1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Cantons of Switzerland
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The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte, with the Napoleonic period of the Helvetic Republic the term canton/cantone/Kanton was fully established. From 1833, there were 25 cantons, which became 26 after the secession of the canton of Jura from Bern in 1979. The term canton, now used as English term for administrative subdivisions of other countries, originates in French usage in the late 15th century, from a word for edge. After 1490, canton was increasingly used in French and Italian documents to refer to the members of the Swiss Confederacy, English use of canton in reference to the Swiss Confederacy dates to the early 17th century. It was increasingly replaced by Stand after 1550, the French term canton was not adopted into German usage prior to 1648, and after that only in occasional use. The prominent usage of Ort and Stand only gradually disappeared in German-speaking Switzerland with the Helvetic Republic, only with the Act of Mediation of 1803 did German Kanton become an official designation, retained in the Swiss Constitution of 1848. The term Stand remains in usage and is reflected in the name of the upper chamber of the Swiss Parliament. Republic Some cantonal constitutions provide for a formal name of the state. Most of Romandys cantons and Ticino call themselves république/Repubblica officially, at least within their constitutions, for example, the canton of Geneva refers to itself formally as the République et canton de Genève. Though they were part of the Holy Roman Empire, they had become de facto independent when the Swiss defeated Emperor Maximillian in 1499 in Dornach. The old system was abandoned with the formation of the Helvetic Republic following the French invasion of Switzerland in 1798, the cantons of the Helvetic Republic had merely the status of an administrative subdivision with no sovereignty. The Helvetic Republic collapsed within five years, and cantonal sovereignty was restored with the Act of Mediation of 1803, the status of Switzerland as a federation of states was restored, at the time including 19 cantons. Three additional western cantons, Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva, acceded in 1815, the process of Restoration, completed by 1830, returned most of the former feudal rights to the cantonal patriciates, leading to rebellions among the rural population. The Liberal Radical Party embodied these democratic forces calling for a new federal constitution and this tension, paired with religious issues escalated into armed conflict in the 1840s, with the brief Sonderbund War. The victory of the party resulted in the formation of Switzerland as a federal state in 1848. The cantons retained far-reaching sovereignty, but were no longer allowed to maintain standing armies or international relations. Each canton has its own constitution, legislature, government and courts, most of the cantons legislatures are unicameral parliaments, their size varying between 58 and 200 seats
3.
Canton of Geneva
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The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French-speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland, surrounded on almost all sides by France. As is the case in several other Swiss cantons, this canton is referred to as a republic within the Swiss Confederation, the canton of Geneva is located in the southwestern corner of Switzerland, and is considered one of the most cosmopolitan areas of the country. As a center of the Calvinist Reformation, the city of Geneva has had a influence on the canton. The Republic of Geneva was proclaimed in 1541, under John Calvin, the Republic of Geneva reinforced its alliance to the Protestant cantons of the Swiss Confederacy, becoming an everlasting ally in 1584. The French Revolution reached Geneva in 1792, and in February 1794, after the death of Robespierre in July of the same year, there was a counter-revolution, which gained the upper hand by 1796. This prompted the French invasion of 1798, and the annexation of Geneva as part of the French département du Léman, Geneva finally joined the Swiss Confederation in 1815 as the 22nd canton, having been enlarged by French and Savoyard territories at the Vienna Congress. The area of the canton of Geneva is 282 square kilometers, the canton is surrounded on almost all sides by France and bordered by the Swiss canton of Vaud on northeast. The adjoining French départements are Ain and Haute-Savoie, the current boundaries of the canton were established in 1815. There are 45 municipalities in the canton, Geneva does not have any administrative districts. There are 10 cities with a population of over 10,000 as of 2007, Genève, Vernier, Lancy, Meyrin, Carouge, Onex, Thônex, Versoix, Grand-Saconnex, Chêne-Bougeries. The constitution of the canton was established in 1847, and has, the cantonal government has seven members who are elected for four years. The legislature, the Grand Council, has 100 seats, with deputies elected for four years at a time, the last elecation was held on 7 October 2013. In a similar way to what happens at the Federal level, in addition, any law can be subject to a referendum if it is demanded by 7,000 persons entitled to vote, and 10,000 persons may also propose a new law. The republique and canton of Geneva has 11 seats in the National Council, on 18 October 2015, in the federal election the most popular party was the The Liberals which received three seats with 20. 5% of the votes. In the federal election, a total of 106,852 votes were cast, and she is part of the Council of States since 2007. Councilor Robert Cramer, member of the Green Party, was re-elected in the round with a majority of 42,075 votes. He is part of the Council of States since 2007, ^a FDP before 2009, FDP. The Liberals after 2009 ^b * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton. ^c Part of the FDP for this election ^d Part of the SD for this election The population of the canton is 484,736, as of 2013, the population included 194,623 foreigners from 187 different nations, or about 40. 1% of the total population
4.
Districts of Switzerland
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In contrast to centrally organised states, in the federally constituted Switzerland each canton is completely free to decide its own internal organisation. Therefore, there exists a variety of structures and terminology for the subnational entities between canton and municipality, loosely termed districts, most cantons are divided into Bezirke. They are also termed Ämter, Amtsbezirke, district or distretto, the Bezirke generally provide only administration and court organization. However, for historical reasons districts in cantons Graubünden and Schwyz are their own legal entities with jurisdiction over tax, seven of the 26 cantons – Uri, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Glarus, Zug, Basel-City and Geneva – have always existed without the district level of government. An eighth one, Appenzell Innerrhoden, uses no intermediate level either, bern in 2006 decided a reduction of its 26 districts to five administrative regions. Vaud decided a reduction from 19 to 10 districts, valais is planning a similar reduction and in Thurgau, a reduction of eight to four districts is under discussion. From 2005, districts only have a statistical meaning, the districts are functionally equivalent to municipalities elsewhere in Switzerland, and are generally shown as municipalities on maps etc. The Canton is divided into 6 districts, Appenzell Gonten Oberegg Rüte Schlatt-Haslen Schwende Municipalities of Switzerland
5.
Avully
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Avully is a municipality in the canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Avully is first mentioned in 1220 as Avulie, Avully has an area, as of 2009, of 4.61 square kilometers. Of this area,2.96 km2 or 64. 2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.69 km2 or 15. 0% is forested. Of the rest of the land,0.68 km2 or 14. 8% is settled,0.29 km2 or 6. 3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km2 or 0. 4% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 7. 8%, while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2. 0%. Out of the land,11. 5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3. 5% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land,42. 7% is used for growing crops and 15. 4% is pastures, all the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is located in the Champagne region and it consists of the settlements of Avully-Village, Epeisses, Eaumorte and Gennecy. The municipality of Avully consists of the sub-sections or villages of La Touvière, Avully - Eaumorte, Avully - village, Avully - Gennecy, Avully has a population of 1,771. As of 2008,18. 0% of the population are resident foreign nationals, over the last 10 years the population has changed at a rate of 1. 3%. It has changed at a rate of -9. 7% due to migration, most of the population speaks French, with English being second most common and German being third. There is 1 person who speaks Romansh, as of 2008, the gender distribution of the population was 49. 4% male and 50. 6% female. The population was made up of 701 Swiss men and 174 non-Swiss men, There were 748 Swiss women and 149 non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 400 or about 23. 0% were born in Avully and lived there in 2000. There were 602 or 34. 7% who were born in the canton, while 274 or 15. 8% were born somewhere else in Switzerland. In 2008 there were 23 live births to Swiss citizens and 1 birth to non-Swiss citizens, ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 17 while the foreign population remained the same. There were 15 Swiss men and 14 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland, at the same time, there were 4 non-Swiss men and 6 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 was a decrease of 16 and this represents a population growth rate of 0. 2%
6.
Russin
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Russin is a municipality in the canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Russin is first mentioned around 1100 as Russino und Rucins, in 1217 it was mentioned as Russins. Russin has an area, as of 2009, of 4.91 square kilometers, of this area,2.63 km2 or 53. 6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.04 km2 or 21. 2% is forested. Of the rest of the land,0.67 km2 or 13. 6% is settled,0.42 km2 or 8. 6% is either rivers or lakes and 0.19 km2 or 3. 9% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 2. 4%, of the agricultural land,24. 6% is used for growing crops and 6. 1% is pastures, while 22. 8% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality,1. 2% is in lakes and 7. 3% is in rivers, the municipality is located on the right bank of the Rhone river. It consists of the village of Russin and the hamlets of Verbois, La Chaumaz, the municipality of Russin consists of the sub-sections or villages of Molards, Russin - plateau, Verbois, Teppes-du-Biolay and Russin - village. Russin has a population of 540, as of 2008,23. 8% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has changed at a rate of 16. 6% and it has changed at a rate of 14. 3% due to migration and at a rate of 6% due to births and deaths. Most of the population speaks French, with German being second most common, There are 4 people who speak Italian. As of 2008, the distribution of the population was 51. 4% male and 48. 6% female. The population was made up of 182 Swiss men and 59 non-Swiss men, There were 165 Swiss women and 63 non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 105 or about 26. 8% were born in Russin and lived there in 2000. There were 123 or 31. 4% who were born in the canton, while 52 or 13. 3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland. In 2008 there were 4 live births to Swiss citizens and 3 births to non-Swiss citizens, ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 4 while the foreign population increased by 3. There were 4 Swiss men and 1 Swiss woman who emigrated from Switzerland, at the same time, there was 1 non-Swiss man and 5 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 was an increase of 1 and this represents a population growth rate of 1. 8%. The age distribution of the population is children and teenagers make up 25. 5% of the population, while adults make up 62. 2%, as of 2000, there were 160 people who were single and never married in the municipality
7.
Satigny
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Satigny is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It is the largest wine-producing municipality in Switzerland, Satigny is first mentioned in 91 as villam Satiniatis, though this comes from a 12th Century copy of the earlier document. In around 1128 it was mentioned as de Satiniaco and in 1280 as Satignie, Satigny has an area, as of 2009, of 18.92 square kilometers. Of this area,11.25 km2 or 59. 5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 3.51 km2 or 18. 6% is forested. Of the rest of the land,3.68 km2 or 19. 5% is settled,0.44 km2 or 2. 3% is either rivers or lakes and 0.03 km2 or 0. 2% is unproductive land. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 6. 8% of the area while housing and buildings made up 5. 1%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other developed areas made up 2. 0% of the area while parks. Out of the land,16. 9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1. 7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land,29. 6% is used for growing crops and 3. 7% is pastures, all the water in the municipality is flowing water. It consists of the villages of Satigny, Bourdigny, Choully, Peissy, Peney, Château des Bois, Satigny has a population of 4,107. As of 2008,25. 1% of the population are resident foreign nationals, over the last 10 years the population has changed at a rate of 21. 6%. It has changed at a rate of 21. 6% due to migration, most of the population speaks French, with German being second most common and English being third. There are 62 people who speak Italian and 2 people who speak Romansh, as of 2008, the gender distribution of the population was 51. 5% male and 48. 5% female. The population was made up of 1,338 Swiss men and 565 non-Swiss men, There were 1,372 Swiss women and 423 non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 599 or about 21. 5% were born in Satigny and lived there in 2000. There were 781 or 28. 0% who were born in the canton, while 463 or 16. 6% were born somewhere else in Switzerland. In 2008 there were 23 live births to Swiss citizens and 6 births to non-Swiss citizens, ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 11 while the foreign population decreased by 4. There were 3 Swiss men who immigrated back to Switzerland and 8 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland, at the same time, there were 43 non-Swiss men and 22 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland
8.
Municipalities of Switzerland
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Municipalities are the lowest level of administrative division in Switzerland. Each municipality is part of one of the Swiss cantons, which form the Swiss Confederation, in most cantons municipalities are also part of districts or other sub-cantonal administrative divisions. There are 2,294 municipalities as of January 2016 and their populations range between several hundred thousand, and a few dozen people, and their territory between 0.32 km² and 439 km². The beginnings of the municipality system date back to the Helvetic Republic. Under the Old Swiss Confederacy, citizenship was granted by each town and these citizens enjoyed access to community property and in some cases additional protection under the law. Additionally, the towns and the rural villages had differing rights. The creation of a uniform Swiss citizenship, which applied equally for citizens of the old towns and their tenants and servants, led to conflict. The wealthier villagers and urban citizens held rights to forests, common land and other municipal property which they did not want to share with the new citizens, the compromise solution, which was written into the municipal laws of the Helvetic Republic, is still valid today. Two politically separate but often geographically similar organizations were created, the first, the so-called municipality, was a political community formed by election and its voting body consists of all resident citizens. However, the community land and property remained with the local citizens who were gathered together into the Bürgergemeinde. During the Mediation era, and especially during the Restoration era, many political municipalities were abolished and limits were placed on the exercise of political rights for everyone except the members of the Bürgergemeinde. In the Regeneration era, the revolutions of the common people helped to restore some rights again in a few cantons. In other cantons, the Bürgergemeinden were able to power as political communities. In the city of Zurich it wasnt until the Municipal Act of 1866 that the municipality came back into existence. The relationship between the municipality and the Bürgergemeinde was often dominated by the latters ownership of community property. Often the administration and profit from the property were held by the Bürgergemeinden, leaving the political municipality dependent on the Bürgergemeinde for money. It wasnt until the municipality acquired rights over property that served the public and taxes. For example, in the city of Bern, it wasnt until after the property division of 1852 that the municipality had the right to levy taxes
9.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
10.
Hamlet (place)
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A hamlet is a small human settlement. The word and concept of a hamlet have roots in the Anglo-Norman settlement of England, in English geography, a hamlet is considered smaller than a village and distinctly without a church. The word comes from Anglo-Norman hamelete, corresponding to Old French hamelet and this, in turn, is a diminutive of Old French ham, possibly borrowed from Franconian languages. Compare with modern French Hameau, Dutch heem, German Heim, Old English hām, in Australia a hamlet is a small village. Officially, a hamlet differs from a village in having no commercial premises, in Bangladesh, Hamlet is known as Para or Paara. A village is divided by more than one Para and that is the smallest partition of a place in Bangladesh. Each para contains some families, or a group of families, in Canadas three territories, hamlets are officially designated municipalities. Canadas two largest hamlets – Fort McMurray and Sherwood Park – are located in Alberta and they each have populations, within their main urban area, in excess of 60, 000—well in excess of the 10, 000-person threshold that can choose to incorporate as a city in Alberta. As such, these two hamlets have been designated by the Province of Alberta as urban service areas. An urban service area is recognized as equivalent to a city for the purposes of provincial and federal program delivery, during the 18th century, for rich or noble people, it was up-to-date to create their own hameau in their gardens. They were a group of houses or farms with rustic appearance. The best known in the Hameau de la Reine built by the queen Marie-Antoinette in the park of the Château de Versailles, or the Hameau de Chantilly built by Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé in Chantilly, Oise. Lieu-dit is another name for hamlet, the difference is that a hamlet is permanently inhabited, but a lieu-dit is not. In Germany hamlets are called Weiler and they are often part of bigger villages and municipalities. Most German hamlets are situated in Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse, in the low Saxon dialect of northwestern Germany hamlets are called Bauerschaft. In different states of India, there are different words for hamlet, in Gujarat a hamlet is called a nesada, which are more prevalent in the Gir forest. In Maharashtra its called a paadaa, in southern Bihar, especially in the Magadh division, a hamlet is called a bigha. All over Indonesia, hamlets are translated as small village, or kampung and they are known as dusun in Central Java and East Java, banjar in Bali, jorong or kampuang in West Sumatra
11.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
12.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
13.
Population growth
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In biology, population growth is the increase in the number of individuals in a population. Global human population growth amounts to around 75 million annually, or 1. 1% per year, the global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 7 billion in 2012. It is expected to keep growing, and estimates have put the population at 8.4 billion by mid-2030. Many nations with rapid growth have low standards of living. The growth of the started in the Western world during industrialization by the end of the 18th century. The reasons for the Modern Rise of Population were particularly investigated by the British health scientist Thomas McKeown, although the McKeown thesis has been heavily disputed, recent studies have confirmed the value of his ideas. His work is pivotal for present day thinking about population growth, birth control, public health, McKeown had a major influence on many population researchers, such as health economists and Noble prize winners Robert W. Fogel and Angus Deaton. The latter considered McKeown as the founder of social medicine, the population growth rate is the rate at which the number of individuals in a population increases in a given time period, expressed as a fraction of the initial population. A related measure is the net reproduction rate, most populations do not grow exponentially, rather they follow a logistic model. The Analytic Logistic Solution This is a differential equation that can be derived through integration. The analytic solution is useful in analyzing the behavior of population models, the equation is separable and to find the solution we integrate. ∫ d P P = ∫ k ⋅ d t Working on just the left side of the equation, the fraction in the denominator is eliminated by multiplying the variable K, and then the fraction is split in 2. 1 P ⋅ K K = K P K P =1 P +1 K − P The partial fraction is then integrated more easily. This is the equation that remains, | K − P P | = e − k t − C Get rid of the absolute value, in 2009, the estimated annual growth rate was 1. 1%. The CIA World Factbook gives the world annual birthrate, mortality rate, and growth rate as 1. 86%,0. 78%, and 1. 08% respectively. The annual increase in the number of living humans peaked at 88.0 million in 1989, then declined to 73.9 million in 2003. In 2009, the population increased by 74.6 million. In some countries the population is declining, especially in Eastern Europe, mainly due to low fertility rates, high death rates, in Southern Africa, growth is slowing due to the high number of AIDS-related deaths
14.
Dardagny Castle
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Dardagny Castle is a castle in the municipality of Dardagny in the Canton of Geneva in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance, during the 13th Century Dardagny Castle, along with Bruel, La Corbière and Malval, formed a ring of castles, which secured the western boundary of the lands of the Bishop of Geneva. In 1298 there were two castles, which were separated by a small road, each one belonged to one of the two noble families in Dardagny. In the 14th Century, the building was over two stories high and had a tower. In 1646, the Favre family inherited, both feudal domains in the village, daniel Favre joined the two castles in 1655 through a gallery. He also built three towers and expanded the entire building, in 1721 Dardagny Castle went to Jean Vasserot who had the courtyard roofed over and converted into a feast hall which was decorated with Italian paintings. In 1740 staircase was built in the central tower and the received its present appearance. It was purchased in 1904 by the municipality and they restored it in 1926 and 1932, after initially considering demolishing the building. Since then, the building has housed local government and a school, list of castles and fortresses in Switzerland
15.
Swiss federal election, 2011
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Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 23 October 2011. All of the Federal Assembly were to be elected, all 200 seats in the National Council, voter turnout was 49. 1%, compared to 48. 9% in 2007. At the last election, in 2007, the Swiss Peoples Party won the highest share of the vote ever recorded for a party in Switzerland. Soon after, a faction split from the SVP, forming the Conservative Democratic Party. In the 2011 election, the two neophyte parties BDP and Green Liberal Party were successful, each receiving 5. 4% of the popular vote. Both the GLP and the BDP have gained the five seats to form their own parliamentary groups. All other major parties lost votes, the Swiss Peoples Party for the first time since the 1987 elections. With 26. 6% of the vote, the SVP is still the strongest party by a comfortable margin. Of the small parties, the Evangelical Peoples Party received 2. 0% of the vote, the Ticino League received 0. 8% of the vote and gains one seat, now holding two. The Christian Social Party lost one seat, but gained another to remain in the National Council, while the Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland and Swiss Party of Labour lost their single seats. Other minor groups which gathered more than 0. 1% of the vote are, the Swiss Pirate Party. The elections of the Council of States are done by a plurality voting system,27 out of 46 seats were determined on the first ballot on 23 October, the remaining 19 seats were decided in a second ballot held in November
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Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
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The Free Democratic Party or Radical Democratic Party was a liberal political party in Switzerland. Formerly one of the parties in Switzerland, on 1 January 2009 it merged with the Liberal Party of Switzerland to form FDP. The Liberals. The FDP remained dominant until the introduction of proportional representation in 1919, from 1945 to 1987, it alternated with the Social Democratic Party to be the largest party. In 1959, the party two seats in the magic formula. The party declined in the 1990s and 2000s, as it was put under pressure by the Swiss Peoples Party, in response, the party formed closer relations with the smaller Liberal Party, leading to their formal merger in 2009. The elements liberal, radical and freisinnig in the name originate from the conflicts during the period of Swiss Restoration between the Catholic-conservative cantons and the liberal cantons. From 1848 until 1891, the Federal Council was composed entirely of Radicals, the radical movement of the restoration was anti-clerical, and stood in opposition to the Catholic Conservative Party. They were otherwise heterogeneous, including and classical liberal Liberals, federalist Radicals and it was not until the rise of the Social Democratic Party in the early 20th century that the FDP found itself on the centre-right. The FDP was the dominant party until the 1919 election, when the introduction of proportional representation led to a leap in the representation of the Social Democrats. In 1959, the Free Democrats joined the major parties in agreeing the magic formula to divide up the seats of the Federal Council. After the 2003 elections, lawmakers of FDP and Liberal Party formed a parliamentary group in the Federal Assembly. In June 2005, they strengthened their cooperation by founding the Radical and Liberal Union They merged on 1 January 2009 to form FDP. The Liberals. In 2003, it held 36 mandates in the Swiss National Council,14 in the chamber and 2 out of 7 mandates in the Swiss Federal Council. By 2005, it held 27, 2% of the seats in the Swiss Cantonal governments and 19, at the last legislative elections,22 October 2007, the party won 15. 6% of the popular vote and 31 out of 200 seats. Liberalism and radicalism in Switzerland fdp. ch in German prd. ch in French plrt. ch in Italian Young Liberals Switzerland official site of the youth branch, called jungfreisinnige schweiz
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Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
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The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is a political party in Switzerland. It is represented by two Federal Councilors since 1960 and got the second-most votes in the 2015 national elections, the party was founded on 21 October 1888, and is currently the second largest of the four leading coalition political parties in Switzerland. It is the only left-wing party with representatives in the Swiss Federal Council and it is also the second largest political party in the Swiss parliament. The current members in the Swiss Federal Council are, Alain Berset, the SP is the biggest pro-European party in Switzerland and supports Swiss membership of the European Union, unlike most other Swiss parties. Additionally, it is opposed to capitalism and maintains a long-term goal of overcoming capitalism. The party is a member of the Socialist International, the Progressive Alliance. With its foundation in October 1888, the Social Democratic Party was considered to be the opposition to the Radicals in government and parliament. After the unsuccessful General strike in 1918, proportional representation was introduced which helped the SP gain 41 seats in parliament, the party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1927 and 1940. After the strike the party took a line and in 1943 it became the strongest party in parliament. It picked up a seat in 1959. The partys historical archives is today hosted by the Swiss Social Archives, the SP supports classical social democratic policies. To that rule, the SP stands for a government offering strong public services, the SP also opposes raising the retirement age. In addition, the SP is a proponent of increasing spending in some areas such as for a publicly financed maternity leave, universal health care. In tax policy the SP opposes the notion of lowering taxes for high-income citizens, by campaigning for the harmonisation of all tax rates in Switzerland, the SP seeks more redistribution. The SP is skeptical toward the privatization of state enterprises, nonetheless, the SP also promotes more competition in the areas of agriculture and parallel imports. In social policy, the SP is committed to social equity, thus, the SP aims at making working conditions for women in families easier by promoting more external childcare centers and more opportunities for part-time jobs. It also aims at reinforcing sexual equality in terms of eliminating wage differences based on gender, supports civil union for homosexuals, the SP also rejects strengthening restrictions on asylum seekers and immigrants. Thus, it supports the integration of immigrants by which the immigrants are assigned to immigration procedures immediately after entering the country, the SP has a liberal stance toward drugs and is in favor of publicly regulated heroin consumption and the legalization of cannabis
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Grand Council of Geneva
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The Grand Council of Geneva is the legislature of the canton of Geneva, in Switzerland. Geneva, styled as a Republic and Canton, has a unicameral legislature, the Grand Council was established in 1457, and has 100 seats, with members elected every four years. Members of the executive, the Conseil dEtat, are elected a month later. There is a 7% threshold to representation on the Grand Council, seven parties overcame that hurdle at the election that was held on 11 October 2009. Then, the Liberal Party won a plurality, with 20 of the 100 seats, the most-recent election was held on 6 October 2013. Grand Council of Geneva official website
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Green Party of Switzerland
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The Green Party of Switzerland is the fifth-largest party in the National Council of Switzerland, and the largest party that is not represented on the Federal Council. The first Green party in Switzerland was founded as a party in 1971 in the town of Neuchâtel. In 1979, Daniel Brélaz was elected to the National Council as the first Green MP on the national level, local and regional Green parties and organisations were founded in many different towns and cantons in the following years. In 1990, an attempt to combine these organisations failed, afterwards, some of the member groups from the Green Alternative Party joined the Federation of Green Parties which has become the de facto national Green party. In 1993, the Federation of Green Parties changed its name to the Green Party of Switzerland, in 1986, the first two Green members of a cantonal government become members of the Regierungsrat of Bern. In 1987, the Green Party of Switzerland joined the European Federation of Green Parties, in the 1990s, members of the Green Party became town mayors, members of the high court and even president of a cantonal government. The traditional emphases of the partys policies lie in environmentalism and green means of transportation, in terms of foreign policy, the greens set out on the course of openness and pacifism. In economic policy, the greens are center-left, the majority of greens support an accession of Switzerland to the European Union. In immigration policy, the greens support further integration initiatives for immigrants, the greens support measures to increase energy efficiency, oppose nuclear power, and support raising energy and fuel prices. According to their policy, the revenues should be allocated to social security spending. On the national level, in 2003 the Green Party was not represented in the Council of States or Federal Council, in 2007, two Green Party members were elected to the Council of States. By 2005, the party held 3.8 percent of the seats in the Swiss cantonal executive governments and 6.9 percent in the Swiss cantonal parliaments. In 2007, the Green Party was represented in the governments of the cantons Bern, Basel-City, Geneva, Neuchâtel, Nidwalden, Vaud, Zug and Zurich. Percentage of the vote for the Green Party in Federal Elections 1971-20151. ^a * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton. 2. ^b Part of the Canton of Bern until 1979
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Firmenich
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Firmenich SA is a private Swiss company in the perfume and flavor business. It is the largest privately owned company in the field and ranks number two worldwide, Firmenich has created perfumes for over 100 years and produced a number of well-known flavors. Firmenich employs 6,200 people in 63 countries, major competitors include Givaudan, International Flavors and Fragrances, Frutarom and Symrise. It bought Noville in 2006 and in 2007 acquired Daniscos flavor division, the company was founded as Chuit & Naef in 1895 in Geneva by chemist Philippe Chuit and businessman Martin Naef. Fred Firmenich joined in 1900 and later became the majority partner, the company was renamed Firmenich SA. Firmenichs board named Gilbert Ghostine as CEO to succeed Patrick Firmenich, yves Boisdron was elected as chairman of Firmenich’s Board of Directors as of July 1,2013. Originally a fragrance company, Firmenich branched into the business by creating a raspberry substitute in 1938, followed by creations of citrus. Other synthetic flavors followed for use in processed foods and preserved foods, in 1939, Firmenich Director of Research and Development Lavoslav Ružička was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. On May 3,2007, Firmenich announced that it would be acquiring the flavors division of Danisco in a deal worth €450 million, the deal was expected to move Firmenich ahead of IFF as the second largest flavor company in the world
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Primary sector of the economy
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The primary sector of the economy is the sector of an economy making direct use of natural resources. This includes agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining, in contrast, the secondary sector produces manufactured goods, and the tertiary sector provides services. The primary sector is usually most important in less-developed countries, primary industry is a larger sector in developing countries, for instance, animal husbandry is more common in Africa than in Japan. Mining in 19th-century South Wales provides a study of how an economy can come to rely on one form of activity. Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its sector, with the logging. However, in recent years, the number of exchanges have heavily reduced Canadas primary industry. In developed countries primary industry has become more advanced, for instance the mechanization of farming as opposed to hand picking and planting. In more developed economies additional capital is invested in primary means of production, developed countries are allowed to maintain and develop their primary industries even further due to the excess wealth. For instance, European Union agricultural subsidies provide buffers for the inflation rates and prices of agricultural produce. This allows developed countries to be able to export their products at extraordinarily low prices. This makes them extremely competitive against those of poor or underdeveloped countries that maintain free market policies, such differences also come about due to more efficient production in developed economies, given farm machinery, better information available to farmers, and often larger scale. Three-sector hypothesis Resource curse Dwight H. Perkins, Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, Vol.31, No
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Tertiary sector of the economy
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The tertiary sector or service sector is the third of the three economic sectors of the three-sector theory. The others are the secondary sector, and the primary sector, the basic characteristic of this sector is the production of services instead of end products. Services include attention, advice, access, experience, and discussion, the production of information has long been regarded as a service, but some economists now attribute it to a fourth sector, the quaternary sector. The tertiary sector of industry involves the provision of services to businesses as well as final consumers. The goods may be transformed in the process of providing the service, however, the focus is on people interacting with people and serving the customer rather than transforming physical goods. It is sometimes hard to define whether a company is part of the secondary or tertiary sector. These governmental classification systems have a hierarchy that reflects whether the economic goods are tangible or intangible. Unlike governmental classification systems, the first level of market-based classification systems divides the economy into functionally related markets or industries, the second or third level of these hierarchies then reflects whether goods or services are produced. For the last 100 years, there has been a shift from the primary and secondary sectors to the tertiary sector in industrialised countries. The tertiary sector is now the largest sector of the economy in the Western world and these are not necessarily busboys and live-in maids. Many of them are in the professional category and they are earning as much as manufacturing workers, and often more. The first economy to follow path in the modern world was the United Kingdom. The speed at which other economies have made the transition to service-based economies has increased over time, historically, manufacturing tended to be more open to international trade and competition than services. Service providers face obstacles selling services that goods-sellers rarely face, services are intangible, making it difficult for potential customers to understand what they will receive and what value it will hold for them. Indeed, some, such as consultants and providers of investment services, since the quality of most services depends largely on the quality of the individuals providing the services, people costs are usually a high fraction of service costs. Whereas a manufacturer may use technology, simplification, and other techniques to lower the cost of goods sold, for example, how does one choose one investment adviser over another, since they are often seen to provide identical services. Charging a premium for services is usually an option only for the most established firms, who charge extra based upon brand recognition
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Roman Catholic
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The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church or the Universal Church, is the largest Christian church, with more than 1.28 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history, headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, the churchs doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. Its central administration is located in Vatican City, enclaved within Rome, the Catholic Church is notable within Western Christianity for its sacred tradition and seven sacraments. It teaches that it is the one church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christs apostles. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine on faith and morals that it declares as definitive is infallible. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, as well as such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders. Among the sacraments, the one is the Eucharist, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body, the Catholic Church practises closed communion, with only baptised members in a state of grace ordinarily permitted to receive the Eucharist. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Queen of Heaven and is honoured in numerous Marian devotions. The Catholic Church has influenced Western philosophy, science, art and culture, Catholic spiritual teaching includes spreading the Gospel while Catholic social teaching emphasises support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of education and medical services in the world, from the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases. Catholic was first used to describe the church in the early 2nd century, the first known use of the phrase the catholic church occurred in the letter from Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, written about 110 AD. In the Catechetical Discourses of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, the name Catholic Church was used to distinguish it from other groups that call themselves the church. The use of the adjective Roman to describe the Church as governed especially by the Bishop of Rome became more widespread after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and into the Early Middle Ages. Catholic Church is the name used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church follows an episcopal polity, led by bishops who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders who are given formal jurisdictions of governance within the church. Ultimately leading the entire Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, commonly called the pope, in parallel to the diocesan structure are a variety of religious institutes that function autonomously, often subject only to the authority of the pope, though sometimes subject to the local bishop. Most religious institutes only have male or female members but some have both, additionally, lay members aid many liturgical functions during worship services
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Swiss Reformed Church
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Since 1920, the Swiss Reformed Churches have been organized in 26 member churches of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches. According to a 2012 Swiss census,26. 9% of Swiss population were reported as registered members of a Reformed cantonal church, the Swiss Reformed Churches, together, have approximately 2.4 million members. The Reformation spread primarily in the cities of Switzerland, which was composed of loosely connected cantons. Breakthrough began in the 1520s in Zurich under Zwingli, in Bern in 1528 under Berchtold Haller, after the early death of Zwingli in 1531, the Reformation continued. The French-speaking cities Neuchâtel, Geneva and Lausanne changed to the Reformation ten years later under William Farel, the German Reformed ideological center was Zurich, the French speaking Reformed movement bastion was Geneva. A distinctive feature of the Swiss Reformed churches in the Zwinglian tradition is their historically almost symbiotic link to the state, which is only loosening gradually in the present. One of these secessionist churches still exists today, the Evangelical Free Church of Geneva, founded in 1849, an important issue to liberal theologians was the Apostles Creed. Until the late 1870s, most cantonal reformed churches stopped prescribing any particular creed, like many European Protestant denominations, several of the Swiss Reformed churches have openly welcomed gay and lesbian members to celebrate their civil unions within a church context. As early as 1999, the Reformed Churches in St. Gallen, Fribourg, since then, the Reformed Church in Aaargau has also allowed for prayer services to celebrate same-sex couples. Organizationally, the Reformed Churches in Switzerland remain separate, cantonal units, the German churches are more in the Zwinglian tradition, the French more in the Calvinist tradition. They are governed synodically and their relation to the canton ranges from independent to close collaboration
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Orthodoxy
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Orthodoxy is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. In the Christian sense the term means conforming to the Christian faith as represented in the creeds of the early Church, the first seven Ecumenical Councils were held between the years of 325 and 787 with the aim of formalizing accepted doctrines. In classical Christian usage, the term refers to the set of doctrines which were believed by the early Christians. A series of councils, also known as the First seven Ecumenical Councils, were held over a period of several centuries to try to formalize these doctrines. The most significant of these decisions was that between the Homoousian doctrine of Athanasius and Eustathius and the Heteroousian doctrine of Arius and Eusebius. The earliest recorded use of the term orthodox is in the Codex Iustinianus of 529–534, following the 1054 Great Schism, both the Western and Eastern Churches continued to consider themselves uniquely orthodox and catholic. Over time, the Western Church gradually identified with the Catholic label and this was in note of the fact that both Catholic and Orthodox were in use as ecclesiastical adjectives as early as the 2nd and 4th centuries respectively. Today the two largest Orthodox Christian communions are the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy, Orthodox Judaism is split into various different movements and factions. They have different ways of interpreting and following the laws and traditions of Judaism, Orthodox Judaism is distinct from Conservative Judaism. The term Orthodox Islam generally refers to the teachings and religious practices of traditional Sunni Islam. The term Orthodox Hinduism commonly refers to the teachings and practices of Sanātanī. In this sense, the term has a pejorative connotation. Among various orthodoxies in distinctive fields, most common terms are, Political orthodoxy, Social orthodoxy, Economic orthodoxy, Scientific orthodoxy, Orthodoxy is opposed to heterodoxy or heresy. A deviation lighter than heresy is commonly called error, in the sense of not being enough to cause total estrangement. Sometimes error is used to cover both full heresies and minor errors. The concept of orthodoxy is prevalent in many forms of organized monotheism, syncretism, for example, plays a much wider role in non-monotheistic religion. The prevailing governing norm within polytheism is often rather than the right belief of orthodoxy. Henderson, The Construction of Orthodoxy and Heresy, Neo-Confucian, Islamic, Jewish, and Early Christian Patterns, SUNY Press 1998
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Judaism
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Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion, with the Torah as its text, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world, Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic, today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditional interpretation of Judaisms requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law, today, these still exist. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, the history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions, the Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as Jews in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title Children of Israel. Judaisms texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law. Jews are a group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism, the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation, many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God, that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate Gods concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to one another, that is. These commandments are but two of a corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism
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Islam
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Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
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Buddhism
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Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, from where it spread through much of Asia, two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars, Theravada and Mahayana. Buddhism is the worlds fourth-largest religion, with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population, Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective practices. In Theravada the ultimate goal is the attainment of the state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path, thus escaping what is seen as a cycle of suffering. Theravada has a following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon, rather than Nirvana, Mahayana instead aspires to Buddhahood via the bodhisattva path, a state wherein one remains in the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed to Indian siddhas, may be viewed as a branch or merely a part of Mahayana. Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth century India, is practiced in regions surrounding the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism aspires to Buddhahood or rainbow body. Buddhism is an Indian religion attributed to the teachings of Buddha, the details of Buddhas life are mentioned in many early Buddhist texts but are inconsistent, his social background and life details are difficult to prove, the precise dates uncertain. Some hagiographic legends state that his father was a king named Suddhodana, his mother queen Maya, and he was born in Lumbini gardens. Some of the stories about Buddha, his life, his teachings, Buddha was moved by the innate suffering of humanity. He meditated on this alone for a period of time, in various ways including asceticism, on the nature of suffering. He famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of Bodh Gaya in Gangetic plains region of South Asia. He reached enlightenment, discovering what Buddhists call the Middle Way, as an enlightened being, he attracted followers and founded a Sangha. Now, as the Buddha, he spent the rest of his teaching the Dharma he had discovered. Dukkha is a concept of Buddhism and part of its Four Noble Truths doctrine. It can be translated as incapable of satisfying, the unsatisfactory nature, the Four Truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism, we crave and cling to impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, incapable of satisfying and painful. This keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha
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Hinduism
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Hinduism is a religion, or a way of life, found most notably in India and Nepal. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This Hindu synthesis started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE following the Vedic period, although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, shared textual resources, and pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are classified into Shruti and Smriti and these texts discuss theology, philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topics. Major scriptures include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, karma, samsara, and the various Yogas. Hindu practices include such as puja and recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals. Some Hindus leave their world and material possessions, then engage in lifelong Sannyasa to achieve Moksha. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, Hinduism is the worlds third largest religion, with over one billion followers or 15% of the global population, known as Hindus. The majority of Hindus reside in India, Nepal, Mauritius, the Caribbean, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit word Sindhu, the Indo-Aryan name for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The term Hindu in these ancient records is a geographical term, the Arabic term al-Hind referred to the people who live across the River Indus. This Arabic term was taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as an alternative name of India. It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The term Hinduism, then spelled Hindooism, was introduced into the English language in the 18th-century to denote the religious, philosophical, because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion defies our desire to define and categorize it, Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and a way of life. From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion, in India the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the western term religion. Hindu traditionalists prefer to call it Sanatana Dharma, the study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of Hinduism, has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion. Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism, Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents
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Agnosticism
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Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the existence of God or the supernatural are unknown and unknowable. Agnosticism is a doctrine or set of rather than a religion. English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley coined the word agnostic in 1869, the Nasadiya Sukta in the Rigveda is agnostic about the origin of the universe. Agnosticism is of the essence of science, whether ancient or modern and it simply means that a man shall not say he knows or believes that which he has no scientific grounds for professing to know or believe. Consequently, agnosticism puts aside not only the part of popular theology. On the whole, the bosh of heterodoxy is more offensive to me than that of orthodoxy, because heterodoxy professes to be guided by reason and science, and orthodoxy does not. Agnosticism, in fact, is not a creed, but a method, positively the principle may be expressed, In matters of the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other consideration. And negatively, In matters of the intellect do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable, being a scientist, above all else, Huxley presented agnosticism as a form of demarcation. A hypothesis with no supporting objective, testable evidence is not an objective, as such, there would be no way to test said hypotheses, leaving the results inconclusive. His agnosticism was not compatible with forming a belief as to the truth, or falsehood, karl Popper would also describe himself as an agnostic. Others have redefined this concept, making it compatible with forming a belief, george H. Smith rejects agnosticism as a third alternative to theism and atheism and promotes terms such as agnostic atheism and agnostic theism. Agnostic was used by Thomas Henry Huxley in a speech at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in 1869 to describe his philosophy, early Christian church leaders used the Greek word gnosis to describe spiritual knowledge. Agnosticism is not to be confused with religious views opposing the ancient religious movement of Gnosticism in particular, Huxley used the term in a broader, Huxley identified agnosticism not as a creed but rather as a method of skeptical, evidence-based inquiry. In recent years, scientific literature dealing with neuroscience and psychology has used the word to mean not knowable, in technical and marketing literature, agnostic can also mean independence from some parameters—for example, platform agnostic or hardware agnostic. Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume contended that meaningful statements about the universe are always qualified by some degree of doubt and he asserted that the fallibility of human beings means that they cannot obtain absolute certainty except in trivial cases where a statement is true by definition. A strong agnostic would say, I cannot know whether a deity exists or not, a weak agnostic would say, I dont know whether any deities exist or not, but maybe one day, if there is evidence, we can find something out. Therefore, their existence has little to no impact on human affairs. Agnostic thought, in the form of skepticism, emerged as a philosophical position in ancient Greece
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Atheism
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Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist, in an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which, in its most general form, is the belief that at least one deity exists, the etymological root for the word atheism originated before the 5th century BCE from the ancient Greek ἄθεος, meaning without god. The term denoted a social category created by orthodox religionists into which those who did not share their religious beliefs were placed, the actual term atheism emerged first in the 16th century. With the spread of freethought, skeptical inquiry, and subsequent increase in criticism of religion, application of the term narrowed in scope, the first individuals to identify themselves using the word atheist lived in the 18th century during the Age of Enlightenment. The French Revolution, noted for its unprecedented atheism, witnessed the first major movement in history to advocate for the supremacy of human reason. Arguments for atheism range from the philosophical to social and historical approaches, although some atheists have adopted secular philosophies, there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere. Since conceptions of atheism vary, accurate estimations of current numbers of atheists are difficult, an older survey by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 2004 recorded atheists as comprising 8% of the worlds population. Other older estimates have indicated that atheists comprise 2% of the worlds population, according to these polls, Europe and East Asia are the regions with the highest rates of atheism. In 2015, 61% of people in China reported that they were atheists, the figures for a 2010 Eurobarometer survey in the European Union reported that 20% of the EU population claimed not to believe in any sort of spirit, God or life force. Atheism has been regarded as compatible with agnosticism, and has also been contrasted with it, a variety of categories have been used to distinguish the different forms of atheism. Some of the ambiguity and controversy involved in defining atheism arises from difficulty in reaching a consensus for the definitions of words like deity, the plurality of wildly different conceptions of God and deities leads to differing ideas regarding atheisms applicability. The ancient Romans accused Christians of being atheists for not worshiping the pagan deities, gradually, this view fell into disfavor as theism came to be understood as encompassing belief in any divinity. Definitions of atheism also vary in the degree of consideration a person must put to the idea of gods to be considered an atheist, Atheism has sometimes been defined to include the simple absence of belief that any deities exist. This broad definition would include newborns and other people who have not been exposed to theistic ideas, as far back as 1772, Baron dHolbach said that All children are born Atheists, they have no idea of God. Similarly, George H. Smith suggested that, The man who is unacquainted with theism is an atheist because he does not believe in a god. This category would include the child with the conceptual capacity to grasp the issues involved. The fact that this child does not believe in god qualifies him as an atheist, ernest Nagel contradicts Smiths definition of atheism as merely absence of theism, acknowledging only explicit atheism as true atheism
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Education in Switzerland
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The education system in Switzerland is very diverse, because the constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority for the school system mainly to the cantons. The Swiss constitution sets the foundations, namely that primary school is obligatory for every child and is free in public schools, the minimum age for primary school is about six years in all cantons but Obwalden, where it is five years and three months. After primary schools, the split up according to their abilities. Roughly 20% of all students attend secondary schools leading, normally after 12 school years in total to the federal recognized matura which grants access to all universities. The other students split in two or more school-types, depending on the canton, differing in the balance between theoretical and practical education and it is obligatory for all children to attend school for at least 9 years. The first university in Switzerland was founded in 1460 in Basel and this place has a long tradition of chemical and medical research in Switzerland. In addition, there are seven regional associations of Universities for Applied Sciences which require vocational education, Switzerland has a high rate of foreign students in tertiary education including one of the highest in the world of doctoral level students. Many Nobel prizes have been awarded to Swiss scientists, more recently Vladimir Prelog, Heinrich Rohrer, Richard Ernst, Edmond Fischer, Rolf Zinkernagel and Kurt Wüthrich have received nobel prizes in the sciences. In total,113 Nobel Prize winners stand in relation to Switzerland, geneva hosts the worlds largest particle physics laboratory, the CERN. Other important research centers are the Empa and Paul Scherrer Institute which belong to the ETH domain, the obligatory school system usually includes primary education and secondary education I. Before that, children go to Kindergarten, but it is not required in every canton. The minimum age for school is about six years in all cantons but Obwalden. The cantons Thurgau and Nidwalden allow five-year-olds to start school in exceptional cases. Primary school continues until grade four, five or six, depending on the school/canton, any child can take part in school if they choose to, but pupils are separated depending on whether they speak French, German or Italian. At the end of school, pupils are separated according to their capacities. Students who aspire to an academic career enter Mittelschule to be prepared for further studies and this so-called dual system splitting academic and vocational training has its continuation in the higher education system. If in addition to the training the Berufsmaturitätsschule is completed the Fachhochschule may be visited instead. Rather recently introduced is a third, middle path via the Fachmittelschule which leads to an access to a Fachhochschule after a successful graduation of a Fachmatura
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Kindergarten
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Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach traditionally based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. The first such institutions were created in the late 18th century in Bavaria, the term was coined by the German Friedrich Fröbel, whose approach globally influenced early-years education. In 1779, Johann Friedrich Oberlin and Louise Scheppler founded in Strasbourg an early establishment for caring for, at about the same time, in 1780, similar infant establishments were established in Bavaria. In 1802, Princess Pauline zur Lippe established a center in Detmold. In 1816, Robert Owen, a philosopher and pedagogue, opened the first British and probably globally the first infants school in New Lanark, Scotland. In conjunction with his venture for cooperative mills Owen wanted the children to be given a moral education so that they would be fit for work. His system was successful in producing obedient children with basic literacy and numeracy, samuel Wilderspin opened his first infant school in London in 1819, and went on to establish hundreds more. He published many works on the subject, and his became the model for infant schools throughout England. Play was an important part of Wilderspins system of education and he is credited with inventing the playground. In 1823, Wilderspin published On the Importance of Educating the Infant Poor and he began working for the Infant School Society the next year, informing others about his views. He also wrote The Infant System, for developing the physical, intellectual, in 1836 she established an institute for the foundation of preschool centers. The idea became popular among the nobility and the class and was copied throughout the Kingdom of Hungary. He renamed his institute Kindergarten on June 28,1840, reflecting his belief that children should be nurtured and nourished like plants in a garden, women trained by Fröbel opened kindergartens throughout Europe and around the world. The first kindergarten in the US was founded in Watertown, Wisconsin in 1856 and was conducted in German, elizabeth Peabody founded the first English-language kindergarten in the US in 1860. The first free kindergarten in the US was founded in 1870 by Conrad Poppenhusen, a German industrialist and philanthropist, the first publicly-financed kindergarten in the US was established in St. Louis in 1873 by Susan Blow. Canadas first private kindergarten was opened by the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, by the end of the decade, they were common in large Canadian towns and cities. The countrys first public-school kindergartens were established in Berlin, Ontario, in 1885, the Toronto Normal School opened a department for kindergarten teaching. In Afghanistan, children between the age of 3 and 6 attend kindergartens, which though not part of the system are often run by the government
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Primary school
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A primary school or elementary school is a school in which children receive primary or elementary education from the age of about five to twelve, coming after preschool and before secondary school. In most parts of the world, primary education is the first stage of education, and is normally available without charge. The term grade school is used in the US though this term may refer to both primary education and secondary education. The term primary school is derived from the French école primaire, primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Elementary school is preferred in some countries, especially in the United States, in the United States, primary school may refer to a school with grades Kindergarten through second grade or third grade. In these municipalities, the school includes grade three through five or grades four to six
