Livigno is an area, and the main activities are linked to tourism. Many inhabitants of Valtellina visit once in a while to buy goods at lower prices, especially tax-free gasoline
38.
European Union value added tax
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The European Union value added tax is a value added tax on goods and services within the European Union. The EUs institutions do not collect the tax, but EU member states are required to adopt a value added tax that complies with the EU VAT code. Different rates of VAT apply in different EU member states, ranging from 17% in Luxembourg to 27% in Hungary, the total VAT collected by member states is used as part of the calculation to determine what each state contributes to the EUs budget. EU VAT is charged by a business and paid by its customers, VAT that is paid by a business to other businesses on the supplies that it receives is known as input VAT. A business is able to recover input VAT to the extent that the input VAT is attributable to its taxable outputs. Input VAT is recovered by offsetting it against the output VAT for which the business is required to account to the government, or, if there is an excess, the final consumer does not receive a credit for the VAT paid. The net effect of this is that each supplier in the chain remits tax on the value added, Value added tax collected at each stage in the supply chain is remitted to the tax authorities of the member state concerned and forms part of that states revenue. A small proportion goes to the European Union in the form of a levy, the co-ordinated administration of value added tax within the EU VAT area is an important part of the single market. Cross-border VAT is declared in the way as domestic VAT. It also simplifies administrative work for freight forwarders, previously, in spite of the customs union, the differing VAT rates and the separate VAT administration processes resulted in a high administrative and cost burden for cross-border trade. However, there a number of provisions for particular goods. The aim of the EU VAT directive is to harmonize VAT within the EU VAT area, the European Community Treaty authorises the Council and the Commission to make regulations and issue directives. The EU VAT system is regulated by a series of European Union directives and this directive has been updated and replaced by another directive since 1 January 2007. Important changes will occur when a subsequent Directive will address the issue on the place of supply of services and will be in force on 1 January 2010. Most member states already had a system of VAT before joining the EU but for countries, such as Spain. In 2006, the Council sought to improve on the Sixth Directive by recasting it, the Sixth Directive characterised the EU VAT as harmonisation of the member states general tax on the consumption of goods and services. The Sixth Directive defined a taxable transaction within the EU VAT scheme as a transaction involving the supply of goods, the supply of services, a domestic supply of goods is a taxable transaction where goods are received in exchange for consideration within one member state. Thus, one member state then charges VAT on the goods, an intra-Community acquisition of goods is a taxable transaction for consideration crossing two or more member states
39.
Carabinieri
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The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations. It originally was founded as the force of the Kingdom of Sardinia. During the process of Italian unification, it was appointed the First Force of the new military organization. Since 2001, it has one of the four Italian Armed Forces. Inspired by the French Gendarmerie, the corps was created by King Victor Emmanuel I of Savoy with the aim of providing the Kingdom of Sardinia with a police corps, previously, police duties were managed by the Dragoni di Sardegna corps, created in 1726 and composed of volunteers. The new force was divided into divisions on the scale of one division for each province, in 1868, the Corazzieri mounted division was formed – initially as an escort of honour for the sovereign, and since 1946 for the President of the Republic. The Italian unification saw the number of divisions increased, and on 24 January 1861 the Carabinieri were appointed the First Force of the new military organization. In May 1915 Italian troops marched to encompass South Tyrol, territory of their allies the Austro-Hungarian empire. The role of the Carabinieri was to act as barrier troops, setting up machine gun posts to control the rear of the attacking regiments, during the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, the Carabinieri were one of the police forces entrusted with suppressing opposition in Italy. During the same period, while part of the Italian Africa Police, during World War II they fought in their function as military police against the Allied forces, and against Yugoslav partisans as part of the Italian occupation force in Yugoslavia. After Mussolinis fall on 25 July 1943, he was arrested by the Carabinieri as he left the private residence in Rome. In southern Italy the Carabinieri Command for Liberated Italy was founded in Bari and these units were attached to the Italian Liberation Corps and the six Italian Combat Groups of the Italian Co-Belligerent Army, fighting with the Allied forces. In northern Italy the fascist regime organized the Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana, to employ it as a military police, GNR was later joined by the Black Brigades which should have represented a new militant incarnation of the Fascist party. As German forces subsequently began to arrest and deport members of the Carabinieri to Germany for forced labour, large numbers of Carabinieri joined the Italian resistance movement. After the war the Carabinieri counted at least 2,735 fallen and 6,500 wounded, out of approximately 14,000 who had joined the Resistance in northern and central Italy. In Yugoslavia the Carabinieri formed a battalion of the Italian partisan Garibaldi Division, the battalion lost over 80% of its members in combat and was awarded the Silver Medal of Military Valor to commemorate the fallen. The Carabinieri increased in status and joined the Armed Forces on 31 March 2000, dAcquisto exchanged his life for the lives of citizens due to be executed in retaliation for the killing of a German soldier, instead, he claimed responsibility and was executed for the offence. In recent years Carabinieri units have been dispatched on peacekeeping missions, including Kosovo, Afghanistan, the State Forestry Corps was dissolved on 31 December 2016 and all personnel were militarized and absorbed by the Carabinieri
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Municipal police (Italy)
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The polizia municipale are the municipal police of Italy responsible to the mayors of the various municipalities of Italy. Traffic control is their function in addition to enforcing national, regional and local laws regarding commerce, legal residence, pets. They also have all other duties, with the exception of public safety, because this is an exclusive duty of the Polizia di Stato. Thus, its member arent automatically authorized to carry weapons while in their line of duty, on the contrary, each municipality decides whether to arm its municipal police corp. The Italian polizia municipale forces have 60,000 employees, Rome having the largest at several thousand, PM uniforms and vehicles have many different liveries depending on regional laws and local tastes and traditions. Some municipal police, including those of Rome, are known as the vigili urbani, in other regions of Italy, these forces are also called polizia comunale, polizia urbana, and polizia locale. In the autonomous province of Bolzano/Bozen, where German is an official language, municipal police vehicles in this region have both Italian and German names on them. In the autonomous region of Aosta Valley, where French is an official language, municipal police vehicles in this region have both Italian and French names on them. There also are three municipalities where official languages are Italian, French and German and so their municipal police is also called Gemeindepolizei. In the provinces of Trieste, Gorizia and Udine of the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, where Slovene is an official language. Municipal police vehicles in this provinces have both Italian and Slovene names on them, municipal police officers are still referred to as vigili but the official name is agente di polizia locale, meaning local police officer. In some regions, especially while regulating traffic, they wear white custodian helmets similar to the helmets worn by British police officers. These helmets are worn by female as well as male officers, Italian police Vigiles Polizia Municipale Unofficial Website
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Media related to Campione d'Italia at Wikimedia Commons
