1.
The Honorary Consul
–
The Honorary Consul is a British thriller novel by Graham Greene, published in 1973. It was one of the authors own favourite works, the title is a reference to the diplomatic position known as an honorary consul. The story is set in the city of Corrientes, part of the Argentine Littoral, Eduardo Plarr is an unmarried medical doctor of English descent who when a boy left Paraguay with his mother to escape the political turmoil for Buenos Aires. His English father remained in Paraguay as a rebel and aside from a single hand-delivered letter. Fortnum is divorced, an alcoholic who abuses his position for gain. Plarrs other acquaintance is Julio Saavedra, a forgotten but self-important Argentine writer of novels full of silent machismo, visiting the town brothel with Saavedra, Plarr is attracted to a girl, Clara, but she is taken by another man. Later when he is called to treat Fortnums new wife Plarr recognizes Clara, although he has never been to England, Plarr regards himself as a cool, self-controlled Englishman. Nonetheless he finds himself obsessed by Clara and seduces her with a pair of highly decorative sunglasses and they then begin an affair in which he remains emotionally distant from her. Caring is the dangerous thing, Plarr says in the novel. Love was a claim which he wouldnt meet, a responsibility he would refuse to accept, so many times his mother had used the word when he was a child, it was like the threat of an armed robber. Put up your hands or else, something was always asked in return, obedience, an apology, a kiss which one had no desire to give. When Clara becomes pregnant Fortnum, believing the child is his, two of Plarrs friends from his Paraguayan Jesuit schooldays turn up at his surgery. One is Rivas, a married priest, now unfrocked and they tell Plarr his father is alive and in a jail in Paraguay. And that they have a plot for which a doctors assistance is needed to kidnap the US Ambassador on his trip to Corrientes to see ruins and they intend to ransom the Ambassador for the release of political prisoners in Paraguay, including Plarrs father. But they are incompetent and mistakenly kidnap Fortnum instaed and they take him to a squalid hut in a shanty town while bargaining with the authrities. Plarr goes to the hut, where Fortnum who has shot in the leg while attempting to escape lies drinking whisky. Fortnum spends much of his time, as he faces up to his death, sentimentalizing about Clara. He overhears Plarr confessing his adultery with Clara and that the child is Plarrs, the police surround the hut while the failed priest, Rivas, conducts a makeshift mass inside with the rain coming down
The Honorary Consul
–
First edition
2.
Consul
–
Consul was the title of one of the chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently a somewhat significant title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other city states and also revived in modern states. The relating adjective is consular, from the consularis, in modern terminology, a consul is a type of diplomat. The American Heritage Dictionary defines consul as an appointed by a government to reside in a foreign country. Throughout most of southern France, a consul was an equivalent to the échevins of the north. The most prominent were those of Bordeaux and Toulouse, which came to be known as jurats and capitouls, the capitouls of Toulouse were granted transmittable nobility. In many other towns the first consul, was the equivalent of a mayor today, assisted by a variable number of secondary consuls. His main task was to levy and collect tax, the Dukes of Gaeta often used also the title of consul in its Greek form Hypatos. The city-state of Genoa, unlike ancient Rome, bestowed the title of consul on various state officials, among these were Genoese officials stationed in various Mediterranean ports, whose role included helping Genoese merchants and sailors in difficulties with the local authorities. This institution, with its name, was emulated by other powers and is reflected in the modern usage of the word. In reality, the first consul, Bonaparte, dominated his two colleagues and held power, soon making himself consul for life and eventually, in 1804. Chief magistrate, an office held for four months by one of the consuls. As noted above, Bologna already had consuls at some parts of its Medieval history, while many cities had a double-headed chief magistracy, often another title was used, such as Duumvir or native styles such as Meddix, but consul was used in some. It was not uncommon for an organization under Roman private law to copy the terminology of state, the founding statute, or contract, of such an organisation was called lex, law. The people elected each year were patricians, members of the upper class. org, see each present country
Consul
–
A portrait of the three Consuls,
Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès,
Napoleon Bonaparte and
Charles-François Lebrun (left to right)
3.
Sovereign state
–
A sovereign state is, in international law, a nonphysical juridical entity that is represented by one centralized government that has sovereignty over a geographic area. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined territory, one government, and it is also normally understood that a sovereign state is neither dependent on nor subjected to any other power or state. The existence or disappearance of a state is a question of fact, States came into existence as people gradually transferred their allegiance from an individual sovereign to an intangible but territorial political entity, of the state. States are but one of political orders that emerged from feudal Europe, others being city states, leagues. Westphalian sovereignty is the concept of sovereignty based on territoriality. It is a system of states, multinational corporations. Sovereignty is a term that is frequently misused and that position was reflected and constituted in the notion that their sovereignty was either completely lacking, or at least of an inferior character when compared to that of civilised people. Lassa Oppenheim said There exists perhaps no conception the meaning of which is more controversial than that of sovereignty. It is a fact that this conception, from the moment when it was introduced into political science until the present day, has never had a meaning which was universally agreed upon. In the opinion of H. V. Evatt of the High Court of Australia, sovereignty is neither a question of fact, nor a question of law, but a question that does not arise at all. The right of nations to determine their own status and exercise permanent sovereignty within the limits of their territorial jurisdictions is widely recognized. The Westphalian model of sovereignty has increasingly come under fire from the non-west as a system imposed solely by Western Colonialism. What this model did was make religion a subordinate to politics and this system does not fit in the Islamic world because concepts such as separation of church and state and individual conscience are not recognised in the Islamic religion as social systems. Nation denotes a people who are believed to or deemed to share common customs, religion, language, origins, however, the adjectives national and international are frequently used to refer to matters pertaining to what are strictly sovereign states, as in national capital, international law. State refers to the set of governing and supportive institutions that have sovereignty over a definite territory, State recognition signifies the decision of a sovereign state to treat another entity as also being a sovereign state. Recognition can be expressed or implied and is usually retroactive in its effects. It does not necessarily signify a desire to establish or maintain diplomatic relations, There is no definition that is binding on all the members of the community of nations on the criteria for statehood. In actual practice, the criteria are mainly political, not legal, in international law, however, there are several theories of when a state should be recognised as sovereign
Sovereign state
–
Member states of the
United Nations, all of which are sovereign states, though not all sovereign states are necessarily members
4.
Citizen
–
Citizenship is the status of a person recognized under the custom or law as being a legal member of a sovereign state. A person may have multiple citizenships and a person who does not have citizenship of any state is said to be stateless. Nationality is often used as a synonym for citizenship in English – notably in international law – although the term is understood as denoting a persons membership of a nation. In some countries, e. g. the United States, each country has its own policies, regulations and criteria as to who is entitled to its citizenship. A person can be recognised or granted citizenship on a number of bases, usually citizenship based on the place of birth is automatic, in other cases an application may be required. If one or both of a persons parents are citizens of a state, then the person may have the right to be a citizen of that state as well. Formerly this might only have applied through the line. Citizenship is granted based on ancestry or ethnicity, and is related to the concept of a nation state common in China, where jus sanguinis holds, a person born outside a country, one or both of whose parents are citizens of the country, is also a citizen. States normally limit the right to citizenship by descent to a number of generations born outside the state. This form of citizenship is not common in civil law countries, Some people are automatically citizens of the state in which they are born. This form of citizenship originated in England where those who were born within the realm were subjects of the monarch, in many cases both jus solis and jus sanguinis hold, citizenship either by place or parentage. Many countries fast-track naturalization based on the marriage of a person to a citizen, States normally grant citizenship to people who have entered the country legally and been granted permit to stay, or been granted political asylum, and also lived there for a specified period. Some states allow dual citizenship and do not require naturalized citizens to renounce any other citizenship. In the past there have been exclusions on entitlement to citizenship on grounds such as color, ethnicity, sex. Most of these no longer apply in most places. The United States grants citizenship to those born as a result of reproductive technologies, Some exclusions still persist for internationally adopted children born before Feb 27,1983 even though their parents meet citizenship criteria. Polis meant both the assembly of the city-state as well as the entire society. Citizenship has generally been identified as a western phenomenon, there is a general view that citizenship in ancient times was a simpler relation than modern forms of citizenship, although this view has come under scrutiny
Citizen
–
Legal status of
persons
Citizen
–
Geoffrey Hosking suggests that fear of being enslaved was a central motivating force for the development of the Greek sense of citizenship. Sculpture: a Greek woman being served by a slave-child.
Citizen
–
Diagram of relationship between; Citizens, Politicians + Laws
5.
Ambassador
–
The word is also often used more liberally for persons who are known, without national appointment, to represent certain professions, activities and fields of endeavor such as sales. An ambassador is the government representative stationed in a foreign capital. The host country typically allows the control of specific territory called an embassy, whose territory, staff. Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, an ambassador has the highest diplomatic rank, countries may choose to maintain diplomatic relations at a lower level by appointing a chargé daffaires in place of an ambassador. The equivalent to an Ambassador exchanged among members of the Commonwealth of Nations are known as High Commissioners, the ambassadors of the Holy See are known as Papal or Apostolic Nuncios. The first known usage of the term is known to be in the 14th century, the foreign government to which an ambassador is assigned must first approve the person. In some cases, the government might reverse its approval by declaring the diplomat a persona non grata. This kind of declaration usually results in recalling the ambassador to his/her home nation, due to the advent of modern travel, todays world is a much smaller place in relative terms. As an officer of the service, an ambassador is expected to protect the citizens of his home country in the host country. Another result of the increase in travel is the growth of trade between nations. For most countries, the economy is now part of the global economy. This means increased opportunities to sell and trade with other nations, one of the cornerstones of foreign diplomatic missions is to work for peace. This task can grow into a fight against international terrorism, the trade, international bribery. Ambassadors help stop these acts, helping people across the globe and these activities are important and sensitive and are usually carried out in coordination with the Defense Ministry of the state and the head of the nation. The rise of the diplomatic system was a product of the Italian Renaissance. The use of ambassadors became a strategy in Italy during the 17th century. The political changes in Italy altered the role of ambassadors in diplomatic affairs, because many of the states in Italy were small in size, they were particularly vulnerable to larger states. The ambassador system was used to disperse information and to protect the vulnerable states
Ambassador
–
Hans Holbein the Younger:
The Ambassadors, 1533. The life-sized panel portrays
Jean de Dinteville and
Georges de Selve, the ambassadors of
Francis I of France.
Ambassador
–
Before taking office an Ambassador's credentials must be accepted, such as when South African Ambassador
Harry Schwarz handed his credentials to U.S. President
George H. W. Bush in 1991.
Ambassador
–
Maria-Pia Kothbauer, Princess of Liechtenstein and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Czech Republic, presenting her credentials to
Václav Klaus
6.
Head of state
–
A head of state is the public persona that officially represents the national unity and legitimacy of a sovereign state. In some countries, the head of state is a figurehead with limited or no executive power, while in others. Former French president Charles de Gaulle, while developing the current Constitution of France, some academic writers discuss states and governments in terms of models. An independent nation state normally has a head of state, the non-executive model, in which the head of state has either none or very limited executive powers, and mainly has a ceremonial and symbolic role. In parliamentary systems the head of state may be merely the chief executive officer, heading the executive branch of the state. This accountability and legitimacy requires that someone be chosen who has a majority support in the legislature and it also gives the legislature the right to vote down the head of government and their cabinet, forcing it either to resign or seek a parliamentary dissolution. In parliamentary constitutional monarchies, the legitimacy of the head of state typically derives from the tacit approval of the people via the elected representatives. In reality, numerous variants exist to the position of a head of state within a parliamentary system, usually, the king had the power of declaring war without previous consent of the parliament. For example, under the 1848 constitution of the Kingdom of Italy, the Statuto Albertino—the parliamentary approval to the government appointed by the king—was customary, so, Italy had a de facto parliamentarian system, but a de jure presidential system. These officials are excluded completely from the executive, they do not possess even theoretical executive powers or any role, even formal, hence their states governments are not referred to by the traditional parliamentary model head of state styles of His/Her Majestys Government or His/Her Excellencys Government. Within this general category, variants in terms of powers and functions may exist, the constitution explicitly vests all executive power in the Cabinet, who is chaired by the prime minister and responsible to the Diet. The emperor is defined in the constitution as the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people and he is a ceremonial figurehead with no independent discretionary powers related to the governance of Japan. Today, the Speaker of the Riksdag appoints the prime minister, Cabinet members are appointed and dismissed at the sole discretion of the prime minister. In contrast, the contact the President of Ireland has with the Irish government is through a formal briefing session given by the taoiseach to the president. However, he or she has no access to documentation and all access to ministers goes through the Department of the Taoiseach. The president does, however, hold limited reserve powers, such as referring a bill to the court to test its constitutionality. The most extreme non-executive republican Head of State is the President of Israel, semi-presidential systems combine features of presidential and parliamentary systems, notably a requirement that the government be answerable to both the president and the legislature. The constitution of the Fifth French Republic provides for a minister who is chosen by the president
Head of state
–
Sixteen heads of state meeting at a
UNASUR -
BRICS summit in July 2014.
Head of state
–
President
Pranab Mukherjee, head of state of
the Republic of India from July 2012
Head of state
–
Two contemporary heads of state who are
constitutional monarchs, but with no political power: Emperor
Akihito of Japan (left), and King
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (right.)
Head of state
–
Charles de Gaulle, President and head of state of the
French Fifth Republic June 1958 – January 1959
7.
Classical Greece
–
Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years in Greek culture. This Classical period saw the annexation of much of modern-day Greece by the Persian Empire, Classical Greece had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and on the foundations of western civilization. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought, scientific thought, theatre, literature, in the context of the art, architecture, and culture of Ancient Greece, the Classical period, sometimes called the Hellenic period, corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The Classical period in this sense follows the Archaic period and is in turn succeeded by the Hellenistic period and this century is essentially studied from the Athenian outlook because Athens has left us more narratives, plays, and other written works than the other ancient Greek states. From the perspective of Athenian culture in Classical Greece, the period referred to as the 5th century BC extends slightly into the 4th century BC. In this context, one might consider that the first significant event of this occurs in 508 BC, with the fall of the last Athenian tyrant. However, a view of the whole Greek world might place its beginning at the Ionian Revolt of 500 BC. The Persians were defeated in 490 BC, the Delian League then formed, under Athenian hegemony and as Athens instrument. Athens excesses caused several revolts among the cities, all of which were put down by force. After both forces were spent, a brief peace came about, then the war resumed to Spartas advantage, Athens was definitively defeated in 404 BC, and internal Athenian agitations mark the end of the 5th century BC in Greece. Since its beginning, Sparta had been ruled by a diarchy and this meant that Sparta had two kings ruling concurrently throughout its entire history. The two kingships were both hereditary, vested in the Agiad dynasty and the Eurypontid dynasty, according to legend, the respective hereditary lines of these two dynasties sprang from Eurysthenes and Procles, twin descendants of Hercules. They were said to have conquered Sparta two generations after the Trojan War, in 510 BC, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow their king, the tyrant Hippias, son of Peisistratos. Cleomenes I, king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy headed by Isagoras, but his rival Cleisthenes, with the support of the middle class and aided by democrats, took over. Cleomenes intervened in 508 and 506 BC, but could not stop Cleisthenes, through his reforms, the people endowed their city with isonomic institutions — i. e. with equal rights for all —and established ostracism. The isonomic and isegoric democracy was first organized into about 130 demes, the 10,000 citizens exercised their power as members of the assembly, headed by a council of 500 citizens chosen at random. The territory of the city was divided into thirty trittyes as follows, ten trittyes in the coastal region ten trittyes in the ἄστυ. A tribe consisted of three trittyes, selected at random, one each of the three groups
Classical Greece
–
The
Parthenon, in Athens, a temple to
Athena
Classical Greece
–
Statue of
King Leonidas of Sparta
Classical Greece
–
Cities at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War
8.
Socio-economic
–
Socioeconomics is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local or regional economy, socioeconomics is sometimes used as an umbrella term with different usages. The term social economics may refer broadly to the use of economics in the study of society, more narrowly, contemporary practice considers behavioral interactions of individuals and groups through social capital and social markets and the formation of social norms. In the latter, it studies the relation of economics to social values, in criticizing mainstream economics for its alleged faulty philosophical premises and neglect of dysfunctional economic relationships, such advocates tend to classify social economics as heterodox. Nevertheless, regarding freedom, overwhelmingly research shows that although it has its negative effects, especially in a shorter term. These trends of increasing prosperity with augmenting economic freedom are confirmed even when we compare them within different territories of countries, in many cases, socioeconomists focus on the social impact of some sort of economic change. Such changes might include a factory, market manipulation, the signing of international trade treaties, new natural gas regulation. Such social effects can be wide-ranging in size, anywhere from local effects on a community to changes to an entire society. Examples of causes of socioeconomic impacts include new technologies such as cars or mobile phones, changes in laws, changes in the physical environment, and ecological changes. These may affect patterns of consumption, the distribution of incomes and wealth, the way in which people behave, and the overall quality of life. The goal of socioeconomic study is generally to bring about development, usually by improvements in metrics such as GDP, life expectancy, literacy, levels of employment. From the Mises Institute, select among sections, an Overview of Theories, Methods, and Themes in the Field, Forum for Social Economics 44, 1-23. The Theory of Social Production, Springer, Berlin, Economy and Society,2 v. Description and scroll to chapter-preview links. Association for Social Economics The Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics Economy and Society Journal of Socio-Economics Review of Social Economy Socio-Economic Review
Socio-economic
–
World GDP (PPP) per capita by country (2014)
9.
Hereditary
–
Heredity is the genetic information passing for traits from parents to their offspring, either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction. This is the process by which a cell or organism acquires or becomes predisposed to the characteristics of its parent cell or organism. Through heredity, variations exhibited by individuals can accumulate and cause some species to evolve through the selection of specific phenotype traits. The study of heredity in biology is called genetics, which includes the field of epigenetics, in humans, eye color is an example of an inherited characteristic, an individual might inherit the brown-eye trait from one of the parents. Inherited traits are controlled by genes and the set of genes within an organisms genome is called its genotype. The complete set of traits of the structure and behavior of an organism is called its phenotype. These traits arise from the interaction of its genotype with the environment, as a result, many aspects of an organisms phenotype are not inherited. For example, suntanned skin comes from the interaction between a persons phenotype and sunlight, thus, suntans are not passed on to peoples children, heritable traits are known to be passed from one generation to the next via DNA, a molecule that encodes genetic information. DNA is a polymer that incorporates four types of bases. The sequence of bases along a particular DNA molecule specifies the genetic information, before a cell divides through mitosis, the DNA is copied, so that each of the resulting two cells will inherit the DNA sequence. A portion of a DNA molecule that specifies a single unit is called a gene. Within cells, the strands of DNA form condensed structures called chromosomes. Organisms inherit genetic material from their parents in the form of homologous chromosomes, the specific location of a DNA sequence within a chromosome is known as a locus. If the DNA sequence at a locus varies between individuals, the different forms of this sequence are called alleles. DNA sequences can change through mutations, producing new alleles, if a mutation occurs within a gene, the new allele may affect the trait that the gene controls, altering the phenotype of the organism. However, while this simple correspondence between an allele and a works in some cases, most traits are more complex and are controlled by multiple interacting genes within. Recent findings have confirmed important examples of changes that cannot be explained by direct agency of the DNA molecule. These phenomena are classed as epigenetic inheritance systems that are causally or independently evolving over genes, Heritability may also occur at even larger scales
Hereditary
–
Heredity of phenotypic traits: Father and son with
prominent ears and crowns.
10.
Magistrate
–
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest ranking government officers, in other parts of the world, such as China, a magistrate was responsible for administration over a particular geographic area. Today, in some jurisdictions, a magistrate is an officer who hears cases in a lower court. In other jurisdictions, magistrates may be volunteers without formal training who perform a judicial role with regard to minor matters. In ancient Rome, the word referred to one of the highest offices of state. Analogous offices in the authorities, such as municipium, were subordinate only to the legislature of which they generally were members. Ex officio, often a combination of judicial and executive power, in Rome itself, the highest magistrates were members of the so-called cursus honorum -career of honors. They held both judicial and executive power within their sphere of responsibility, and also had the power to issue ius honorarium, the Consul was the highest Roman magistrate. Roman magistrates were not lawyers, but were advised by jurists who were experts in the law, the term was maintained in most feudal successor states to the western Roman Empire. The term chief magistrate applied to the highest official, in sovereign entities the head of state and/or head of government and these were referred as administrative magistrates to distinguish them from the judiciary magistrates. The President of Portugal is considered the Supreme Magistrate of the Nation, in Mexicos Federal Law System, a magistrado is a superior judge, hierarchically beneath the Supreme Court Justices. The magistrado reviews the cases seen by a judge in a term if any of the parties disputes the verdict. For special cases, there are magistrados superiores who review the verdicts of special court, magistrates/JPs are limited to issuing sentences of no longer than six months for one offence and up to twelve months consecutively for multiple offences. A wide range of legal matters is within the remit of magistrates. However, commission areas were replaced with Local Justice Areas by the Courts Act 2003, meaning no longer need to live within 15 miles, although, in practice. Thus, every magistrate in England and Wales may act as a magistrate anywhere in England or Wales, there are two types of magistrates in England and Wales, justices of the peace and district judges who hold office as members of the professional judiciary. According to requirements, around 50% of magistrates are women, over 41% of magistrates are retired from employment while others may be self-employed or able to arrange leave from their employment. No formal qualifications are required, but magistrates require intelligence, common sense, integrity, membership is widely spread throughout the area covered and drawn from all walks of life
Magistrate
–
Sir Lyman Poore Duff, a former
judge of the
Supreme Court of Canada
11.
Roman Republic
–
It was during this period that Romes control expanded from the citys immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. During the first two centuries of its existence, the Roman Republic expanded through a combination of conquest and alliance, by the following century, it included North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula, and what is now southern France. Two centuries after that, towards the end of the 1st century BC, it included the rest of modern France, Greece, and much of the eastern Mediterranean. By this time, internal tensions led to a series of wars, culminating with the assassination of Julius Caesar. The exact date of transition can be a matter of interpretation, Roman government was headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate composed of appointed magistrates. Over time, the laws that gave exclusive rights to Romes highest offices were repealed or weakened. The leaders of the Republic developed a tradition and morality requiring public service and patronage in peace and war, making military. Many of Romes legal and legislative structures can still be observed throughout Europe and much of the world in modern nation states, the exact causes and motivations for Romes military conflicts and expansions during the republic are subject to wide debate. While they can be seen as motivated by outright aggression and imperialism and they argue that Romes expansion was driven by short-term defensive and inter-state factors, and the new contingencies that these decisions created. In its early history, as Rome successfully defended itself against foreign threats in central and then northern Italy, with some important exceptions, successful wars in early republican Rome generally led not to annexation or military occupation, but to the restoration of the way things were. But the defeated city would be weakened and thus able to resist Romanizing influences. It was also able to defend itself against its non-Roman enemies. It was, therefore, more likely to seek an alliance of protection with Rome and this growing coalition expanded the potential enemies that Rome might face, and moved Rome closer to confrontation with major powers. The result was more alliance-seeking, on the part of both the Roman confederacy and city-states seeking membership within that confederacy. While there were exceptions to this, it was not until after the Second Punic War that these alliances started to harden into something more like an empire and this shift mainly took place in parts of the west, such as the southern Italian towns that sided with Hannibal. In contrast, Roman expansion into Spain and Gaul occurred as a mix of alliance-seeking, in the 2nd century BC, Roman involvement in the Greek east remained a matter of alliance-seeking, but this time in the face of major powers that could rival Rome. This had some important similarities to the events in Italy centuries earlier, with some major exceptions of outright military rule, the Roman Republic remained an alliance of independent city-states and kingdoms until it transitioned into the Roman Empire. It was not until the time of the Roman Empire that the entire Roman world was organized into provinces under explicit Roman control
Roman Republic
–
Route of Pyrrhus of Epirus
Roman Republic
–
Roman consul accompanied by two
lictors
Roman Republic
–
Gaius Gracchus, tribune of the people, presiding over the
Plebeian Council
Roman Republic
–
A Roman
denarius struck in 56 BC showing on one side the bust of the
Goddess Diana, and on the reverse the Roman general
Lucius Cornelius Sulla is offered an olive branch by his ally
Bocchus I as the captive
Jugurtha kneels beside Sulla with his hands bound.
12.
Roman Empire
–
Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
Roman Empire
–
The
Augustus of Prima Porta (early 1st century AD)
Roman Empire
–
Aureus of
Augustus, the first
Roman Emperor.
Roman Empire
–
A segment of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall in northern England
Roman Empire
–
A 5th-century
papyrus showing a parallel Latin-Greek text of a speech by
Cicero
13.
Republic of Genoa
–
It began when Genoa became a self-governing commune within the Regnum Italicum, and ended when it was conquered by the French First Republic under Napoleon and replaced with the Ligurian Republic. Corsica was ceded to France in the Treaty of Versailles of 1768, before 1100, Genoa emerged as an independent city-state, one of a number of Italian city-states during this period. Nominally, the Holy Roman Emperor was overlord and the Bishop of Genoa was president of the city, however, actual power was wielded by a number of consuls annually elected by popular assembly. The Adorno, Campofregoso, and other merchant families all fought for power in this Republic, as the power of the consuls allowed each family faction to gain wealth. The Republic of Genoa extended over modern Liguria and Piedmont, Sardinia, Corsica, through Genoese participation on the Crusades, Genoese colonies were established in the Middle East, in the Aegean, in Sicily and Northern Africa. The collapse of the Crusader States was offset by Genoa’s alliance with the Byzantine Empire, as Venices relations with the Byzantine Empire were temporarily disrupted by the Fourth Crusade and its aftermath, Genoa was able to improve its position. Genoa took advantage of opportunity to expand into the Black Sea and Crimea. Internal feuds between the families, the Grimaldi and Fieschi, the Doria, Spinola, and others caused much disruption. However, this prosperity did not last, the Black Death was imported into Europe in 1347 from the Genoese trading post at Caffa in Crimea, on the Black Sea. Following the economic and population collapse, Genoa adopted the Venetian model of government, the wars with Venice continued, and the War of Chioggia -- where Genoa almost managed to decisively subdue Venice—ended with Venices recovery of dominance in the Adriatic. In 1390 Genoa initiated a crusade against the Barbary pirates with help from the French, though it has not been well-studied, the fifteenth century seems to have been a tumultuous time for Genoa. After a period of French domination from 1394–1409, Genoa came under rule by the Visconti of Milan, Genoa lost Sardinia to Aragon, Corsica to internal revolt and its Middle Eastern, Eastern European and Asia Minor colonies to the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Under the ensuing economic recovery, many aristocratic Genoese families, such as the Balbi, Doria, Grimaldi, Pallavicini, according to Felipe Fernandez-Armesto and others, the practices Genoa developed in the Mediterranean were crucial in the exploration and exploitation of the New World. At the time of Genoa’s peak in the 16th century, the city attracted many artists, including Rubens, Caravaggio and Van Dyck. The architect Galeazzo Alessi designed many of the city’s splendid palazzi, as did in the decades that followed by fifty years Bartolomeo Bianco, a number of Genoese Baroque and Rococo artists settled elsewhere and a number of local artists became prominent. At the time of its founding in the early 11th century the Republic of Genoa consisted of the city of Genoa, as the commerce of the city increased, so did the territory of the Republic. By 1015 all of Liguria fell under the Republic of Genoa, after the First Crusade in 1098 Genoa gained settlements in Syria. In 1261 the city of Smyrna in Asia Minor became Genoese territory, in 1255 Genoa established the colony of Caffa in Crimea
Republic of Genoa
–
View of Genoa and its fleet by Christoforo de Grassi (1597 copy, after a drawing of 1481); Galata Museo del Mare, Genoa.
Republic of Genoa
–
Flag
Republic of Genoa
–
Siege of
Antioch, 1098
Republic of Genoa
–
Galata Tower (1348) in
Galata,
Istanbul.
14.
Consolat de mar
–
The Consulate of the Sea was a quasi-judicial body set up in the Crown of Aragon, later to spread throughout the Mediterranean basin, to administer maritime and commercial law. The Catalan institution can be traced to the grant of the Carta Consular to the city of Barcelona by James I of Aragon in 1258, mercantile Law was becoming established at the same time through much of Europe, and similar bodies had already been established in Messina and Genoa. As the territories of the Crown of Aragon expanded, it was customary to establish new Consulates of the Sea in the major ports. One of the earliest was in Valencia, where the charter of Peter III of Aragon makes it clear that disputes are to be settled according to maritime customs, as these are accepted in Barcelona. The earliest extant printed edition of the work is without a title-page or frontispiece, the only known copy of this edition is preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris. There are, however, two Catalan manuscripts preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the earliest of which, being MS, the subsequent parts of this manuscript are on paper of the 15th century, but there is no document of a date more recent than 1436. The later of the two manuscripts, being MS, the remainder of the volume consists of what may be regarded as an appendix to the original Book of the Consulate. This appendix contains various maritime ordinances of the kings of Aragon and of the councillors of the city of Barcelona and it is printed apparently in the same type with the preceding part of the volume. In the next century, the work was translated into Dutch by Westerven, and into German by Engelbrecht, and it is also said to have been translated into Latin. See introduction, by Sir Travers Twiss, to the Black Book of the Admiralty, Book of the Consulate of the Sea Consulate of the Sea and Related Documents. Les costums marítimes de Barcelona universalment conegudes per Llibre del Consolat de mar, edited by Ernest Moliné y Brasés. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Twiss. De la favor de les causes mercantivols, constitution of the Corts de Catalunya, Montsó,1510. Consolat de Mar Conflict Resolution Centre
Consolat de mar
–
The Llotja de la Seda, seat of the Consulate of the Sea in
Valencia since 1498.
Consolat de mar
–
The title page of the 1914 edition of the Book of the Consulate of the Sea, edited by Ernest Moliné y Brasés.
15.
Peter IV of Aragon
–
Peter IV, called the Ceremonious, was from 1336 until his death the King of Aragon and also King of Sardinia and Corsica, King of Valencia, and Count of Barcelona. In 1344, he deposed James III of Majorca and made himself King of Majorca and his wars in Greece made him Duke of Athens and Neopatria in 1381. Peter was born at Balaguer, the eldest son and heir of Alfons IV, then Count of Urgell, Peter was designated to inherit all of his fathers title save that of Urgell, which went to his younger brother James. Upon succeeding his father he called a corts in Zaragoza for his coronation and he crowned himself, disappointing the Archbishop of Zaragoza and thus rejecting the surrender Peter II had made to the Papacy, in an otherwise traditional ceremony. According to his own reports, this act caused him some distress. He did, however, affirm the liberties and privileges of Aragon, after the festivities in Zaragoza, Peter began on his way to Valencia to receive coronation there. On route he stopped at Lleida to affirm the Usatges and Constitutions of Catalonia and this offended Barcelona, at which the ceremony had usually been performed, and the citizens of that city complained to the king, who claimed that Lleida was on his way to Valencia. While in Valencia he decided on the case of his stepmothers inheritance, depriving her of income and outlawing her Castilian protector, Peter Ponce of León, Peter was largely forced to capitulate by a new invasion from Morocco aimed at Castile and Valencia. In 1338 he married Maria, second daughter of Philip III, in May 1339 he allied with Alfonso XI of Castile against Morocco, but his contribution of a fleet had no effect at the pivotal Battle of the Saulty River. Early on in his reign, a thorn in Peters side had been James III of Majorca, his brother-in-law, James had twice postponed performing the ceremony of homage to Peter, his feudal overlord, and when he finally performed it in 1339 it was on his terms. The rising economic star of Majorca, whose merchants were establishing independent markets and gaining trading privileges in the western Mediterranean, threatened the supremacy of Barcelona. Peters outrage, however, was no outlet until 1341. Peter then opened a process against James, with the intent of dispossessing him of his kingdom. He alleged that the circulation of James coinage in the Counties of Roussillon and this was open to question, considering the ancient customs of Roussillon and Cerdagne, but Peter was prepared to move forward anyway. The interference of Pope Clement VI, however, granted James a hearing in Barcelona in front of papal delegates, Peter, for his part, spread rumours that James was seeking to capture him. James, fearing that Peter would stoop to invading Majorca and seizing it by force, in February 1343 Peter declared James a contumacious vassal and his kingdom and lands forfeit. The legal process being terminated, Peter went to war, on the advice that the islanders were burdened by taxes, in May a fleet which had been blockading Algeciras landed at Majorca and quickly defeated James army at the Battle of Santa Ponça. Peter received the submission of all the Balearics and confirmed the privileges of the islands as they had been under James I, though James sued for peace and Pope Clement attempted to mediate it, Peter returned to Barcelona prepared to invade Roussillon and Cerdagne
Peter IV of Aragon
–
Peter IV, King of Aragon by Gonçal Peris Sarrià & Jaume Mateu (1427)
Peter IV of Aragon
–
A Sardinian
ducat (or principat), also called an Alfonsino, of Peter IV's reign. Note the four bars representing the
Crown of Aragon.
Peter IV of Aragon
–
Coat of arms of Peter IV at the Royal Gate of Poblet Monastery
16.
Maritime law
–
Admiralty law or maritime law is a distinct body of law that governs maritime questions and offenses. It is a body of domestic law governing maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private entities that operate vessels on the oceans. It deals with matters including marine commerce, marine navigation, marine salvaging, shipping, sailors, Admiralty law also covers many commercial activities, although land based or occurring wholly on land, that are maritime in character. Seaborne transport was one of the earliest channels of commerce, in southern Italy the Ordinamenta et consuetudo maris at Trani and the Amalfian Laws were in effect from an early date. Islamic law also made contributions to international admiralty law, departing from the previous Roman. Islamic law departed from Justinians Digest and the Nomos Rhodion Nautikos in condemning slave jettison, the Islamic influence on the development of an international law of the sea can thus be discerned alongside that of the Roman influence. Admiralty law was introduced into England by the French Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine while she was acting as regent for her son, in England, special admiralty courts handle all admiralty cases. These courts do not use the law of England, but are civil law courts largely based upon the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian. Admiralty courts were a prominent feature in the prelude to the American Revolution, because the Stamp Act was unpopular, a colonial jury was unlikely to convict a colonist of its violation. However, because admiralty courts did not grant trial by jury, Admiralty law became part of the law of the United States as it was gradually introduced through admiralty cases arising after the adoption of the U. S. Many American lawyers who were prominent in the American Revolution were admiralty and those included are Alexander Hamilton in New York and John Adams in Massachusetts. The result was the Seventh Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, in the more modern era, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes was an admiralty lawyer before ascending to the bench. The doctrine of maintenance and cure is rooted in Article VI of the Rolls of Oleron promulgated in about 1160 A. D. The obligation to cure requires a shipowner to provide care, free of charge, to a seaman injured in the service of the ship. The concept of maximum medical cure is more extensive than the concept maximum medical improvement, the obligation to cure a seaman includes the obligation to provide him with medications and medical devices which improve his ability to function, even if they dont improve his actual condition. They may include long term treatments that permit him to continue to function well, common examples include prostheses, wheelchairs, and pain medications. The obligation of maintenance requires the shipowner to provide a seaman with his living expenses while he is convalescing. Once a seaman is able to work, he is expected to maintain himself, consequently, a seaman can lose his right to maintenance, while the obligation to provide cure is ongoing
Maritime law
–
Admiralty law
17.
Commercial law
–
It is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals with issues of both private law and public law. It can also be understood to regulate corporate contracts, hiring practices, many countries have adopted civil codes that contain comprehensive statements of their commercial law. In the United States, commercial law is the province of both the United States Congress, under its power to regulate commerce, and the states. Various regulatory schemes control how commerce is conducted, particularly vis-a-vis employees, privacy laws, safety laws, and food and drug laws are some examples. Outline of commercial law Consulate of the Sea Hundreds of Answers to Basic Business Law Questions Topical listing of US commercial law from Cornells Legal Information Institute
Commercial law
18.
Law Merchant
–
Lex mercatoria, often referred to as the Law Merchant in English, is the body of commercial law used by merchants throughout Europe during the medieval period. It evolved similar to English common law as a system of custom and best practice and it functioned as the international law of commerce. It emphasised contractual freedom and alienability of property, while shunning legal technicalities, a distinct feature was the reliance by merchants on a legal system developed and administered by them. States or local authorities seldom interfered, and did not interfere a lot in internal domestic trade, under lex mercatoria trade flourished and states took in large amounts of taxation. In the last years new theories had changed the understanding of this medieval treatise considering it as proposal for reform or a document used for instructional purposes. These theories consider that the treatise cannot be described as a body of laws applicable in its time, the text is composed by 21 sections and an annex. The sections described procedural matters such as the presence of witnesses, the lex mercatoria was originally a body of rules and principles laid down by merchants to regulate their dealings. It consisted of rules and customs common to merchants and traders in Europe and it originated from the need for quick and effective jurisdiction, administered by specialised courts. International commercial law today owes some of its principles to the lex mercatoria. This includes choice of arbitration institutions, procedures, applicable law and arbitrators, goods and services flowed freely during the medieval merchant law, thus generating more wealth for all involved. It is debated whether the law was uniform in nature, was spontaneous as a method of dispute resolution, the lex mercatoria was also a means for local communities to protect their own markets. Local kings or lords extracted taxes and set trade restrictions, in 1303 Edward I issued the Carta Mercatoria, a charter to foreign merchants in England, which guaranteed them freedom to trade, with certain protections and exemption under the law. The lex mercatoria was the product of customs and practices among traders, however, the merchants needed to solve their disputes rapidly, sometimes on the hour, with the least costs and by the most efficient means. Public courts did not provide this, a trial before the courts would delay their business, and that meant losing money. The lex mercatoria provided quick and effective justice and this was possible through informal proceedings, with liberal procedural rules. The lex mercatoria rendered proportionate judgements over the disputes, in light of fair price, good commerce. Judges were chosen according to their background and practical knowledge. Their reputation rested upon their perceived expertise in merchant trade and their fair-mindedness, gradually, a professional judiciary developed through the merchant judges
Law Merchant
–
Lord Mansfield was a champion of fusing lex mercatoria with the
common law.
19.
Parliament
–
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative, elected body of government. Generally a modern parliament has three functions, representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government, historically, parliaments included various kinds of deliberative, consultative, and judicial assemblies. The term is derived from Anglo-Norman parlement, from the verb parler talk, the meaning evolved over time, originally any discussion, conversation, or negotiation, through various kinds of deliberative or judicial groups, often summoned by the monarch. By 1400, it had come to mean in Britain specifically the British supreme legislature, various parliaments are claimed to be the oldest in the world, under varying definitions. The Sicilian Parliament, whose first assembly was convened in 1097, the Icelandic Althing, year 930, but only including the main chiefs. Since ancient times, when societies were tribal, there were councils or a headman whose decisions were assessed by village elders, some scholars suggest that in ancient Mesopotamia there was a primitive democratic government where the kings were assessed by council. The same has been said about ancient India, where some form of deliberative assemblies existed, however, these claims are not accepted by most scholars, who see these forms of government as oligarchies. Ancient Athens was the cradle of democracy, the Athenian assembly was the most important institution, and every citizen could take part in the discussions. However, Athenian democracy was not representative, but rather direct, the Roman Senate controlled money, administration, and the details of foreign policy. Some Muslim scholars argue that the Islamic shura is analogous to the parliament, however, others highlight what they consider fundamental differences between the shura system and the parliamentary system. England has long had a tradition of a body of men who would assist, under the Anglo-Saxon kings, there was an advisory council, the Witenagemot. The name derives from the Old English ƿitena ȝemōt, or witena gemōt, the first recorded act of a witenagemot was the law code issued by King Æthelberht of Kent ca. 600, the earliest document which survives in sustained Old English prose, however, the Witan, along with the folkmoots, is an important ancestor of the modern English parliament. As part of the Norman Conquest of England, the new king, William I, did away with the Witenagemot, membership of the Curia was largely restricted to the tenants in chief, the few nobles who rented great estates directly from the king, along with ecclesiastics. William brought to England the feudal system of his native Normandy and this is the original body from which the Parliament, the higher courts of law, and the Privy Council and Cabinet descend. Of these, the legislature is formally the High Court of Parliament, only the executive government is no longer conducted in a royal court. Most historians date the emergence of a parliament with some degree of power to which the throne had to defer no later than the rule of Edward I, like previous kings, Edward called leading nobles and church leaders to discuss government matters, especially finance. A meeting in 1295 became known as the Model Parliament because it set the pattern for later Parliaments, in 1307, Edward I agreed not to collect certain taxes without the consent of the realm
Parliament
–
The chamber of the
House of Commons of the
British Parliament in the
City of Westminster,
London.
Parliament
–
The
Federal Assembly of
Switzerland.
Parliament
–
Session Hall of
Parliament of Finland.
Parliament
–
The
Israeli Knesset chamber.
20.
Crown of Aragon
–
Put in contemporary terms, it has sometimes been considered that the different lands of the Crown of Aragon functioned more as a confederation than as a single kingdom. In this sense, the larger Crown of Aragon must not be confused with one of its constituent parts, formally, the political center of the Crown of Aragon was Zaragoza, where kings were crowned at La Seo Cathedral. The de facto capital and leading cultural, administrative and economic centre of the Crown of Aragon was Barcelona followed by Valencia, finally, Palma was an additional important city and seaport. For brief periods the Crown of Aragon also controlled Montpellier, Provence, Corsica, the countries that are today known as Spain and Portugal spent the Middle Ages after 722 in an intermittent struggle called the Reconquista. This struggle pitted the northern Christian kingdoms against the Islamic taifa petty kingdoms of the South, in the Late Middle Ages, the expansion of the Aragonese Crown southwards met with the Castilian advance eastward in the region of Murcia. Afterward, the Aragonese Crown focused on the Mediterranean, acting as far as Greece and Barbary, whereas Portugal, mercenaries from the territories in the Crown, known as almogàvers participated in the creation of this Mediterranean empire, and later found employment in countries all across southern Europe. The Crown of Aragon has been considered by some as an empire which ruled in the Mediterranean for hundreds of years and it was indeed, at its height, one of the major powers in Europe. However, its different territories were connected through the person of the monarch. A modern historian, Juan de Contreras y Lopez de Ayala, Marqués de Lozoya described the Crown of Aragon as being more like a confederacy than a centralised kingdom, let alone an empire. Nor did official documents refer to it as an empire, instead. This union respected the institutions and parliaments of both territories. This was due to the loss of Catalan influence, the renunciation of the family rights of the counts of Barcelona in Occitania. Petronillas father King Ramiro, The Monk who was raised in the Saint Pons de Thomières Monastery and his brothers Peter I and Alfonso I El Batallador had bravely fought against Castile for hegemony in the Iberian peninsula. After the death of Alfonso I, the Aragonese nobility that campaigned close him feared being overwhelmed by the influence of Castile, and so, Ramiro was forced to leave his monastic life and proclaim himself King of Aragon. He married Agnes, sister of the Duke of Aquitaine and betrothed his daughter to Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona. The wedding agreement provided Raymond Berengar IV the title of Princeps Aragonum and Dominator Aragonenesis and kept the title, Raymond Berengar IV, the first ruler of the united dynasty, called himself Count of Barcelona and Prince of Aragon. Alfonso II inherited two realms and with them, two different expansion processes, the House of Jiménez looked south in a battle against Castile for the control of the Mediterranean coast in the Iberian peninsula. The House of Barcelona looked north to its origins, Occitania, soon, Alfonso II of Aragon and Barcelona committed himself to conquer Valencia as the Aragonese nobility demanded
Crown of Aragon
–
Petronilla of Aragon (1136–1173) and
Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona (ca. 1131–1162) depicted in a 16th-century painting.
Crown of Aragon
–
Standard
Crown of Aragon
–
Equestrian heraldic representation of King of Aragon in the "Equestrian armorial of the Golden Fleece" 1433-1435.
Crown of Aragon
–
Ferdinand V and
Isabella I,
King and Queen of Castile and León, and later of Aragon, Valencia, Sicily, and Majorca
21.
Consulado de mercaderes
–
A consulado was founded in Mexico City in 1594, controlled by peninsular wholesale merchants who dealt in long-distance trade, who often married into local elite families with commercial ties. Their assets had to amount to at least 28,000 pesos, although they were not supposed to deal in local retail trade, they often did some indirectly. They mainly lived in Mexico City and had positions on the city council or cabildo, a number of them were connected to the crown mint in the capital. They diversified the assets locally, investing in real estate. In the 18th century, as New Spains economy boomed, consulados were established in the port of Veracruz and in Guadalajara Mexico, indicating increased trade and the expansion of the merchant elite. The consulado in late colonial Mexico had approximately 200 members, who divided themselves into two factions, the Basque and Montañés, even some were from neither of these Iberian regions. American-born merchants came to be part of the consulado in the colonial period. Goods were shipped from the Spanish port of Cádiz to Veracruz, in the mid-16th century, all American trade from Spain was funneled through the city of Seville, and later, the nearby port of Cádiz. The Casa de Contratación, which translated into English means Board of Trade, registered ships and passengers, kept charts, collected taxes, and in general controlled the Indies trade. The Consulado effectively manipulated the government and the citizenry of both Spain and the Indies colonies, and grew richer and more every day because of it. In 1550, the total export was valued at around 1,000,000 pesos, with the royal family receiving 500,000 pesos of profit, while the rest went to the Consulado
Consulado de mercaderes
–
The former Casa Lonja (right), built for it by
Philip II and today the
Archivo General de Indias, next to the
Cathedral of Seville
22.
Seville
–
Seville is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the river Guadalquivir, the inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos or hispalenses, after the Roman name of the city, Hispalis. Its Old Town, with an area of 4 square kilometres, the Seville harbour, located about 80 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. Seville is also the hottest major metropolitan area in the geographical Western Europe, Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis. It later became known as Ishbiliya after the Muslim conquest in 712, in 1519, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Spal is the oldest known name for Seville and it appears to have originated during the Phoenician colonisation of the Tartessian culture in south-western Iberia and, according to Manuel Pellicer Catalán, meant lowland in the Phoenician language. During Roman rule, the name was Latinised as Hispalis, nO8DO is the official motto of Seville. It is popularly believed to be a rebus signifying the Spanish No me ha dejado, meaning It has not abandoned me, the eight in the middle represents a madeja, or skein of wool. The emblem is present on the flag and features on city property such as manhole covers. Seville is approximately 2,200 years old, the passage of the various civilisations instrumental in its growth has left the city with a distinct personality, and a large and well-preserved historical centre. The city was known from Roman times as Hispalis, important archaeological remains also exist in the nearby towns of Santiponce and Carmona. The walls surrounding the city were built during the rule of Julius Caesar. Following Roman rule, there were successive conquests of the Roman province of Hispania Baetica by the Vandals, the Suebi, Seville was taken by the Moors, Muslims from North of Africa, during the conquest of Hispalis in 712. It was the capital for the kings of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Moorish urban influences continued and are present in contemporary Seville, for instance in the custom of decorating with herbaje and small fountains the courtyards of the houses. However, most buildings of the Moorish aesthetic actually belong to the Mudéjar style of Islamic art, developed under Christian rule and inspired by the Arabic style. Original Moorish buildings are the Patio del Yeso in the Alcázar, the city walls, in 1247, the Christian King Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon began the conquest of Andalusia. The decisive action took place in May 1248 when Ramon Bonifaz sailed up the Guadalquivir, the city surrendered on 23 November 1248. The citys development continued after the Castilian conquest in 1248, Public buildings constructed including churches, many of which were built in the Mudéjar style, and the Seville Cathedral, built during the 15th century with Gothic architecture
Seville
–
Clockwise from top:
St. Mary of the See Cathedral and
Giralda,
Plaza de España in the
Maria Luisa Park,
Metropol Parasol, the Isabel II ("
Triana ") bridge and the
Torre del Oro.
Seville
–
Flag
Seville
–
View of the
Giralda from the Patio de Banderas (Courtyard of Flags), historic square with remains of Roman, Moorish and Castilian periods.
Seville
–
Cathedral of Saint Mary from Constitución Avenue
23.
Latin America
–
Latin America is a group of countries and dependencies in the Americas where Romance languages are predominant. It is therefore broader than the terms Ibero-America or Hispanic America—though it usually excludes French Canada and it has an area of approximately 19,197,000 km2, almost 13% of the Earths land surface area. As of 2015, its population was estimated at more than 626 million and in 2014, Latin America had a combined nominal GDP of 5,573,397 million USD and a GDP PPP of 7,531,585 million USD. The term Latin America was first used in 1861 in La revue des races Latines, a further investigation of the concept of Latin America is by Michel Gobat in the American Historical Review. The term was first used in Paris in an 1856 conference by the Chilean politician Francisco Bilbao and this term was also used in 1861 by French scholars in La revue des races Latines, a magazine dedicated to the Pan-Latinism movement. Latin America is, therefore, defined as all parts of the Americas that were once part of the Spanish. By this definition, Latin America is coterminous with Ibero-America and this definition emphasizes a similar socioeconomic history of the region, which was characterized by formal or informal colonialism, rather than cultural aspects. As such, some sources avoid this oversimplification by using the phrase Latin America, the distinction between Latin America and Anglo-America is a convention based on the predominant languages in the Americas by which Romance-language and English-speaking cultures are distinguished. Latin America can be subdivided into several subregions based on geography, politics, demographics and it may be subdivided on linguistic grounds into Hispanic America, Portuguese America and French America. *, Not a sovereign state The concept of Latin America has been criticized by a number of intellectuals, the earliest known settlement was identified at Monte Verde, near Puerto Montt in Southern Chile. Its occupation dates to some 14,000 years ago and there is disputed evidence of even earlier occupation. Over the course of millennia, people spread to all parts of the continents, by the first millennium CE, South Americas vast rainforests, mountains, plains and coasts were the home of tens of millions of people. Some groups formed more permanent settlements such as the Chibcha and the Tairona groups and these groups are in the circum Caribbean region. The Chibchas of Colombia, the Quechuas and Aymaras of Bolivia, the region was home to many indigenous peoples and advanced civilizations, including the Aztecs, Toltecs, Maya, and Inca. The Aztec empire was ultimately the most powerful civilization known throughout the Americas, with the arrival of the Europeans following Christopher Columbus voyages, the indigenous elites, such as the Incas and Aztecs, lost power to the heavy European invasion. Hernándo Cortés seized the Aztec elites power with the help of local groups who had favored the Aztec elite, epidemics of diseases brought by the Europeans, such as smallpox and measles, wiped out a large portion of the indigenous population. Historians cannot determine the number of natives who died due to European diseases, due to the lack of written records, specific numbers are hard to verify. Many of the survivors were forced to work in European plantations, intermixing between the indigenous peoples and the European colonists was very common, and, by the end of the colonial period, people of mixed ancestry formed majorities in several colonies
Latin America
–
Presencia de América Latina (Presence of Latin America, 1964–65) is a 300 square meters (3,200 sq ft) mural at the hall of the Arts House of the University of Concepción, Chile. It is also known as Latin America's Integration.
Latin America
–
Latin America
Latin America
–
The Parc de l'Amérique-Latine in
Quebec City, the capital of the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec, celebrates the cultural ties between Quebec and the other people who speak a Romance language in the Americas.
Latin America
–
A view of
Machu Picchu, a pre-Columbian
Inca site in
Peru. One of the
New Seven Wonders of the World.
24.
Chamber of commerce
–
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, for example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community, local businesses are members, and they elect a board of directors or executive council to set policy for the chamber. The board or council then hires a President, CEO or Executive Director, plus staffing appropriate to size, the first chamber of commerce was founded in 1599 in Marseille, France. Another official chamber of commerce would follow 65 years later, probably in Bruges, however, Hull Chamber of Commerce is the UKs oldest, followed by those of Leeds and of Belfast in Northern Ireland. As a non-governmental institution, a chamber of commerce has no role in the writing and passage of laws. It may however, lobby in an attempt to get laws passed that are favorable to businesses, membership in an individual chamber can range from a few dozen to well over 800,000, as is the case with the Paris Île-de-France Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Some chamber organizations in China report even larger membership numbers, Chambers of commerce can range in scope from individual neighborhoods within a city or town up to an international chamber of commerce. In addition, Chambers represent the interests of businesses, while the BBB represents both the interests of businesses and the general public, some Chambers are partially funded by local government, others are non-profit, and some are a combination of the two. Chambers of commerce also can include economic development corporations or groups as well as tourism, some chambers have joined state, national and even international bodies. Currently, there are about 13,000 chambers registered in the official Worldchambers Network registry, and this network is informal, with each local chamber incorporated and operating separately, rather than as a chapter of a national or state chamber. Chambers of commerce in the United States can be considered community, city, regional, state, city Chambers work on the local level to bring the business community together to develop strong local networks, which can result in a business-to-business exchange. In most cases, city Chambers work with their government, such as their mayor, their city council. There are also bilateral chambers of commerce that link the business environments of two countries, community chambers of commerce have started in the UK and later spread to in the US, becoming city chambers of commerce as the communities developed and became larger. Community chambers of commerce are smaller and most have a limits on numbers of members, city chambers of commerce have a long history in the US. The Charleston Chamber of Commerce is one of the oldest, dating back to colonial 1773 and that same year, Bostons Chamber of Commerce organized a seminal tax protest, The Boston Tea Party. In 2005 there were 2,800 chambers of commerce in the United States and 102 chambers representing U. S. businesses overseas. State chambers of commerce are much different from local and regional chambers of commerce, as work on state. State Chambers work with their Governor, state representatives, state senators, US congressional leaders, understanding the National or International need for understanding and information is the key service that these level of chambers of commerce provide
Chamber of commerce
–
Former
Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York
Chamber of commerce
–
The Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce in
Marlborough, Massachusetts
25.
French Consulate
–
The Consulate was the government of France from the fall of the Directory in the coup of Brumaire in 1799 until the start of the Napoleonic Empire in 1804. By extension, the term The Consulate also refers to period of French history. Due to the institutions established during these years, Robert B. Holtman has called the Consulate one of the most important periods of all French history, Napoleon brought authoritarian personal rule which has been viewed as military dictatorship. French military disasters in 1798 and 1799 had shaken the Directory, an irregularity emerged in the election of Jean Baptiste Treilhard, who retired in favor of Louis Jérôme Gohier. Within days, Philippe-Antoine Merlin and Louis-Marie de La Revellière were driven to resign, Baron Jean-François-Auguste Moulin, the three new directors were generally seen as non-entities. A few more military disasters, royalist insurrections in the south, Chouan disturbances in a dozen departments of the part of France, Orléanist intrigues. In order to soothe the populace and protect the frontier, more than the French Revolutions usual terrorist measures was necessary, the new Directory government, led by Sieyès, decided that the necessary revision of the constitution would require a head and a sword. Jean Victor Moreau being unattainable as his sword, Sieyès favoured Barthélemy Catherine Joubert, but, success was reserved for Bonaparte, suddenly landing at Fréjus with the prestige of his victories in the East, and now, after Hoches death, appearing as sole master of the armies. In the coup of 18 Brumaire Year VIII, Napoleon seized French parliamentary and military power in a two-fold coup détat, the initial 18 Brumaire coup seemed to be a victory for Sieyès, rather than for Bonaparte. Sieyès was a proponent of a new system of government for the Republic, Bonapartes cleverness lay in counterposing Pierre Claude François Daunous plan to that of Sieyès, and in retaining only those portions of both which could serve his ambition. Ultimate executive authority was vested in three consuls, who were elected for ten years, popular suffrage was retained, though mutilated by the lists of notables. Napoleon vetoed Sieyès original idea of having a single Grand Elector as supreme executive, Sieyès had intended to reserve this important position for himself, and by denying him the job Napoleon helped reinforce the authority of the consuls, an office which he would assume. Nor was Napoleon content simply to be part of an equal triumvirate, by consolidating power, Bonaparte was able to transform the aristocratic constitution of Sieyès into an unavowed dictatorship. On 7 February 1800, a referendum confirmed the new constitution. It vested all of the power in the hands of the First Consul. A full 99. 9% of voters approved the motion, according to the released results and he gave everyone a feeling that France was governed once more by a real statesman, and that a competent government was finally in charge. Bonaparte had now to rid himself of Sieyès and of those republicans who had no desire to hand over the republic to one man, particularly of Moreau and Masséna, his military rivals
French Consulate
–
A portrait of the three Consuls,
Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès,
Napoleon Bonaparte and
Charles-François Lebrun (left to right).
French Consulate
–
Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul, February 1803 by
François Gérard
French Consulate
–
The provisional Consuls (10 November – 12 December 1799)
French Consulate
26.
Consulate-General of Indonesia in Houston
–
The Consulate-General of Indonesia in Houston is Indonesias diplomatic facility in Houston, Texas, United States. The building is located at 10900 Richmond Avenue in the Westchase district, the facility serves the U. S. states of Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. In addition the Houston consulate serves Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands, the consulate includes an exhibit of Indonesian culture. As of 2004 Houston had the fifth largest Indonesian population in the United States, the Indonesian consulate opened on May 25,1982 with Rachadi Iskandar as the first consul general. From its founding until March 1988 the consulate existed on the 19th floor of Three Post Oak Central, in April 1988 the consulate moved to 5633 Richmond Avenue. In 1993, consul general Achmad Surjadi purchased the 44, 815-square-foot building located at 10900 Richmond Avenue, the consulate coordinated some relief efforts for victims of the Banda Aceh tsunami generated by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and, later in 2005, Hurricane Katrina. For the typhoon victims, nearly 500 boxes of clothing and other supplies were shipped to Medan, fund-raising events for Hurricane Katrina victims raised $7,500. Diplomatic missions of Indonesia Consulate-General of the Republic of Indonesia in Houston
Consulate-General of Indonesia in Houston
–
Consulate-General of the Republic of Indonesia in Houston
Consulate-General of Indonesia in Houston
–
From 1982 to 1988 the consulate was in Three
Post Oak Central, one of the three striped buildings in the picture
27.
Indonesia
–
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania. Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is the worlds largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands. At 1,904,569 square kilometres, Indonesia is the worlds 14th-largest country in terms of area and worlds 7th-largest country in terms of combined sea. It has an population of over 260 million people and is the worlds fourth most populous country. The worlds most populous island, Java, contains more than half of the countrys population, Indonesias republican form of government includes an elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status and its capital and countrys most populous city is Jakarta, which is also the most populous city in Southeast Asia and the second in Asia. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, other neighbouring countries include Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the second highest level of biodiversity. The country has abundant natural resources like oil and natural gas, tin, copper, agriculture mainly produces rice, palm oil, tea, coffee, cacao, medicinal plants, spices and rubber. Indonesias major trading partners are Japan, United States, China, the Indonesian archipelago has been an important region for trade since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Indonesia consists of hundreds of native ethnic and linguistic groups. The largest – and politically dominant – ethnic group are the Javanese, a shared identity has developed, defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesias national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, articulates the diversity that shapes the country, Indonesias economy is the worlds 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 8th largest by GDP at PPP, the largest in Southeast Asia, and is considered an emerging market and newly industrialised country. Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950, Indonesia is a member of the G20 major economies and World Trade Organization. The name Indonesia derives from the Greek name of the Indós, the name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, in the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. However, Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia, they preferred Malay Archipelago, the Netherlands East Indies, popularly Indië, the East, and Insulinde
Indonesia
–
A
Borobudur ship carved on
Borobudur, c. 800 CE. Indonesian outrigger boats may have made trade voyages to the east coast of Africa as early as the 1st century CE.
Indonesia
–
Flag
Indonesia
–
The
nutmeg plant is native to Indonesia's
Banda Islands.
Indonesia
–
Tan Malaka, Indonesian philosopher, guerilla, and national hero.
28.
Houston
–
Houston is the most populous city in the state of Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million within an area of 667 square miles, it also is the largest city in the southern United States and the seat of Harris County. Located in Southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, it is the city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land. Houston was founded on August 28,1836, near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5,1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded, the burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the citys population. Houstons economy has an industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics. Leading in health care sectors and building equipment, Houston has more Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits than any city except for New York City. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled, the city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has described as the most diverse in the United States. It is home to cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has a visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District. In August 1836, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, purchased 6,642 acres of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the general at the Battle of San Jacinto. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the slave states. Sizable numbers, however, came through the slave trade. New Orleans was the center of trade in the Deep South. Thousands of enslaved African Americans lived near the city before the Civil War, many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5,1837, with James S. Holman becoming its first mayor, in the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County and the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas
Houston
–
Clockwise from top: Sam Houston monument,
Downtown Houston,
Houston Ship Channel,
The Galleria,
University of Houston, and the
Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center.
Houston
–
Sam Houston
Houston
–
Houston, c. 1873
Houston
–
Union Station, Houston, Texas (postcard, c. 1911)
29.
Texas
–
Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
Texas
–
Sam Rayburn Reservoir
Texas
–
Flag
Texas
–
Texas Hill Country
Texas
–
Big Bend National Park.
30.
Kazakhstan
–
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in northern Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Kazakhstan is the worlds largest landlocked country, and the ninth largest in the world, Kazakhstan is the dominant nation of Central Asia economically, generating 60% of the regions GDP, primarily through its oil/gas industry. It also has vast mineral resources, Kazakhstan is officially a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage. Kazakhstan shares borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, the terrain of Kazakhstan includes flatlands, steppe, taiga, rock canyons, hills, deltas, snow-capped mountains, and deserts. Kazakhstan has an estimated 18 million people as of 2014, Given its large area, its population density is among the lowest. The capital is Astana, where it was moved in 1997 from Almaty, the territory of Kazakhstan has historically been inhabited by nomadic tribes. This changed in the 13th century, when Genghis Khan occupied the country as part of the Mongolian Empire, following internal struggles among the conquerors, power eventually reverted to the nomads. By the 16th century, the Kazakh emerged as a distinct group, the Russians began advancing into the Kazakh steppe in the 18th century, and by the mid-19th century, they nominally ruled all of Kazakhstan as part of the Russian Empire. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, and subsequent civil war, the territory of Kazakhstan was reorganised several times, in 1936, it was made the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan has worked to develop its economy, especially its dominant hydrocarbon industry. Kazakhstans 131 ethnicities include Kazakhs, Russians, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Germans, Tatars, the Kazakh language is the state language, and Russian has equal official status for all levels of administrative and institutional purposes. The name Kazakh comes from the ancient Turkic word qaz, to wander, the name Cossack is of the same origin. The Persian suffix -stan means land or place of, so Kazakhstan can be translated as land of the wanderers. Kazakhstan has been inhabited since the Neolithic Age, the regions climate, archaeologists believe that humans first domesticated the horse in the regions vast steppes. Central Asia was originally inhabited by the Scythians, the Cuman entered the steppes of modern-day Kazakhstan around the early 11th century, where they later joined with the Kipchak and established the vast Cuman-Kipchak confederation. Under the Mongol Empire, the largest in history, administrative districts were established. These eventually came under the rule of the emergent Kazakh Khanate, throughout this period, traditional nomadic life and a livestock-based economy continued to dominate the steppe. Nevertheless, the region was the focus of ever-increasing disputes between the native Kazakh emirs and the neighbouring Persian-speaking peoples to the south, at its height the Khanate would rule parts of Central Asia and control Cumania
Kazakhstan
–
Artistic depiction of medieval
Taraz situated along the Silk Road
Kazakhstan
–
Flag
Kazakhstan
–
Ablai Khan served as khan of the
Middle jüz from 1771 to 1781
Kazakhstan
–
Inside a Kazakh
yurt
31.
Omsk
–
Omsk is a city and the administrative center of Omsk Oblast, Russia, located in southwestern Siberia 2,236 kilometers from Moscow. With a population of 1,154,116, it is Russias second-largest city east of the Ural Mountains after Novosibirsk, during the Imperial era, Omsk was the seat of the Governor General of Western Siberia, and later of the Governor General of the Steppes. For a brief period during the Russian Civil War in 1918–1920, it served as the capital of the anti-Bolshevik Russian State, Omsk is the administrative center of the Siberian Cossack Host. It also serves as the see of the bishop of Omsk and Tara, Omsk stretches along the banks of the north-flowing Irtysh at its confluence with the smaller Om River. The city has an elevation of 87 meters above sea level at its highest point. Omsk is an important railroad hub, and is the point for the northern and southern branches of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The city also serves as a hub for the regional highway network. River-port facilities handle both passengers and freight, giving the city access to navigating the extensive waterways of the Irtysh and Ob River. The waterways connect Omsk with the coal and mineral-mining towns further up the river in Kazakhstan, as well as with the oil, natural gas and lumber operations of northern Siberia. Omsk is served by the Tsentralny Airport, which access to domestic and international destinations, making the city an important aviation hub for Siberia. In 1768 Om fortress was relocated, the original Tobolsk and the restored Tara gates, along with the original German Lutheran Church and several public buildings are left from that time. Omsk was granted town status in 1782, but as the frontier receded and its military importance diminished, the town fell into lethargy. For that time Omsk became a center of the Siberian exile. From 1850 to 1854 Fyodor Dostoyevsky served his sentence in an Omsk katorga prison and he related his impressions of the city in a 1854 letter to his brother Mikhail, Omsk is a hateful hole. There is hardly a tree here, in summer—heat and winds that bring sandstorms, in winter—snowstorms. I have scarcely seen anything of the country round, the place is dirty, almost exclusively inhabited by military, and dissolute to the last degree. If I hadn’t discovered some human beings here, I should have gone utterly to the dogs, development of the city was catalyzed with the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the 1890s that affected significance of Omsk as a logistic hub. Many trade companies established stores and offices in Omsk defining the character of the city center, british, Dutch, and German consulates were established roughly at the same time in order to represent their commercial interests
Omsk
–
Pushkin State Library
Omsk
–
Clockwise from top: The Omsk Theater of Drama, The Vrubel Museum of Fine Arts, Lenina Street on the City Day, Tarskiye Gates
Omsk
–
Leningrad bridge over the Irtysh
Omsk
–
Mikhail Vrubel Museum of Fine Arts
32.
Russia
–
Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
Russia
–
Kievan Rus' in the 11th century
Russia
–
Flag
Russia
–
The
Baptism of Kievans, by
Klavdy Lebedev
Russia
–
Sergius of Radonezh blessing
Dmitry Donskoy in
Trinity Sergius Lavra, before the
Battle of Kulikovo, depicted in a painting by
Ernst Lissner
33.
Belgium
–
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
Belgium
–
Charlemagne and
Charles V
Belgium
–
Flaga
Belgium
Belgium
–
Episode of the
Belgian Revolution of 1830 (1834), by
Egide Charles Gustave Wappers
34.
San Juan, Puerto Rico
–
San Juan is the capital and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States, San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricos capital is the second oldest European-established capital city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, today, San Juan is Puerto Ricos most important seaport, and is the islands manufacturing, financial, cultural, and tourism center. San Juan is also a city of the San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. In 1508, Juan Ponce de León founded the settlement which he called Caparra. In 1521, the settlement was given its formal name. On the other hand, the name for the island became the name for the city only after the occupation of the island by the United States. San Juan, as a settlement of the Spanish Empire, was used by merchant, because of its prominence in the Caribbean, a network of fortifications was built to protect the transports of gold and silver from the New World to Europe. Because of the cargoes, San Juan became a target of the foreign powers of the time. The city was witness to attacks from the English led by Sir Francis Drake in 1595 and by George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, artillery from San Juans fort, El Morro, repelled Drake, however, Clifford managed to land troops and lay siege to the city. After a few months of English occupation, Clifford was forced to abandon the siege when his troops began to suffer from exhaustion, in 1625 the city was sacked by Dutch forces led by Captain Balduino Enrico, but El Morro withstood the assault and was not taken. The Dutch were counterattacked by Captain Juan de Amezquita and 50 members of the militia on land. The land battle left 60 Dutch soldiers dead and Enrico with a wound to his neck which he received from the hands of Amezquita. The Dutch ships at sea were boarded by Puerto Ricans who defeated those aboard, after a long battle, the Spanish soldiers and volunteers of the citys militia were able to defend the city from the attack and save the island from an invasion. On October 21, Enrico set La Fortaleza and the city ablaze, captains Amezquita and Andre Botello decided to put a stop to the destruction and led 200 men in an attack against the enemys front and rear guard. They drove Enrico and his men from their trenches and into the ocean in their haste to reach their ships, the British attack in 1797, during the French Revolutionary Wars, led by Sir Ralph Abercromby. His army laid siege to the city but was forced to withdraw in defeat as the Puerto Rican defenses proved more resilient than those of Trinidad. The USS Yale captured a Spanish freighter, the Rita in San Juan Bay, on May 9, Yale fought a brief battle with an auxiliary cruiser of Spain, name unknown, resulting in a Spanish victory
San Juan, Puerto Rico
–
Ruins of Juan Ponce de León's residence at Caparra
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
–
La Plaza, San Juan, ca. 1900
San Juan, Puerto Rico
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Shanty town along the Martín Peña Canal, 1973
35.
Portugal
–
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
Portugal
–
Citânia de Briteiros, in the
Minho Province, is the best preserved
Iron Age and
Castro culture site in Portugal.
Portugal
–
Flag
Portugal
–
The
Roman Temple of Évora, in the
Alentejo, is a symbol of
Lusitania, Roman rule in Portugal.
Portugal
–
Monument in Porto to
Vimara Peres, first ruler of the County of Portugal
36.
Mindelo
–
Mindelo is a port city in the northern part of the island of São Vicente in Cape Verde. Mindelo is also the seat of the parish of Nossa Senhora da Luz, the city is home to 93% of the entire islands population. The town is known for its colourful and animated carnival celebrations, with roots in Portuguese traditions, a settlement at Mindelo was founded in 1795 by the Portuguese. It became a coal deposit for ships of the British East India Company in 1838, the town grew to 1,400 inhabitants in the 1850s. In 1884 a submarine cable was laid between Europe, Africa, India and North America, making Mindelo an important communications centre for the British Empire. The shift from coal to oil as fuel for ships after 1900 caused the decline of Mindelo, unemployment and poverty struck the island, even worsened by famines and the economical crisis of the 1930s. With independence, the city gained prominence and has seen steady growth. Mindelo was the capital of the Portuguese-speaking world from November 2002 until November 2003. Mindelo is also considered the capital of Cape Verde. Mindelo is situated at the Porto Grande Bay, a natural harbour. The town is surrounded by low mountains, the Monte Cara and the Morro Branco headland to the west, the town is crossed by the river Ribeira de Julião. The Cesária Évora Airport lies 9 km southwest of Mindelo, near the village São Pedro, ferries for Santo Antão leave from the port. The main streets of Mindelo are Rua Lisboa and Avenida Marginal, many colonial buildings have been preserved in the city centre. The average annual temperature in Mindelo is 23.2 °C which is two degrees more than in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. City is very dry with only 98 mm every year and these rare climate conditions are due to its position far off the west African coast and because Cape Verde are in the middle of cold Canary Current. Its economy consists mainly of business, fishing, shipping, boating, Mindelo has several hotels, restaurants and tourist agencies. Palácio do Governador has a colonial architecture. It was constructed with two floors and is well preserved and it used the building style that is represented from India
Mindelo
–
View from Monte Verde
Mindelo
–
Downtown Mindelo seen from 'Gud'
Mindelo
–
Harbor of Mindelo
Mindelo
–
Porto Grande
37.
Subordinate
–
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being above, below, or at the same level as one another. A hierarchy can link entities either directly or indirectly, and either vertically or diagonally, indirect hierarchical links can extend vertically upwards or downwards via multiple links in the same direction, following a path. This is akin to two co-workers or colleagues, each reports to a superior, but they have the same relative amount of authority. Organizational forms exist that are alternative and complementary to hierarchy. A hierarchy is a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority, Hierarchies have their own special vocabulary. Most hierarchies use a more specific vocabulary pertaining to their subject, for example, with data structures, objects are known as nodes, superiors are called parents and subordinates are called children. In a business setting, a superior is a supervisor/boss and a peer is a colleague, degree of branching refers to the number of direct subordinates or children an object has a node has). Hierarchies can be categorized based on the degree, the highest degree present in the system as a whole. Categorization in this way yields two broad classes, linear and branching, in a linear hierarchy, the maximum degree is 1. In other words, all of the objects can be visualized in a lineup, note that this is referring to the objects and not the levels, every hierarchy has this property with respect to levels, but normally each level can have an infinite number of objects. An example of a hierarchy is the hierarchy of life. In a branching hierarchy, one or more objects has a degree of 2 or more, for many people, the word hierarchy automatically evokes an image of a branching hierarchy. Branching hierarchies are present within numerous systems, including organizations and classification schemes, the broad category of branching hierarchies can be further subdivided based on the degree. A flat hierarchy is a hierarchy in which the maximum degree approaches infinity. Most often, systems intuitively regarded as hierarchical have at most a moderate span, therefore, a flat hierarchy is often not viewed as a hierarchy at all. For example, diamonds and graphite are flat hierarchies of numerous carbon atoms which can be decomposed into subatomic particles. An overlapping hierarchy is a hierarchy in which at least one object has two parent objects. Pseudo-Dionysius used the related Greek word both in reference to the hierarchy and the ecclesiastical hierarchy
Subordinate
–
Matryoshka dolls, also known as nesting dolls or Russian dolls. Each doll is encompassed inside another until the smallest one is reached. This is the concept of nesting. When the concept is applied to
sets, the resulting ordering is a nested hierarchy.
Subordinate
–
Hierarchy - people on a "ladder"
Subordinate
–
Career-oriented purposes can be diagrammed using a hierarchy describing how less important actions support a larger goal.
38.
Embassy
–
In practice, a diplomatic mission usually denotes the resident mission, namely the office of a countrys diplomatic representatives in the capital city of another country. As well as being a mission to the country in which it is situated. There are thus resident and non-resident embassies, a permanent diplomatic mission is typically known as an Embassy, and the head of the mission is known as an Ambassador, or High Commissioner. Therefore, the Embassy operates in the Chancery, European Union missions abroad are known as EU delegations. Some countries have more particular naming for their missions and staff, under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, Libyas missions used the name peoples bureau and the head of the mission was a secretary. Missions between Commonwealth countries are known as commissions and their heads are High Commissioners. This is because Ambassadors are exchanged between foreign countries, but since the beginning of the Commonwealth, member countries have maintained that they are not foreign to one another. An ambassador represents one head of state to another and a letters of credence are addressed by one head of state to another. Until India became a republic on 26 January 1950, all members of the Commonwealth had the head of state. In the past a diplomatic mission headed by an official was known as a legation. Since the ranks of envoy and minister resident are effectively obsolete, a consulate is similar to, but not the same as a diplomatic office, but with focus on dealing with individual persons and businesses, as defined by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. A consulate or consulate general is generally a representative of the embassy in locales outside of the capital city. For instance, the United Kingdom has its Embassy of the United Kingdom in Washington, D. C. but also maintains seven consulates-general, the person in charge of a consulate or consulate-general is known as a consul or consul-general, respectively. Similar services may also be provided at the embassy in what is called a consular section. In cases of dispute, it is common for a country to recall its head of mission as a sign of its displeasure, a chargé daffaires ad interim also heads the mission during the interim between the end of one chief of missions term and the beginning of another. Contrary to popular belief, most diplomatic missions do not enjoy full extraterritorial status, rather, the premises of diplomatic missions usually remain under the jurisdiction of the host state while being afforded special privileges by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Diplomats themselves still retain full diplomatic immunity, and the host country may not enter the premises of the mission without permission of the represented country, international rules designate an attack on an embassy as an attack on the country it represents. The term extraterritoriality is often applied to missions, but normally only in this broader sense
Embassy
–
Spanish Embassy to the Holy See and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Embassy
–
Indian Embassy, Prague
Embassy
–
Nordic Embassies, Berlin
Embassy
–
Embassy of the United States, Havana
39.
High Commissioner (Commonwealth)
–
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the mission is generally called a high commission. For example, when Cyprus came under British administration in 1878 it remained nominally under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, another example were the high commissioners for Palestine. As diplomatic residents were appointed to native rulers, high commissioners could likewise be appointed as British agents of indirect rule over native states. The first high commissioner of India to London was appointed in 1920, he had no political role, the first agent of the Indian government was appointed to South Africa in 1927. The high commissioner to New Zealand ex officio is the governor of the Pitcairn Islands, the first dominion high commissioner was appointed by Canada as its envoy in London. Macdonald, from 1869 to 1874 and then was given the title of Financial Commissioner from 1874 until 1880, the Canadian government appointed Alexander Tilloch Galt as the first high commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdom in 1880. New Zealand appointed a commissioner in 1905, in place of a resident agent-general which have been appointed since 1871. Australia did the same in 1910, and South Africa in 1911, the British government continued not to appoint high commissioners to the Dominions, holding that the British government was already represented by the relevant governor-general or governor. The practice became the norm throughout the Commonwealth, the first British high commissioner to a dominion was appointed in 1928 to Canada. South Africa received a British high commissioner in 1930, Australia in 1936, the first high-ranking official envoy from one dominion to another was appointed by South Africa to Canada in 1938. Yet, because of various complications, only in 1945 was South African envoy to Canada designated officially as high commissioner. New Zealand appointed a commissioner to Canada in 1942. As sixteen Commonwealth members, known as the Commonwealth realms, share the same monarch as head of state, in diplomatic usage, a high commissioner is considered equivalent in rank and role to an ambassador. The difference in accreditation is also reflected in the titles of envoys to foreign and Commonwealth states. For historical reasons, high commissioners are also appointed even in the case of republics in the Commonwealth, in this case, letters of commission are usually issued by one head of state and presented to the other. g. The British high commissioner in Suva, Fiji, is accredited as high commissioner to Kiribati, Tuvalu. Zimbabwe, as a Commonwealth country, traditionally had high commissioners in other Commonwealth countries, when it withdrew from the Commonwealth, it changed the style of its high commissions to embassies
High Commissioner (Commonwealth)
–
The
Tanzanian High Commission in
London. Tanzania and the United Kingdom are both members of the
Commonwealth of Nations.
40.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
–
Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
–
Flag
United States
–
The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
–
The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
41.
New York City
–
The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
New York City
–
Clockwise, from top:
Midtown Manhattan,
Times Square, the
Unisphere in
Queens, the
Brooklyn Bridge,
Lower Manhattan with
One World Trade Center,
Central Park, the
headquarters of the United Nations, and the
Statue of Liberty
New York City
–
New Amsterdam, centered in the eventual
Lower Manhattan, in 1664, the year
England took control and renamed it "New York".
New York City
–
The
Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the
American Revolution, took place in
Brooklyn in 1776.
New York City
–
Broadway follows the Native American Wickquasgeck Trail through Manhattan.
42.
United Nations
–
The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict, at its founding, the UN had 51 member states, there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, the UNs mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in actions in Korea and the Congo. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military, the UN has six principal organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Trusteeship Council. UN System agencies include the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNESCO, the UNs most prominent officer is the Secretary-General, an office held by Portuguese António Guterres since 2017. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UNs work, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UNs effectiveness have been mixed, some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased. Following the catastrophic loss of life in the First World War, the earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. It incorporated Soviet suggestions, but left no role for France, four Policemen was coined to refer to four major Allied countries, United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China, which emerged in the Declaration by United Nations. Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries, the term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom, by 1 March 1945,21 additional states had signed. Each Government pledges itself to cooperate with the Governments signatory hereto, the foregoing declaration may be adhered to by other nations which are, or which may be, rendering material assistance and contributions in the struggle for victory over Hitlerism. During the war, the United Nations became the term for the Allies. To join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis, at the later meetings, Lord Halifax deputized for Mr. Eden, Wellington Koo for T. V. Soong, and Mr Gromyko for Mr. Molotov. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, the General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, and the facility was completed in 1952. Its site—like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi—is designated as international territory, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary-General
United Nations
–
1943 sketch by Franklin Roosevelt of the United Nations' original three branches: The
Four Policemen, an executive branch, and an international assembly of forty UN member states.
United Nations
–
Flag
United Nations
–
The
Chilean delegation signing the
UN Charter in San Francisco, 1945
United Nations
–
Dag Hammarskjöld was a particularly active Secretary-General from 1953 until his death in 1961.
43.
Russian Federation
–
Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
Russian Federation
–
Kievan Rus' in the 11th century
Russian Federation
–
Flag
Russian Federation
–
The
Baptism of Kievans, by
Klavdy Lebedev
Russian Federation
–
Sergius of Radonezh blessing
Dmitry Donskoy in
Trinity Sergius Lavra, before the
Battle of Kulikovo, depicted in a painting by
Ernst Lissner
44.
Letters patent
–
Letters patent can be used for the creation of corporations or government offices, or for the granting of city status or a coat of arms. Letters patent are issued for the appointment of representatives of the Crown, such as governors and governors-general of Commonwealth realms, in the United Kingdom they are also issued for the creation of peers of the realm. A particular form of letters patent has evolved into the modern patent granting exclusive rights in an invention. e, the opposite of letters patent are letters close, which are personal in nature and sealed so that only the recipient can read their contents. Letters patent are thus comparable to other kinds of open letter in that their audience is wide, letters patent are so named from the Latin verb pateo, to lie open, exposed, accessible. The originators seal was attached pendent from the document, so that it did not have to be broken in order for the document to be read. Thus letters patent do not equate to a letter but rather to any form of document, deed, contract, letter, despatch, edict, decree. Letters patent are a form of open or public proclamation and an exercise of extra-parliamentary power by a monarch or president. Prior to the establishment of Parliament, the monarch ruled absolutely by the issuing of his written orders. They can thus be contrasted with the Act of Parliament, which is in effect an order by Parliament. No explicit government approval is contained within letters patent, only the seal or signature of the monarch, in their original form they were simply written instructions or orders from the sovereign, whose order was law, which were made public to reinforce their effect. According to the United Kingdom Ministry of Justice, there are 92 different types of letters patent. The Patent Rolls are made up of copies of English royal letters patent. In 1634, during the Thirty Years War, the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II became convinced that his general Albrecht von Wallenstein was plotting treason, on 24 January 1634 the Emperor signed a secret patent removing him from his command. Finally an open patent, charging Wallenstein with high treason, was signed on 18 February, in the patent, Ferdinand II ordered to have Wallenstein brought under arrest to Vienna, dead or alive. On the basis of patent, several of Wallensteins officers assassinated him and were rewarded by the Emperor. The form of patent for creating peerages has been fixed by the Crown Office Order 1992. Part III of the schedule lays down nine pro forma texts for creating various ranks of the peerage, lords of appeal in ordinary, gender-specific differences are highlighted in italics. In Commonwealth realms, letters patent are issued under the powers of the head of state
Letters patent
–
Letters patent issued by
Queen Victoria in 1900, creating the office of
Governor-General of Australia as part of the process of
Federation
Letters patent
–
Letters patent issued by the United States
General Land Office
45.
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
–
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 is an international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations between independent countries. It specifies the privileges of a mission that enable diplomats to perform their function without fear of coercion or harassment by the host country. This forms the basis for diplomatic immunity. Its articles are considered a cornerstone of international relations. As of February 2017, it has been ratified by 191 states, throughout the history of sovereign states, diplomats have enjoyed a special status. Their function to negotiate agreements between states demands certain special privileges, the first attempt to codify diplomatic immunity into diplomatic law occurred with the Congress of Vienna in 1815. This was followed later by the Convention regarding Diplomatic Officers. The present treaty on the treatment of diplomats was the outcome of a draft by the International Law Commission. The treaty was adopted on 18 April 1961, by the United Nations Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities held in Vienna, Austria, two years later, the United Nations adopted a closely related treaty, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The treaty is a document, containing 53 articles. The following is an overview of its key provisions. The host nation at any time and for any reason can declare a member of the diplomatic staff to be persona non grata. The sending state must recall this person within a period of time. The premises of a mission, such as an embassy, are inviolable. Furthermore, the host country must protect the mission from intrusion or damage, the host country must never search the premises, nor seize its documents or property. Article 30 extends this provision to the residence of the diplomats. Article 24 establishes that the archives and documents of a mission are inviolable. The receiving country shall not seize or open such documents, the host country must permit and protect free communication between the diplomats of the mission and their home country
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
–
Parties
46.
Passport
–
A passport is a travel document, usually issued by a countrys government, that certifies the identity and nationality of its holder for the purpose of international travel. Standard passports may contain information such as the name, place and date of birth, photograph, signature. Passports are moving towards including biometric information in a microchip embedded in the document, making them machine-readable, as of 5 April 2017,96 countries emit biometric passports. A passport holder is entitled to enter the country that issued the passport. Some passports attest to status as a diplomat or other official, entitled to rights, many countries normally allow entry to holders of passports of other countries, sometimes requiring a visa also to be held, but this is not an automatic right. Many other additional conditions, such as not being likely to become a charge for financial or other reasons. Some countries and international organisations issue travel documents which are not standard passports, one of the earliest known references to paperwork that served in a role similar to that of a passport is found in the Hebrew Bible. In the medieval Islamic Caliphate, a form of passport was the baraa, only people who paid their zakah or jizya taxes were permitted to travel to different regions of the Caliphate, thus, the baraa receipt was a travelers basic passport. Etymological sources show that the passport is from a medieval document that was required in order to pass through the gate of a city wall or to pass through a territory. In medieval Europe, such documents were issued to travelers by local authorities, on the whole, documents were not required for travel to sea ports, which were considered open trading points, but documents were required to travel inland from sea ports. King Henry V of England is credited with having invented what some consider the first true passport, the earliest reference to these documents is found in a 1414 Act of Parliament. In 1540, granting travel documents in England became a role of the Privy Council of England, in 1794, issuing British passports became the job of the Office of the Secretary of State. The 1548 Imperial Diet of Augsburg required the public to hold imperial documents for travel, the speed of trains, as well as the number of passengers that crossed multiple borders, made enforcement of passport laws difficult. The general reaction was the relaxation of passport requirements, consequently, comparatively few people held passports. During World War I, European governments introduced border passport requirements for security reasons and these controls remained in place after the war, becoming a standard, though controversial, procedure. British tourists of the 1920s complained, especially about attached photographs and physical descriptions, in 1920, the League of Nations held a conference on passports, the Paris Conference on Passports & Customs Formalities and Through Tickets. Passport guidelines and a general booklet design resulted from the conference, while the United Nations held a travel conference in 1963, no passport guidelines resulted from it. Passport standardization came about in 1980, under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO standards include those for machine-readable passports
Passport
–
First
Japanese passport, issued in 1866.
Passport
–
Chinese passport from the
Qing Dynasty, 24th Year of the Guangxu Reign - 1898.
Passport
–
An
Ottoman passport (passavant) issued to
Russian subject dated July 24th, 1900.
Passport
–
An
Indian Diplomatic Passport and an Official Passport. These passports serve supplementary functions to an ordinary Indian passport. Each passport type has a different color.
47.
Visa (document)
–
A visa is a conditional authorization granted by a country to a foreigner, allowing them to enter and temporarily remain within, or to leave that country. Visas are associated with the request for permission to enter a country and thus are, in countries, distinct from actual formal permission for an alien to enter. In each instance, a visa is subject to permission by an immigration official at the time of actual entry. A visa is most commonly a sticker endorsed in the applicants passport or other travel document, some countries do not require visas for short visits. Some countries require that their citizens, as well as foreign travelers, uniquely, the Norwegian special territory of Svalbard is an entirely visa-free zone under the terms of the Svalbard Treaty. Some countries – such as those in the Schengen Area – have agreements with other countries allowing each others citizens to travel between them without visas, the World Tourism Organization announced that the number of tourists who require a visa before traveling was at its lowest level ever in 2015. Some countries do not require a visa in some situations, such as a result of reciprocal treaty arrangements, the possession of a visa is not in itself a guarantee of entry into the country that issued it, and a visa can be revoked at any time. A visitor may also be required to undergo and pass security or health checks upon arrival at the border, in Western Europe in the late 19th century and early 20th century, passports and visas were not generally necessary for moving from one country to another. The relatively high speed and large movements of people traveling by train would have caused bottlenecks if regular passport controls had been used, passports and visas became usually necessary travel documents only since World War I. Long before that, in ancient times, passports and visas were usually the type of travel documents. In the modern world, visas have become separate secondary travel documents and these agencies are authorized by the foreign authority, embassy, or consulate to represent international travelers who are unable or unwilling to travel to the embassy and apply in person. Private visa and passport services collect a fee for verifying customer applications, supporting documents. If there is no embassy or consulate in ones home country, alternatively, in such cases visas may be pre-arranged for pickup on arrival at the border. The issuing authority, usually a branch of the foreign ministry or department. Some countries ask for proof of status, especially for long-term visas, some countries deny such visas to persons with certain illnesses. The exact conditions depend on the country and category of visa, notable examples of countries requiring HIV tests of long-term residents are Russia and Uzbekistan. However, in Uzbekistan, the HIV test requirement is not strictly enforced. Other countries require a medical test which includes an HIV test even for short term tourism visa, for instance Cuban citizens and international exchange students require such a test approved by a medical authority to enter Chilean territory
Visa (document)
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A
United States visa. Issued by the Consulate General of the United States of America in
Milan,
Italy. (2014)
Visa (document)
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Exit USSR visa of type 1 (for temporary visits outside the Soviet Union). Not to be confused with exit visa of type 2 (green), which was stamped to those who received the permission to exit the USSR forever and lost Soviet citizenship.
Visa (document)
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Exit USSR visa of type 2. For those who received permission to leave the USSR forever and lost Soviet citizenship.
Visa (document)
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Russian empire visa stamp (1917).
48.
Intelligence (information gathering)
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Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership in order to inform decision making. Assessment may be carried out on behalf of a state, military or commercial organisation with a range of sources of information available to each. An intelligence assessment reviews both available information and previous assessments for relevance and currency, where additional information is required, some collection may be directed by the analyst. Intelligence studies is the field concerned with intelligence assessment, especially relating to international relations. Intelligence assessment is based on a requirement or need, which may be a standing requirement or tailored to a specific circumstance or a Request for Information. The requirement is passed to the agency and worked through the intelligence cycle. The RFI may indicate in what format the requester prefers to consume the product, the RFI is reviewed by a Requirements Manager, who will then direct appropriate tasks to respond to the request. This will involve a review of existing material, the tasking of new product or the collection of new information to inform an analysis. New information may be collected through one or more of the various disciplines, human source, electronic and communications intercept. The nature of the RFI and the placed on it may indicate that some collection types are unsuitable due to the time taken to collect or validate the information gathered. Intelligence gathering disciplines and the sources and methods used are highly classified and compartmentalised. The analyst uses multiple sources to mutually corroborate, or exclude, where sufficient current information already exists, the analysis may be tasked directly without reference to further collection. The analysis will be written to a classification level with alternative versions potentially available at a number of classification levels for further dissemination. The subject for action, or target, is identified and efforts are made to find the target for further development. This activity will identify where intervention against the target will have the most beneficial effects, during the finish stage, the intervention is executed, potentially an arrest or detention or the placement of other collection methods. Following the intervention, exploitation of the target is carried out, the output from the exploit stage will also be passed into other intelligence assessment activities. Intelligence cycle List of intelligence gathering disciplines Military intelligence Surveillance Futures studies Surveys Andrew, Secret Intelligence in the Twentieth Century essays by scholars Dulles, Allen W. Lee and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, eds. Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security,1100 pages,850 articles, strongest on technology Odom, Gen. William E. Fixing Intelligence, For a More Secure America, Second Edition OToole, George
Intelligence (information gathering)
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The Intelligence Cycle
Intelligence (information gathering)
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Target-centric intelligence cycle
49.
Diplomatic immunity
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Many principles of diplomatic immunity are now considered to be customary law. Diplomatic immunity as an institution developed to allow for the maintenance of government relations, including during periods of difficulties, an international agreement known as the Vienna Conventions codified the rules and agreements, providing standards and privileges to all states. However, many refuse to waive immunity as a matter of course. Alternatively, the country may prosecute the individual. If immunity is waived by a government so that a diplomat can be prosecuted, it must be there is a case to answer. For instance, in 2002, a Colombian diplomat in London was prosecuted for manslaughter, the concept of diplomatic immunity can be found in ancient Indian epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata, where messengers and diplomats were given immunity from capital punishment. During the evolution of justice, many wars were considered rebellions or unlawful by one or more combatant sides. In such cases, the servants of the sovereign were often considered accomplices. In other circumstances, harbingers of inconsiderable demands were killed as a declaration of war, however, even for Herodotus, this maltreatment of envoys is a crime, and he immediately recounts a story of divine vengeance befalling Sparta for this deed. A Roman envoy was urinated on as he was leaving the city of Tarentum, the oath of the envoy, This stain will be washed away with blood. Was fulfilled during the Second Punic War, the arrest and ill-treatment of the envoy of Raja Raja Chola by the king of Kulasekhara dynasty, which is now part of modern India, led to the naval Kandalur War in AD994. Pope Gelasius I was the first pope recorded as enjoying diplomatic immunity, genghis Khan and the Mongols were well known for strongly insisting on the rights of diplomats, and they would often take terrifying vengeance against any state that violated these rights. The Mongols would often raze entire cities in retaliation for the execution of their ambassadors, modern diplomatic immunity evolved parallel to the development of modern diplomacy. In the 17th century, European diplomats realized that protection from prosecution was essential to doing their jobs, and these were still confined to Western Europe and were closely tied to the prerogatives of nobility. Thus, an emissary to the Ottoman Empire could expect to be arrested and imprisoned upon the outbreak of hostilities between his state and the empire, the French Revolution also disrupted this system, as the revolutionary state and Napoleon imprisoned numerous diplomats who were accused of working against France. More recently, the Iran hostage crisis is considered a violation of diplomatic immunity. Although the hostage takers did not officially represent the state, host countries are obligated to protect diplomatic property, on the other hand, during World War II, diplomatic immunity was upheld and the embassies of the belligerents were evacuated through neutral countries. For the upper class of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the first embassies were not permanent establishments but actual visits by high-ranking representatives, often close relatives, of the sovereign or the sovereign in person
Diplomatic immunity
–
Krishna, an avatar of
Vishnu,
mediating for peace to avert the
Kurukshetra War of
Mahabharata
50.
Expatriate
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An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of their citizenship. In common usage, the term refers to professionals or skilled workers sent abroad by their companies. However, it can refer to retirees and others who have chosen to live outside their native country. Historically, it has referred to exiles. The word expatriate comes from the Latin terms ex and patria, dictionary definitions for the current meaning of the word include, Expatriate, A person who lives outside their native country, or living in a foreign land. The varying use of terms for different groups of foreigners can thus be seen as implying nuances about wealth, intended length of stay, perceived motives for moving, nationality. An older usage of the word expatriate was to refer to an exile, as far back as antiquity, people have gone to live in foreign countries, whether as diplomats, merchants or missionaries. The numbers of such travellers grew markedly after the 15th century with the dawn of the European colonial period, in the 19th century, travel became easier by way of steamship or train. People could more readily choose to live for years in a foreign country. After World War II, decolonisation accelerated, however, lifestyles which had developed among European colonials continued to some degree in expatriate communities. Remnants of the old British Empire, for example, can still be seen in the form of gated communities staffed by domestic workers, social clubs which have survived include the Hash House Harriers and the Royal Selangor. Homesick palates are catered for by specialist food shops, and drinkers can still order a gin and tonic, although pith helmets are mostly confined to military ceremonies, civilians still wear white dinner jackets or even Red Sea rig on occasion. The use of curry powder has long since spread to the metropole, from the 1950s, scheduled flights on jet airliners further increased the speed of international travel. This enabled a hypermobility which led to the jet set, and eventually to global nomads, since the 1990s, the rise of the Internet has allowed some types of worker to become digital nomads. Websites aimed at expatriates began to appear about the same time, the number of expatriates in the world is difficult to determine. In 2013, the United Nations estimated that 232 million people, or 3.2 per cent of the world population, in 2007, only 20 per cent of Dubais population were citizens. Singapore, where 40 per cent of the inhabitants were foreign-born workers, many multinational corporations send employees to foreign countries to work in branch offices or subsidiaries. Expatriate employees allow a parent company to more closely control its foreign subsidiaries and they can also improve global coordination
Expatriate
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Expatriate French voters queue in
Lausanne, Switzerland for the first round of the
presidential election of 2007
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Consul (commercial)". Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 20–22.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "
