1.
National Transportation Safety Board
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The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U. S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine accidents, pipeline incidents. When requested, the NTSB will assist the military and foreign governments with accident investigation, the NTSB is also in charge of investigating cases of hazardous materials releases that occur during transportation. The agency is based in Washington, D. C, as of December 2014, it has four regional offices located in Anchorage, Alaska, Denver, Colorado, Ashburn, Virginia, and Seattle, Washington. The agency also operates a training center at its Ashburn facility. The origin of the NTSB was in the Air Commerce Act of 1926, the USAs first independent Air Safety Board was established in 1938, it lasted only fourteen months. In 1940, this authority was transferred to the Civil Aeronautics Boards newly formed Bureau of Aviation Safety, in 1967, Congress created a separate cabinet-level Department of Transportation, which among other things established the Federal Aviation Administration as an agency under the DOT. At the same time, the NTSB was established as an independent agency which absorbed the Bureau of Aviation Safetys responsibilities. However, from 1967 to 1975, the NTSB reported to the DOT for administrative purposes, while conducting investigations into the Federal Aviation Administration, also a DOT agency. To avoid any conflict, Congress passed the Independent Safety Board Act, as of 2015, the NTSB has investigated over 140,000 aviation incidents and several thousand surface transportation incidents. Formally, the National Transportation Safety Board refers to a five-manager investigative board whose five members are nominated by the President, no more than three of the five members may be from the same political party. This board is authorized by Congress under Chapter 11, Title 49 of the United States Code to investigate civil aviation, highway, marine, pipeline, and railroad accidents and incidents. This five-member board is authorized to establish and manage separate sub-offices for highway, marine, aviation, railroad, pipeline, collectively, National Transportation Safety Board, the Safety Board or NTSB is used to refer to the entire investigative agency established and managed by this five-member board. As of December 2015, Christopher A. Hart is Chairman of the NTSB, the board also includes Robert L. Sumwalt and Earl F. Weener, and has one vacant seat. Based on the results of investigations within its jurisdiction, the NTSB issues formal safety recommendations to agencies, the NTSB considers safety recommendations to be its primary tool for preventing future civil transportation accidents. However, the NTSB does not have the authority to enforce its safety recommendations, the NTSB is the lead agency in the investigation of a civil transportation accident or incident within its sphere. The go team can have as few as 3-4 people or as many as a dozen, following the investigation, the agency may then choose to hold public hearings on the issue. Ultimately, it will publish a report which may include safety recommendations based on its findings
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United States Secretary of Transportation
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The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation, a member of the Presidents Cabinet, and thirteenth in the Presidential Line of Succession. The post was created with the formation of the Department of Transportation on October 15,1966, johnsons signing of the Department of Transportation Act. The Secretary of Transportation oversees eleven agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, in April 2008, Mary Peters launched the official blog of the Secretary of Transportation called The Fast Lane. The first Secretary of Transportation was Alan Stephenson Boyd, nominated to the post by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson, ronald Reagans second Secretary of Transportation, Elizabeth Dole, was the first female holder, and Mary Peters was the second. Gerald Fords nominee William Thaddeus Coleman, Jr, neil Goldschmidt was the youngest secretary, taking office at age thirty nine, while Norman Mineta was the oldest, retiring at age seventy four. The salary of the Secretary of Transportation is $199,700, elaine Chao, who served as Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush, was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump on November 29,2016. On January 31,2017 the Senate confirmed her appointment by a vote of 93-6, the most recent Secretary of Transportation to die was William T. Coleman, Jr. on March 31,2017. The most recently serving Secretary of Transportation to die was Andrew L. Lewis, general Biographical Sketches of the Secretaries of Transportation. Specific Official website The Fast Lane, the blog of the Secretary The Department of Transportation Act
3.
United States Postal Service
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The United States Postal Service, is an independent agency of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution, Mail traces its roots to 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, where Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general. The USPS as of February 2015 has 617,254 active employees, the USPS is the operator of the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world. The USPS is legally obligated to serve all Americans, regardless of geography, at uniform price, the USPS has exclusive access to letter boxes marked U. S. The USPS lost $5.5 billion in fiscal year 2014 and $5.1 billion in 2015, in the early years of the North American colonies, many attempts were made to initiate a postal service. These early attempts were of small scale and usually involved a colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony for example, for example, informal independently-run postal routes operated in Boston as early as 1639, with a Boston to New York City service starting in 1672. A central postal organization came to the colonies in 1691, when Thomas Neale received a 21-year grant from the British Crown for a North American Postal Service, the patent included the exclusive right to establish and collect a formal postal tax on official documents of all kinds. The tax was repealed a year later, Neale appointed Andrew Hamilton, Governor of New Jersey, as his deputy postmaster. The first postal service in America commenced in February 1692, rates of postage were fixed and authorized, and measures were taken to establish a post office in each town in Virginia. Massachusetts and the other colonies soon passed laws, and a very imperfect post office system was established. Neales patent expired in 1710, when Parliament extended the English postal system to the colonies, the chief office was established in New York City, where letters were conveyed by regular packets across the Atlantic. Before the Revolution, there was only a trickle of business or governmental correspondence between the colonies, most of the mail went back and forth to counting houses and government offices in London. The Revolution made Philadelphia, the seat of the Continental Congress, News, new laws, political intelligence, and military orders circulated with a new urgency, and a postal system was necessary. Journalists took the lead, securing post office legislation that allowed them to reach their subscribers at very low cost, overthrowing the London-oriented imperial postal service in 1774-1775, printers enlisted merchants and the new political leadership, and created a new postal system. The United States Post Office was created on July 26,1775, the official post office was created in 1792 as the Post Office Department. It was based on the Constitutional authority empowering Congress To establish post offices, the 1792 law provided for a greatly expanded postal network, and served editors by charging newspapers an extremely low rate. The law guaranteed the sanctity of personal correspondence, and provided the country with low-cost access to information on public affairs. Rufus Easton was appointed by Thomas Jefferson first postmaster of St. Louis under the recommendation of Postmaster General Gideon Granger, Rufus Easton was the first postmaster and built the first post office west of the Mississippi
4.
Dupont Circle
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Dupont Circle is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood, and historic district in Northwest Washington, D. C. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue NW, Connecticut Avenue NW, New Hampshire Avenue NW, P Street NW, and 19th Street NW. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW to the west, M Street NW to the south, the local government Advisory Neighborhood Commission and the Dupont Circle Historic District have slightly different boundaries. The circle is named for Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont, the area that now constitutes Dupont Circle was once home to a brickyard and slaughterhouse. Improvements made in the 1870s by a board of public works headed by Alexander Boss Shepherd transformed the area into a residential neighborhood. In 1871, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction of the circle, then called Pacific Circle. On February 25,1882, Congress renamed it Dupont Circle, unveiled on December 20,1884, the statue was sculpted by Launt Thompson, and the circle was landscaped with exotic flowers and ornamental trees. In 1920, the current double-tiered white marble fountain replaced the statue, during the 1870s and 1880s, mansions were built along Massachusetts Avenue, one of Washingtons grand avenues, and townhouses were built throughout the neighborhood. In 1872, the British built a new embassy on Connecticut Avenue, stewarts Castle was built in 1873 on the north side of the circle. By the 1920s, Connecticut Avenue was more commercial in character, some residences, including Senator Philetus Sawyers mansion at Connecticut and R Street, were demolished to make way for office buildings and shops. The Patterson House, at 15 Dupont Circle, served as a residence for President Calvin Coolidge while the actual White House was being repaired in 1927. In 1933, the National Park Service took over administering the circle, Connecticut Avenue was widened in the late 1920s, and increased traffic in the neighborhood caused a great deal of congestion in the circle, making it difficult for pedestrians to get around. Medians were installed in 1948, in the circle, to separate the traffic on Massachusetts Avenue from the local traffic. In 1949 traffic tunnels and a streetcar station were built under the circle as part of the now-defunct Capital Transit project. The tunnels allowed trams and vehicles traveling along Connecticut Avenue to pass more quickly past the circle, when streetcar service ended in 1962, the entrances to the underground station were filled in and paved over, leaving only the traffic tunnel. The neighborhood declined after World War II and particularly after the 1968 riots, the neighborhood took on a bohemian feel and became popular among the gay and lesbian community. D. C. s first gay bookstore, Lambda Rising, opened in 1974, in 1975, the store ran the worlds first gay-oriented television commercial. Gentrification accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s, and the area is now a mainstream and trendy location with coffeehouses, restaurants, bars
5.
Herbert C. Hoover Building
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The Herbert C. Hoover Building is the Washington, D. C. headquarters of the United States Department of Commerce. The building is owned by the General Services Administration, completed in 1932, it was renamed after Herbert Hoover in 1981. Hoover served as Secretary of Commerce and later President, the closest Washington Metro station is Federal Triangle. The White House Visitor Center is in the Hoover Building, in 1928, Congress authorized the purchase of land in what is now known as the Federal Triangle for departmental offices. Louis Ayres, a member of the board, was selected as the architect for the Department of Commerce Building, Ayres, Arthur Brown Jr. and William Adams Delano were charged with forming the west end of the Triangle and creating an open green mall. Construction began on October 4,1927, when Herbert Hoover was the Secretary of Commerce, the building was completed in 1932, at that time, it was the largest office building in the world with over 1.8 million square feet of floor area. The building was renamed after Hoover in December 1981 by act of Congress, democratic Representative John G. Fary of Illinois, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds brought the bill up for consideration as a favor to Republicans. An aide was quoted as saying, He was a little concerned what some people think of him bringing up a bill to honor Herbert Hoover in the midst of a Republican recession. Only limited upgrades were made to the Herbert Hoover Building after 1932, by 2007, all other buildings in Federal Triangle had been renovated except the Herbert Hoover Building. In 2007, the General Services Administration announced an eight-phase, 13-year, in part, the renovation will provide the building with a modern technology infrastructure, modern offices and energy-saving fixtures, and improved security. The National Capital Planning Commission approved the project in 2007. The phases, each of which is to last 18 months, include, Phase 1 — Construction of swing space to house staff while renovations occur, replacement of the HVAC system cooling towers on the roof. Phase 2 — Renovation of the interior Corridor 1, restoration of the exterior facade. Phase 3 — Renovation of the interior and replacement of the roof on Corridor 2, Phase 4 — Renovation of the interior and replacement of the roof on Corridor 3. Phase 5 — Renovation of the interior and replacement of the roof on Corridor 4, Phase 6 — Renovation of the interior and replacement of the roof on Corridor 5. Phase 7 — Renovation of the interior and replacement of the roof on Corridor 6, Phase 8 — Renovation of the interior and replacement of the roof on Corridor 2. GSAs Federal Building Fund will contribute $605 million toward the renovation, another $225.6 million, provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, funded Phases 2 and 3. Both GSA and the Department of Commerce contributions are dependent upon annual congressional appropriations, the Great Recession provided GSA with $40 million in savings
6.
United States Government Publishing Office
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The United States Government Publishing Office is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States federal government. Following signature by the President, the change took effect on December 17,2014, the Government Publishing Office was created by congressional joint resolution on June 23,1860. It began operations March 4,1861, with 350 employees, for its entire history, GPO has occupied the corner of North Capitol Street NW and H Street NW in the District of Columbia. An additional structure was attached to its north in later years, the activities of GPO are defined in the public printing and documents chapters of Title 44 of the United States Code. The Public Printer, who serves as the head of GPO, is appointed by the President with the advice, the Public Printer selects a Superintendent of Documents. The Superintendent of Documents is in charge of the dissemination of information at the GPO, adelaide Hasse was the founder of the Superintendent of Documents classification system. GPO first used 100 percent recycled paper for the Congressional Record and Federal Register from 1991-1997, under Public Printers Robert Houk, GPO resumed using recycled paper in 2009. In March 2011, GPO issued a new illustrated official history covering the agencys 150 years of Keeping America Informed, following signature of this legislation by President Barack Obama, the name change took place on December 17,2014. By law, the Public Printer heads the GPO, Public Printers, Almon M. Clapp John D. Defrees Sterling P. Rounds Thomas E. Benedict Frank W. Palmer Thomas E. Benedict Frank W. Palmer, O. J. Tapella William J. United States Code United States Statutes at Large House Journal, the United States Department of State began issuing e-passports in 2006. GPO produces the blank e-Passport, while the Department of State receives and processes applications, GPO ceased production of legacy passports in May 2007, shifting production entirely to e-passports. In March 2008, the Washington Times published a story about the outsourcing of electronic passports to overseas companies. GPO designs, prints, encodes and personalizes Trusted Traveler Program cards for the Department of Homeland Security, Customs, cumulative Copyright Catalogs Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion Official Records of the American Civil War US Congressional Serial Set United States. Military Information Division, p. Publications, Issues 33-34, slocum, Carl Reichmann, Adna Romanga Chaffee. Reports on military operations in South Africa and China, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Stephan LH. Slocum, Carl Reichmann, Adna Romanza Chaffee, United States, Reports on military operations in South Africa and China. CS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list United States, Bureau of Foreign Commerce, United States. Commercial relations of the United States with foreign countries during the years, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list United States
7.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
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Southern Illinois University is a public research university located in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1869, SIU is the campus of the Southern Illinois University system. The university is known as SIU Carbondale, but colloquially as SIU or Southern, the University is categorized as an RU/H Research University in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. SIU is recognized in the U. S.214, additionally, the National Science Foundation ranks SIU No.171 among public universities in the U. S. for total research and development expenditures, and No.107 among earned doctorates. SIU enrolls students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, the University offers 192 undergraduate,80 master’s and 32 doctoral programs in addition to professional degrees in law and medicine. An Act of the Twenty-sixth General Assembly of Illinois, approved March 9,1869, created Southern Illinois Normal College, Carbondale held the ceremony of cornerstone laying, May 17,1870. It began with academic departments and an initial class of 1,143. The university continued primarily as a college until Delyte W. Morris took office as president of the university in 1948. During his presidency, Morris transformed SIU, adding Colleges of Law, Medicine, since World War II, higher education has been emphasized as a goal for more students. Southern Illinois University grew rapidly in size from 3,500 to over 24,800 students between 1950 and 1991, in 1957, a second campus of SIU was established at Edwardsville. This school, now known as Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, is an independent university within the SIU system, Randy Dunn is the eighth president of the Southern Illinois University System. Dr. Dunn served as president at two state institutions and was the state superintendent of education, appointed to that role by the Illinois State Board of Education. Dr. Dunn has served on a number of committees, councils and task forces, Dunn received his doctorate in educational administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1991. He graduated from Illinois State University with a master’s in administration and foundations in 1983, before coming to Southern Illinois, he served as president at two other state institutions — Murray State University in Kentucky and Youngstown State University in Ohio. Before that, Dunn was the superintendent of education, appointed to that role by the Illinois State Board of Education. He is not a stranger to the SIU System, having held the rank of professor in the Department of Educational Administration, Dunn started at the Carbondale campus as an associate professor in 1995 and was named department chair in 2000, before leaving to assume the state superintendency. During his term as chair, he taught in the joint doctoral program in educational leadership at SIU Edwardsville. Dunn began his career as an assistant professor in the Department of Leadership at The University of Memphis for two years before taking his faculty post at Southern Illinois University
8.
Wikisource
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Wikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project, the projects aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, the project officially began in November 24,2003 under the name Project Sourceberg. The name Wikisource was adopted later that year and it received its own domain name seven months later, the project has come under criticism for lack of reliability but it is also cited by organisations such as the National Archives and Records Administration. The project holds works that are either in the domain or freely licensed, professionally published works or historical source documents, not vanity products. Verification was initially made offline, or by trusting the reliability of digital libraries. Now works are supported by online scans via the ProofreadPage extension, some individual Wikisources, each representing a specific language, now only allow works backed up with scans. While the bulk of its collection are texts, Wikisource as a whole hosts other media, some Wikisources allow user-generated annotations, subject to the specific policies of the Wikisource in question. Wikisources early history included several changes of name and location, the original concept for Wikisource was as storage for useful or important historical texts. These texts were intended to support Wikipedia articles, by providing evidence and original source texts. The collection was focused on important historical and cultural material. The project was originally called Project Sourceberg during its planning stages, in 2001, there was a dispute on Wikipedia regarding the addition of primary source material, leading to edit wars over their inclusion or deletion. Project Sourceberg was suggested as a solution to this, perhaps Project Sourceberg can mainly work as an interface for easily linking from Wikipedia to a Project Gutenberg file, and as an interface for people to easily submit new work to PG. Wed want to complement Project Gutenberg--how, exactly, and Jimmy Wales adding like Larry, Im interested that we think it over to see what we can add to Project Gutenberg. It seems unlikely that primary sources should in general be editable by anyone -- I mean, Shakespeare is Shakespeare, unlike our commentary on his work, the project began its activity at ps. wikipedia. org. The contributors understood the PS subdomain to mean either primary sources or Project Sourceberg, however, this resulted in Project Sourceberg occupying the subdomain of the Pashto Wikipedia. A vote on the name changed it to Wikisource on December 6,2003. Despite the change in name, the project did not move to its permanent URL until July 23,2004, since Wikisource was initially called Project Sourceberg, its first logo was a picture of an iceberg
9.
Aviation accidents and incidents
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If the aircraft is destroyed or severely damaged so that it must be written off, it is further defined as a hull loss accident. Annex 13 further defines an aviation incident as an occurrence, other than an accident,583, The Tenerife airport disaster, which occurred on March 27,1977, remains the accident with the highest number of airliner passenger fatalities. 583 people died when a KLM Boeing 747 attempted to take off without clearance, there were no survivors from the KLM aircraft,61 of the 396 passengers and crew on the Pan Am aircraft survived. Pilot error was the cause, as the KLM captain began his takeoff run without obtaining air traffic control clearance. A contributing factor was the dense fog, the KLM flight crew could not see the Pan Am aircraft on the runway until immediately before the collision. The accident had a influence on the industry, particularly in the area of communication. An increased emphasis was placed on using standardized phraseology in air traffic control communication by controllers and pilots alike. Furthermore, all members of the crew are now able to question the captains judgment concerning the safety of the airliner. 520, The crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 on August 12,1985, is the disaster with the highest number of fatalities,520 people died on board a Boeing 747. Pilots were able to keep the plane flying for 32 minutes after the mechanical failure before crashing into a mountain, all 15 crew members and 505 of the 509 passengers on board died. The death toll was exacerbated by delays in the rescue operation, although a number of people survived the impact, by the time the Japanese rescue teams arrived at the crash site all but four had succumbed to their injuries. 349, On November 12,1996, the worlds deadliest mid-air collision was the Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision involving Saudia Flight 763 and Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907 over Charkhi Dadri, the collision was mainly the result of the Kazakh pilot flying lower than the assigned clearance altitude. All 349 passengers and crew on both aircraft died. The Ramesh Chandra Lahoti Commission, empowered to study the causes, recommended the creation of the semi-circular rule,346, On March 3,1974, Turkish Airlines Flight 981, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, crashed in a forest northeast of Paris, France. The London-bound plane crashed shortly after taking off from Orly airport and it was later determined that the cargo door detached, which caused an explosive decompression, this caused the floor just above to collapse. The collapsed floor severed the control cables, which left the pilots without control of the elevators, the plane entered a steep dive and crashed. It was the deadliest plane crash of all time until the Tenerife disaster in 1977,329, On June 23,1985, Air India Flight 182, a Boeing 747-237B crashed off the southwest coast of Ireland when a bomb exploded in the cargo hold. All 307 passengers and 22 crew members died, one passenger had checked in as M. Singh
10.
Algeria
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Algeria, officially the Peoples Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a sovereign state in North Africa on the Mediterranean coast. Its capital and most populous city is Algiers, located in the far north. With an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres, Algeria is the tenth-largest country in the world, the country is a semi-presidential republic consisting of 48 provinces and 1,541 communes. Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been President since 1999, Berbers are the indigenous inhabitants of Algeria. Algeria is a regional and middle power, the North African country supplies large amounts of natural gas to Europe, and energy exports are the backbone of the economy. According to OPEC Algeria has the 16th largest oil reserves in the world, Sonatrach, the national oil company, is the largest company in Africa. Algeria has one of the largest militaries in Africa and the largest defence budget on the continent, most of Algerias weapons are imported from Russia, with whom they are a close ally. Algeria is a member of the African Union, the Arab League, OPEC, the countrys name derives from the city of Algiers. The citys name in turn derives from the Arabic al-Jazāir, a form of the older Jazāir Banī Mazghanna. In the region of Ain Hanech, early remnants of hominid occupation in North Africa were found, neanderthal tool makers produced hand axes in the Levalloisian and Mousterian styles similar to those in the Levant. Algeria was the site of the highest state of development of Middle Paleolithic Flake tool techniques, tools of this era, starting about 30,000 BC, are called Aterian. The earliest blade industries in North Africa are called Iberomaurusian and this industry appears to have spread throughout the coastal regions of the Maghreb between 15,000 and 10,000 BC. Neolithic civilization developed in the Saharan and Mediterranean Maghreb perhaps as early as 11,000 BC or as late as between 6000 and 2000 BC and this life, richly depicted in the Tassili nAjjer paintings, predominated in Algeria until the classical period. The amalgam of peoples of North Africa coalesced eventually into a native population that came to be called Berbers. These settlements served as market towns as well as anchorages, as Carthaginian power grew, its impact on the indigenous population increased dramatically. Berber civilization was already at a stage in which agriculture, manufacturing, trade, by the early 4th century BC, Berbers formed the single largest element of the Carthaginian army. In the Revolt of the Mercenaries, Berber soldiers rebelled from 241 to 238 BC after being unpaid following the defeat of Carthage in the First Punic War. They succeeded in obtaining control of much of Carthages North African territory, the Carthaginian state declined because of successive defeats by the Romans in the Punic Wars
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Cameroon
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Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroons coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. French and English are the languages of Cameroon. The country is referred to as Africa in miniature for its geological and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, the country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi, and for its successful national football team. Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad, portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area Rio dos Camarões, which became Cameroon in English. Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa Emirate in the north in the 19th century, Cameroon became a German colony in 1884 known as Kamerun. After World War I, the territory was divided between France and the United Kingdom as League of Nations mandates, the Union des Populations du Cameroun political party advocated independence, but was outlawed by France in the 1950s, leading to the Cameroonian Independence War. It waged war on French and UPC militant forces until 1971, in 1960, the French-administered part of Cameroon became independent as the Republic of Cameroun under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. The southern part of British Cameroons federated with it in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon, the federation was abandoned in 1972. The country was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972, Cameroon enjoys relatively high political and social stability. This has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, railways, nevertheless, large numbers of Cameroonians live in poverty as subsistence farmers. Power lies firmly in the hands of the president since 1982, Paul Biya. The English-speaking territories of Cameroon have grown increasingly alienated from the government, politicians and civil society in English-speaking regions have called for greater decentralization and even complete separation or independence from the former French-governed territories. The territory of present-day Cameroon was first settled during the Neolithic Era, the longest continuous inhabitants are groups such as the Baka. From here, Bantu migrations into eastern, southern, and central Africa are believed to have originated about 2,000 years ago, the Sao culture arose around Lake Chad c. AD500 and gave way to the Kanem and its successor state, kingdoms, fondoms, and chiefdoms arose in the west. Portuguese sailors reached the coast in 1472 and they noted an abundance of the ghost shrimp Lepidophthalmus turneranus in the Wouri River and named it Rio dos Camarões, which became Cameroon in English
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Comoros
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Other countries near the Comoros are Tanzania to the northwest and the Seychelles to the northeast. Its capital is Moroni, on Grande Comore, the Union of the Comoros has three official languages – Comorian, Arabic and French. The religion of the majority of the population is Islam, at 1,660 km2, excluding the contested island of Mayotte, the Comoros is the third-smallest African nation by area. The population, excluding Mayotte, is estimated at 798,000, as a nation formed at a crossroads of different civilisations, the archipelago is noted for its diverse culture and history. The archipelago was first inhabited by Bantu speakers who came from East Africa, supplemented by Arab, the country consists of three major islands and numerous smaller islands, all in the volcanic Comoros archipelago. The major islands are known by their French names, northwestern-most Grande Comore, Mohéli. France has vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions that would affirm Comorian sovereignty over the island, in addition, Mayotte became an overseas department and a region of France in 2011 following a referendum passed overwhelmingly. It became part of the French colonial empire in the 19th century before becoming independent in 1975, since declaring independence, the country has experienced more than 20 coups détat or attempted coups, with various heads of state assassinated. As of 2008 about half the population lived below the poverty line of US$1.25 a day. The Comoros is the state to be a member of the African Union, Francophonie, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League. The name Comoros derives from the Arabic word قمر qamar, the first human inhabitants of the Comoro Islands are thought to have been Polynesian and Melanesian settlers, Malays and Indonesians, travelling by boat. The islands of the Comoros were populated by a succession of peoples from the coast of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf, the Malay Archipelago, and Madagascar. Bantu-speaking settlers reached the islands as a part of the greater Bantu expansion that took place in Africa throughout the first millennium, according to pre-Islamic mythology, a jinni dropped a jewel, which formed a great circular inferno. This became the Karthala volcano, which created the island of the Comoros, development of the Comoros was divided into phases. The earliest reliably recorded phase is the Dembeni phase, during each island maintained a single. From the eleventh to the centuries, trade with the island of Madagascar and merchants from the Middle East flourished, smaller villages emerged. Many Comorians can trace their genealogies to ancestors from Yemen, mainly Hadhramaut, and Oman. According to legend, in 632, upon hearing of Islam, islanders are said to have dispatched an emissary, Mtswa-Mwindza, to Mecca—but by the time he arrived there, the Islamic prophet Muhammad had died
